nutinbutdust

There has been talk of a pig roast on saturday the 14th.

Come join the Minnesota Skydivers Club in Waseca Minnesota for our annual Family Days. We will be hosting a PAC 750 for 3 days of fun. There will be organizing by team FlewID, and fun to be had by all. There is no boogie fee, so there will be no food, or beer provided. Bring your own. Camping and showers available. We look forward to seeing you: Alan

Bigway, That is exactly why i do that with AAD's for my customers. I do it as a service. Sometimes I don't think people realize what a pain it is to deal with them(AAD's). I don't charge anything, but have to package and drive to wherever I ship from be it Fedex or UPS. Like I said before, I think AADS are a good thing and would like to encourage people to use them. I just get frustrated because people don't seem to appreciate what you do for them. Cypress II's are a great improvement. I don't have to worry about stocking batteries for them. I have never had a complaint with service from SSK. It has always been excellent, and I can always contact Eric, and he takes care of me. It was great to meet the people I always talk with on the phone at the last symposium. It is always great to put faces on the people you deal with. Looking forward to Reno in 2009. Blue Ones Alan H

Reading this thread got me thinking, I dont think most skydivers realize what is involved from a riggers perspective. The thing I dont like about AAD's is that from my perspective they are a hassel. When a rig comes in for a repack that needs a 4 year, I have to package the AAD and take it some where to ship it. I do this for a service to my customers. After shipping I wait for an email or call Eric at SSK to make sure they got the AAD. When it is shipped out, I have to pay for the service. I am then at the mercy of the customer to pay me for the service. I then only charge the customer for my shipping to SSK and the bill from SSK. I think AAD's are a good thing and want to encourage their use. Maybe I need to rethink, the way that I charge for the service. I dont charge to Uninstall/Reinstall the AAD, maybe I should. If I could choose how to this, when the rig is dropped off I would remove the AAD and hand it to the customer, and let them send it to SSK. Then they could bring the CYPRESS back to me when it is returned. Just My 2 cents Alan H

Google the following terms: Harness Hang Syndrome Compression Avascularisation Re-perfusion Syndrome orthostatic intolerance These conditions are more prevalent in cavers, but this can happen with tandem passenger harnesses. Alan

I know it is made from fiberglass instead of carbon fiber or kevlar. Fiberglass has advantages and disadvantages. The main advantage of fiberglass is that it absorbs impacts better than plastic, carbon fiber or Kevlar. The main disadvantage is that fiberglass helmets have a shorter lifespan. They should be replaced every 5 years or if they have a major impact. I have been looking at them too. Alan

That could very well be. I think he was originally from the Oklahoma area. I first met him at Bob Alspaugh's dz in Stroud Ok around 1977(? memory from that time is a little fuzzy)

Does anyone out there know where I can find a PDF of the PRE VSE Infinity manual? I have the manual for the VSE Infinity, just need the old one. TIA Alan

Is anyone out there using one? do you like it? Does it perform well with e thread? Came across one in my search for a 308 stitch machine. TIA Alan

on the nose of the dual keel there are two pieces of type 4 tape located on either side of the nose... question is what to do with them... it does not have a nose slider like a single keel... __________________________________________________ Back in 1976 it was common practice to hot knife the nose slider. This was a dactyl performance mod. I did so to my single keel. Does the type 4 tape have a grommet with two lines passing throught them? If so put a rubberband on the center noseline. Fold up the type 4 tape and put it inside the rubber band. This mod was supposed to make therm fly better(it let the nose open further). I am way too fat now for a single keel, but I knew I guy in the 70's that was built like a bowling ball and probably was over 250 that jumped a duel keel. Alan

Other Racer Tricks. This one is from a racer Jedi Master(Ken Neustel) Go to a fabric store like michaels and get a small embroidery hook. I used a needle file to make sure there were no sharp edges. Use this in the hole in the hat to pull the running ends of the loop out. Using a hemostat to pull the running end out puts unnecesary wear on the cypress material. Remember it is much easier to pull these out before pulling the ripcord and opening the container. Another odd racer tool(this one is mine) I use is a round wooden six inch clock blank. This fits perfectly on the top of the pilot chute. I place a knee on the piece of wood when pulling the pilot chute snug. This enables me to pull without putting the pull on the ripcord pins. Please RiggerRob, Tell me how you made the adjustible soft bodkins or ghost loops. I have been trying to think of a way to make my soft bodkins adjustible. I use the type dave dewolf has instructions for. http://www.paraloft.com/rt_wim_de_voss.htm Sorry dont know how to make a clicky.... There are a lot of racers at my club, I pack a log of them. We even use the Racer Trainers for our students. Alan

Did this thread get jacked or what? I thought it was about Katanas not Stilletos. Any way here is what Rebeca Perin of PD said in an email to me today: " As far as the Katana release, we are still working on it! It is still undergoing testing as we dial in the final details, we are hoping to release it soon, however, we always give R&D a priority and making sure that the canopy's performance will meet our customer's needs." I am waiting on the 150 myself it is frustrating. Alan

I am not familiar with vector 3 ripcord rigs but my guess would be the ripord is on the right flap, so you would close the right flap last, putting the ripcord on the top flap. The reason the vector thowout rigs are right left, goes back to when throwouts were introduced. If you close them left right, the bridal can wrap around the right flap(to the left of the closing pin) causing a pilot chute in tow. People died from this in the late 70's.

I get mine at Walmart.

Just want to remind everyone there is a BSR applicable to intentional cutaways. From the 2004 Sim Section 2-1: J. Extraordinary skydives 2. Pre-planned breakaway jumps are to be made by only class C- and D-license holders using FAA TSO'ed equipment. [E] Al

As a former XJ owner myself, the best contact on the web is an email list see: http://www.micapeak.com/lists/xj-owners There used to be a website at: www.xjowners.com but that site is dead. If you join the mail list, there were always friendly helpful people there. Maybe they can direct you to where the site is now. Al

>[Thanks for that information....I'll have to try it out..up high. Be sure you open high. It is a very interesting experience. >I didn't experience any inclination of the nose to >fold under. Did this mod help in other ways? I wouldn't hotknife the nose slider, if it is not already done. I think we were just trying to wring more performance out of a low performing canopy(but it was hot at the time). The nose slider will not come down very far. That is normal. >The pack job is as you describe it. I stowed the >excess loose steering lines in rubber bands near >the cascades on the steering lines. I also stowed >the strap in a rubber band that was attached to the >front keel line. The strap didn't move downwards >very far from there. That is a factory pack job. Sounds like you did everything. Always make sure the steering line stows near the cascade clears the rubber band after opening. Once I had a steering line stuck in the rubber band, that poped out on final, and the canopy did a 180. Really scared me, and everyone watching. >I was pretty nervous under this canopy and paying >very close attention to my rate of descent. I >wanted to be sure it would land me safely or I >would have chopped it. You should be nervous. They are scary canopies. I much perfer my stilletto or sabre. (I am way to fat to try jumping my dactyl, but if I could find a double keel one .... hmmm) >Thank-you very much for all of this information. You are very welcome. I hope you enjoy jumping a piece of history. I never jumped a dactyl with a hand deploy or collapsible pilot chute. I always used a spring loaded pilot chute with a ripcord.

The canopy will first stall sort of like a square. You feel it get mushy then start to fall back. This is a normal stall. To recover from a normal stall just let the toggles up slowly.... Hold a stall for a while(2 to 5 seconds) and it will turn into a dynamic stall. The dynamic stall is as I described in the earlier post. The canopy will dive to one side, the back corners will touch, the canopy will then dive to the other side, the lines will go slack, and you will feel like a rag doll... The canopy will dive to each side. for example to the right, then to the left. The only way to recover it is to turn it to the side it is diving to... i.e. when it dives to the right bury the right toggle. Like I said earlier, do it high if you want to try it. It does make quite an impression on the person doing the stall and the people watching it. As to the nose slider, if it is not hot knifed, it rides about 5 feet below the nose if I remember right. it doesnt come all the way down. That mod was something Jim Handbury showed me at the 76?77? nationals. I am not sure it made much difference, but the theory was that the nose could open more enabling more stable flight. Did the canopy you jumped have the nose slider(webbing with grommets across lines 2 and 3) along with a regular square type slider? .....line 1 ..... x .... /..\ ...x.....x line2 line 3 (Sorry for the bad ascii art) Did you do anything with the steering lines to stow them? If i recall the manual shows a pack job very similar to a flat pack with a square. You lay the canopy flat, with a single keel there would basically be three pieces of material laying flat from the tail to the nose. Then you s fold the canopy from the tail to the nose on each line group, and spread the nose to catch air. Is that how the manual shows to pack it? If i was there I could show you some packing techniques, but I wouldn't want to describe them without demonstrating....[;) Edited to add: normal stall recovery instructions...

You must hold slight toggle pressure at all times to prevent the nose from rolling under. The major "hot" mod in the mid 70's was to hotknife the nose slider(webbing with grommets that ran from the 2nd and 3rd lines) in half. You then used a rubber band to hold the webbing togather on opening. The nose rolling under never reversed the steering on mine.

whoa ! whoa whoa!..... Before you tell someone to stall a dactyl, they need to know how to recover a dynamic stall. My dactyl was from PI. In the owners manual it had a section on stalls. With a dactyl there are two different kind of stalls.... stall and dynamic stall. If you do a dynamic stall you will know it. The canopy will fall from side to side with the back corners touching, the lines going limp as the canopy dives and pitches you from side to side. The only way to stop this is to turn to the direction the canopy dives. If you do a dynamic stall, you will feel like a rag doll and it will definately wake you up. Be sure to do it up high and PAY ATTENTION to your altitude. It eats it up rather fast, and if you can't recover be ready to chop it. Out of 175 dactyl jumps one dynamic stall was enough for me.... Alan Heter

Legend number 1. The year was 1974. The place Wagoner Ok. 10 way speed star teams were practicing for nationals. The Aircraft was Bob Schaffer's ugly blue twin beech with the skull and cross bones on the tail. I was 1 year from skydiving(17, but at the airport watching.) A group from the Gulch were driving a hearse around. I know I met some of them, but cant remember any names except for Bob Schaffer. It seems there was a betty? They were playing with the mumified arm and taking pictures scratching themselves with it with the hearse in the background. The big rumor at the time was that it was Captain Hook's arm. I was told that they actually found it in a cave in some cliffs next to the desert. The Seventies were very good to me, but that is the way I remember it.

Smitty used to come up to Albert Lea in the late 80's to Grampas jumpfest. I think he used to ride with Jeff Bodinger(from El Dorado). He also used to always be hanging out at the nationals in Muskogee. He was a very funny man with loads of wonderful stories about the things he had done. I always enjoyed spending time with him. If I remember correctly Jeff took him on a tandem at Jumpfest one year. Al

Lets talk about test 2. I can guarantee you that, no one in the country is performing that test to specs given by CAPEWELL. 1. If you look in the box at the bottom of figure 3, the tolerance for the test is + - .03 inches. The drawing also calls for a hole in the aluminum block of .125 inches. Have you seen anyone checking the diameter of the pin to be sure that it is at least .095 inches in diameter. A friend that is also a rigger and a machinest checked the diameter of the pins on 3 racer ripcords. The six pins varied in size from .092 through .098. The ripcord with the .092 diameter pin can not be tested accourding to the test specifications. It was manufactured in 1994. 2. The drawing also calls for the pin to be .188 from the shoulder at the top of the block. the drawing also shows the pin resting at the bottom of the hole. I can assure you if you only have one block with one hole, it will not work with all ripcords. 3. "Pins in excess of .005 inch deformation along the blade of the pin should be removed from service." How is anyone accurately measuring for the bend. A human hair is .003 inches. As sparky said "I think we have a bad test." Luckily I have not encountered a racer or reflex with a manufacturing date that falls within the parameters. Those two rigs have to use test 2. I am not sure that I can perform test 2 within the parameters specified by Capewell without special equipment not specified in the bulletin.

I quote the bulletin. Status: Mandatory test- this is a one time test. One of the two tests(either TEST 1 or TEST 2) must be performed and marked per test procedure. Why are the people at CAPEWELL contradicting their own service bulletin over the phone?

Does everyone here realize, that there is a date of manufacture on the handle of most ripcords. All racer ripcords manufactured by jumpshack have a date. Javelins also have the date stamp.