List:
As I said in Part I:
"I went through all of that to emphasize one thing. Make sure all of the
lines (tow & chute) are pulled out straight behind the car before the
canopy is allowed to start opening"
Part II My opinions, thoughts, ideas, beliefs and experiences. Use this
information at your own risk. If anyone disagrees, even in the smallest
way, please let us/me know. Also, I talking only about Bonneville.
This is a deadly serious subject.
I believe the best method for Bonneville is a parachute bag. Bob Stroud
makes very good ones and he is very happy to talk to us about supplying
a bag for any chute. Jim Deist is, of course, also an excellent person to
contact but I have so much fun talking to him that .. -- what a phone bill!
NOTE: Don't use a bag if you don't have the time to pack it according to
the directions.
If you don't want to use a bag, you can use 1" masking tape 2-3 turns about
every 3-4 feet from where the tow line attaches to the suspension lines
(shroud lines), stopping about 4-8 feet from the canopy. 6' worked for us.
This is in addition to taping the tow & shroud lines into bundles for
easier packing.
If the chute is still hitting real hard, talk to Jim or Bob at Bonneville
about reefing the chute down. Our first chute was too big for use over
200 mph. Jim reefed it down and it was OK up to 240 mph. Don't try this
yourself, get a Bonneville expert to do it. There is no reason to use
a chute, that will give you the same eye problems that Big Daddy has, at
Bonneville. I think anything over 2.0 G is unnecessary at Bonneville
except in an emergency or over 400 mph.
General use, care and maintenance
A clean, dry chute works best. A chute packed wet with salt frequently
won't come out of the chute can until you hit the crunchies past the end
of the course - if then. A wet or dirty chute will hit harder because
air won't flow through the fabric at the design rate. Unfortunately, we
all know what a damaged chute can do.
The best way to clean a chute is in a bathtub with warm to hot water.
Do not use strong detergent, it may remove a coating on the nylon
cloth or web straps. Use Woolite(sp)or some other mild soap. Rinse it
thoroughly --> don't wring it out<-- just hang it from the shower head
or over a plastic (de-burred) hanger. Howard used the shower at M-6
very effectively. Get two cotton laundry bags. Use one to hold the
clean chute and the other for normal use.
We had one person assigned to the parachute system. Ed Conway was an
Air Force Academy grad. who flew F-105's over RP-6 until he got shot
down the second time. Parachutes had saved his life twice, which gave
him a unique view of them. Ed would be hard to match, but I would
still try to get one person to accept responsibility for chute
inspection and packing.
One final piece of advice:
After listening to people like me, call a REAL professional like Jim or Bob
and get the best CURRENT information for your EXACT application.
That's what I've always done.
Final reminder folks: Do it wrong and you could die.
Bryan
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