skydiverjerry 0 #1 April 9, 2006 tandem malfunction, system racer eliet tandem main firbolt 350 (tandem) instructor had normal jump clean deployment of drouge with student weight of 72 kilos, instrctor weight 84 kilos at 5500k the instructor pulled the primary (left side) drouge release, to no effect. secondry drouge release was then pulled again to no effect. instructor carried out reserve drills (eps) and had a normal deployment of reserve. no injuries this is just advisory. inspection of racer tandem and container revealed that the yellow kevlar cable had broke at the point were it is crimped. the bridle had completly seperated from the loop of the cable resulting in a drouge in tow malfunction. the drouge three rings had been released. the container was still closed due to the kevlar cable still in the closing loop. closing loop on container was inspected and found to be withing correct length and moved freely on ground, this does not of course suggest that it would do so in the air further inspection found two furher sets of racer tandem gear with the potential for the same malfunction at the cable point and the crimps were reinforced, recomendation. all clubs using racer tandem with the kevlar cable crimped may wish to inspect the crimp for damage. the closing loop should be checked for correct length as this MAY have been a factor. please note i am not an employee of jump shack, but hope you find this info important and relivant blue skies. skydiver jerry Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freefalle 0 #2 April 9, 2006 Has Jump Shack been made aware of this Malfunction? Im not pointing a finger, Im just asking for the sake of clairifacation, Could this have been prevented by a better inspection of the gear on the ground? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 643 #3 April 9, 2006 nitpicking: That is probably not Kevlar cable. Clear coated cable was the original standard for 3-Ring releases. Since the early clear plastic coating tended to crack, it fell out of favor, but Strong Enterprises has recently found a supplier of - more durable - clear-coated cable and use it for flex pins and release cables on their tandems. Yellow-coated cable is by far the most popular for 3-Ring releases. Rather, it is probably steel cable with some kind of plastic coating: clear, yellow, black or red. Black coated cable is stiffer than most and usually used for AFF main ripcords. Red-coated cable is only used by Jump Shack. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skydiverjerry 0 #4 April 9, 2006 jump shack should have recieved an email about this incident by now, and will be getting the cable in the mail as well. inspection on the ground may not have detected it, it took a good look and a pull on the cable not part of the normal procedurslife is a journey not to arrive at the grave in a pristine condition but to skid in sideways kicking and screaming, shouting "fuck me what a ride!. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
packerboy 3 #5 April 9, 2006 Someone want to post a pic of the Racer tandem setup? -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bob.dino 1 #6 April 10, 2006 Further information, for those interested: QuoteRather, it is probably steel cable with some kind of plastic coating: clear, yellow, black or red. Yellow is steel wire, coated with Lolon F. Red cable is steel wire, coated with Teflon. Black cable is steel wire, coated with Lolon G2. Lolon is a nylon alloy, and there's more on the differences between the F & G2 variants from Bill Booth here. There's also an offical response from RWS on why they don't approve use of Teflon-coated cables with their gear. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skydiverjerry 0 #7 April 10, 2006 thanks for correcting me guys. the cable we are talking about is the Yellow i steel wire, coated with Lolon F. used to close the container. sorry dont seem to be able to get the foto to my computer. blue skieslife is a journey not to arrive at the grave in a pristine condition but to skid in sideways kicking and screaming, shouting "fuck me what a ride!. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RMURRAY 1 #8 April 10, 2006 Quotejump shack should have recieved an email about this incident by now, and will be getting the cable in the mail as well. inspection on the ground may not have detected it, it took a good look and a pull on the cable not part of the normal procedurs Nancy at Jumpshack confirmed they heard of this on Friday and will be getting parts back to inspect. rm Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
A2C 0 #9 April 11, 2006 This is not a news for Jumpshack. It happened before at Skydive Hawaii. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
