Parachute needed

Greetings! I have been trying to locate a used parachute, if you happen to know anybody that has one for sale or that you have one for sale, if you could let me know that would be amazing thank you!

On Thursday, January 16, 2020 at 5:33:13 PM UTC-8, Colten Coughlin wrote:
Greetings! I have been trying to locate a used parachute, if you happen to know anybody that has one for sale or that you have one for sale, if you could let me know that would be amazing thank you!

Which country are you in?

You just after any old parachute? No concern what type? No concern if it will fit your aircraft? Suit your weight? Are you concerned about brand? About claimed life limits?

Your place to start might be an experienced rigger who deals with emergency parachutes, can give you some advice, and may have an inventory of used chutes.

On Thursday, January 16, 2020 at 6:46:42 PM UTC-7, Darryl Ramm wrote:
On Thursday, January 16, 2020 at 5:33:13 PM UTC-8, Colten Coughlin wrote:
Greetings! I have been trying to locate a used parachute, if you happen to know anybody that has one for sale or that you have one for sale, if you could let me know that would be amazing thank you!

Which country are you in?

You just after any old parachute? No concern what type? No concern if it will fit your aircraft? Suit your weight? Are you concerned about brand? About claimed life limits?

Your place to start might be an experienced rigger who deals with emergency parachutes, can give you some advice, and may have an inventory of used chutes.

Darryl,

Colten is a teenager living in Kansas who just acquired a 1-26. I'm sure he is asking about what is available in the community so he can make his best decision with his limited funds.

Mike

On Thursday, January 16, 2020 at 8:05:42 PM UTC-7, Mike C wrote:
On Thursday, January 16, 2020 at 6:46:42 PM UTC-7, Darryl Ramm wrote:
On Thursday, January 16, 2020 at 5:33:13 PM UTC-8, Colten Coughlin wrote:
Greetings! I have been trying to locate a used parachute, if you happen to know anybody that has one for sale or that you have one for sale, if you could let me know that would be amazing thank you!

Which country are you in?

You just after any old parachute? No concern what type? No concern if it will fit your aircraft? Suit your weight? Are you concerned about brand? About claimed life limits?

Your place to start might be an experienced rigger who deals with emergency parachutes, can give you some advice, and may have an inventory of used chutes.

Darryl,

Colten is a teenager living in Kansas who just acquired a 1-26. I'm sure he is asking about what is available in the community so he can make his best decision with his limited funds.

Mike

Or maybe OK.

On Thursday, January 16, 2020 at 5:46:42 PM UTC-8, Darryl Ramm wrote:
On Thursday, January 16, 2020 at 5:33:13 PM UTC-8, Colten Coughlin wrote:
Greetings! I have been trying to locate a used parachute, if you happen to know anybody that has one for sale or that you have one for sale, if you could let me know that would be amazing thank you!

Which country are you in?

You just after any old parachute? No concern what type? No concern if it will fit your aircraft? Suit your weight? Are you concerned about brand? About claimed life limits?

Your place to start might be an experienced rigger who deals with emergency parachutes, can give you some advice, and may have an inventory of used chutes.

Darryl, be gentle. Near as I can tell he's 15 or 16, just soloed and has worked a national contest already. We need to give our younger pilots as much support as we can. I know you're just working your gruff mentor magic on him, but he may not know you have a big heart under that bark.

Colton, I've got a couple chutes more than I need. One well past 20 years old and one nearing 20 years old. The challenge is finding a rigger who will work with you on these. They've been well cared for, but age is age. You can find my contact info on the SSA website or ask Steve Leonard how to reach me.

Cheers,
Craig Funston
JN / 7Q

Colten is 16, just passed his Private glider checkride in December. We have a rigger in our club who will check it out and repack on condition.

On Thursday, January 16, 2020 at 7:25:47 PM UTC-8, Tony wrote:
Colten is 16, just passed his Private glider checkride in December. We have a rigger in our club who will check it out and repack on condition.

Oh dear, so lets see...

Which country are you in?

Uh jeez you are in Kansas. I hope you make it out to the United States some time. Tony keeps trying to escape with those long downwind dashes. But then he turns around and goes back. Nobody can work out why (and no, even when Leah also escapes in the crew car).

You just after any old parachute? No concern what type? No concern if it will fit your aircraft?

A SGS 1-34 should work with a fairly standard backpack style emergency parachute. Seat style or long flat packed chutes used in some other aircraft are probably not what you are after (still be careful if you are very tall or short--discuss with your packer what parachute model/type might help you.. and if here is a question you might want to try several on borrowed from other pilots).

Suit your weight?

Being a teenager you are not likely overweight. Likely athletic enough to even get out of a glider in distress. Heck you likely even have all your own hair and teeth. Emergency parachute canopies are typically rated in weight ranges. With say around around 220 lb being a typical upper weight for a standard canopy. Something you want to ask about for used chutes, the rigger will check is appropriate for you.

Are you concerned about brand? About claimed life limits?

Some rigs may (or may not) have life limits (lots of past debate on r.a.s. about that), and what matters to you is finding a rigger you trust and what they will advise you on and what they will sign off on a repack. Ask them what hard life limits they believe apply and the expected practical life you should expect. If you have a packer in your club have a chat them them about their recommendations and cautions (some may prefer not to deal with some makes). They will often be a great source of ideas about used cutes, may resell them or know other riggers who do. If you have already done that, great.

First time you rigger does an inspection or repack of your chute, try to take it there and have them demonstrate proper fitting and use and actually pull the handle yourself.

Be careful of parachutes that may have sat for years between the last repack, especially in hot conditions, the rubber bands bands might have turned to a mess and done dammage. I'd start as local as possible and try to have anything inspected (unpacked) before purchase. Some club parachutes just seem poorly looked after, let out in the sun, in damp glider trailers, abused in many ways, etc.

Hope you make it out of Kansas.

On Thursday, January 16, 2020 at 7:18:10 PM UTC-8, Craig Funston wrote:
I know you're just working your gruff mentor magic on him, but he may not know you have a big heart under that bark.

That's not bark, that is finely polished sapwood.

GOOD JOB, COLTEN!

A club member donated a 20-year old chute to our club recently.

It turns out that the 20-year limit varies by manufacturer.

Our chute was from Strong, and we sent it back to them to have it repacked and inspected. They found and fixed a few problems with it.

The shipping was expensive, and the repacking/inspection was more expensive than our local guy. But, I figured that the manufacturer's expertise was worth it to make sure a chute that had been in a closet for a decade was airworthy. And it was airworthy when we got it back.

When I was doing the research for this donated chute, I also contacted National along with Strong. National have a different approach to dealing with older chutes. Also, it's possible that both companies have different rules for different models. It was helpful to email photos of the parachute's placard and logbook with my inquiry. So, I recommend checking with the manufacturer and see what they say about it -- they're the experts, not me.

The point is that mailing the chute off to the manufacturer to be inspected and repacked is an option. It's not the cheapest or fastest option, but it has some benefits as well. I'm likely to use this option for the first repack the next time get my hands on a used chute. After that, I'll use our local guy.