Heier 0 #1 July 10, 2007 I went tandem sky diving for the first time on my honeymoon. In my pictures I can see where the parachute cord comes out of the chute and is dangling in my tandem partners hand. The parachute didn't work until later. Is this normal? He mentions something about having had trouble with it in the past. Just curious to learn more about skydiving. It seems odd that the parachute has a cord that comes off. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AFFI 0 #2 July 10, 2007 can u post the pictures you are describing? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 2,989 #3 July 10, 2007 > In my pictures I can see where the parachute cord comes out of the > chute and is dangling in my tandem partners hand. The parachute didn't > work until later. Is this normal? Probably yes. What you are seeing is likely the drouge release cable. In tandems, the process is: -the tandems exit the plane and get 'stable' face to earth -the drouge is thrown. This is a small parachute that slows the tandem down to 'normal' freefall speeds (~120 mph.) Without it they'd go considerably faster, the cameraman would find it hard to stay with them, and the parachute would open very hard. -the drouge release is pulled. This releases the drouge; the drouge then pulls the main parachute out. This process takes a few seconds. If the drouge release does not work, there is a second drouge release that will do the same thing. If that does not work, there's a reserve parachute that can be deployed. Often after the drouge is pulled the student hangs onto it for a moment while the TM checks the main parachute. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AFFI 0 #4 July 10, 2007 And welcome to skydiving - did you enjoy?Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat… Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RedBaron 0 #5 July 10, 2007 Quote > Probably yes. What you are seeing is likely the drouge release cable. In tandems, the process is: -the tandems exit the plane and get 'stable' face to earth -the drouge is thrown. This is a small parachute that slows the tandem down to 'normal' freefall speeds (~120 mph.) Without it they'd go considerably faster, the cameraman would find it hard to stay with them, and the parachute would open very hard. -the drouge release is pulled. This releases the drouge; the drouge then pulls the main parachute out. This process takes a few seconds. If the drouge release does not work, there is a second drouge release that will do the same thing. If that does not work, there's a reserve parachute that can be deployed. Often after the drouge is pulled the student hangs onto it for a moment while the TM checks the main parachute. Isn't it spelled "drogue?" Just want to be sure on this one. Red Baron www.kneeriders.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DSE 5 #6 July 10, 2007 There are two spellings; apparently both are correct, I had this same question a long time back; I looked it up. In the USA, "Drogue" is the most common. In other languages, "Drouge" is very common but more often refers to the sea-anchor vs a parachute "drouge." FWIW, the military uses "drogue" in their flight refueling handbook when spelling the hose point that connects a fuel receiver to a tanker hose. Bill usually is speaking a different language than I understand, so it's probably perfectly fine that he uses the more obscure spelling. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
