Ripcords

[UKParachutist98 0]

ok begginers question here. In the bpa ops manual it says that students should begin with ripcord mains. How do they work compared to throwouts and what are the advantages/disadvantages.

[mcordell 2]

They work like the reserve. There is a spring loaded pilot chute in the main tray and the container is closed with a ripcord.

I can't think of any advantages. It's an antiquated method. The disadvantages are that spring loaded pilot chutes are likely to get caught in the student's burble. That would be especially true with AFF. Students can also lose the ripcord handle. It can also cause progression issues when switching from ripcord to throwout where students want to hold onto the PC handle of a throwout because they were trained to hold onto the ripcord handle. During this time the bridle dances around and looks for snags on equipment, body parts, fellow jumpers.

I think starting students with ripcord mains makes no sense but that's my opinion.

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[councilman24 37]

There is a reason all sport and pilot reserves are still ripcords. Lots of advantages. Throw outs are as much for style as function.

But tonight I'm too lazy to explain.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[diablopilot 2]

councilman24

There is a reason all sport and pilot reserves are still ripcords. Lots of advantages. T\

Two. AAD's and simplicity of training. One applies to reserves, and the other is lazy instruction. Let's teach skydivers, not joy rides.

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

[councilman24 37]

The fact that you can't throw it the wrong way in the relative wind and wrap it around your body.

Your two reasons NEVER came to mind.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[Quagmirian 40]

A ripcord is slightly more fail safe than a throw out. You can pull it in any direction, and what you do with it afterwards doesn't matter. Not to mention that doing dummy ripcord pulls would be difficult/impractical with a throw out.

[UKParachutist98 0]

What about getting it caught in a burble though?

[mcordell 2]

Quagmirian

A ripcord is slightly more fail safe than a throw out. You can pull it in any direction, and what you do with it afterwards doesn't matter. Not to mention that doing dummy ripcord pulls would be difficult/impractical with a throw out.

Not really. Instead of dummy ripcord pulls they are practice pilot chute throws. Ball up some newspaper, wrap another piece around the ball and secure it with a rubber band so it forms a ball with a tail. Stuff the tail in the pilot chute pocket on the boc and have the student actually throw it. Piece of cake.

www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging

[justme12001 0]

Doesn't take much to clear it! Usually looking over your shoulder to see why nothing is coming out is enough.

[Andy9o8 2]

UKParachutist98

What about getting it caught in a burble though?

Yes, a spring-loaded pc can get delayed in a burble when the jumper is in stable fall; that's one of the reasons why hand-deployed pc's started hitting the scene, IIRC, back in the 70s. (Although as the other poster has said, you can usually break the burble and launch the pc by dropping a shoulder. That technique was commonly taught.)
Burble-trap is less likely in unstable fall (especially a tumble), which is a kind term for my typical body position at pull-time on about 15 of my student jumps during S/L progression. But if a jumper (read: student) is very unstable at pull-time, a spring-loaded, ripcord-released pc is more likely to launch into the relative windstream and less likely (not impossible, just less likely) to have its bridle hang up on the jumper's body or gear than a hand-deployed pc.

[pchapman 279]

UKParachutist98

What about getting it caught in a burble though?

Another factor making it less of a problem: On student jumps one typically has plenty of extra altitude.

[sammielu 3]

"Plenty" of extra altitude is a stretch. Students also make more mistakes while they are learning, take longer to recognize and to react to problems - and take several jumps to get used to reading an altimeter.

I second the reasoning regarding student body position: unstable or about to be unstable!!

[riggerrob 643]

Re-training is the biggest disadvantage to starting students with main ripcords. Think back to the dozens of fatality reports that started with "the deceased was wearing borrowed gear." When skydivers get scared, they revert to the first ripcord pulling procedure. Re-training requires dozens or hundreds of repetitions.
Later, students have to re-train on the finer techniques of tossing a pilot-chute.
One way to ease transition is the main ripcord system they used to use at Snohomish. The ripcord handle hung on their right hip and was retracted by a bungee cord (similar to Strong Tandems). Students learned to throw ripcord from their first free-fall and they were scored on how well they threw their ripcord. 99 percent landed with a ripcord hanging from their right hip.