stupid newbie new to having a parachute. i have a stroud with mechanical launcher. if i pull the pin in the pre staging lane is there any chance it could accidentaly deploy by itself during the burn out? also, what do you normally do with it after deployment on the return road?
Most people keep thier hands off the chute cable while in staging lanes and that'd be about the only thing that would cut it loose unless you hit the handle by accident getting in or out of the car. Depending on the car we wad them up on the rear deck ot wrap them around the wing. It can pop out during the burnout if you get into tire shake, since tire shake is a bad thing you'll soon figure out how to avoid that in the burnout.
I had my chute deploy on the starting line - lucky my buddy got my attention before launch saving me at least part of a unpleasant situation. In my case I didn't bump the handle - it shook loose from the vibration made worse by the cable being too flexible. On the top end - I get out of the car and get it mostly packed before the tow vehicle gets there - I'll fold it right up to the car and wait for my buddy to get there - as it takes two of us to actually get it reinstalled. The biggest advantage of doing this for us is avoiding tangling up the lines and the inevitable untangling ritual. It's alot easier to get the chute situated on the top end. However if it's really busy and there's not alot of room up there - it can be necessary to just roll it up and toss it in/on the car. Probably alot there depends on the track you go to and how busy their event is. Speaking of chutes (and this may not apply to yours) the packs I am familiar with often have 2 holes in the (top or bottom flap - in that second hole is a small loop which can be used or NOT) I recommend NOT using that and removing it altogether. I know of more than one instance where that loop actually defeated the release of the chute. In this case LESS is MORE.
Are you talking about using the safety pins? We used to run the safety pins for the burnout, in case something went wrong, then the chutes wouldnot come out, and embarass the driver. The NHRA told us this spring that the safety pins needed to be removed when the engine starts. So we do that now and did not have any issues this year. IHRA dosen't seem to care what you do. I think they figure that you know what you are doing and they are not on a power trip like the NH guys are. Our driver rolls them up loosly and throws them on the spoiler. We wrap a bungie cord around them and pack them back in the pits. We had one get torn this year, it got caught on the guardrail I think at the turn, was windy that day.
Always pull the safety pin(s) out before the burn out. In case the engine runs away, the driver will have a little help in getting it under control. Same with the fire bottles, never start the car, without the bottles being ready to fire. Art
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