bergh 0 #1 January 27, 2003 Hi I have only recently had the chance to see the Good Stuff DVD and today after reading some of the interviews I read that both Patrick and Rob have passed away. May I ask what happened ? Regards Riaan "Newbie" Witbank Skydiving Club South Africa_______________________________________ You are unique, just like everybody else ... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rmcvey 0 #2 January 27, 2003 Rob Harris died during the filming of commercial. The exact circumstances im not sure about, but from what ive read lead me to believe a main/reserve entanglement. I may be wrong. This is from another website about Patrick... In order to improve his efficiency, he had designed a kind of deflector he could fix on the bottom of his main container, as shown on our photograph. That deflector filled the pit of his back, allowing a continuous airflow. This allowed him to improve his performance by 10% with his wingsuit. The deflector was made of cordura and filled with foam. Inside it, he had managed some place for the pilot chute. The deflector was removable : on the bottom, it was maintained in place by a zipper ; on top, the deflector had two large line laces : one on the left of the deflector, and one on the right. The laces went through openings he had prepared in each upper corner of the main container. Those laces therefore went under the side flaps, approximately one inch, before coming under the protection of a velcroed flap. To make a small modification to the deflector, Patrick had disassembled then reassembled it without opening the main container. During reassembling, one of the laces went through two lines of the main canopy. Patrick pulled his pilot chute below 2000 ft, probably even lower. The pilot chute went up, as normal opening the flaps. The main canopy deployment bag, however, could not go up and open, since it was linked with two lines by the deflector lace. Patrick cut away and opened his reserve. The pilot chute and the deployment bag of the reserve canopy got entangled with those of the main canopy. Both deployment bags floated behind his back and never opened. He didn't have an AAD which wouldn't have made a difference anyway. He was found with both handles in his hands. He hadn't disconnected the wings of his wingsuit. If he had, or had had the time to, the absence of more or less stretched wings might have allowed a more direct airflow, hence less depression in the back. The reserve might have found a small chance to go up without getting entangled with the pilot chute and the deployment bag of the main canopy. BSBD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhreeZone 14 #3 January 27, 2003 Rob died doing an intentional cutaway for a Pepsi commercial a few years back. The rig was very complex and it seems that things did not deply as planned. Pepsi used most the footage in the commercial. www.robharris.orgYesterday is history And tomorrow is a mystery Parachutemanuals.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 2,380 #4 January 27, 2003 >The rig was very complex and it seems that things did not deply as planned. As I understood his accident, it wasn't a very complex rig. The rig was probably the most standard type of intentional-cutaway rig, with a special set of risers that contained an extra harness ring. The 'cutaway' canopy, on normal risers, was in a separate container, and was attached to the special risers. The normal sequence is deploy cutaway canopy, use separate cutaway handle to disconnect that canopy from the special risers, then open the main as normal. Instead, the regular cutaway handle was pulled, disconnecting the special risers and pulling the main risers and lines away from the jumper. At this point, deploying the main might have released the mess from the container, but the reserve was pulled instead. >Pepsi used most the footage in the commercial. At the request of Rob's parents, no part of the fatal jump was used in the commercial. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
f1freak 0 #5 January 30, 2003 Rob, was jumping a stiletto hooked up backwards for the pepsi commercial (you could remember it, he was playing a james bond character. jumps from a plane as it explodes, cut's the main away and lands on a ski slope with a snowboard...) well on this jump he spent more time under the original main so they could get better shots for the commercial. when he cut away some of his costume was in the way of his second main's (P/C or ripcord) and it took to long for him to deploy the reserve. he hit as the reserve reached line strech....HAVE FUN... ...JUST DONT DIE Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
