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Packing Racer Reserves

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Research was done years ago on the One pin and Two pin Racer Reserve.

The Two pin is a faster cleaner launch of the reserve pilot chute, hands down.
It's about the laws physics.



Where can this research (results, methods, data) be found? And how long ago was this research done?

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Man I turn off my computer and look what happens.

Looks like the manufacturer has you very well taken care of.

I thought I'd just do a picture drop of some rigs made and delivered just this year. They have come such a long ways in 40 years of production and produce a premium product.

Deuces Everybody and have a good night.
=========Shaun ==========


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One cutter is enough to open a Racer pilot-chute IF it has a CYPRES-style sliding loop.
The key difference is that Cypres-style loops are not sewn to the pilot-chute and are free to slide out if there is uneven pressure. The Cypres-pattern loop sides through a tape channel that is sewn to the pilot-chute inner cap. That sliding adds a variable when packing, but it reduces the risk of hesitations.I usually hand-sew around the top coil of the spring to prevent the channel from wandering.
When John Sherman (Racer designer) banned Cypres-pattern loops, SoCal riggers asked why? So we rigged an old Racer with a Cypres-style loop and two separate ripcord pins. We deployed it on the table dozens of times. We tested a variety of sequences and the pilot-chute never hesitated. Most of the time we only pulled one pin before the pilot-chute hit the ceiling. It did not seem to matter if we pulled the top or bottom pin. In the end, all we had to show for our research were dents in the ceiling!

A decade later, I repeated those table tests with a Pop-Top reserve container of my own design. I used a wimpy, worn-out MA-1 pilot-chute. The difference was that I tied my Cypres-style loop near the bottom flap and only installed one ripcord pin ... the top pin. Later tests deleted side flaps and tied the closing loop to the freebag (near where a bottom loop would penetrate), Again, lots of dents in the ceiling. My table tests confirmed my thesis that you can build a single-pin Pop-Top without a hard pilot-chute cap.

Speed-Bags make perfect sense for tandem main deployment bags. Apparently the factory jumped Speed-Bags on mains a few thousand times before they tested Speed Bags on reserves.
It make take an extra minute to stow lines on a Speed-Bag, but no longer than an Atom or Icon. Those elastic line stow loops inside the pocket serve the same function: they BALANCE line stows and reduce the risk of line dump during high-speed deployments.
As Manley Butler said: you can use rubber bands up to 250 knots, but faster than that you need flutes.

Not sure why I saying good things about Racers when it takes me an extra half hour to pack them.
My biggest hassle is preventing canopy fabric from crossing the centre-line under the pilot-chute. Any fabric crossing the centreline changes bulk distribution, requiring changing the closing loop length, etc. That hassle could be vastly reduced by sewing the bag together at the grommets (Dolphin, Javelin, Wings, Sidewinder, Vortex, Voodoo, etc.) to reduce that variable.
A molar bag would also vastly simplify the process of routing closing loops through the d-bag.
The other reason that I dislike Racer style free-bags is that they allow reserve canopy fabric to rub against closing loops. I have had to patch two reserves because riggers used more muscle than skill. Two damaged reserves is too many!

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B|:$
Quote

One cutter is enough to open a Racer pilot-chute IF it has a CYPRES-style sliding loop.
The key difference is that Cypres-style loops are not sewn to the pilot-chute and are free to slide out if there is uneven pressure. The Cypres-pattern loop sides through a tape channel that is sewn to the pilot-chute inner cap. That sliding adds a variable when packing, but it reduces the risk of hesitations.I usually hand-sew around the top coil of the spring to prevent the channel from wandering.


THANK YOU! This is exactly what I've been picturing in my mind but just didn't word adequately - a loop that slides out of a channel tied to the reserve top when either side is released (finally someone who gets what I've been talking about!). I didn't think of tying one end down and going with a single pin; a good idea but I'd prefer having two pins and two cutters for reasons stated earlier.
Have you presented this info and testing to Jumpshack?
What's right isn't always popular and what's popular isn't always right.

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A decade later, I repeated those table tests with a Pop-Top reserve container of my own design. I used a wimpy, worn-out MA-1 pilot-chute. The difference was that I tied my Cypres-style loop near the bottom flap and only installed one ripcord pin ... the top pin.


Seems to me that this configuration could be designed so that the loop length could be adjusted at the anchored (I.e. tied-down) end.
What's right isn't always popular and what's popular isn't always right.

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HPC

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A decade later, I repeated those table tests with a Pop-Top reserve container of my own design. I used a wimpy, worn-out MA-1 pilot-chute. The difference was that I tied my Cypres-style loop near the bottom flap and only installed one ripcord pin ... the top pin.


Seems to me that this configuration could be designed so that the loop length could be adjusted at the anchored (I.e. tied-down) end.


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Exactly!
My prototypes looked like really long adjustable loops for Reflex. They tail hung out where they met the free-bag.
I still have my old prototype kicking around.
If I had a Power Racer (small diameter spring) pilot-chute, I might build another prototype over the winter. Recent advances with magnets would solve several of the side-flap problems that I encountered with my first prototype.

Does anyone have a spare Power-Racer pilot-chute?
The fabric does not need to be airworthy, just the spring.
Please.

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.... - a loop that slides out of a channel tied to the reserve top when either side is released (finally someone who gets what I've been talking about!). I didn't think of tying one end down .......
Have you presented this info and testing to Jumpshack?

----------------------------------------------------------------

No.
John Sherman resists anything not invented by him.

OTOH Nancy Lariviere has recently commented on this forum and she listens.
The next question is how fast she is allowed to change things at the Racer Factory?

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That's the impression I got about John. Dual RSL (NOT to rehash that thread) is another example, maybe speedbag too? I could be wrong but it seems like even if an existing technology or system works fine and has for decades, he seems to want to change it if he gets an idea he feels is, at least I theory, better. I feel if it works and has an excellent track record then leave it alone. Sometimes when you change things that don't need fixing you end up creating something that does.
I can't see not changing to a "sliding loop" design if it reduces pin count (and thus cutter count, followed by acquisition and maintenance costs).
Someone else commented that Racer sales started to decline about the time Cypres came out.
Personally, I love having options. Even if the Racer changed to a sliding loop type design I would love having the option of having a second pin so I could have a second cutter as backup. One cutter fails for whatever reason, the other one has your back (no pun intended).
What's right isn't always popular and what's popular isn't always right.

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aerorigging

Yes I pack Racers, no problem, bring it on !!!!!!
I will add that a rigger refusing to pack any TSOd rig may be need to grab some books/manuals and study more

Nico



I will add that a rigger willing to pack every TSOd rig maybe needs to grab some books/manuals and study more.

-Mark

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