Hang glider pilots please note: Woody Valley Tenax 3 Harness Safety Notice We’ve experienced an airborne breakage of the main 10 mm static rope. The pilot was supported by the safety rope and he managed to handle the situation well and land safe and sound without damaging his flight gear. We’ve examined the back board and all the other components but we found nothing abnormal that could damage the outer sheath of the static rope. It is likely there was a flaw on the outer part of the rope (that we’ve obviously missed during the assembly process) where the breakage started from. This is only the second case of main rope breakage in flight we’ve ever experienced on the Tenax series (we’re talking about 1800 units produced so far). We really want to reassure you guys out there that the rope does NOT simply snap suddenly. It’s the outer sheath of the rope that gets damaged first, causing the immediate block/limitation of the sliding along the rope (the Teflon slider would slide on the twelve 3 mm twists, that are the core of the rope). This is a tell-tale sign the pilot must acknowledge and fly to the landing field without changing angle of dangle (so the possible damage doesn’t get worse). Of course, an overall pre-take off check can always prevent from unpleasant incidents, it is enough to slightly move the two zip sliders on your back to make sure your static rope is in good conditions. Happy landings, Woody Valley staff
Posted on: Sat, 22 Jun 2013 08:56:35 +0000
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