Safire-2 RIPPED

[CaptnCrunch 0]

just an UPDATE:

After talking to the Service Center and the US REP
for Icarus, i will be sending this "Mrs.Slammer" to Spain
to have it checked out and they promisse me to "work something out"
I will keep this thread updated, thanks for all the INPUT
so far !

[sd-slider 0]

andym148

Im surprised a Safire 2 opened hard enough to injure someone, I've never experienced a hard opening on any Safire 2 or Crossfire 2 that I've owned.. and I've deployed in some pretty shit positions!
I would send it back to Icarus for inspection and repair, send all the info you have and id expect them to do thorough testing on it as well as seeing if there was a faulty batch of canopies made? I understand you might be nervous in jumping it again, but don't be put off in buying an Icarus/NZAerosports canopies in the future. I hope you manage to get to the bottom of it soon.

It rocked me twice(back to back slammers...), and I had numerous "rough" openings that, as Marian stated, were implied issues with body position etc. . The second slammer damn near knocked me out and produced the initial two tears.

Icarus was there for me and covered the repairs, shipping, and modified slider. When I return to the sport I will definately look into their line when I purchase again.

For those questioning the sizing of the Safire-2, it is(was...?) a 260sf canopy rated for 300lbs @ 130 KTS. It was purchased NEW from a board member who purchased it and never got to fly it due to injuries and a long recovery from a previous accident. I put 26 jumps on it, the 26th being the "magic" jump...see attached.

Hope this all works out for Marian.

Blue Skies

Anvil Brother #69

Sidelined with a 5mm C5-C6 herniated disk...
Back2Back slammers and 40yr old fat guys don't mix!

[airtwardo 7]

sd-slider

***Im surprised a Safire 2 opened hard enough to injure someone, I've never experienced a hard opening on any Safire 2 or Crossfire 2 that I've owned.. and I've deployed in some pretty shit positions!
I would send it back to Icarus for inspection and repair, send all the info you have and id expect them to do thorough testing on it as well as seeing if there was a faulty batch of canopies made? I understand you might be nervous in jumping it again, but don't be put off in buying an Icarus/NZAerosports canopies in the future. I hope you manage to get to the bottom of it soon.

It rocked me twice(back to back slammers...), and I had numerous "rough" openings that, as Marian stated, were implied issues with body position etc. . The second slammer damn near knocked me out and produced the initial two tears.

Icarus was there for me and covered the repairs, shipping, and modified slider. When I return to the sport I will definately look into their line when I purchase again.

For those questioning the sizing of the Safire-2, it is(was...?) a 260sf canopy rated for 300lbs @ 130 KTS. It was purchased NEW from a board member who purchased it and never got to fly it due to injuries and a long recovery from a previous accident. I put 26 jumps on it, the 26th being the "magic" jump...see attached.

Hope this all works out for Marian.

Blue Skies


You kids today...let a little thing like a broken neck bother ya!

Let me know when you're ready to do #300! I needs me some Sandyeggo air!!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[katzas 1]

airtwardo

Quote

A good parachute is a good parachute and for me that means a brand new parachute.

I'd like a couple of those used gear advocates that comment used is perfect because I saved 482.15 wade in and now talk about recourse, was it a a good deal, a good deal and a bad seller, was it shit gear, was it shit gear and sold on DZ.com with jumps, etc, etc. seems they post on everything else.... yet are strangely quiet in this thread.

Try decaf

FWIW ~ NEW gear can have it's problems too, I had a canopy with THREE jumps on it split nose to tail...none were hard openings.

Ran into a guy at another DZ that had 20 on his when the same thing happened...they were 3 apart in serial numbers.

I've also bought a used canopy with 400 jumps on it...I put another 500 on it, gave it to a buddy who has jumped it for 3 years now...no problems.

So just keep in mind regarding your 'good parachute is a good parachute' ~ ~ That reserve you probably have is 'brand new' as in 0 jumps...if MY 'new canopy' can blow up - so can YOURS

As Mycroft Holmes correctly opines....."balance of probability".
New gear can blow up--but the probability of it happening is much lower than with old stuff. However, this canopy with about 50 jumps on it seems to be the exception. Two major repairs in 50 leaps? Serious problem.

I If I knew that a particular canopy had opened so hard on several occasions as to cause serious and potentially life threatening injury to a skydiver I would walk away from the deal at any price. There is something dreadfully wrong with this Safire 2. Maybe it's because it's a non-standard size--maybe it's been built wrong--whatever. Trash it--and hope that Icarus will give you a deal on a new standard sized canopy. That x-ray of a broken neck should scare the shit outta anybody.

[CaptnCrunch 0]

sd-slider

It rocked me twice(back to back slammers...), and I had numerous "rough" openings that, as Marian stated, were implied issues with body position etc. . The second slammer damn near knocked me out and produced the initial two tears.

Icarus was there for me and covered the repairs, shipping, and modified slider. When I return to the sport I will definately look into their line when I purchase again.

For those questioning the sizing of the Safire-2, it is(was...?) a 260sf canopy rated for 300lbs @ 130 KTS. It was purchased NEW from a board member who purchased it and never got to fly it due to injuries and a long recovery from a previous accident. I put 26 jumps on it, the 26th being the "magic" jump...see attached.

Thanks Eric,
when i bought it i thought "repaired by Icarus" means it is
all okay - noone would have thought there is an Issue.

I took the blame for way to long that it was my "Body Position"
and replied several times "never had that Issue in AFF, never had Line Twists in AFF" - but worked on it anyway.
I had some serious bruising even before the final Slammer at Jump 56 (the one that ripped the bottom) cause the Caopy
usualy opened with a nice YANK to the LEFT.

The Problem seems that the Service Center in Illinois knows
"something" that Icarus is not owning up to - cause the
"experimental" Slider is NOT a product of Icarus but rather
a "addon" by Para-concepts after they seen some of these
Problems.

Also with 220 Pounds Exit Weight i was loading this lightly.

I used it first with the "Experimantal" Slider and had 1400 Feet openings that were sniveling so slow that my right hand was going to the Handle several times while yanking me into a LineTwist at the same time.
Looking at my LogBook - NONE of the OPENINGs were NICE ...

The Canopy is now in Spain at Icarus Headquarters, and i hope
they will come up with a solution.

Funny fact: after just 8 Jumps i asked our Local GearStore Lady
if she knew of "anyone" my Shape and Size" with LOTS of
expirience who would be willing to DEMO it to tell me if my feeling
that something "is wrong" with this Canopy is fact or fiction ...
We never had someone who could proof my point, so i kept
working on my BodyPosition.

It is good that i am not as injured as the original owner was, but still after almost 3 Weeks, i have bruises all over the areas of the Harness and my Neck is still Stiff as a rock ...

The Fact that they requested the Canopy to be sent to Spain for their Inspection tells me that they take this serious enough and i hope they come up with an Idea.

Something i got during this Discussion and from some people that have sent PMs allegeded that the Safire-2 in sizes of 190 and higher seem to have a tendency
to open "harder " and thats why "Para Concept" came up with that "experimantal slider" - it may has to do with the Scaling of the Canopy.

but .. what do i know ,)

[CaptnCrunch 0]

katzas

Trash it--and hope that Icarus will give you a deal on a new standard sized canopy. That x-ray of a broken neck should scare the shit outta anybody.

i can assure you, even if they would repair it - i would NOT
put it over my head and not even sure if i would try to
sell it (with full disclosure of the story) to someone ...

[FlyingRhenquest 1]

Hmm. A couple weeks ago the left stabilizer on my new Safire2/229 exploded. I'm still a fairly new to packing but had felt good about that particular pack job. The rigger who looked it over here said he didn't see any evidence of a line-over. Canopy's got less than 100 jumps on it, and I'm loading it at 1.1:1. The rigger said he could fix it but he wanted to send it to Icarus anyway, so they could maybe determine what caused it.

I'll jump it again whenever it comes back. I figure you got a couple hundred square feet of fabric deploying at 130+ mph, sometimes something's just going to explode.

I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

[CaptnCrunch 0]

FlyingRhenquest

The rigger said he could fix it but he wanted to send it to Icarus anyway, so they could maybe determine what caused it.

I'll jump it again whenever it comes back. I figure you got a couple hundred square feet of fabric deploying at 130+ mph, sometimes something's just going to explode.

i found Meredith from the Service Center to be extra nice and helpful, i am sure they will help you to get it fixed.
Was it a "hard" opening or a normal opening.
Keep us in the loop what they said !

[FlyingRhenquest 1]

CaptnCrunch

i found Meredith from the Service Center to be extra nice and helpful, i am sure they will help you to get it fixed.
Was it a "hard" opening or a normal opening.
Keep us in the loop what they said !

It wasn't particularly hard. I've had a couple of hard openings with it in the past, which I chalked up to my noobish packing. It didn't feel like that, it just opened normally, lurched to the right and started spinning. When I reached up to see if I could do anything by taking the toggles, a line fell down from the canopy and hit my hand. At that point I decided I didn't want any part of whatever was going on up there and cut it away. I didn't even realize the canopy was damaged until they called me about a week later.

I'll post if I find out anything about what happened.

I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

[faulk04 0]

I had one blow up on me last weekend, not a safire but a chilli. One cell almost completely ripped from nose to tail. Also had a 18x18 hole towards the tail of the canopy. Just had my reserve packed a month earlier too...

[CaptnCrunch 0]

no news from Icarus as of now, the Safire-2 is in Spain for review for about 2 weeks now

[CaptnCrunch 0]

unfortunally i have not heard back from them, if thats an indication of the Customer Service they provide in spain i am not happy.
the US REP is very nice and respinsive but keeps telling me to wait for a reply week after week.
That canopy is now in Spain for almost 4 weeks

[stayhigh 2]

Sorry dude, but sometimes you get a lemon.

I had the worst opening canopy EVER, Cobalt 150.

I sold it to someone for 100 dollar, I told him how shitty the opening was and told him to use it as a ground launch canopy or car cover.

This guy jumped it, and loved it, and he wanted another one.

Bernie Sanders for President 2016

[rwieder 0]

Quote

I had the worst opening canopy EVER, Cobalt 150.

The worst slamming canopy I've ever owned was a Cobalt 170, loaded at 1.7:1 It was absolutely the worst canopy I ever owned. The openings were just plain ol' unpredictable. I did find out how stop it. I know this is going to sound retarded, but it opened perfectly in a sit-fly, stand, or in the speediest part of turning and burning. Sent it back to them, they refunded my money.
I meant to ask you about the slider dimensions. I had a Heat Wave 170 after the Cobalt, best canopy I've ever own next to my new X-Fires. However there were a number of us that bought them, and we had to put larger sliders in them to open correctly, it worked.
Best-
Richard

[CaptnCrunch 0]

rwieder

Quote

I had the worst opening canopy EVER, Cobalt 150.

The worst slamming canopy I've ever owned was a Cobalt 170, loaded at 1.7:1 It was absolutely the worst canopy I ever owned. The openings were just plain ol' unpredictable. I did find out how stop it. I know this is going to sound retarded, but it opened perfectly in a sit-fly, stand, or in the speediest part of turning and burning. Sent it back to them, they refunded my money.
I meant to ask you about the slider dimensions. I had a Heat Wave 170 after the Cobalt, best canopy I've ever own next to my new X-Fires. However there were a number of us that bought them, and we had to put larger sliders in them to open correctly, it worked.
Best-
Richard

yes, this one got also an experimental Slider , but that was slowing down openings to a point that i blew through 1300 feet sometimes - and into LineTwists that were not pretty, the original Slider had solved that Problem, but as said, i browsed through my Log book and out of 25 Jumps i noted in 19 "Rough openings" .... i hope they get an answer in Spain - after the Story here i would still expect them to come up with a offer or solution..

[betzilla 56]

Quote

I had the worst opening canopy EVER, Cobalt 150.

I had a customer who had a Cobalt 150, who had several sets of spare brake lines in his gear bag because his cobalt opened so hard that he kept breaking them. No joke. One opening was so hard that it blew out a bunch of stitching on his fairly new Vector 3 container, which then had to be sent to UPT for big-money repairs. He thought it was normal. I only learned about the spare brake lines when I told him to fire the previous rigger, because hand-stitching the fingertrap on the lower steering lines was ghetto and he deserved better work than that. He blushed and said, "oh. that was actually me."

[CaptnCrunch 0]

Hi Gang,

i just want to update that ICARUS came back with the results of their investigation, while they cannot confirm it was the canopy or the previous repair they offered me a solution thats completely acceptable to me and i can say, although it took some time - they made a serious effort to make me a happy customer that would return for Business with them !