Van's Air Force
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Back pack vs seat pack parachute for RV-7A
- Thread starter Rodney
- Start date
gmcjetpilot
Well Known Member
Back packs are what parachute companies recommend for the RV series of planes. Seat bottom chutes are typically for war birds. Comfortable? Well not as much as a seat cushion. The discomfort if any is more straps on your body (chute plus seat belts). The chute is not cushy, but you can get a back liner to make it softer. The wedge is one where it is thin at top and thicker at bottom. People like those. You can get cheaper chutes using surplus 28' military chutes but it will be thicker and heaver than the dedicated sport pilot chutes. The military ones take higher weights and speeds.
It is recommended you put the chute on and take it off outside the plane. Why? Practice. You have to bail, good to practice getting out of plane with chute on.
Second don't leave chute sitting in plane. It is recommended getting an old hard sided suitcase to store it in. Put chute inside case and inside the house. Don't leave it in hanger exposed to heat, cold, damp and direct sunlight.
Oshkosh time good to buy. They tend to offer sales during that time.
fl-mike
Well Known Member
I fly a mini-Softie backpack in my 6, packed diaper down to give some lumbar support (rear seat cushion removed, chute against standard seatback.)
Without the diaper-down rigging, my lower back was killing me after ten minutes.
I also had a sheepskin back pad added for additional comfort.
I have the aerobatic style harness, but that was on it when I got it, so I have no experience with the standard harness. I also had the straps shortened when the pad was added as I had a ton of excess strap to deal with.
I like it. I fly it most of the time I'm up. I think the longest leg I've flown with it is about two hours. Not as comfy as the AeroClassics seatback, but not horrible. It does push you forward an inch or so(?), but I got used to that quickly. Not really an issue.
Mini-Softie, diaper down, sheepskin pad, aero harness.
Without the diaper-down rigging, my lower back was killing me after ten minutes.
I also had a sheepskin back pad added for additional comfort.
I have the aerobatic style harness, but that was on it when I got it, so I have no experience with the standard harness. I also had the straps shortened when the pad was added as I had a ton of excess strap to deal with.
I like it. I fly it most of the time I'm up. I think the longest leg I've flown with it is about two hours. Not as comfy as the AeroClassics seatback, but not horrible. It does push you forward an inch or so(?), but I got used to that quickly. Not really an issue.
Mini-Softie, diaper down, sheepskin pad, aero harness.
