NickDG 23 #51 January 28, 2008 There's a market for "Cutter Killer" the steel sleeve insert (in stainless too!) to failsafe turned-off Cypres'. And Aitec should abandon the numerical interface in their next software upgrade. Cypres should have two initial displays, "I'm Cool," or, "Something's Up!" Even if it’s in German . . . NickD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
feuergnom 28 #52 January 28, 2008 Quote Cypres should have two initial displays, for the average american jumper "I'm Cool," or, "Something's Up!" Even if it’s in German . . . NickD fixed it for ya The universal aptitude for ineptitude makes any human accomplishment an incredible miracle dudeist skydiver # 666 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
USPA 0 #53 January 29, 2008 Then why do they mention stops, besides the in mentioned error codes in the manual have no meaning to the user? Why do they explicetly say, if startup fails, simply try again? Look, I stated in the beginning we can differ on opinion how serious this issue is. I don't want to get in that argument, cause it's a matter of opinion. What I do get angry about, is people claiming this to be a case of RTFM. If you follow the manual, you simply try again and if it doesn't work, you have a choice of jumping without the AAD, or not jumping. Again, wheter or not, this SB is an issue, depends on opinion, but it's not a case of RTFM.The trouble with skydiving; If you stink at it and continue to jump, you'll die. If you're good at it and continue to jump, you'll see a lot of friends die... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 643 #54 January 29, 2008 The problem is Cypres error codes are in DOS while the rest of the world (i.e. Vigil) have moved on to Windows. Numerical error codes - or start up routines - are gibberish to all but a handful of geeky computer engineers. The rest of us need error codes displayed in plain english (i.e. Vigil). Kind of reminds me of when I first started working on CF-18 fighter planes. It was the first computerized airplane in Canadian Air Force service. Before every shut-down, a techician was supposed to crawl into the nose wheel well and stare at a numerical display of error codes. But you needed a little book to de-cipher those error codes. When I asked "Why don't they use words (i.e. left aileron actuator)?" the reply was "Too expensive." "Too expensive on an umpteen million dollar airplane?" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fcajump 164 #55 January 29, 2008 QuoteThe problem is Cypres error codes are in DOS while the rest of the world (i.e. Vigil) have moved on to Windows. Having worked for a long time with both DOS and Windows... which would I rather have on my back to save my &$$...?? Give me DOS anyday. You start adding complexity to the system and I start to envision a mini-blue-screen flashing as I suck it down too low... Just my own $.02 JWAlways remember that some clouds are harder than others... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 643 #56 January 29, 2008 While DOS may be more reliable, the problem is that few people can read it. That is the same problem that we are having with Cypres. Since few people can "read" the Cypres start-up routine, most people just ignore the start-up routine. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pilotdave 0 #57 January 29, 2008 I would hope most people check to see if they get a "0" on the screen before moving on. I don't normally watch my cypres count down, but I always check that it's actually working. You don't need to be a computer engineer to know that anything other than "0" is bad. But I think this service bulletin teaches a really important lesson. If the cypres seems to shut itself off, that doesn't mean it's in a safe state. Maybe the reserve should get pulled immediately in that case to make sure nobody jumps it... Dave Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DSE 5 #58 January 30, 2008 I'm glad I didn't pull my reserve, I needed to jump the next day. Margaret told me not to jump it for 14 hours, Scott Campos also advised me to not jump it, I left it sitting in the video room til the next day. Fortunately I had another rig. Lesson for me wasn't really learned by the advice not to jump, but rather seeing the woman that experience the in-air fire. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MarkM 0 #59 January 30, 2008 Quote Again, wheter or not, this SB is an issue, depends on opinion, but it's not a case of RTFM. Saying just to RTFM doesn't educate people anyway. If most skydivers are starting up their AADs improperly, then there needs to be public awareness opened up on the issue: "Hey, spend the 10 seconds watching your AAD turn on. If it turns itself off after the check, don't jump the rig. If you borrow a rig with an AAD not turned on, make sure you can turn it on and off." I was part of the don't watch it count down crowd. I check to make sure it zero's out, but tend to do other checks while it counts down. I'll change that behavior after reading about these incidents. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hackish 8 #60 January 31, 2008 Quote Cypres should have two initial displays, "I'm Cool," or, "Something's Up!" Even if it’s in German . . . So if your Cypress 3 says "Ich bin Kaputt" do not jump it. DOS never was more reliable than later versions of windows. It had no measures against any simple program magically corrupting your filesystem or formatting your hard drive. Along the same lines it seems to me that the problem with the AAD may very well relate to a firmware problem - program as these things typically wouldn't have much of an OS which is more like DOS than Windows. When I jumped a cypress I generally watched the countdown to make sure the battery was OK ad at least checked to make sure it read 0. It sounds like one person had to try very hard to make his AAD fail in this way but if a simple set of conditions exists to cause the failure - let's say weak battery then it is also possible for someone to experience this same sort of failure during a fairly routine startup - aw shit my battery is dead I'll drop it at the rigger's at the end of the day... -Michael Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DSE 5 #61 January 31, 2008 Quote It sounds like one person had to try very hard to make his AAD fail in this way but if a simple set of conditions exists to cause the failure - let's say weak battery then it is also possible for someone to experience this same sort of failure during a fairly routine startup - aw shit my battery is dead I'll drop it at the rigger's at the end of the day... Neither I, nor the person who experienced the failure had to "try hard" or any other similar stupidity. Your DZO was present as I "tried hard" to prepare my rig, but discovered that all was not right with it, so I "tried hard" to figure out the problem. If I hadn't had a second rig (and actually a third, as I'd just purchased a used rig that morning) I'd just as easily have jumped the rig that I'd taken to the riggers shack at the beginning of the day. There are several potential factors as to why more than one rig failed on the same day, but "Tried hard to make it fail" isn't one of them. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
peek 21 #62 January 31, 2008 QuoteYou start adding complexity to the system and I start to envision a mini-blue-screen flashing as I suck it down too low... Blatent hijack! OK, you asked for it, so here it is, attached to this message. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fcajump 164 #63 February 1, 2008 Quote Quote You start adding complexity to the system and I start to envision a mini-blue-screen flashing as I suck it down too low... Blatent hijack! OK, you asked for it, so here it is, attached to this message. I was more concerned about this one...Always remember that some clouds are harder than others... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites