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Namowal

"hung up" steering lines?

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Yesterday I downsized from a 210 to a 190 (rental) and noticed something I've never noticed before. Whenever I tried to flare (or more specifically, do the "half" flare followed by the full one,) I could only go about half way when the lines seemed to get caught or hung up somehow. It took a crude brute-force tug to yank them beyond that point and finish the flare.
I looked up to see if I could figure out what was going on*. It seemed the hang-up part happened when a slightly thicker part of the steering line crossed the slider grommets, but I wasn't sure.
I always practice flaring quite high and had plenty of time to experiment with it, but the end result was it wasn't possible to time the full flare for a pretty landing.
I asked around, but nobody was sure what was going on. The rental shop person speculated that maybe the lines were a bit two long for me.

Has this happened to anyone else? Any ideas as to what was going on? (I'm aware this is the internet and I can't really follow any advice and suggestions, but I'd still like to know if this has happened to anyone else...)

*when I was up high, not as I was coming in for a landing.
My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

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Perhaps the slider grommets were pushed onto the risers and connector links so that they were taking up much of the space that the steering lines must pass through. Pushing the slider grommets up just a bit might free things so that everything is normal.
People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

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The rental shop person speculated that maybe the lines were a bit two long for me.



That doesn't seem like a very likely scenario. This is a question best answered by having a rigger look at the equipment. There is very little on a rig that is in correct shape that would cause the lines to get hung up and require great exertion to flare.

Now if there was a step through or something else wrong with the rig, that's another matter.
~D
Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me.
Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

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If the slider sits on top of links at the top of the risers, and there is a tube protecting the lines and links at that point, it can be a tight fit for the steering line to pass through all that. And then when you get to half brakes you hit the "cat's eye" finger-trapped in the brake line, though which you pass the toggle to stow the brakes when packing. That thick lump at the cat's eye can bump up against all that stuff up there with the grommet, slider bumper tube, lines, etc.

I'm in the habit of pulling the slider down over the riser bumpers to get it out of the way of all that, and allow for free travel of the steering line.

If all my terminology doesn't compute, get an experienced jumper to show you with the rig.

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If the slider sits on top of links at the top of the risers, and there is a tube protecting the lines and links at that point, it can be a tight fit for the steering line to pass through all that. And then when you get to half brakes you hit the "cat's eye" finger-trapped in the brake line, though which you pass the toggle to stow the brakes when packing. That thick lump at the cat's eye can bump up against all that stuff up there with the grommet, slider bumper tube, lines, etc.



That's more or less what it looked like when I was looking up at it.
My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

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Think you got it there, either move the slider up or move it down. I have also encountered a knot, that was tied very close to my toggle(the knot keeping the toggle and the steering line together)

Just before landing, I used to push my toggles up as much as possible, to get more forward speed. This had the knot go through the "steeringline guide ring"(sorry).
When I tried to flare, I had a flare on the one side, and an actual back riser pull on the other side. I managed to land it though by countersteering and PLFing it out.

I made sure the knot was out of the way before my next jump.
You have the right to your opinion, and I have the right to tell you how Fu***** stupid it is.
Davelepka - "This isn't an x-box, or a Chevy truck forum"
Whatever you do, don't listen to ChrisD.

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