Packing up the Parachute Post Flight

Recovery teams can be of inestimable value to the flight prep team if they can manage to properly secure the parachute so that it doesn't get seriously tangled and twisted.

Once the chute has passed through a few shroud lines, the spreader ring and itself a few times it can become nearly impossible to unscramble. Often the only way to proceed is to cut the mess apart and re-rig the entire affair. Either option, de-rubick (unknown duration) or re-rigging can take three hours or more depending on chute configuration.

Proper stowage in the field takes less than 15 minutes probably in a worst case scenario. In the video below Mike Manes shows how to properly secure a parachute after landing. His demo from the beginning of the securing of the parachute to ready to travel takes around 9 minutes.

Help him and the other folks who have to deal with this thing and secure the parachute upon recovery so a brain teaser doesn't present itself prior to the next flight.

Mike wanted to add:

I may not have addressed the question re "3 ft of cactus" properly.  If one has 2 assistants at the riser and apex, all those recovery steps that I demoed can be done with nothing touching the ground; I do it all the time solo with the help of some supports and a rope with a tent hitch in my den. 

It really helps to have a flat surface to roll up the canopy and shroud lines after all the ties are in place, but it can still be done with one helper on the riser to hold tension while the canopy is rolled tight on a vertical axis with the gores hanging down, and then further with the shroud line bundle up to the spreader ring and the Velcro wrap.  It's a bit more tedious, but I've done it with good results.

 

Securing and Packing the Parachute Post Flight

by Mike Manes, W5VSI