TCMRigging

Dan set a new Texas speed record with 2.53sec. The average MPH through the speed course was 56.59 MPH. WOW that is freaking fast when you think of how fast he needed to travel through the first gates to get this overall average. Here is a handy calculator to figure speed over distance measured in seconds. http://www.csgnetwork.com/csgtsd.html Chris

The reserve cable can be too long or the RSL can be dumping the reserve. Have the person that was jumping the gear get into it with the rig fully packed the same as the skydive. Disconect the main three rings, hang it from a set of risers and get into it. Once fully loaded deploy the main and you will most likely see the problem. Most of the time the reserve cable does not have enough slack and will cause this problem. I have also seen the RSL do the same thing. Also if the reserve cable has alot of slack it can get locked in between your body and the harness causing the same problem during the deployment.

If I can get someone to video them I will post a video of it. TJ does have it down pretty good, I saw them on the Keen and Able video and he passed on the wisdom of how to do them to everyone when he visited my home DZ. They are a shit load of fun and I usually crank out a few on every jump.

Did this rig come to you packed? If it was not packed and in the hands of anyone else you cannot put the blame on the rigger in question because someone could have messed with the brake lines. However if this rig was packed that way with a seal then you should contact the rigger because he FUQKD up. Chris

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-ehLDVoujI Enjoy

A refund if they use it on day 45? Hell no I would charge them more for making me pack the thing again. LOL Chris

A quick suggestion for the next post. When you post a pic demonstrating it done wrong please leave that pic and then repost it (not edit) done correctly. I was about to start making an ass of myself asking how people were seeing the loop pass through the RSL ring when it clearly was not. I think it also caused confusion down the line when people posted that they would jump it. Good job getting opinions though and double checking with your local dz before jumping it.

Lets look at it very simply, a $50.00 repack good for 120 days is worth 41.6 cents per day. So 41.6 cents for 180 days is about 75 bucks. If I was still rigging heavily I would still charge the same and just get more clients, someone would have to pay me about 500 bucks to get my lazy ass to pack a rig these days.

I honestly could not tell you the number of rotations, its allot though. I'm putting together some videos and can send you a link in the next few days to have a look at it. I can tell you that it eats up about 2000 ft, 1500 of fun and about another 500 just recovering from it. If you have a small highly loaded canopy you have to force both sides to stall to get out of it and you need to keep the risers very wide and your legs kicked out wide to stay out of twist. When they get going good your feet are in front of you and your body is laying out horizontal like a rag doll. Its a hell of a good time. At my DZ a group of us will open high and take turns doing the helicopters while everyone else watches. Video link coming soon. Chris

Sadly enough I have spotted and fixed many many RSL's in the plane that were either routed through the three ring, clipped to the three ring, routed under the reserve risers and some rigs have enough slack that the loose part of the RSL ends up in the three ring. I fixed one this past Sunday that had the slack pulled through the three ring. A little safety check in Parachutist may not be a bad idea since Javelins now require the RSL to be connected even if you do not use it. Chris

Does anyone have the line trim specs for an FX 88?

I did'nt mean for it to sound like I was replying to your post specifically. I was just replying generally to the xbrace being boring. You can do some wild stuff with these canopies up high that I have not been able to do with any other canopy.

If your bored with the velocity or other crossbraced then you just need a few new things to try in th air. I usually do some helicoptors. You can also get it into a spin and then do a toggle stall on just one side. That will give you some radical results. If you don't know what a helicoptor is then try pulling your rear risers to a stall point then pulling only one down further. You will deflate one side of your canopy and spin like a helicoptor. If your loaded over 2 to 1 you will most likely have to spread your risers very far apart and force a total rear riser stall to get out of the spin. It can get out of hand real fast so be ready for anything and before starting remove your toggles from your hands in case you need to chop. Chris

I used 88 ft long crete paper (black) and yes the color does effect fall rate for some reason. The white and black paper were a different texture and the white fell faster. I used 4 AA batteries for the weight. To set up the course we flew past each other and then dropped the streamers. We would then get close together on the course (one behind the other) and start racing. To make the turns you roll your wing up on its side then go into a full flare to make a tight turn. Basically like carving your wing on the ground. It is really wild to be right behind another canopy and try to make a pass. I may get a few people to do this over the weekend and post a video. Chris

Its not a major effect, but there is some and noticeable on a wing loaded at 2.0 or higher. Just give it a try sometime, when you lean forward or back your wieght is shifting in relation to the attachment point. I may not explain the dynamics very well, but I can tell you it does work. Chris

Actually leaning forward or backward will change the flight. Think about the center of gravity on the wing. Now think about hanggliders and how they control the wing. Everything is done with weight shifting. If you lean forward in the harness and get more wieght to the front the wing becomes nose heavy, if you lean back the cg is more in the tail. Sometime get with another HP canopy pilot and get side by side. do not make any inputs with your arms, just lean forward and notice what happens, then lean back and notice the change. Chris

Has anyone ever done pylon races with canopies? Another swooper and myself used to drop two 88ft long pieces of crete paper with wieghts and pylon race around them. It was a hell of a good time and I'm curious if anyone has ever tried this before? Chris

Why use anything other than PD? Customer service, quality, testing, R&D and when you hang any canopy next to a PD you will see the difference. I have many reserve rides and repacks. There is only one canopy that I will put in my rig and that is a PD. If I were to pick between the R-max and Smart I would say hands down go for the Smart. The issues with Ravens in the past and they way they handled the problem was very poor. Chris

I do think 45 is a fair price to pay for the cleaning because there is a shit load of work involved. I just don't charge that much because I dont want people taking their rigs to a car wash before they bring it to me. I may take an old rig and do a little experiment on the effects of a car wash. Just take the rig cut it down the middle and wash one side in the car wash and the other in a tub. I am also curious if after a month the harness or other materials will lose strength due to the chemicals in the car wash. I know the harness stitching loosens up after the car wash method and the rig as a whole is a little fuzzy after the car wash. Anybody have any real life car wash horror stories to share? This has always been a pet peeve of mine and I would like to have some data and not just my opinion about car wash versus hand wash method. Chris

Correct, but this don't cover a repack or inspection or repairs, just the washing. I have seen as high as 55.oo USD for a wash. ~ ____________________________________ Judging from this, I'm waaaaaay behind the curve! Chuck I must be behind the curve too, I charge 25 for the wash and assembly afterwards. Chris

I'm glad to hear nobody saying the car wash option, most car washes use recycled water that contains bleachs and other chemicals/grime that clings to cars. Then those checmicals, oil, dirt and other road crap is blasted deep into the fibers of the container. Not to mention the pressure washer playing hell on the stiching. Chris

So what is everyone's opinion on washing rigs? Car wash? or cold water with woolite? Chris

A welded canopy would be a bitch to pack, no stitch holes for air to escape through would suck. We may have to pay packers more than 5 bucks for those. It's a good thing I don't pack anymore :) Chris

Thats right you never assume the other rigger did it right (even yourself), hell never assume that the person who owns it did not open the rig and mess with it either. If someone is slick enough they can move the reserve ripcord cable around to the side enough to free the seal without breaking it, open the reserve and reclose it without breaking the seal. I did not believe it could be done until I saw someone open a rig without breaking the seal. Even if a seal is put on tight this can still be done. Chris

I have seen alot of mains fly just fine with lines out of order on the links. Having them out of order on a reserve should not cause a problem either. It just looks bad on the riggers who did not catch it. It would be easy to miss if you do not check each line and assume the previous rigger did their job correctly. Chris