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JT-Mirage

Official Post Concerning Mirage PSB

By JT-Mirage, in Gear and Rigging

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JT-Mirage    0

JT-Mirage
Hello Everyone,

I am writing this post to get everyone on the same page about our PSB that was released and to answer any questions that have been posted.

First to clarify the pricing for the modification and where to send it and the proper procedures. If you choose to have our factory service center do the modification for you, please download a repair order form which can be downloaded from our website and fill it out completely with all of your contact information and nature of the work you need. Some want a re-pack done with the mod and some want the mod only. If you want a re-pack done, please send your container without your main canopy. If you only want the mod done, your container can be sent disassembled or with the reserve but please specify on the repair form. We have received containers with no contact information so please send the repair form.

The modification is free whether there is a re-pack or not. We will also pay for the Fed Ex Express Saver shipping back to you as well. Our standard factory re-pack is 60.00 which also includes canopy inspection and pull test.

For all customers who want the factory to do your modification, our service center address is:
Chuting Star Rigging Loft
493 Airport Rd
Cedartown, GA 30125
Attn, Mirage PSB 12-04

Now to address some of the posts, any Master Riggers can do the modification and you do not have to send it to our service center if it is not convenient for you. For those who want to send it to our service center, it is free and Mirage is NOT making profit on this as one gentleman posted.

We started doing this mod on Dec 1st and finished the PSB in Dec. but did not want to release until the first of January because as some of you know we are closed for 10 days during Christmas and did not want to be away from the office and not be able to answer questions concerning this.

The assumed cost seems to be an issue as i have read in BIGUN's post. Remember, all you have to do is get your rig to our service center and we will pay for the mod and the shipping back. The re-pack is your choice. 60.00 has been our standard rate. We have found that re-packs range from 45.00 to 80.00 depending on what part of the country you live in. This also supposed to be done on the next re-pack cycle so anyone would have to have paid for a re-pack as they normally would.

We also want to apologize for any inconvenience this has caused our loyal customers. We have built a container that has been a benchmark for many years and we have found a way to make our container safer. As a manufacturer, this is not the easiest thing but the right thing to do for our customers. We are skydivers here too and we do care about our fellow jumpers and our customers. Many of you i have met on the road and consider friends.

The car analogy is a good one as well. I am a 7yr veteran of the car business and know first hand that if there is a service bulletin that the customer does not pay for the part affected but if you want your tires rotated and need and oil change you would pay for that. Also you have to get your vehicle to the service center for the work to be done. Our situation is no different, you get it to our service center, we do the mod for free and if you need any other service work done, we can do it for you. Chuting Star will contact you if there is any other rigging work that needs to be done.

I hope i have answered most of your questions and i will be monitoring this post to answer any more. If anyone wants to contact me directly, i can be e-mailed at justin@miragesys.com or call 386-740-9222. Thank you.

Justin Thornton
General Mgr

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skymedic    0

skymedic
Quote

For all customers who want the factory to do your modification, our service center address is:
Chuting Star Rigging Loft
493 Airport Rd
Cedartown, GA 30125
Attn, Mirage PSB 12-04



So it's not the factory doing it, it's Chuting Star.?.?.?


Quote

The modification is free whether there is a re-pack or not. We will also pay for the Fed Ex Express Saver shipping back to you as well. Our standard factory re-pack is 60.00 which also includes canopy inspection and pull test.



Quote

Chuting Star Rigging Loft is the Mirage Authorized Service Center for the United States. The Atlanta rigging loft will complete Mirage PSB 12-04 at no charge for customers having other rigging work done at the same time. Out-of-state customers will not have to pay for return shipping.

quote from Chuting Star's website.

also from there website...
Quote

The reserve canopy/container inspection and repack is the backbone of parachute rigging. Per FAA regulations, the entire harness, container and reserve parachute must be inspected every 120 days. All Chuting Star riggers follow a thorough checklist during the inspection/repack process and stay up-to-date on manufacturer service bulletins. Repack due dates as well as Cypres battery and maintenance due dates are recorded on your invoice. $50.



What I dont understand is it's not the factory repacking it, it is Chuting Star repacking it. they charge 50.00 bucks for a repack according to there website. And it says on there web site they will do the mod for free if other rigging work is done. So if I send it to them for a regular repack they will do the SB for free plus 50 bucks for a repack. But if I send it to "Mirage"(which is Chuting Star) they will charge me 60 dollars.

ummm..sorry but I'm a little confused. Same people, same address, two different prices. I find that a little odd. left hand not talking to the right hand?????


Good thing is we are having ours done for free by our local master rigger so we don't have to deal with you guys. Thank god for a good local group of riggers.

Marc
otherwise known as Mr.Fallinwoman....

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chutingstar    1

chutingstar
Chutingstar is the "Mirage Factory" for the purpose of this service bulletin. We have been working closely with Mirage over the last few months as this service bulletin was being developed and implemented.

The service bulletin is free, whether you have rigging work done or not.

It is $50 for the reserve inspection/repack. At Chutingstar, we follow the Performance Designs (and PIA) annual reserve canopy strength testing and have also applied that to all other canopies. We charge $10 for this service. Since many of the customers who will be sending rigs in to Chutingstar may not have had their canopies strength tested in the last year, we have tried to reduce the repeated explanations and just included it in the price. Those who have had the strength test in the last year will only be charged $50.

We will call anyone who needs any other work above and beyond that.

For more information on Chutingstar's loft standards, and possible other charges and/or available services, see these two direct links:
http://www.chutingstar.com/faq.html
http://www.chutingstar.com/services.html

Return shipping via FedEx Express Saver is free. Turnaround time is two business days (max). So far we've been turning around rigs the same day.

Mike
ChutingStar.com

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BIGUN    1,409

BIGUN
JT,

I've been sitting back for a few days, talking with some riggers, read and re-read the SB and SB Procedures as well as Cypres' information and am trying my best to overcome some cognitive barriers. I'm not going to broach the financial side as I've made my position clear on that and there's no need to dwell on the issue since it's not going to change Mirage's position regarding direct cost to the skydiver.

Cypres went though a process of R&D for several years prior to deploying the AAD. They looked at pack designs and came up with a routing system for the control and cutter units. Over the course of ~15 years, this routing has worked well, has numerous documented saves and therefore, has a proven history over the course of that timeframe.

What's bothering me is that based on two obscure occurrences overseas, whereby; it sounds as though the issue is more a factor of the way the reserves were packed, rather than a functional design flaw. Cypres AAD's has had more saves in its current configuration and to suddenly change the cutter unit routing based on those two obscure occurrences seems to violate what we have come to know and trust.

I question why the equipment would not be pulled back into R&D for an extended period of time to ascertain if the two occurrences were more on the probability scale of being a packing issue versus the proven history versus of what "sounds like" a range of a month to three months. By all appearances; this solution comes across as a reactive field engineered rerouting of a design that has worked well those approximate fifteen years.

From a practical perspective, my concern is the positioning of the re-routed cutter unit wiring being placed on the outside of the reserve pack tray. This concern is based on experience of how rigs are treated during skydiving operations; whereby, when skydivers do gear checks, they pat someone on the reserve. When skydivers jam the door in aircraft, their reserve trays rub on the interior of the aircraft. When rigs are stacked up at a boogie at the packing tent, they are stacked on the reserve trays. When skydivers get caught in another skydiver's burble, they land on the reserve tray.

To me, this rerouting moves the cutter unit cable to a more exposed area that gets knocked around considerably more than that of being between the skydiver's back and reserve for cushioning, allowing for; 1) additional stress to the wiring itself, and 2) if we look at Step 12 [SB Procedures]; the third picture, allows for a brass to metal combination. I am admittedly not a metals engineer. My exposure to brass/steel combinations is limited to instruction in the military. Some limited research on my part would indicate that, "The coefficient of friction is maximal for a high wear rate between brass or aluminum and steel and is considered unacceptable."

I guess what I’m asking is; could Mirage and Cypres educate us more on 1) the specifics of the events that occurred, 2) how those events led to this solution, and, 3) overcome our concerns of a demonstrated history against this single overseas event, and 4) communicate the testing methodology of this solution; as a long-term safe solution.
Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

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Hooknswoop    19

Hooknswoop
From June 26, 2003 by Bill Booth:

Quote

Airtec tests every new rig design before they OK it for a Cypres. They have had several rigs with tuck-down flaps total when bench tested with a Cypres cutter. These same rigs would open fine when the ripcord was pulled, but the Cypres doesn't release the closing loop on top of the last flap like a ripcord does (on most rigs). It releases (cuts) it many layers down. The drag of the top flap coming out of the pocket, coupled with the added drag of the cut loop unlacing through several grommets while both are being "pinched" by the pilot chute spring, was enough to total the rigs. Tuck down rigs work fine most of the time, but a Cypres firing, with a bad pack job, an old, weak pilot chute spring, sand or mud in the pocket, or a too long reserve closing loop, might add up to disaster.



Derek

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Hooknswoop    19

Hooknswoop
I know, that is where I got it. It is applicable to this thread.

I wonder why if Airtec was able to get reserves like the Mirage (probably the Mirage) to total during testing, the cutter was placed where it was? Did Airtec OK the original placement of the cutter? Is Airtec’s ‘approval’ required for placement cutter/control head/computer/cable routing of the Cypres system. Why, if it was known that the combination of cutter placement, reserve flap design and loop length and poor rigging could lead to a total reserve malfunction, was the cutter placed where it was or the reserve flap design not changed?

If the problem has been known for that long, why did Mirage wait until it actually happend before making a change?

Lots of questions without answers out there right now.

Derek

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riggerrob    643

riggerrob
From a practical perspective, my concern is the positioning of the re-routed cutter unit wiring being placed on the outside of the reserve pack tray. This concern is based on experience of how rigs are treated during skydiving operations; whereby, when skydivers do gear checks, they pat someone on the reserve.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Old school.
We discontinued that practice at Pitt Meadows after our Master Rigger tired of replacing cracked reserve pin covers.
Now we teach our students to finish a pin check with a pat on the shoulder.

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riggerrob    643

riggerrob
If the problem has been known for that long, why did Mirage wait until it actually happend before making a change?

Lots of questions without answers out there right now.

Derek



>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I suspect that Mirages are changing faster than Airtec can keep track.
As rigs get smaller and tighter, tolerances get tighter. What worked with a 220 reserve does not always work with a 97 reserve.

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riggerrob    643

riggerrob
Quote

Quote

When they say this is mandatory...what does that actually mean. Is it illegal for a rigger to repack this and not comply with the AD?



It is not a AD, it is an SB. Only AD's are mandatory.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Too bad the FAA did not inform you when they changed their ways of doing business.
Several years ago - circa the turn of the century - the FAA stopped issuing Airworthiness Directives for parachutes, because the parachute industry is too small for the FAA to bother.
Now the FAA depends upon PIA, USPA, etc. to keep the fatality rate low enough that they can ignore that sector of aviation.
But the bottom line remains, ignore manufacturers' instructions (i.e. Service Bulletins) at your own peril. Many Master Riggers (i.e. me) refuse to repack any Mirage until the Service Bulletin has been done.
No, I won't turn a profit on the sewing and I am already tired of the arguments, rumors, etc.

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Hooknswoop    19

Hooknswoop
Quote

Too bad the FAA did not inform you when they changed their ways of doing business.



I am well aware that the FAA doesn't bother with parachute gear AD's anymore. That doesn't make SB's mandatory.

Quote

ignore manufacturers' instructions (i.e. Service Bulletins) at your own peril.



1) SB's are not manufacturer's instructions.

2) I agree that most SB's make sense and should be done, but the Mirage SB for example, I won't do to Kelli's rig.

Bottom line is AD's are mandatory, SB's are not (in the U.S.)

Derek

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