Crossport maintenance

[tr027 0]

For a canopy with lots of jumps showing wear and tear on the crossports, what is the best maintenance to keep the fraying at a minimum? Thanks.

"The evil of the world is made possible by nothing but the sanction you give it. " -John Galt from Atlas Shrugged, 1957

[kenneth21441 0]

I would say do not jump the canopy, then you dont have to worry about ware in the cross port area. If this is not an a chose then I would say leave it alone and just inspect the cross ports every few months and/ or so many jumps.

This ware is a point in showing how many jumps a canoly has, just like an odometer on the car.

Just my two cents here,

Thanks,

Ken.

Kenneth Potter
FAA Senior Parachute Rigger
Tactical Delivery Instructor (Jeddah, KSA)
FFL Gunsmith

[beezyshaw 0]

Even though crossports are made with a hot knife when the ribs are cut, the amount of airflow, over time, causes the holes to start to fray. Don't worry about it, it won't cause a problem. If you try to burn the edges (as I have heard some people suggest in the past), you will only make rough edges that will damage other fabric of the canopy. So, to say it again, just leave the canopy alone and jump it like it is.

[tr027 0]

Yea, I wasn't seeing any way to clean them up without either causing other damage or sending it in to PD, so was just wondering. Thanks.

"The evil of the world is made possible by nothing but the sanction you give it. " -John Galt from Atlas Shrugged, 1957

[diablopilot 2]

Canopys can show fraying on the edges of the crossports with as few as a couple hundred jumps, or no wear at all in a thousnad or more. It's not a good indicator of use.

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You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[esso167 0]

You could ask your rigger to clean them the right way (so there are no melted parts of canopy fabric to tear your canopy even more) for you with hotknife so they don`t become problems in future, if not hot knifed whole rib may tear and cause unpleasant flying characters.

Jussi

---Ubi est actio hic?---

[beezyshaw 0]

I've seen many ribs tear in canopies after abnormal openings, and yes usually the crossport is a good place for the tear to begin, as it is a "weak point" in the rib. But I don't think that fraying from wear ever causes the tear. For instance I have seen many ribs torn that began at a crossport, but the crossport itself was in perfect condition with no frayed edges. So I think that it is a coincidence when you see a torn rib and a frayed crossport.

[mark 107]

Why do the front outboard crossports fray first?

Does ZP fray sooner than F-111?

Mark

[darkwing 5]

The rigger in me says do nothing to the frays. Hot knifing them only further weakens the rib.

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

[beezyshaw 0]

Quote

Why do the front outboard crossports fray first?

Does ZP fray sooner than F-111?

This is only an educated guess, but I'd say the outboard ribs see more airflow and movement than the center of a canopy. Think of how much faster the outside of a canopy flies in a turn, and also the inside of a turn sees a lot of de-pressurizing and re-pressurizing, whereas the center seems to stay more balanced. As far as which fabric tends to fray first, I really haven't ever noticed a tendency for zp vs. 0-3 fabric.