eUrNiCc 0 #1 January 20, 2018 A customer brought me a Softie seat rig that hasn't been repacked in 10 years. I opened it thinking that I'd find the usual Preserve 1c, only to find a Preserve V (Diaperless round in a D-bag with a strange "lazy leg" system). I opened up the manual and found that it calls for several wraps of "MIL-T-5608, C/B, T/I (P/N 131708)" to be used as break ties. I've spent 20 minutes searching for a source for this stuff and I can't find it for sale anywhere. Does anybody know a source or any substitutes? Is it commonly used on military gear, or is it unique to the Preserve V?Egad, A BASE life defiles a bad age. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
councilman24 37 #2 January 20, 2018 If this guy flies a T6 it is likely a parachute I sold and maintained. My customer sold a T6 WITH the two Softies with Preserve V's with it. As of a year or two ago the buyer hadn't flown the T6 yet. 10 years is about right. See if my name is on it. There were and I suspect still are very few seat Softies with a Preserve V. I told my customer to tell the buyer that only someone familiar with these should pack them. Either bring it to me or send it to Paraphernalia, or ask them to recommend an appropriately experienced rigger. I was trained by Free Flite personnel on how to pack these. The break tie is easily obtained from Free Flite. Give them a call and they will send you some. I never found a commercial source but they were more than willing to send it. It has very light breaking strength and if you haven't figured out it ties the skirt of the canopy closed in two places. The ties go through a long loop in the end of an apex line that is shorter than the stretched out parachute. It's actually easy to break the break tape when tying the knots if your not careful. The manual has a MANDATORY packing step check list. It's use is required in the manual and you should definitely use the checklist for packing this one. After 10 years of packing them I used it faithfully each time. These are also longer than a 40' table. You will need about 46'. You can do it on 40' but have to hang the rig over the edge and it's hard to get tension on it. You will need at least one line hook. You can make it or buy it from Ralph if you don't have one. Be very accurate on the locking stows and other line stows in the fabric loops. Too long and they may not clear. There are one or two tacks to do at the top, depending on how many you take out. It took me a few practice packs under supervision to completely understand the system. While a rigger should be able to pack anything with the manual this is unique. I had experience with military cloth line stows and using line hooks and had packed others with lazy leg sacrificial bar tacks. You should not hesitate to refer this to another rigger or the factory. According to Dan T, Paraphernalia owner, most come back to the factory. It's works but its weird. My customer sold them because I had told him not to use just any rigger. Either me, the factory or a very experience rigger preferably with experience with these. He didn't want something that unique. I used to charge $20 more for these because they take about 50% longer to do.I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
councilman24 37 #3 January 20, 2018 BTW do NOT substitute any thing else for the specified break tie. I think it's actually weaker than e thread. Don't remember the spec.I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rmarshall234 13 #4 January 22, 2018 As Councilman says, you need the correct materials and the right tools. I've packed these but the first time I did, I called Free Flight and Allen Silver beforehand. Allen sent me the correct materials and tools and FF sent me the checklist. The first one I did must have taken me all day. Mostly, because I tested every step - including testing the breaking strength of the "ties" - and made myself really familiar with everything. It is an interesting design and I've spoken with Abraham at FF about them and he said the staging works really well. The D-bag flutes are a PITA though. If you decide to do it yourself take Councilman's advice and also plan on loosing $ on the pack job. You'll need to sacrifice a lot of time procuring the right materials and tools and, educating yourself. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eUrNiCc 0 #5 January 22, 2018 Thanks for the quick replies guys! I left a message with FFE on friday, so I expect to hear from them soon. I took a detailed look at the manual & checklist and it looks reasonable, but definitely way more of a PITA than your standard Softie/Preserve combo. I have all of the tools except for the exotic break tie tape. I'm not averse to taking it on, but like you said, it'll be for educational purposes and take hours at a loss... unless the good folks at FFE talk me out of it Egad, A BASE life defiles a bad age. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
