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A Rigger Rant and Rave earlier this year brought up the issue of inspecting stabilizer slack on reserve canopies. Georgia rigger Joe Bennett recently returned a Smart reserve to the manufacturer because there wasn’t any stabilizer slack in both outside D-lines. At that time, it was seen as an isolated incident and reported as such in the Rant and Rave.

Since that time, Chuting Star Rigging Loft has found three Smart reserves with 0-5 mm of slack in the outside D-lines. Bennett says he has found two more reserves with out-of-spec stabilizer trim (from 0-15 mm). According to Aerodyne Research, the correct amount that should be present is 30 mm.

Slack in the stabilizer attachment points will distribute the opening shock of the outside lines through the line, line attachment point and rib. Without the correct slack, the load can be distributed through the stabilizer fabric or stabilizer attachment point, possibly tearing the fabric or ripping the line off the stabilizer on deployment.

The issue has been reported to Aerodyne and the manufacturer has corrected the problem at the factory. Aerodyne representatives say the incorrect slack remains an isolated incident. The dates of manufacture on the affected Smart reserves found at Chuting Star range from 22May04 to 01Jun04, while Bennett says he has found affected reserves from as early as 2003.

Checking stabilizer slack has become a regular part of our inspection process at Chuting Star for all reserve and main canopies.

Stabilizer slack varies depending on the manufacturer and canopy. Contact the manufacturer for the correct line lengths, trim and stabilizer slack.

For the Smart Reserve, the A-line stabilizer slack should be 20 mm, the B-line slack 40 mm and the D-line slack 30 mm. Any variances from these measurements should be reported to Aerodyne for the correct course of action.