Quagmirian

Start a thread, would you? You'll get more replies that way and be able to share what you know, and it'll all stay around for future reference. Plus, I'm interested.

Perform an all-line check, by running up one group at a time. It isn't difficult, and it will show all faults except twisted lines.

Gonna have to be pedant here. They must have the same planform since the aspect ratio is identical and they're both rectangular.

Quick search returned nothing. Anybody got one of these machines? A friend is selling his and I wondered whether it would make a good machine for canopy manufacturing.

Just as a suggestion, 1.35 for a reserve is too high.

Have you seen John LeBlanc's video about line types? Quite a useful summary: http://youtu.be/knXrXHiWO7o

This is Gold.

Optimum has a pretty pronounced nose lip. The V tapes are distributed differently. I haven't had a good look at one yet, but I assume there are subtle panel shape differences too. PD has had 25 years to come up with improvements, after all. It's not magic, these little things will add up.

I'm pretty sure the planform is exactly the same. It'll be other things they've changed like line trim, airfoil/panel shape etc.

Searched Google for malfunction photos, was surprised, then searched for PD malfunction photos and found these: http://www.performancedesigns.com/images/galleries/malfunctions/

Lee's suggestion that it could be used as a water rig is a good one. Advertise it as a water rig and you may get more than $100 for it. Someone will even buy it for scrap or reference or historical collection or whatever.

May I have some of what you're smoking please?

Yeah or you could just have my copy...

Ok that's not creepy at all.

Type 1a webbing (falls under w-4088 or w-27265 when treated) but is more likely to be called a tape. It is like a wide type 1 tape.

ParaGear, DJ and my local rigging lofts draw a blank.

Mil-W-4088 Type 1a, Class 1. 3/4" wide, 600lb tensile strength Does anybody know where I can find a few yards? BRM sells it but only by the roll.

Fair enough, I don't think that's a good enough reason for it though.

I've always interpreted that bit of the ops manual to mean 'certified equipment'. Riggers don't make canopies anyway, only container components and sliders. It's a very grey area. Becoming a manufacturer also interests me. Surely you need facilities and business insurance, but how do you prove that you can actually design and make parachutes, without first being a manufacturer?

Apologies for the lack of updates, just as things were getting interesting. I just missed the last jumping day at my DZ in December, and other DZs I approached will not allow test jumping of my canopy. I'll see if I can can get the canopy jumped this weekend, weather permitting. Also I'm quite proud of my converted belly container, although we may end up just static lining the canopy out of the door anyway. [inline HPIM4485_small.jpg]

PD recommends at least 300 jumps before jumping a reserve with a wing loading higher than 1.0. They also warn about unconscious AAD deployments.

A gross misuse of the word 'meme'.

I think the Raven 4 measures about 250 sqft when measured the same way as the Rmax and PD. Or, if you prefer, you could say that the Rmax and PDR measure bigger than their stated size.

I think the proper term for line to span ratio is epsilon or something, but we tend to just call it the canopy arc. Although the lines scale with size, the risers and harness don't. If anything I would guess that wing loading being the same, smaller canopies are twitchier on the roll, and have a longer recovery arc.