riggermick

[ Some have had the Catapult on them and some have had it removed (the Catapult installed IS the standard configuration for Reflexes, by the way). It is ONE standard of the Reflex H/C system, but not the only one. The Reflex is TSO'd (TSO c 23 d) for operations both with and without the Catapult secondry reserve pilot chute system installed. During "normal " reserve deployments the Catapult system did not show an improvement nor did it show a degradation for reserve deployment during an emergency procedure. During such "routine" emergency procedures it acted as it was designed to do... it's job. It's (Catapult) capability only comes into play when the primary pilot chute becomes unable to perform it's primary function (to deploy a reserve canopy) and therefore requires the reserve canopy to be deployed by other means (drag producing devices such as the free bag bridle and or assistor pockets), Because of and due to this unuiqe atribute (over coming the drag issue), this is where it's usefullness ends. It was never considered to be a reserve/ main entanglement clearing device and does not not support that capability, nor has it ever claimed to be. Fliteline Inc . Recorded several saves attributed to Catapult due to primary reserve pilot chute failure, snag/ hang ups involving the using jumper and/ or his/ her equipment (eg: ring sight/ harness/ container/ feet etc). This emperical evidence has supported the the original stated use(s) and outcome(s) of the system as being entirely what the original claims are based upon. Any infererence to capabilities outside of the aforementioned stated operating paramiters are beyond the designers origionial intentions and of the systems capabilities in performing those percieved objectives. THIS!!!!!!! is what I designed and built to overcome: A potentially fatal situation ( that had me 1.5 seconds from impact at terminal) without the need to claw my gear to shreds prior to the point of OF GETTING A DEPLOYMENT BEFORE IMPACT!!!!! ENOUGH SAID? THAT IS, MY FRIENDS.....THE ESSENCE OF THE CATAPULT AND IT'S ORIGINS. Have I made my point NOW!!!!!!! God I f..kin hope so!!!! Live life and enjoy, it's wayyyy too short. Mick.

Give me a couple of days and I will send you a ***copy of the original RSL drawing with all the specs to build them yourself. Take the offer of a free one for now. Mick.

Shit! I might know her, what was her name? Doesn't anyone think to call anymore for answers about Reflex? I'm not a hermit (yet) or dead (yet), just out of country for s while, Business you know! Mick.

hi Jerry, is the address. Got the video, looks great. Email me privately and I'll let you know what's goin on. Good to hear from you. Mick.

Try Ray Farrell at Action Air, he has all of the old Fliteline inventory. we built several white harnesses out of T7 and T8, not sure about T13 though. Mick. PS: Happy new year all!!

My friend Dave Schulz remembers Patrick's days out at Perris. Said he enjoyed being able to just hang out in a crappy old pair of cutoffs and be accepted as one of the guys. Swayze was a trained dancer, so it's no surprise he took to the air so well. Two years is a very long hard fight with pancreatic, he really fought it like a man. He even had the guts to make another TV series, which is tough enough when you're in good health. I'll miss him. I was active as an instructor at Perris when this was going on, never jumped with him but put him through the hanging harness on several occasions and got to know him. A truly nice guy, smoked like a chiminey between jumps, probably nerves, he was a new jumper after all. He was a great student, always thinking things through. His brother Don made a bunch of jumps and had to have a foot amputated after a BASE jump went bad, super nice guy too. That was a fun, magical time at Perris, one could almost call it the "golden age" of skydiving. The movie made huge gains for the sport. He will be missed by many BSBD brother. Mick.

My bad, Ernie and Abe, it's been a long four months and I was very tired when I wrote this. Mick.

I am at a loss for words, I've known him for years, I can't believe he's gone. Garry was one of my mentors (pre, through and post Flight Line) and was always there with sober, candid and non judgmental advice. He was my neighbor and my friend and would always rely on " the facts" rather than the latest gossip. I am a greater person for knowing and learning from him. I can't fathom him not being here to council and advise when needed. the world is a lesser place without him!! Gary, BSBD you are sorley missed. This man was the quintisesual sensi in all matters about parachuting and life. I'm saddened that he is gone but his mark will live on, he touched so many people and turned them in the right direction ,the world has lost a gentalman giant. Gary your sprit will live on. I'm crying right now and will try to post more at a later time, I miss you bro, you are/ were one of the best fiends I can still count on one hand. (you know , it's a small list). Thank you for all of your'e help and support. Best vibes to Earnie and Anthony. Mick Cottle. Skydiver, equipment builder.

Nice one George, RIP Beezy. Hope all is well with you, miss him, very tallented guy. Take care. Mick.

Ouch! Actually in my 600+ jumps since I've gone to elliptical mains, I've chopped 2 spinners, neither of which was the result of bad luck. They were the result of bad body position or bad packing with an unforgiving canopy model that is known for it's marginal openings. Is that humble enough for you? Based on my experience, I don't think that either of these line-twist incidents would have resulted in a cut-away under one of my old rectangular canopies. BTW, my reserve is not elliptical. Again, those are your words, not mine. We all have a capacity to fail--let's not blame luck when we do so. Wow, when did DZ. COM become REC. .? Not aimed at you John. After being away for awhile it seems to be degenerating in to the wild west days of the REC. during the 90's. What happened to civil discourse? Although Capt what'hisname ( Stan I thiink) has a legitamate aurguement, I do take your side of the argumenent about "shit happens". If one has been around for a while, one has seen and done enough shit to realize that if somthing can go wrong it will eventuly happen when you least expect it. I surely hope his luck hold's out, not that he believes in luck or fate. But that's life, is it not ? Mick.

I'm assuming cats are interchangable with skydivers since load organising is frequently known as cat herding. Indeed.

Hmmm... Schrodingers famous canopy experiment where you pack a canopy in a container and you don't know whether it's a good canopy or a malfunction until you pull. Your packed rig is therefore set in a state of undefined quantum flux between malfunction and no malfunction and the skydiver is neither alive nor dead until the measurement is made at pull time. That anomaly of physics? Wasn't that about about a cat? Mick. \\

Both. Sorry for the delay I'm in Melbourne Austraila and very busy right now. Opening Costco Austraila, the first one in the southern hemispere. Come on down to Victoria Melbourne docklands and see us. It will suprise you, Australia is about to be taken buy storm. As I previously stated all three haven't changed over the years. It's all about human nature. I stand buy that. Mick.

Stupidity, bad rigging , bad engineering or #4 bad luck. Take your pick Mick.

Sounds like the needle bar may be set too low if it's coming into contact with the feed dogs. Very first thing to do is make sure the right needle is installed, if it's not then nothing will work correctly and it will be a bitch to time (your needle could be too long or even be bent slightly). Check the timing on the feed dogs, they should be coming up and moving forward as the needle bar is on it's up stroke (but only after the needle has cleared the work) Also check to see if the hook race is installed correctly. Is this machine a rotary hook or a shuttle hook? The answer to this question will help pin down the issues your having. Mick

You actually have enough thread guides and tensioners still on the machine to sew with no issues. The tension spring is the most important piece in the thread guide system and it looks to be in good shape. You will need to change the presser foot to an open foot design as the one you have is for very heavy duty sewing and will be difficult to do accurate stitching on parachute gear. Also a bobbin cover plate wouldn't go amiss. As far as thread guides go most are just pressed in and some are held in with screws perpendicular to the guide. A good cleaning is also needed, and probably some lubrication also, DO NOT use three in one oil as it will gum up after a while, use only white machine oil. It is vegatable based and will not harm nylon. Also watch those fingers, industrials can bite quite hard given the chance. Oh, almost forgot, check the hook for burrs and a blunt tip, this will cause it to skip stitches, break thread etc. When timing, it is important to make the hooks horizontal distance from the needle as close as possible without touching the needle. Most people when they time a machine overlook this and just focus on the loop capture distance (to the side of needle eye) from the needle. Good luck with your new toy. Mick.

okay - for all of those that have poo pooed so far - WHY is it bad? I'm looking at the stitch pattern - machine was working good - looks like enough stitching to pull 22 lbs. Other than it looks like crap - what is wrong with it? Why do you not think it would work? Educate me here. (remember that whole education not regulation thread in the USPA forum?) Looks like it was sewn with F thread (11 lb breaking strength) as opposed to 5 chord (40 lb breaking strength), also about 6 stitches completly missed the 3/4" T 4. There look to be about 25 to 28 stitches all told, now some math: 11 lb x 28 (best scenario here) = 308 lb, take away the 6 or so stiches from the pattern and you come up with 11 lb x 22= 242 lb about 50 lb less. The fact that the T 4 has been compromised in at least two ways makes it more vulnerable to shredding as it comes under a quick and heavy load, the stitching that runs off the edge of the webbing will destroy it's selvedge edge and allow it to seperate and the fused (melted part first photo r/h side) part of the webbing has been weakened to the point that it cannot be counted on to live up to it's rated load. All of this "static" evidence coupled with a dynamic load and a twisting motion of the riser as it releases would in all likelyhood cause the joint to fail or come very close to it, making it a one time use product. It is unlikely that it would be viable after more than one use. It's poor engineering not to wrap the webbing loop around the riser body with at least one full side overlap, even sandwitching the loop between the webbing ply's and sewing it with 5 chord is a damn sight better than what we see. hope that helps explain the forensics behind what we see here. Oh, and it's damned ugly too!!!!!! Forgot to add: As it's only swen to one leg of a T 17 (2500 lbs) riser it would probably compromise that too.

I spoke with Victor today ( he contacted me) 12 30 08, and indeed.he is alive and well. I won't diivulge his location or contact info untill he will permit it. I am going to send him DZ.Com forum info so he can communicate directly if he so chooses. It was good to hear from him. PM me for contact info untill then. Mickn

Nope. These are the first responses in two and a half years, I guess he just dropped off the map. Pity I would love to catch up with him. How are you doing? still jumping? I'm not these days, due to enormous work constraints and other commitments. Hope all is well. Mick.

Is there a time warp going on here? I wrote that post in July of 06. Forgot about it until hits started showing up in my in box or did I miss something? Mick.

Oh man, this just plain sucks! this it truly unbelievable. So sad. BSBD, Harry gonna miss you. It seems we loose more and more friends as time marches on. At least he died doing what he loved. Mick Cottle. PS: hi Pat.

I am sorry to have offended you. But the fact remains you do not have the knowledge or the experience to challenge someone of Mick’s background. Like me you hold a Senior Riggers Cert. That is just a lic. to start learning. After you have practiced your craft for 5 or 10 years and been exposed to some of the many rigging problems out there you will have a reason to be offended. Jmo Sparky [email] also, as you age your skin gets thicker and it takes a whole lot more to offend you. Your epidermis sould be about a foot thick shouldn't it? Mick.

I respect the fact that Mick has been in this game much longer than me. To suggest that I need to do fact checking and get a rating without checking his own facts offends me. I don't mind being criticised but if you do make sure you have something valid to complain about. I try my hardest to answer every question correctly and many times this leads me to open a book and do actual research to ensure advice I dispense is technical and correct. To assume wow, I didn't realize you were so sensative and easily 'offended'. My most humble apologies to you. Also you are quite right about the rating thing, I should have checked your profile. One does not generally see such inexperience coupled with a rating, so I made an assumption that was incorrect. once again my apologies. I do have to state however that you are indeed giving advice on equipment with regards to replacement over repair, which by your statement to the origional reply shows. It also shows a marked lack of understanding as to the cost and complexity of harness adjustment over entire rig replacement. For the record English is my first language and I do seem have a somewhat reasonable grasp of it. Once again my apologies to you. Mick.

I had a complete harness replacement on a 1997 Javelin for $250 + shipping. That included new cutaway and reserve handles due to updates in the harness configuration. As for the OP, all that shit should have been dealt with before buying the rig. It was not such a good bargain if the damn thing does not fit your needs. Sparky My, feeling grumpy today are we Mick