Softie Parachute for Schleicher gliders with a seat back cutout

For sure, Para-Phernalia are very strong supporters of soaring. Jim (head parachute builder and accomplished hang glider pilot) has been very helpful over the years. Holly the office manager is great, and Dan the owner has been a friend to soaring pilots for many years.

RC

On Monday, June 10, 2019 at 3:30:59 AM UTC-4, wrote:
For sure, Para-Phernalia are very strong supporters of soaring. Jim (head parachute builder and accomplished hang glider pilot) has been very helpful over the years. Holly the office manager is great, and Dan the owner has been a friend to soaring pilots for many years.

RC

I wish someone would do a new ad for them (Soaring mag.). The guy in their ad is riding the bomb all wrong.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcW_Ygs6hm0

T8

I like the Softie line of chutes and fly with one now. And I agree the folks at Para-Phernalia are great to deal with.

But--the manufacturer is one of the few (only?) in the U.S. to set a 20-year life on their products (see below). It can be challenging to get any chute that's more than 20 years old packed--even when it's in superb condition--thanks to the efforts of Allen Silver. Do a search on this newsgroup for (much) more info. But I suspect it will be even more difficult to get a rigger to pack a 20+ year Softie. I wish I'd known this before I bought mine.

"Independent testing of aged nylon materials has proven that its strength degrades over time, therefore, Para-Phernalia, Inc. and Free Flight Enterprises have established a 20-year service life from the date of component manufacture for the Softie Pilot Emergency System and the Preserve line of emergency parachutes."

Chip Bearden

On Monday, June 10, 2019 at 4:36:32 PM UTC-6, wrote:
I like the Softie line of chutes and fly with one now. And I agree the folks at Para-Phernalia are great to deal with.

But--the manufacturer is one of the few (only?) in the U.S. to set a 20-year life on their products (see below). It can be challenging to get any chute that's more than 20 years old packed--even when it's in superb condition--thanks to the efforts of Allen Silver. Do a search on this newsgroup for (much) more info. But I suspect it will be even more difficult to get a rigger to pack a 20+ year Softie. I wish I'd known this before I bought mine.

"Independent testing of aged nylon materials has proven that its strength degrades over time, therefore, Para-Phernalia, Inc. and Free Flight Enterprises have established a 20-year service life from the date of component manufacture for the Softie Pilot Emergency System and the Preserve line of emergency parachutes."

Chip Bearden

They really are comfortable parachutes to wear. And the riggers seem to like them when repacking them. With that in mind, when shopping for a used parachute, I use the rule of thumb "$100 per year left of "useful life" (20y - #yrs old the parachute is). Given that, I was able to purchase a used Softie long that was 4 years old, for $1600. I thought that was a fair price.

It’s pretty much the same with seat belts. Do yourselves a favor and get new seat belts after 20 years no matter the condition of the “tags�.

You don’t re web harnesses after 10 years, wow, just wow.
Its mandatory here in .au, and none compliance means the glider will fail the annual inspection.

When last I went for a regular inspection, my rigger deemed my harness not-airworthy due to corrosion on the fittings and sweat/wear on the straps. At his suggestion, I purchased a new container and harness from the manufacturer. The rigger then transferred my 15-year-old canopy from the old container into the new. He says he has no problems with canopies several decades old, as long as they're undamaged.

Price of a new harness and container is well less than half that of a new chute.

Aussies do things differently, Mike.

One one trip to The Alice (Bond Springs), when I went to preflight my
glider I was told that I was not authorized to do that.Â* Only the
"engineer" was allowed to do the morning inspection.Â* In the US, it's
the pilot's responsibility to insure that the aircraft is safe for flight.

On 6/11/2019 5:40 PM, Charlie Quebec wrote:
You don’t re web harnesses after 10 years, wow, just wow.
Its mandatory here in .au, and none compliance means the glider will fail the annual inspection.

--
Dan, 5J

On Thursday, June 13, 2019 at 12:10:47 AM UTC+10, Dan Marotta wrote:
Aussies do things differently, Mike.

One one trip to The Alice (Bond Springs), when I went to preflight my
glider I was told that I was not authorized to do that.Â* Only the
"engineer" was allowed to do the morning inspection.Â* In the US, it's
the pilot's responsibility to insure that the aircraft is safe for flight..


The person that told you that was wrong for Australian glider pilots in Australia, at least since I have been gliding.The daily inspection can be done by anyone with a DI rating, which is most post-solo pilots. This inspection will be noted in the Maintenance Release kept in the glider and is valid for the day. The pre-flight inspection is done by the pilot. I'm not actually sure how the DI would work for "foreign" pilots, as the recognition of foreign qualifications seems to be challenging everywhere, but I assume the DI qualification would be assumed as part of your reciprocal licence as I suspect it is not a separate rating elsewhere in the world.

My Pioneer Thin Pack was 42 years old before someone refused to
inspect/repack it.Â* His complaint was about some minor fraying on the
crotch straps.Â* They would probably have only sustained a 20,000 pound
shock before stretching a bit...Â* My previous rigger from Colorado was
always impressed with its condition and he did puncture and rip tests.Â*
I was always present when he inspected and repacked it.

I now have a new Aviator P-124 emergency parachute
https://rigginginnovations.com/skydiving-containers/aviator-emergency-parachute
and am very happy with it.

On 6/10/2019 4:36 PM, wrote:
I like the Softie line of chutes and fly with one now. And I agree the folks at Para-Phernalia are great to deal with.

But--the manufacturer is one of the few (only?) in the U.S. to set a 20-year life on their products (see below). It can be challenging to get any chute that's more than 20 years old packed--even when it's in superb condition--thanks to the efforts of Allen Silver. Do a search on this newsgroup for (much) more info. But I suspect it will be even more difficult to get a rigger to pack a 20+ year Softie. I wish I'd known this before I bought mine.

"Independent testing of aged nylon materials has proven that its strength degrades over time, therefore, Para-Phernalia, Inc. and Free Flight Enterprises have established a 20-year service life from the date of component manufacture for the Softie Pilot Emergency System and the Preserve line of emergency parachutes."

Chip Bearden

--
Dan, 5J