Have you ever wondered about the statistics of the canopy that's up over your head? How about the information and safety protocols regarding the reserve canopy that can save your life? Read on to learn more.
In the world of tandem skydiving, there are many different types of parachutes that can be used. At Skydive Danielson, we use two brands of tandem rigs, one is a Strong and the other a Sigma. Both are rated gold standard in the tandem skydiving industry. Reserve parachutes are repacked every 180 days by licensed FAA riggers. The information on Strong and Sigma tandem parachutes provided for your benefit below is brought in from their official websites.
Our philosophy originated in the heart of our founder, Ted Strong. His vision and compassion continue to thrive in the way we do business. Ted started skydiving on April 3, 1958. He entered the US Army in 1959 with 100 jumps and was stationed at the United States Military Academy at West Point for two years. His duties included coaching the USMA Cadet Parachute Team and the West Point Sport Parachute Club. During his time in the service, SP-4 Ted Strong graduated from Fort Campbell Airborne School and Fort Lee, Parachute Rigger School. In 1961, Ted attended Boston University and formed Strong Enterprises, a parachute-manufacturing firm in Quincy, Massachusetts. In 1976 he moved the company to its current location in Orlando, Florida, which grew to additionally manufacture sport skydiving systems, tandem parachute systems, aerial cargo delivery systems, emergency parachutes for pilots, and military parachute systems. As a FAA master rigger and past DPRE, he trained over 300 FAA Senior parachute technicians. Throughout Ted's hobby of skydiving, he accrued around 5,000 jumps while significantly contributing to the company's development and growth. Strong Enterprises has established extensive test capabilities that we can use in developing your project. Since 2006 Strong Enterprises has operated under the quality requirements of ISO 9001:2000/AS9100. In meeting these requirements, our customers are assured that products and services they receive from Strong Enterprises will be free of defects and will comply with internationally accepted aerospace quality standards. To read more about Strong Enterprises click here.
In 1972, Bill Booth started in a Miami garage. In the late 1970's Bill made two major contributions to the world of skydiving. First he invented and patented the Hand Deploy Pilot Chute System, which soon changed the sport forever. Bill's first harness/container system was called the Wonderhog. This rig incorporated all of the best safety improvements of its era. The Wonderhog Spirit quickly followed. In 1980, the Vector was introduced and soon became the most popular rig in the world. In 2005 United Parachute Technologies bought the assets of Relative Workshop. Every rig currently on the market contains features first introduced by us i.e. hand deploy, 3-ring. riser covers. To read more about Sigma parachutes, click here.
- After jumping out of the airplane the tandem instructor will release what's called a drogue. The drogue is used to catch air and slow you down.
- Your drogue stays out during your free fall and when it is time to deploy the main canopy, your instructor will pull the drogue release.
- The drag from the drogue is what pulls the parachute bag out of the container.
- Once the bag is out, the drag from the drogue continues to release the main canopy from the bag. The canopy will then open up for an easy and fun ride back down to earth.
- Line twists
- Stuck slider
- Entanglements
- Tension knots
- Canopy doesn't properly deploy or deploy at all which is known as "bag lock"
- Violent spins
- Rips/Tears in canopy
- Broken steering line
- Premature break release
- Steering lines won't release
If any of these malfunctions occur and cannot be fixed in the proper amount of time, the instructor will need to cut away and deploy the reserve canopy. As mentioned above, reserve parachutes are repacked and inspected every 180 days by licensed FAA riggers.
For more information on tandem skydiving, please visit our First Skydive page.