RiggerLee

Wamore has done some small ram air guidance systems. They did some really small ones in about the same range. In the end they wound up with a single spool, single stepping motor. They've tried it a number of ways. some of their motors are geared so they can just set the breaks with the motor. Some times the breaks are set and the motor pulls a light weight line that has an eyelet that loops over a yellow cable on the riser and pulls it out of the loop on a two ring, how we do it. But their smallest as I said uses a single motor. The break line runs from one side, down one full time around the spindle, and back up to the other side. It opens and flys in about 1/4 breaks. To turn the motor turns a bit one way, lets out one side pulls in the other. To fly straight it goes back to center. Simplest light system they've come up with. No real flare. Cutters are $$$ Some people use a heated wire to cut a loop of micro line to release their drogue. So they have a dowel or some thing wrapped in wire. A loop of micro line loops around it and a loop on the drogue, think slink, wire heats and cuts through the loop. Cheaper. Sounds really cool. Great project. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

Air on Mars is pretty thin. I have a hard time imagining landing a canopy their. It's a shame because wing suiting the Valley could be really cool. I wonder how fast you could fly? Would the wing suit be super sonic? Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

It might not kill you to get your riggers ticket. I think you would enjoy it. Thought, How does your country feel about FAA Riggers tickets? You can do a shake and bake riggers course here in the US in about 10 days. It's not easy. I'm not a fan of that, but it does get you a widely respected riggers ticket. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

I had one for a long time. I loaned it to some one and I don't think they ever sent it back. Here's what I remember. It's got a lot of venting in the top of the canopy. You can sink it hard. Real hard. Not some think you want to be out of speck. Make sure the control lines are long enough. The weird line that it's made with stretches. They get out of trim. Then it's like they're in partial breaks and it picks up a lot of decent in breaks. I had to let out my control and pulled in my center line a bit. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

Seriously, ever thought about moving to America? When you fly to California just don't get on the return flight. Two words, Sanctuary City. You can not be deported. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

To the best of my knowledge, please feel free to correct me, their is only one manufacturer with an aero space engineering degree. Manley Butler of Butler parachutes actually went out and got his degree. My understanding is that he actually did his thesis on parachutes. Or at least that's how the story goes. He is actually a doctor of parachutes. I'm glad that they have finely established an actual definition of what qualifies as a Recognized Manufacturer. It is their right and I think we should ALL support it. Their for I am calling on all Manufacturers, Dealers, Dropzones, and jumpers to obey this guide line. I am calling on all manufacturers who do not hold an aerospace engineering degree in parachutes to cease all shipment of their products to the UK. All manufacturers not caring liability insurance in the UK must stop all sales at once. I am calling for all drop zones their to ground all equipment not built by a recognized insured manufacturer. Starting with every Vector built by the UNINSURED RELITIVE WORK SHOP. Lets see how long this last when people start getting calls cancelling their orders for next season. If we all have the balls to stand up to this we can fight this. Why should they? Why should Bill Booth give a shit about you? Or John LeBlanc? If any thing you might one day be a competitor to them. I don't think you're much of a threat. But once upon a time, they were you. Thirty years ago Bill Cole was setting in his spare bedroom sewing canopies just like you. And I can't imagine them wanting to see you squished under some buricratic heel. They've come a long way since then. In truth if they were to look at any of this, and your designs they would probably laugh, but I like to think that it would be a good hearted chuckle. But this is growing beyond you. This is reaching the point that it could actually start to affect them. This is getting real. I'm not saying that any one their is going to turn some one away from a plane tomorrow because they have a vector 3 on their back but what happens when they go in. This rule is now or soon will be in writing. That rig is built by an unrecognized uninsured manufacture. What happens when a lawyer, or barrister, or what ever you have over there gets a hold of that and starts pulling on that thread. The gear is illegal. The jump's illegal. The drop zone just allowed illegal unapproved gear to be jumped. The pilot just dropped a jumper with illegal unapproved gear to jump from his plane. What about the rigger that packs gear from an unrecognized uninsured manufacturer? Knowingly doing so might seen to constitute gross negligence which could jepredise any waver that was signed. I don't know how things work there but this doesn't sound like a good thing to me. I don't think this is well thought out. I think they are putting their head in an even bigger noose to no good end. Seriously, Leblanc, Cole, Booth, George, Sandy? Any of you guys looking at this? Do any of you carry liability insurance in the UK? This is leaning towards making you gear illegal in the UK unless you carry insurance. This poor guy may never be more then a curiosity but this is starting to have implications. I really think you might want to start making phone calls. I know that there is a strategy of wanting you gear to be just slightly illegal in hope that if their ever is a trial you can point to it and try to lay the blame on some one else but I don't agree with this type of defense. I think it's cowardly. And I think it could hurt a lot of people and ultimately hurt you. I think we need stand behind this guy. Not just because what he is doing is cool but because of what this might mean for the future. Big precedents can be set in small cases. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

I'm not sure what the statute of limitations is on this little incident but not really a cool thing to post. I thought all the tapes had been erased. The FAA isn't exactly cool about things like that. That door being wide open is totally illegal. I don't care what the military did in WWII. That configuration is not approved for good reason. It's too big a hole to fly if you lose the starboard engine. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

How did you wind up building your lip? How big relative to the nose? What does the inflation look like on it between full flight and breaks? How much dimple? Pictures from kiteing it of the nose? Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

Don't leave us hanging. Tell us about this Yellow thing. Trying to read the label, ZP 210? Is it all ZP? What kind of fabric is it? Is it a silicone slippery as shit like PD? How did the seaming go? Any changes to seam design? Is it the same design or is it a new airfoil and trim? You said that it flew like a saber? One or Two? Dose this mean that you've gone with a steeper trim? I was under the impression that up to now most of your canopies were more or less based on the PD nine cell which was rather flat in comparison. Glad to here that you're going to get to do some more testing. It's actually kind of silly to ground launch them rather then to jump them from a plane. Even with out a cutaway rig you're still better off from a plane. At least you have some kind of option and altitude to use it. Choices which don't exist off a low hill. You might point that out to some of these ass hats that you're dealing with. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

We were doing a bunch of pull testing when we were trying to build a heavy single point release. Interestingly we found a peace of bad hardware. It was a RW-9 ring. Think big fat heavy base three ring. Tandem ring on steroids. They were pulling consistently to over 17,000 lb. But this one we found broke, snapped, at... trying to remember, but it was like 6,000 lb. I want to say that it was about a third of the normal breaking point. Actually I take that back. I may be confusing it with another failure. That peace may have failed even lower at like 3,500 lb. It was interesting you could see a clear discoloration on the fracture face implying an internal fracture. It was a FC forge craft peace. I was talking to the guys at Borden at PIA about it. They actually took the time to come up to my room to look at it. When they took over the contract to forge that part they through out all the old tooling as too worn and started again. They were able to instantly diagnose it as a manufacturing flaw. We talked about what could be done to detect some thing like this and what they told me is that after it was plated their wasn't really any way to detect such a flaw. You just have to build it right in the first place. In the end we just proof tested all the hardware. The failure point of this peace was way below a "healthy" peace so proof loading them was not a problem. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

That's it. It was a pretty big problem even then. To the point that he did the math and it mad since to drop the bucks to make a new ring. That's actually a lot of money to set up the tools for the forging. The industry has grown a lot since then. I wonder how many rigs will ultimately be affected by this. It might be time to dust off those old dies. But if they are using those rings else where in the harness Like the hip rings then it's even more interesting. It could mean building whole new harnesses. It's actually easier to start from scratch then trying to salvage the main lift web and leg webbing. Keep in mind we really don't know any thing yet. I don't think they know any thing yet. If this really goes south it could sink them. It will be interesting to see what they do. Will they man up and face it or pull the cutaway handle and declare bankruptcy? Time to learn about their real character. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

As to whether it is fixable... Remember when Booth had a hard wear problem. His answer was the bolt in ring. It would be a pain to replace them. It's almost a rebuild on the whole harness and unless they authorize some one else to do it, it will be a long way to ship the rig. Depending on how the rig is configured you might as well replace all the webbing rather then sewing through it again. If they gear up and pre make some of the parts they could do it pretty easy. But Booth bit the bullet and made a new ring rather then deal with it. Hay, you could upgrade to large rings! On another note. I've got mixed feelings about some of these over seas companies. It's cool that their are more players and that the industry is growing. What bothers me is that it's not growing here. How many people are their left in the US that make hard ware? Borden. Who makes webbing other then Bally? Who makes fabric other then Performance and they just got bought by some one. It seems to be working but... What does it say about industry here in the US. Do you realize what it's like trying to hire a seamstress. You'd better be ready to train her your self. The only one I could find that had any experience was 70. And forget finding a good mechanic. What I'm saying is that the industry it self is not really healthy. To be clear, I'm not saying that their are any problems in it. The guys at Borden are awesome. Louis that sell me my webbing at Bally is a god send. And Performance was easy to deal with. But manufacturing in this country is in decline and it's hurting us. Their isn't a sewing industry any more. And it's hard for us to exist in a vacuum. So think about things like this ring the next time some one tries to seduce you into buying webbing out of china or hard wear from Korea. It may be a little more expensive but it may be worth it to deal with the company that's been doing this forever. And support your local suppliers otherwise you really wont have them some day. And any time you take a deal on some thing cheep from the other side of the world think about what it could cost you. I wonder how many harnesses they will have to rebuild? Could be just this one. Or it could bankrupt them. I learned a long time ago not to fuck around. Buy the best shit you can, right from the source. That's why I get my webbing from Bally, not on Ebay. End of rant. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

Cool. ee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

Must be some thing in the water. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

looks like they did the Mr Bill at terminal with just an ordinary rig, not a tandem. And I hope that was an old junk rig that he dropped. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

Single child but back in school I knew the Rexrots. They were all gymnast. Older brother Danny and the two younger identical, and I mean totally identical twin sisters. They were tiny and cute and they played it up. Think matching Pig tails and freckles. Actually I think one scored a little higher on the beam and the other was a little better on the uneven bars but other then that I really couldn't distinguish them. I actually thought of them as one person. Competed along side them for years all through high school but I never actually knew their individual names. They were just the Rexrots. Then some thing happened. It was like puberty finely struck one of them at 17 and she just went insane. She discovered boys. suddenly she wanted to be pretty rather then cute. Cut off the pig tails, short stylish hair cut. Started wearing make up. And started dating and chasing after boys. The other was like, "But, but... pig tailes." And she was like, "Aaarrrgh, NO MORE PIG TAILS!" Her life took a sharp 90 deg turn and diverged from the other. From that day forward you could never confuse them with each other which had been quite the problem before. I haven't seen them in years, like 25, but I wouldn't be surprised if the first one wasn't still wearing her hair in pig tails. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

A while back I was listening to an audio book. It was a holiday based comedy. But at the end it had some recipes. They were specifically geared towards meat lovers. One of them was for a bacon blanket turkey. Basically they rubbed it with all kinds of spices. Salted and spiced the hell out of the thing then wove bacon strips to form a blanket over it. So basically the turkey was wrapped in bacon and spices and would do a lot of it's own self marinade as it cooked holding the spice against the skin to soak in along with all the awesomeness of the bacon. Always wanted to try it but It's hard to justify cooking a whole bird just for my self. Yes, it's a little much even for me. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

A lot of machines have a little thread guide that holds a peace of foam soaked with lube just above the needle. That's to wet the thread, reduce friction and help cooling. You might be able to add one. In more extreme cases you'll also see then set up with air from a compressor to cool the needle. Think automatic machines like a tacker. Cordura is not normally that bad. Try some of the coated fabrics some time. Rubber coated is hell. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

The FAQ link doesn't seen to work. Do you have the proper link? Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

Medium, gray in the middle will do the trick. Well done is on the dark side of burnt. No one cooks even hamburger "well done". The only exception I've ever known was my father. He liked his steaks thin and cooked well done. His test was if he could hit it with a fork and crack it in half. Operative word is burnt, as in to a crisp. I can offer no excuse for the terrible things that that man did to perfectly good peaces of meat. I refused to eat steak as a child and it's all because of him. Then one night in high school our team went out to eat at a steak house. I was informed that I would have to eat some thing and they ordered me a steak medium rare. It was like the first hit of crack. I've been a meat eater ever since. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

You're giving me flash backs. I think that's what we used to pack for Bell Textron for the XV-15, V-22 Osprey prototype. What a POS. Hated those things. Pain in the ass to pack. They had to loan us a box of secret tools every time to close the damn thing. Is the ballistic cutter in date? I don't know how easy it will be to find a cartridge for those. If you get your hands on the full manual for the seat could you send me a copy? I only saw the parachute it self. I never got to see how it integrated into the seat or the plane/helicopter. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

How in the hell did he get that much footage together? That is the most awesome collection of not dieing that I've seen. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

Going back to the first post... WTF have we become so complacent that that's not considered a big deal? You're describing a very fundamental issue that raises serious questions about about the TSO. Good that you're addressing it, but broader picture. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

You know at one point, one of the most common sources of black widow spider bites for men was the seat in the out house. Some times it doesn't pay to be a dangler. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

If this is the first you've heard of this then your lucky. Forget all the fun and traditions you had as a kid. Many schools have banned Halloween. Students are forbidden to wear costumes or bring food to school. Schools have banned Christmas. It's all for fear of... offending some one. Hell, atheist can be offended by any thing. Examples, I pulled these from Starns articals just because it was easy to find. He's a far right christen activist but he comes up with some funny and frightening stuff. http://video.foxnews.com/v/4570246090001/starnes-dover-afb-disavows-endorsement-of-christian-charity/?#sp=show-clips http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/10/09/lawsuit-baby-jesus-doesnt-belong-in-christmas-play.html http://video.foxnews.com/v/4545697269001/starnes-jesus-haters-launch-war-on-christmas--in-october/?#sp=show-clips http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/10/05/school-cancels-america-day.html http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/12/15/ho-ho-no-school-bans-santa-from-winter-concert.html Couldn't find the one about schools banning students from bringing food to school. Forget parties or bake sales their in the past. For the record I'm not religious but I fondly remember Halloween, Thanks giving, Christmas, Valentines day and others being celebrated back when I was in school. But I guess the next generation wont have any of those memories. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com