Quagmirian

From the horse's mouth: http://www.bpa.org.uk/assets/Minutes/STC-2015-06-04.pdf Towards the end of page 11. I've also got an interesting email back from John LeBlanc, which I didn't expect. Apparently even PD don't have a full test jumping plan for their prototypes. They just have a long list of things they want to achieve. John also said he was glad he didn't have be approved by the BPA!

I've recently been given a Pegasus and an X210 main by Andre Whilton (they are too 'modern' for his collection). The X210 looks to be in great condition. Its serial number in 555 and DOM is Deb 1984. Anybody know what the fabric is? How do they fly? Where can I find a manual? The Pegasus looks a bit ragged out and I don't think I'll be able to convince and old fart to jump it. It has worn grey lines, grass stains and a ripstop patch. Anybody know where I can find the data panel, or similarly a manual?

Thanks for the support everyone. I have calmed down a bit and I will try to reply as best as possible. Alright, I agree. Thanks, that will be useful especially when they find out what kind of work you do. Good point on experimentation, every sport needs it. It was discussed at the meeting. A lot of bogus reasons were given. no real consensus was reached. I know right? What do they seriously expect? All test jumping has to happen abroad? Or with explicit permission? Yes, this is just another reason the decision was horse puckey. It went directly against what the association is supposed to stand for. As I mentioned, no definition was given, and I don't think we'll get one for a long time.

There are no British canopy manufacturers, and now we possibly know why. This is the problem. The BPA does not exist to police equipment manufacturing. And yet the seem to think that. They have no guidelines, no standards, no nothing. All they have is this:

Heh, I knew I would get you all on my side.

The Pulse comes standard with Vectran.

Well shit. What follows is a rant. I'm not allowed to jump my canopy, nor is anybody, for at least the next two months. I'm sure a lot of people reading this thread will be just a pissed off to hear this as I am. The whole thing started because we went to the riggers meeting to ask permission to jump the canopy I had built. But the way we had asked it meant that my CCI wasn't sure whether we still needed a cutaway rig or not. Fast forward to about a month ago and I had already jumped my canopy in California. We went to the Safety and Training Committee to get final confirmation that I would be alright using it as my main. What followed when the subject was brought up was some of the finest grade-A bureaucratic bullshit I have heard in my life. I do know a lot of the people who voted, and skydiving is a small world, so I won't talk too much shit or name any names. They may even see this thread. I will list some of my favourite reasons that were given: -Mains have to be TSO'd -Manufacturers must be insured (UPT anyone?) -The BPA is not insured for home built mains -I am not qualified to be doing 'test jumping', even after having someone else do the first jumps -The canopy may suddenly collapse -I don't know what I'm doing -I have no quality control to show The worst part about this is that many people wished me luck and said they did not want to stifle my project, but then went on to vote against. We will obviously have to come up with a new plan of attack. I may also regret posting this while angry.

I love the direction this thread has taken.

Yeah, just clean up afterwards.

Heh heh, now there's an answer I was subtly hoping for. I haven't stopped thinking about what I'm going to do next, in fact I've started work on the next canopy. I'm in no rush however, since I still need to get used to my first clutch motor machine and all its differences. I also want to do lots more jumps on my lovely grey canopy. [inline machine_small.jpg] I've already made a slider for the next canopy, using my single needle. [inline slider_small.jpg] This thread is dragging on a bit now, and I'm supposed to be writing a few articles about all this. Is there anybody who would want to read more as I continue? Maybe a blog or something? That way I can stay in contact, and put this thread to rest.

Is anybody on here intimately familiar with fabric strength testing? The reason I ask, is that I bought a roll of sub strength fabric which doesn't meet the European PN1 spec of 400N/50mm, but apparently does meet MIL-C-44378 (46lbs/inch). A quick conversion shows that the American test is higher, so what's the difference?

A ripcord is slightly more fail safe than a throw out. You can pull it in any direction, and what you do with it afterwards doesn't matter. Not to mention that doing dummy ripcord pulls would be difficult/impractical with a throw out.

Apparently it seems they have changed their name... again. Parachutes direct, formerly Flight Concepts, formerly Glide Path, formerly Django Enterprises, are one of the older manufacturers. Red Payne is the top guy there for sure. I've emailed them before and by the looks of things, Red handles everything, which would explain the brevity of communications and long wait times.

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4322894;#4322894 It turns out PD won't tell you this information for this exact reason; they don't want you building you own line set. I asked them. Your best choice would be to measure the existing cascades. I don't imagine the tolerances are very small. I think the overall trim matters more.

Thanks for the kind words everyone. I'd still like to do a few more jumps on this prototype. Speaking of the next canopy however, does anybody know where a sensible place for the bridle attachment is? I put mine between the B and C lines, and there were concerns that this is too far forward. Thoughts?

Really cool, more please! Check your link for the javelin video.

The topic name was always supposed to be ironic. Designing, building and jumping a canopy was a huge effort. I don't think I could have done it without everybody's help here.

Yeah, sorry I didn't see you. I realised too late I should have sent you my picture or something. I asked around, but couldn't find anyone who knew you. More good news, I jumped my canopy for the first time today (beer). It handles like a rectangular canopy. [inline jump.jpg]

Videos of jumps 2-4. We haven't taken it to terminal yet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9jrTiWGTMY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enwL9M0-ep0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rksayGOJ6to

I've literally just sold one. They do exist. Sometimes people just buy large containers and then don't jump them. Keep watching the classifieds and whatnot.

Video of the first jump

Another 10 days.

2 years and 9 months later... [inline HPIM4565.png] [inline HPIM4567.png] [inline HPIM4568.png] [inline HPIM4569.png] [inline HPIM4570.png] [inline HPIM4571.png] [inline HPIM4572.png] This was the second jump we did on it, with a short delay. You may notice that it is being landed in rears. For the first jump, Zak from Elsinore took it from the top and did a high pull. I was too excited to take pictures. As for the rig, I rented a container and we packed it up as a main. I should have inside video for both jumps, and outside video and stills for the second jump. I'll upload them as soon as I get them. Today, we might take the canopy on a longer delay or add some weight (it is currently loaded at 1.0).

How time flies. Here's a little update for anyone still following this. The good news is that I went to the BPA riggers meeting in February, and it turns out that you can jump home made canopies after all. However, the minutes of the meeting still haven't been uploaded yet, so I'll have a hard time convincing CCIs at DZs where I don't usually jump. We're also still contemplating what kind of rig and deployment system to use. My backup plan is to take the canopy to the USA. I'm going to Lake Elsinore for some jumping in a couple of weeks. I haven't heard back from the DZO, but I assume they'd be up for it. Anybody here jump at Elsinore?

I saw your video; it must have been a swift plus since it was a 7 cell.