slotperfect

This has been posted before. In the States, units go to SSK, which carries a normal turn-around time of 10 working days. If your unit requires maintenance that must be performed at Airtec in Germany (those are few and far between), the time will be longer. If your unit went to SSK, why not shoot them an email asking them the status of your unit? Arrive Safely John

Watching the sunrise with my wife and my best friends on the beach in Cozumel. Arrive Safely John

I talked to SM1 today, already on site. Sez the weather looks good for tomorrow. I'm leaving here in time to be registered, waivered and dirt-dived for the first lift around 9:00. I have to bust out by 6:00 or so though . . . flying out for a vacation the next day. See y'all tomorrow! Arrive Safely John

I have stalled almost all of the canopies I have flown. Most with toggles (coupla wraps first), some with rear risers as well. I like to know how the canopy behaves in as many situations as I can put it through safely. This being said, I always stall the canopy and finish my "ringing it out" high enough so I am not a hazard to myself or other jumpers. I have not and will not stall a tandem canopy completely . . . the drogue bridle is so long that I would rather not take the chance of the drogue dropping over the nose, snagging a b-line, then heading back ove the canopy. To me, the benefit is not worth the risk. I have never owned a completely elliptical canopy (my Sabre2 is the highest performance canopy I have owned), but I would use the crawl-walk-run into that maneuver with that type of canopy, having seen so many spun up canopies result in cutaways. One video I saw was a very low altitude cutaway from a pilot-induced stall-spin. His reserve opened in just enough time for him to land next to a road, barely missing an out building. Arrive Safely John

True. True. I have done it successfully. It brought some really trashed rigs back to looking almost new. The rigs were completely black, and the only thing noticeable was the thread turned a little gray. HERE are the details that I posted here many moons ago. For loose dirt, though, I like the vacuuming idea. Arrive Safely John

You may have aleady seen this thread about fading. More info on that general subject. I do not personally know of anyone using Scotchguard on a canopy. I would strongly recommend against it until you call the manufacturer of your rig to ask this question of them. Make a mistake Scotchguarding your rig and you have a stained rig . . . make a mistake Scotchguarding your canopy you may affect it's performance and service life. Arrive Safely John

Yup. It's free. They gain another cutter, you gain the 1-pin unit you were looking for. Yup. You can simply coil the cutter and cable you're not using into the pocket for the excess cable. I have not physically done this, but know it to be an acceptable procedure. Someone here who has actually packed one that way may be of more help. You can get specific answers from the manufacturer: [email protected] Arrive Safely John

To add to what has already been posted, this is a perfect time for your gear to get what I call a "fine-toothed comb" inspection. Yes, your Rigger should be giving it a good going over already when he repacks it. This can be done as a "stand-alone" inspection, not connected to a repack. Have him check the trim on your main and the condition of the lines . . . if it needs a reline, now is a great time for you to have it done. Have him check your CYPRES for upcoming service and battery change . . . you'll want these updates to coincide with your next "get back in the air" repack. Have him check things like slider grommets on the main, rapide links or slinks, collapsible pilot chute, BOC, closing flap grommets, slack retainers,etc. All of these things wear out over time and are easy to replace. The end result will be your favorite rig that you have always loved, tuned up and ready to "get some" when you are able to get back in the air. Meanwhile, there's a good thread on storing your gear HERE Congrats in advance . . . I pray you will have a safe delivery and a healthy baby. Arrive Safely John

Email Precision Aerodynamics at [email protected] Also, any loft that has a "Riggers' Source Book" by Deborah Blackmon should have it included and may be able to fax you a copy. I have access to one, but I won't be able to get to it for about two weeks. Arrive Safely John

I am a bit frustrated with the fact that most of the skydiving we see on TV today is incidents, like on "Real TV." Even more frustrating is the way the incidents are portrayed, and hyped, and the facts twisted around to make each one a life or death struggle of amazing proportions. Incidents happen, and they are going to make the news. Facts and responsible explanations are much more valuable for the public than embellishment and manufacture of details. Arrive Safely John

i'm sure the lighter colors will attract less heat, but I'm not sure about UV. I'm sure the scientific types will jump into the thread shortly with a good answer. They were tearing it up over in the Polarized Sunglasses thread. Arrive Safely John

Got it, Ron. I misunderstood your question. Good question and a very good test of their customer service. I PMd the Vigil USA rep, registered here, and asked her to chime in on this thread. Arrive Safely John

I just read the Vigil manual yesterday. It said they will replace a fired cutter for free in exchange for a written report of an actual save. No offer of a free repack. Arrive Safely John

I'm sure if you called Kurupee they would send you a sample of each type of material they use for their suits. I have done that with other manufacturers. Kurupee Website Arrive Safely John

In the US, a Rigger cannot legally pack a reserve with a CYPRES that: 1) is out of date or goes out of date (past 12 years, 3 months) before it is next due for a repack 2) will require service (4 years, 3 months or 8 years, 3 months) before it is next due for a repack 3) has batteries that are expired or will expire before it is next due for a repack 4) is deemed unairworthy for any other reason (e.g. the units that were involved in the train wreck) FAR Part 105 says: Arrive Safely John

I think it's because anything other than the Red Cap is too heavy and may stain the rig. When I did mine, Sun Path warned me that I must keep shaking the can during application so the liquid didn't clot as it was being sprayed. Aggie told me that a clot of Scotchguard will stain the rig. There's another thread here about that. I think you really should email or call the rig manufacturer before using anything other than Red Cap. Arrive Safely John

Fair enough, Mr. Advocate I wouldn't think it would show up as badly since the ribs and bottom skin of hybrids are F-111 (or whatever the new technical term is for it these days). Arrive Safely John

My first year of jumping, 1984, was all military static line jumps. In 1985, I had a short and incomplete attempt at static line progression (11 jumps). In 1988, I became Military Free Fall qualified. In 1989, I became a USPA member and began "civilian" skydiving. So, I ask myself: "Self, do I say 20 years? 19 years? 16 years? 15 years?" I figure in the grand scheme of things I have been jumping out of airplanes regularly since 1984. I call it 20 years . . . makes for easy conversations. Jump numbers I count only from the start of my HALO days. Arrive Safely John

OK . . . I did some homework and may be able to shed some light on the subject. As I said earlier, I had read somewhere about a condition called "blocking" that was unique to ZP because of the coating process that makes it that way. I had to call PD for something else this morning, so I asked them about this issue as well. The manufacturer of the ZP material PD uses, Performance Textiles, calls the condition "surface adhesion," like one layer of cellophane wrap might react to another (Saran Wrap). Apparently this condition shows itself when ZP mains have been packed for a longer than average period of time. The particular case we discussed was a main that had been packed for a year and a half. I asked him about particular storage conditions contributing to the problem . . . I was told this had no bearing on the issue, it is simply the nature of ZP fabric because of the coating process. When I asked about their recommendation for those who discovered their canopies in this condition, the answer was to unpack it, air out each cell to separate the material, repack it and jump it. They added that monitoring the behavior of this canopy (i.e. the condition showing up again within a short period of time) would be a good idea. The moral of the story? I would air it out, repack it, and jump it with confidence. TO be sure, you may want to contact the manufacturer of this particular canopy yourself so you can document that conversation and stand firm in your own recommendation. Arrive Safely John

It's a fabric protector used to keep things from getting permanently stained.

First of all, call your rig manufacturer. If it's Sun Path I can tell you now that they will recommend the red cap version. IMHO you will be better off ordering it online. You can find multiple sources HERE. One of them is bound to ship to Europe. Arrive Safely John

STI is now Blackwater Aviation Arrive Safely John

When doing tandems (Sigma 370 canopy), sometimes the (non-collapsible) slider inflates from top to bottom after it comes down, creating an inverted pocket of sorts, which makes a HUGE friggin' racket (acute slida flappida). I learned to solve it . . . once I have brakes unstowed, cleared airspace, student is good to go, etc., I do a mighty pullup on the rear risers, allowing the pocket to re-orient itself (inflating from bottom to top) and voila! No more noise! Arrive Safely John

Call the manufacturer of the item you are working on. Tell them the repair you are making, and ask them if you can substitute a tight zigzag for the bartack. If the answer is yes, they should give you a specific stitch width, spi, and stitch length, and hopefully answer any other questions you have. Arrive Safely John

I have read about a condition called "blocking" that happens to ZP. I PM'd reps from PD, Precision, and Atair that are members of these forums to chime in on this. Arrive Safely John