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Originally Posted by Pete
Jack wrote "slip fork risers"
Jack and All;
I never was a Sky God but IIRC Slip Fork Risers were on the old HALO chutes. You would pull the forks and slip the risers to guide the parachute. I think it had an egg shaped opening in the back. I think it worked about as well as a -1.
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The slip fork risers came in with the "7 gore T U" modification to the T-10 and was supposed to be the answer to providing SF rope jumpers with a better ability to steer their canopies. The risers were just a continuous loop from the front and back suspension lines thru a clamp assembly on the harness just above the quick release assembly and were held in place with a fork so that they did not "slip" until you gained control over the canopy. Once you had control you pulled the forks loose and then you pulled down on the appropriate riser as far as you wanted and it "slipped" throught the metal clamp (can't remember the terminology) giving you a greater ability to dump air and modify the canopy than with regular risers. There was one catch-damn thing did not go back to the original configuration like when you let go of a normal riser on a T-10. I can remember MSG Honer pulling his fork loose and then forgetting to readjust the risers and he sort of screwed his way all the way into the ground in a slow spiral. They did not last long and went out as soon as they came up the the toggles on the MC1-1s. It also got fun during night jumps, trying to realign the risers by matching up two pieces of white reflecting tape that was sewn on the risers to indicate when they were at the "normal" position.
Jack Moroney