Abedy 0 #1 November 13, 2011 Just impressions I wanted to share, don't intend to start a "My AAD ate yours" discussion, so Nelyubin please just read. I attended the annual DFV (German Parachute Association) information and safety meeting yesterday. Airtec were there too and we could see cutters "in action". First, a steel cable was cut (about 4 or 5 millimetres thick). I saw pics before but watching it happen right before your eyes is much more impressing. They the showed us a CYPRES loop and only slid it through the opening of the cutter without the loop being pulled tight. It hang loose, so to say. Everybody could have a look and touch it. The 3-2-1 and it was cut cleanly. Hehe. If you want to read more or watch a video with a loop and a steel ripcord being cut click here. (Last 10s of the vid are hilarious!) But again, watching it in "real life" is even more impressing After that I happened to meet Helmut Cloth (pronounced kloat ) and he didn't feel "too superior" to talk to a me. Really nice man. Ah, and well... got me two of their free pull-ups, really good one (see here)The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dpreguy 14 #2 November 13, 2011 Got a video of this cutting demonstration? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Abedy 0 #3 November 13, 2011 Not of the one at the meeting but the video in my 1st article shows two cutting demonstrations very much the same as I saw there.The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rover 9 #4 November 13, 2011 http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=21496225046352 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crohnie 0 #5 November 13, 2011 I've seen that video before (the fb one right above me, I beleive also the same one in the op) and the montage of reserve deployments confuses me--obviously most of them are activated by the cypress (you see someone holding the control unit/some other electronic gizmo) but then some of them look to be just someone pulling silver. Why include those in the video? They don't show anything. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 558 #6 November 13, 2011 "Quote... the montage of reserve deployments confuses me--obviously most of them are activated by the cypress (you see someone holding the control unit/some other electronic gizmo) but then some of them look to be just someone pulling silver. Why include those in the video? They don't show anything." ........................................................................ To demonstrate that you get a similar pilot-chute launch with both Cypres and ripcord. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crohnie 0 #7 November 13, 2011 I stand corrected. Thanks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RiggerLee 61 #8 November 14, 2011 I'm not a big cypres fan so don't take this as ignorant blind addolation. I've told this story before but I'll repeat it here as it's an example of compleatly independent "testing" program of cypres cutters. The recovery systems we built for Mustang used a cypres cutter to activate it. Every time I talk to them it seams like they're doing still more testing. Over the years they must have fired hundreds if not a thousand of them by now. It's cutting a loop under high tension just like a reserve with no flaps in the way. To the best of my knowlage none have ever failed. I seem to recall that there antena cost something like $20,000. Frankly if they were haveing failures I think I would have heard about it. Other then cypres them selves I'm not sure any one has done a thousand test fires of cypres cutters. Even buying them cheap that would be a tall order for a gear manufatorer. And buy the way a lot of those were bought up off of 12 year old cypreses. They had a bounty out on those things. So a good percentage of them were the oldest crap out there and they still fired flawlessly. Story out of the way I have some questions about the video. Ever seen a cut loop where the strands don't match up? Like it wasn't cut cleanly across and some of the strands on each side are longer clearly from the other side of the cut? How do you recencile this with the video? Is the kenetic energy just heating it till it melts the rest of the way at that point? Because it does not always seem to cut cleanly under tension. Did you see them do the same thing with any other lines, kevlar, HMA, Vectran with a higher melting point? The cable doesn't count. That's about the easiest thing in the world to cut. And yes I am interested for a reason. The stuff I'm working on for armmadillo may have temp issues. Right now we're looking at the M2 cutter that does seem to cut every thing cleanly but we're still trying to get some more out of europe. And no I haven't called them to ask directly. Lee Hardesty EDIT: Lee, I removed the reference you made to German's in the last sentence of your post. Entirely uncalled for and will not be tolerated. Please re-read the forum rules and avoid making similar comments in this and other threads.Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skybear 0 #9 November 14, 2011 Quote Ever tryed to get straight no bullshit non propaganda answers out of them? Remember these are Goebbels decendents. Hell Helmut! Lee Hardesty Maybe I do not understand some humour here, because english is not my native language. Otherwise what I understand is a serious insult against the inventor of the Cypres. If that is the case you better shut up when talking about evdidence of some sort of failure. Remember you are a descendant of people who talked to the world about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Once again: Sorry if I got you wrong, but please keep in mind that there are a lot of non-english-native-speakers in that forum. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Abedy 0 #10 November 14, 2011 Quote Did you see them do the same thing with any other lines, kevlar, HMA, Vectran with a higher melting point? I don't have any deeper insight into the physics. But when we paid Airtec a visit Helmut showed us examples of reserve loops some riggers had made of old tension lines. These became hard, rough etc after some time and thus were a hazard - they could get caught (especially if the reserve container is very tight) and might also have issues re. cutting. (IIRC) That is why they developed the "CYPRES loop" which they gave and still give away for free. Helmut told us that they had given away 2,9 million of these loops - this was in April 2010 - so they must have given away 3 million loops by now. For free, to be used with ANY model. It's a similar story about the CYPRES disc (the smiley-style disc). Quote Why? Ever tryed to get straight no bullshit non propaganda answers out of them? Remember these are Goebbels decendents. Hell Helmut! Lee Hardesty This is simply outrageous and an extremely rude insult. Not only towards Helmut Cloth who I got to know as a very polite, open-minded and helpful guy. There might be questions he won't answer fully because if he did so it would harm his business. Some facts you found out the hard and expensive way you will not give away for free, huh? So if this is "bullshit propaganda", go and ask sensitive questions to any other entrepreneur! But your "these are Goebbels descendants" comment is also an insult to "these folks in Germany." Not only are there people whose fore-bearers fought the Nazi fascists, or who lost most of their relatives (Jews, Romani, mentally impaired...) And even those whose grandparents didn't resist the Nazis or even were followers - are they guilty just by "descent"? Think hard! I personally feel deeply hurt by your comment. Have a look at my personal website and you should know why.The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skybear 0 #11 November 14, 2011 Since my comment on Lees posting was deleted I want to support Abedys statement: Referring to german people as descendents of Goebbels is extremely rude. I wonder why this post was not edited by the mods but mine was deleted completely. Since I do not even know which mod deleted my post I have to ask publicly: Why is it obviously okay to insult germans, but not okay to explain this insult by using a comparison within the north american culture? This post can be deleted or will be deleted by myself when my question is answered. Thank you! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Abedy 0 #12 November 15, 2011 Just a short re-reply: I just can mention that Helmut told us that they quite early when testing got to know that some riggers used "adventurous" material for reserve loops like parts of tension lines etc - which got hard, rough etc and thus could get stuck. To deal with the problem they developed the CYPRES loop along with the accompanying CYPRES disc (the "smiley disc".) They decided to give it away for free and keep on doing so and AFAIK they have handed out 3 million loops so far. For free. Just mention this as this was the work-around to make sure CYPRES can do what it was primarily invented/thought for: Cutting a reserve loop without any problems. I know CYPRES cutters have been used in other fields, even in space, but I think dealing with the material issues for OTHER purposes can't really be handed down to Airtec Just my 2 Eurocents The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites