Out of trim base canopies question

guest · June 9th, 2002, 11:00 AM

my canopy no longer lands very well and i'm not sure exactly why. i noticed the center lines have stretched about 1.5 inches. the brake lines have probably stretched by about the same amount. i do wraps when coming in to land but it still pounds me. :'( it used to be far better, only 50 jumps ago, on a canopy with no water landings, but several terminal mesh slider up jumps.

do the flight or landing charateristics depend so critically on the trim??? or has the permeability degraded heavily from the briskness of the openings?

please help!

imported_Tom Aiello · June 9th, 2002, 11:52 AM

Were they your first 50 jumps on the canopy?

F111 comes out of the factory very impermeable--almost like ZP. Hence brand new canopies flare almost like a ZP canopy would--very well. This effect wears off in around 50 jumps.

I'd be pretty concerned about the line trim, though. With some lines that have stretched an inch and a half, and others that are at the original length, in only 50 jumps, I'd send the canopy back to the manufacturer for a line trim check.

--Tom Aiello
tbaiello@mac.com

guest · June 9th, 2002, 11:59 AM

The canopy has about 130 jumps so far. It was fine until about jump number 70. However, the degradation was not abrupt at that jump number. I have inspected the canopy thoroughly and have found no problems other than the trim. thx.

imported_Tom Aiello · June 9th, 2002, 12:46 PM

When are you measuring the trim? The lines should stretch a bit on opening, and take a while to recontract. I'm not sure how much, or how long, but I'd wait at least a day after jumping to measure the lines.

--Tom Aiello
tbaiello@mac.com