Sincy78

I absolutely do not believe the "I couldn't talk" statement Congrats Bill

Anchoring the apex of small round parachutes.

Thanks for your help. Got a bunch on the way.

Anyone know where I might be able to buy some of these?

Watch the video, the PC has a 3-ring release on it. As the pilot chute is being used to slow him down prior to release it should be called a drogue in correct parachute vernacular.

Join Skydivers Ressurection Association SRA on Facebook. Mary Todd has donated gear she keeps to get old farts back in the air after the break. I've donated rigs and canopies, lots of others have too.

Download Steve Lingard's Guide Here http://www.aerodecelerator.org/DOC_ARCHIVE.htm#Ram-Air_Parachute_Design

The SRB's weigh about 195,000 lbs each at recovery. Each main parachute weighs 2000 lbs and there are three of them. The kicker is they impact the ocean at about 80 ft/sec. You need an awful lot less velocity than that for land impact survivability. Doesn't really help the person with the project at hand, but is interesting nonetheless.

If its been sitting in the sun in the Inland Empire on top of a building, probably should be condemned. UV degradation will have eaten the material up

Thanks, but I only have one I want to use for a test so I can't break it to find out the yeild and ultimate strength. I'll try and find out what material it's made from and calculate the strength.

Anyone out there know what the safe working load for a Forgecraft 1077 is?

I worked on many of the Irvin AAD's and should be able to provide information on the mk 10B, D1 mk4, B2 mk2 and FF2. PM me and let me know what kind of information you are looking for.

You're correct, to save you from searching here's where a copy can be downloaded. http://www.airborne-sys.com/pages/view/publications It's the bottom publication, it is a big file and takes a while to download so be patient.

24' is a reference diameter. If you measured the total area of a gore, including cut-outs (vent etc.) and then multiplied that area by the number of gores, it gives you a reference area. The diameter of a round parachute is the theoretical diameter of a circle that has the reference area calculated. You cannot measure a conical parachute by laying it out flat, because by definition it is a cone, and will not lay flat. If anyone is interested in more details on this and many more subjects on parachute design, I'll post a link to a downloadable version of the 1978 Air Force Handbook. It's a big file though.

Send me your e-mail addresses and I'll send you a very interesting report on the aerodynamics of parafoils

A very good friend o fmine is the original inventor of the PC. I'll see if he's up for helping you.

Bally Ribbon Mills makes shuttle loom and shuttleless. So the canopy manufacturer needs to see which they ordered. Glad to be of some help here.

Looking at the fraying speaks volumes. The tape is fraying across the fill. It looks to me that the manufacturer has used class 1A or class 2 shuttleless tape for this attachment. The bartack has trapped the catch cord, that's why it hasn't frayed beyond this point. Folding the end of the tape under will NOT help. It's not fraying along the warp, it's fraying across the fill. I don't usually get involved in these discussions, but I feel this is important, especially as there seems to be a number of occurences. Masterrig, contact the manufacturer and find out what class of tape they are using and encourage them to use class 1 and absorb the extra cost. This hasn't been the first time I've come across this type of problem. It looks to me that he integrity of the attachment is relying on the friction between the bartack and the end of the catch cord that is still in the homogenous section of the tape. If I have mis-diagnosed the problem, I apologize, but I would rather speak up than see someone subjected to a potentially dangerous situation, because I didn't want to look stupid.

This may be caused by the selection of the type of tape. These tapes can be manufactured using 2 different methods. Class 1 is a shuttle loom method and Class 1A is a needle loom method. Needle loom manufactured tapes have a lock stitch at the edge of the tape. If the textile "end" that forms the lock stitch breaks, it can cause the tape to un-ravel across the fill direction IE side-to-side. Class 1A tapes are normally cheaper than Class 1, but I prefer to use class 1 on any safety critical textile elements. You can usually tell class 1A weaves by feeling the edges of the tape. One side is usually slightly thicker than the other and feels a little "lumpy" on the thicker side. It is very subtle though, especially on lighter weight tapes. I have attached a picture of how the "catch cord" on class 1A tape works. Hope this is useful.

The B2/MK2 was used on a plethora of bailout systems. The last ones that I know of, to go into service, were used for some testing on the Nimrod aircraft in the late 80's/ early 90's. My old boss designed this device and it really is an elegant mechanism. Does the one you have still have the wax paper cover on the outside faces of the case? This would indicate that it really is un-used. The device is no-longer in-service.