ZP Manta 290

[skyfreek 1]

hey guys, I work at a dz that has a bunch of zp manta 290 for their student gear. this summer there were a few mals, some with 4-10 foot long rips in the bottom skin. 3 had destroyed sliders, and one had a broken line, rip from nose to tail and 4 other spots of damage. Staff packers are neat and consistent. the only common thing is that 3 of the mals were from students on the bigger size of human being.

all the mains are built at the same time, 15 serial numbers almost in a row. 2013, with 100-250 jump on them. I have not contacted the manufacturer as the mains are almost 10 years old

some questions I have are:

anyone else have the same issue?

is there a packing fix recommended?

size of pilot chute recommended?

I am very open and interested in some input.

 

[riggerrob 452]

Funny, we had a few ZP Manta 290s at Pacific Skydivers during the early 2000s. They were red, white and silver and we did not suffer any malfunctions. The biggest complaint was that they took all week to come down with light students, so we only hung them on larger (more than 200 pounds) students.

[mark 88]

Some things to investigate:

Damaged area on bottom skin:  along the seam?  If so, maybe manufacturing, since these are relatively new canopies.

Color of the fabric?  If always the same color, maybe a problem with that batch of fabric.

Location of the damage:  center cell?  end cells?  right side?  left side?  

Where did the tear start?  Adjacent seams with elongated stitch holes show greater stress in that area.

Burn or burst to start?

Sliders burned or burst?

What extra steps have packers taken in response?

[skyfreek 1]

center cell rips on bottom skin, not sure if they start at nose or tail. red fabric, on a seam.

sliders-2 were burns to tear, one exploded. packers packed extra neat after the first couple meals, and I watched them pack but absolutely nothing wrong with their pack jobs.