billbooth 10 #26 August 2, 2004 Hi Pam. Long time - No see. Bill 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RogerRamjet 0 #27 August 2, 2004 QuoteHi Pam. Long time - No see. Bill Hi Bill! Boy, Bill, Pam, and me all in the same thread, talk about "the good old days!" Wrap around pilot chutes, plastic ripcords, sinking sheep dogs, I loved it all! ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billbooth 10 #28 August 3, 2004 You could always tell an authentic Wonderhog by the "Stash" hairs all over it, right out of the box. (Pam's sheepdog liked to sleep on the new rigs.) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jumpwally 0 #29 September 12, 2008 I dont think i've ever seen the wrap around pilot chutes,,do any pics or diagrams exsist..? sound interesting..............smile, be nice, enjoy life FB # - 1083 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 558 #30 September 13, 2008 QuoteI dont think i've ever seen the wrap around pilot chutes,,do any pics or diagrams exist..? sound interesting.............. .......................................................... It was sitting just inside the front door of the Relative Workshop/UPT the last time I visited. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 558 #31 September 13, 2008 When CSPA banned plastic ripcord handles (in the mid 1980s) they blamed UV damage, which is why the problem did not crop up in Bill Booth's early testing. UV damages a lot of other synthetic materials like nylon, Kevlar, fibreglas, PVC, Plexiglas, etc. The last time I saw a plastic rip cord handles was in Strassbourg, France in 1986-1987. Apparently the Federation Francais du Prachutisme had not heard of the problem. The handle in question had visible cracks and I could easily have broken it with my hands, but chose to tell DZ management instead. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NickDG 23 #32 September 13, 2008 I also heard that cold temps affected those plastic ripcord handles too. These were the white ones with the skinny post. There was another type of non-metal handle I had for a while, but it had a thicker flatter post and it was made of Lexan I believe. Those were supposed to be okay. But after hearing about broken reserve ripcords I thought, ah, what's the point, and went back to cold hard steel . . . NickD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RogerRamjet 0 #33 September 14, 2008 An interesting bit of nostalgia for me would be that my one and only cutaway (other than two previous intentional cutaways with a third chute) from a mal was on the original Wonderhog with two plastic ripcords. Both worked as intended, but my cheapo decided to line-over and open some new modifications on this opening. Others around me seemed to be swirling and going up, but of course I was spiraling down and they were all yelling cutaway, cutaway! I pulled my one-shots down and in the same stroke went to the reserve ripcord. Others on the jump said my reserve pilot chute was no more than 3 feet from my main risers. 26' Navy Conical looked like crap playing out from the container but sure opened nice. Standup landing too! I moved on to a Strato-Star (kept my Navy con and one-shots), hand-deploy, and metal reserve ripcord for the remainder of my Wonderhog jumps. If I still had that rig, I'd not hesitate to jump it today. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NickDG 23 #34 September 14, 2008 >>I moved on to a Strato-Star (kept my Navy con and one-shots), hand-deploy, and metal reserve ripcord for the remainder of my Wonderhog jumps.That was exactly the same set up I had . . . NickD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skybill 18 #35 September 14, 2008 Hi Roger, Did you have a "mod" in the 26' Navy Conical or a 4-line release?? I put a Waters 4-line release on mine and it worked great!!SCR-2034, SCS-680 III%, Deli-out Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zoobrothertom 5 #36 September 14, 2008 Hey Bill, Here's a wonderhog story for you. My second rig was a used wonderhog with a 26' round reserve and Strato Star in it which I bought in '83. When the reserve came due, I took it to the rigger at Raeford. The TSO tag was so worn that all we could make out was that the serial number was 3 digits and (I think) the first number was a 2. The rigger (a blond haired lady whose name I can't remember) called you in Florida to figure out the serial number. It was black para-pak. Apparantly, you checked your records and figured out the number based on the single digit and color. She said it was built in your garage! Ring a bell? I kept that rig until around '89. When I sold it, it had a Safety Star reserve and a Nimbus XL in it. I had also had it converted to a leg strap by then. Great rig!____________________________________ I'm back in the USA!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 558 #37 September 15, 2008 Correct! There were two versions of non-metal reserve ripcord handles in service in the early 1980s. Both patterns looked like Martin-Bakers at arm's length. The first pattern was white plastic with a thin, cylinder around the ripcord cable. They were withdrawn from service after a Service Bulletin published by Strong Enterprises around 1984. The second pattern was made of red or grey fibreglas and was a flattened oval (race track) cross section. Fibreglas ripcords deteriorated far slower than plastic, but fell out of fashion at the same time (mid 1980s). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phildthedildo 0 #38 September 15, 2008 actually the oval shaped (X section)ripcords were available in white for mains (80%polycarbonate,20% glass)and red (70%polycarbonate,30%glass) for reserves.they were made and sold by Steve Snyder's SSE Inc/Para Flite.the very first Strong enterprises plastic ripcord that we saw at SSE/PFI failed when we pulled it on our ripcord test bench(less than 200 lbs at room temp)FAA reqirement is 300lbs for 3seconds. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RogerRamjet 0 #39 September 16, 2008 QuoteHi Roger, Did you have a "mod" in the 26' Navy Conical or a 4-line release?? I put a Waters 4-line release on mine and it worked great!! No, it was steerable, but I think it was cut into the canopy. Don't remember what the mod was though. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skydoc2336 1 #40 January 19, 2021 I don't know if anyone is still "listening" to this old thread, but in February 1979 I had both main and reserve plastic ripcord handles break on one jump. I had no idea why the main totaled, I had the handle (broken off) in my hand. When I went for the reserve it wasn't there; I thought I had a floating reserve handle (which had actually fractured when I first grabbed for it). All that was left was a plastic stub on the swaged end of the reserve cable, sticking out the end of the cable housing which I had followed down to pull, deploying very close to Sparta IL airport beacon. 11 second reserve ride on that 26' LoPo. I didn't know the cause until after I landed. I'm holding the main ripcord handle, but the rest is still tucked in its pocket. Someone ran up to me holding the reserve ripcord, shouting "Look, there's no handle!" Fragments were later recovered when snow melted. I still have what's left of those handles, after having submitted them for inspection. The replacement plastic main handle the company sent me lasted three years, breaking on a winter dive in '82-83. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wmw999 2,116 #41 January 19, 2021 A friend of mine bought new nylon handles for his Starlite rig after demonstrating to himself the breakage with his main handle, and then for some folks at the DZ with his reserve handle -- just wham it on the ground in the cold. Not a lot of plastic handles after that. Wendy P. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
