Beatnik

I personally wouldn't waste may time with a Pfaff 130. If you are looking at a Pfaff get a 138 or 238. Overall a better machine. 130's are super old, aren't really around anymore and is more of a home machine than an industrial one. I am not saying that it can't do a lot if not all of the light work that is around. A 138 or 238 is much better equipped to do it. thanks Jim, thats some handy info... I've already got a line on a local one :) No problem. I own a 138 and it just keeps going problem free. It is great for light to medium rigging work. If you have any specific questions regarding it, send me a PM and I will see what I can do to help.

I don't know any of the particulars with this but I don't believe it would be required if the system is different. There are other patents out there for systems that do the same thing and IMO are simpler. For instance the Interlock system by Eric Fradet. If you look at his patent, it doesn't require any special hardware and is made of readily available components and appears to be cheap to manufacture.

I see how there are multiple factors affecting this. There probably are a few other things that contribute to this as well than what has been mentioned so far. I can see how the addition of loads from shifting large amounts of weight in the harness can transfer elsewhere. Because of the nature of a closing loop and being distorted in different directions, the static and dynamic forces can easily add up to great amounts. I understand the reason flex-pins were created, especially in this application but don't you think that the requirement to have a cable, of whatever length, to be extracted from the closing loop is going to produce more wear than a 1" or so smooth metal pin? Even if the cable is in good condition, it should do more damage to the closing loop. It is interesting how many more factors need to be accounted for when the overall concept doesn't seem that complicated. That is something everyone developing something encounters. I know I have had my share.

I personally wouldn't waste may time with a Pfaff 130. If you are looking at a Pfaff get a 138 or 238. Overall a better machine. 130's are super old, aren't really around anymore and is more of a home machine than an industrial one. I am not saying that it can't do a lot if not all of the light work that is around. A 138 or 238 is much better equipped to do it.

Wasn't the closing loop wear contributed to the use of a cable instead of a metal pin? That flexible pin creates a lot more friction on the loop and pretty much saws through it.

I use Type V like Jump Shack uses on the Racer. They are thicker than Type IIa and don't require a washer plus they last a long time. http://www.paragear.com/templates/base_template.asp?group=32#W9720

Not sure if it still is but Terry Pike of Aero Tech was their guy.

I feel this is because you usually expect the less scary stuff to work and function properly. When it doesn't, it takes you by surprise. All of the scary stuff that I have tested has not been a big deal because if I thought something is off, I was ready and preparing for it beforehand. Plus, others catch on what I am thinking if I decide use one of the three parachute rigs. To the OP, I have jumped a 425 sq ft parachute in a container made for a 190 by just using the top and bottom flap like you have somewhat shown in your photo because I needed to do it quick and didn't have a rig to house that parachute online at that time. It worked fine but was no way the smartest thing to do. I would not recommend doing it that way. I personally feel you only have two options available to you and they are listed in no particular order: 1) Get a larger rig where you can use the rig like it was intended to be used and in a safe manner. 2) Direct bag the canopy. This is just my opinion based on personal experience.

Not so much custom but you can put something against the seal and then put it in the press. Our pennies have a maple leaf and I put a penny on the other side on my seal #'s and press it. So I have my #'s on one side and a maple leaf on the other.

After watching this video several times, I am thinking there is more to the double wrapping than what is being presented. If you look at the stows when they show the out of sequence deployment the line going to the side with the single stow is very tight but going back to the double stow side is looser. I believe you could simulate the exact same thing with a double or single wrap in this case. The other thing that I notice is that the stows are short on the single stow side. Not a lot but enough to be noticed visually. I think the type of deployment bag could have a factor in it as well. Bags with unbalanced stows tend to rock back and forth more when the lines are being released and can pull the lines and release them more easily in my opinion than a bag with balanced stows. This is mainly because balanced stow bags tend to have larger stows than unbalanced ones. Not sure if I explained that completely and I will try to explain better if need be. I personally never heard the myth that double stowing could create a baglock. Maybe I have been living under a rock or something. Whether you double stow or single stow, the breaking force of the rubber band between the stow and the bag is the same. It is only doubled around the line and not from the line back to the bag. So if the rubber band doesn't break because of whatever situation and doesn't release the stow, single or double stowing really has nothing to do with it. I am not saying that this doesn't have merit nor am not in anyway trying to discredit it. I would have liked to see the same presentation on a few variations of deployment bags and some of the other things mentioned above cleaned up. The video provides some generic information that I am not completely convinced should be used in every case. But these are just my thoughts and observations so take them as that.

Many people don't realize that you should peel and pull. I have seen a lot of FJCs teach to pull and make no mention of this. Velcro is pretty strong stuff in shear force and it to separate the hook and loop in a shear action requires a lot of strength. Your first comment on weak as a 2 year old is misplaced if you don't know how to preform your EPs efficiently and effectively. I know of more than a few skydivers that have spent a few seconds in the air to pull just two handles. Can you explain what normal velcro is? Is it napped, un-napped, a certain size, a certain type, etc.?

This is what the SIM (Section 5-1 Skydiving Emergencies) says: Maybe you should read the SIM again.

I agree with what you are saying except for this one statement: This is probably because the person that you are replying to wasn't using it right context with their mid-air rigging suggestion. But even if you can't see it directly doesn't mean you can't have situational awareness. Aircrew do it all the time by building mental pictures from radio communication. If you are able to tell that you have a pilot chute in tow, you have situational awareness. Being able to tell exactly what is causing it would be determined with the level of SA you have. Which with this example, being able to identify you have a pilot chute in tow is more than enough SA and nothing more is required.

The size of the canopy doesn't make a whole lot of difference in material control. Sure there is more to control but there is more weight with more material and doesn't move around as much. I have propacked canopies ranging in size from 100 sq ft to 450 sq ft it is all the same IMO. Comparing it to someone who has thousands of jumps isn't a fair comparison. Chances are the person with a thousand or more jumps probably has packed enough to know how to control the material regardless the size of the parachute. If someone will let you try packing on a smaller parachute and appropriately size d-bag, you will see it is very similar if not the same in respect to material control.

Rigging Innovations is closed for the holidays until 3 Jan 11. You might not get an answer from them until after the holidays.

A tailgate is a device to control the steering lines during inflation. It is another small piece of line that wraps around the steering lines and is held together with a rubber band. Essentially it controls the steering line movement. There is a lot more information on this site: http://www.basicresearch.com/tailgate.htm With a canopy inflating regardless of shape, air will fill low volume areas first. With a ramair the air will enter the cells and will fill the tail first. This doesn't mean that ther areas aren't inflating at the same time but the amount of air required to fill that small space at the tail is less than other areas and because of that requires less time to fill. It will then move to the next smallest volume area and so forth. You could take a fan to one of the cells of a ramair and see what I mean. The tail will fill first then the rest. If you can find photos of a round inflating you will see the same thing with the apex filing and then filling downwards to the skirt. The filling areas really depend on the design of the canopy. I think the above answer how the air fills. The brakes not being set won't change the inflation but more factors that help it. Like what was mentioned in the above posts. The brakes set causes the tail to cup air. The cupping and slowing down actually help with air entering in the cells. Without them set, the parachute streamers more, for lack of better descriptive words. I hope I answered your questions. They are not really easy questions to answer without getting into other areas.

Good point. I don't think bottom surface inflation can be considered inflation by definition but even thinking about it, it is kind of a grey area. I understand what is being conveyed though. Not completely convinced that the spreading will be the first thing to affect heading as per the discussion. It is one of the first things to happen but it could be debated that the canopy spreads because of inflation and not spreads then inflates. I don't know the answer and am playing devil's advocate. It is an interesting thought since it will eventually spread anyways. Single surface parachutes show us that but that doesn't prove it happens first. It could also depend on whether the brakes are set or not. When they are set there will be a small volume to fill whereas without any brakes set there isn't anything cupping.

I love this one.

The tail is a point where there is the lowest volume, similar to the apex in a round and should always inflate before the nose. When a canopy inflates it will go from the lowest volume point to the largest. I don't have a lot of knowledge in the subject of tailgates but I can't see how it would change inflation. I would tend to believe there is another reason that tailgates are used.

You could seal it in a similar manner without sewing the seal down. After the surgeon's knot you could thread it through the seal, knot and press. Then it would sit there and not add to the pull force required. The issue I see with the BPA method, while I think it is unlikely because of what would be required to do so but since no thread is broken one could reseal their container without anyone knowing. It wouldn't be easy but if someone really wanted to they could but on the same note, nothing prevents anyone from ordering a press and the same numbers as another else from paragear.

The nose openings don't need to be facing in the same direction of the container and you would really be hard pressed to find a packjob that it is like that. Even with a PRO pack where we orientate it that way, once we put it on the ground get the air out of it, the nose has moved around. Another example is with reserve packing. Most reserve packjobs have only the centre cell facing in the same direction as the container and the other six are facing to the left and right. With a flat pack the parachute is stacked from front to back and placed in the bag. The direction of the folds or the way the material isn't going to affect the opening as much as that will. With a ram-air the parachute doesn't automatically start inflating once released from the bag. It will start to cup air slightly before inflating. We set the brakes to do this. If you want a long opening, don't set the brakes and you will see how long it takes before it opens. The parachute is configured on the risers to fly in a certain way. In addition to that there is a lot of momentum from a body in free fall deploying or from a body coming off a plane. While I think that all contributes to the parachutes opening in the intended direction, I think the parachutes themselves also attribute to the openings. Most of the parachutes that are flat packed are larger or more docile, not all but most. They are not as sensitive to the distribution of the parachute during inflation. Smaller parachute, especially those with shorter lines, tend to be a lot more sensitive to those sorts of things. I haven't done any first hand experiments with crossbraced canopies and flat packing but have been told that Velocities do not respond well to being flat packed. This is coming from a person that jumped a higher loaded Stiletto and flat packed it all the time with high success. I have had various experiences with roll packing and haven't had real consistent openings. But this has been on various parachute models and sizes and nothing that could be used for real data. To gather real data so many factors would have to be included and I would suspect that the end results would be the same. Personally I am still skeptical about roll packing even taking in Peek's comments about his experiences and think more openings and parachutes would have to be examined than the many student openings cited and the assumed student style canopies. Not sure if I explained everything here or contributed to the answer that was already given. This is really not a simple question to answer and there are many variables to consider and explain to answer it properly. More information can be provided if required.

I would love to have this one explained in detail how it produces a 90° off heading opening. I think this is a myth that comes from people that have a spatial understanding of what is happening with flat packing. The parachute may start on its side but it is stacked from front to back and put into a bag like that. This is like saying side packing a round is producing off heading openings, even though it is orientated the correct way. I could see how people could say roll packing (not talking about psycho packing here) would produce an off-heading opening because you are putting it in the bag and deploying it 90° off heading.

I don't use Type V on my spring loaded rigs, only on my throw out and pull out rigs. If it is a mistake to do so, JumpShack has been making it for a while and I haven't heard of any incidents attributed to them using Type V closing loops on pull out and throw out rigs.

Nope. I mean Type V nylon cord. I should have mentioned that I gut it in my other post. JumpShack also builds closing loops with Type V.

I usually make my closing loops out of Type V. They last a long time and you don't have to use a washer with them. They knot large enough so they don't pull through the grommet.