From: “Surfair” To: Apco Aviation Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2009 11:49 AM Subject: One more life saved by Mayday Hello Apco Factory, One of your Mayday 18 saved one of my customers. Two days ago, he was flying in the Pyrénées, hard conditions, on lee side, violent collapse and instant rotation with dive, at 60 m from the… read more
From: Andrew Craig To: Apco Aviation Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2007 12:34 PM Country: uk Just a quick note to say thanks; last month I was flying over Bir, India, when a big accelerated collapse turned very quickly into a spiral dive with twisted risers. My Apco Mayday 16 popped out perfectly, and brought me down at… read more
From: Lev Manouvakhov To: Apco Aviation Sent: Sunday, October 09, 2005 6:51 AM Subject: Mayday Save Hi Anatoly. Everything is fine. But I’ve forgotten to thank you for the excellent design of the APCO’s reserve – the MayDay . The 12 years old MayDay-16 saved my friend’s life ( he has 4 kids…). The accident… read more
From: GERARDO RODRIGUEZ, Argentina Date: January 3, 2005 Harness: APCO Contour Protections: Yes Helmet: Yes Parachute: Yes (APCO May Day 18) Boots: Yes Glasses: Yes Gloves: Yes INCIDENT Or ACCIDENT: Date:12/11/2004 Hour: 13 hs Place and time of takeoff: Merlo 12.30 hs Place : Merlo Province : San Luis Wind: N 10 Km Number of… read more
From: Robert Shannon, Ireland Date: January 5, 2005 I was in Turkey on SIV course last year and I had to emergency deploy my Mayday, I was in a very dangerous situation and when the Mayday opened up above me it was like the hand of god right there sent to save me, so a…
Dear Anatoly, I write you because I recently suffered an emergency in flight with my paraglider and had to throw my emergency parachute. It’s an Apco Mayday 16 I think, which I bought about 7 years ago from my instructor and friend Jens Tannen, in Chile. Everything went fine, the chute opened and I’m ok… read more
Mayday rescue May 19, 2003 – sunny, cool Canadian Spring day. Nice flying conditions We are used to receiving many reports of life-saving Mayday deployments in emergency situations, as there are quite a few Maydays in pilots harnesses by now. However having Mayday 18 safely bringing down 2 pilots is a rare occurrence and we… read more
Dear APCO, I pulled my 9 year old Mayday 16 in anger last month over Lake Annecy France, in a spin aboard Advance Sigma4. I’ve never deployed before, but it did the business perfectly. Many Thanks, Dan Ashworth read more
From: Justin Kyllo To: apco Sent: 01 October, 2000 07:56 Subject: Reserve deployment I just wanted to thank APCO aviation for the excellent design of the mayday reserve. This summer while flying in Golden BC Canada, I had gotten into a situation where my glider went into a spin after I flew low over some… read more
From: Carlos Fernandez To: apco Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2004 11:59 PM Subject: mayday Dear Sirs I would like to report you the use of a Mayday emergency parachute Serie 424787. It happend on June 1st. 2004 during a flight from the top of the Pichincha mountain in Quito Ecuador. The altitude was 3.800 m… read more
From: Matthew Key To: apco Sent: Tuesday , July 27, 2006 8:34 AM Subject: mayday Dear APCO Team, I am sending you an incident report on my reserve deployment in North Cyprus in September 2004. I have done 80 flights, 59 of these from 750mt. On the day of deployment I had been thermalling for… read more
From: Mustafa Senem To: apco Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2005 10:55 AM Subject: Reserve Deployment Dear Sirs Your Mayday reserve is a beautiful piece of equipment. It did everything as advertised and saved my life this weekend – THANKS!!!!! Mustafa Senem read more
From: Jeffrey Hillman To: apco@apcoaviation.com through Carlos Rafael Sent: Tuesday , Nov 18, 2006 15:52 Subject: Reserve deployment Hi Carlos, Just to let you know that my purchase of a Mayday 18 earlier this year turned out to be a good idea. I flew into a dusty at the De Aar fun comp at about… read more
From: “Michèle Baptist” To: Apco Aviation Sent: Friday, September 05, 2008 1:03 AM Subject: Rescue in free fall Bonjour APCO, Following ower conversation, to survive to this incident I had a lot of luck, good reflexes, but mainly an efficient reserve chute Mayday 16 SLT and solid resistance from the reserve, the harness, and my old body… I… read more
From: “Surfair” To: Apco Aviation Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2009 11:49 AM Subject: One more life saved by Mayday Hello Apco Factory, One of your Mayday 18 saved one of my customers. Two days ago, he was flying in the Pyrénées, hard conditions, on lee side, violent collapse and instant rotation with dive, at 60 m from the… read more
Posted by “Vulcan” Source: Paragliding Forum Date: Monday, Feb 10, 2014 06:32 AM Subject: Finally used my reserve… After 15 years of XC flying around the World I was beginning to think that carrying a reserve was a waste of time. Especially as nearly all the reserve throws I have seen were unnecessary i.e. the wing wanted to fly… read more
From: Customer Sent: Monday, May 23, 2016 6:05 PM To: apco Subject: French: Bonjour, J’ai surv?cu un accident de parapente avec votre parachute de secours “Mayday 16 Superlight (SLT)” Le parachute n’a rien et a pu tre repli ! Un grand merci votre quipe ! English: Hello, I survived a bad paragliding accident with your… read more
From: Steve Hill To: apco Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2011 3:56 PM Subject: Reserve Deployment Hi, I was flying with your lightweight 18 reserve in Porterville SA and had to pull it. It worked first time, so many thanks for saving me…… Many thanks Steve read more
From: Ray Dauphinee Sent: Friday, August 12, 2016 6:55 PM Country: canada To: apco Subject: Saved by my Mayday Hi guys. Just a quick note to say thank you for making such a reliable reserve chute. Yesterday, I needed it. I had a collapse on my paraglider and threw my reserve. I was at an altitude… read more
Apco Aviation started manufacturing the Mayday reserve parachute in 1984, and since then put over 30 000 pieces into service in the Paragliding and Hang Gliding markets. The Mayday has hundreds of life saving deployments to its name, from beginners to world champions ( Read letters from saved pilots).
The Mayday Square follows in the proud tradition of the Mayday Range, and is built to the same exacting standards that has made the Mayday range the benchmark of all reserve parachute systems.
The advantage of the square design is that it gives a more stable descent (less pendulum effect), and therefore has a lower sink rate!
The Mayday Square is compact in size and weight, making it both the lightest Mayday in our range, and our highest rated gr/kg rating at 9.16 grams for each Kg of load @120kgs.
This makes it a very attractive package for pilots concerned about the weight of their kit.
The Mayday Square is certified to EN standard at 100 [kg] with sink rate of ~5.4 [m/s].
In addition, the Mayday Square has been load tested to 120 [kg] with sink rate of ~5.6 [m/s], perfect in cases where higher load is required (Paramotor pilots) at the expense of a slight increase in sink rate.
It is currently available in one size, with a short dyneema bridle, for paragliding or Paramotoring.
Stable descent
Light weight
Low pack volume
Fast Opening
Low Sink Rate
Model - MD2
25
Surface Area [m2]
25
Projected Surface Area [m2]
14.8
Weight [kg]
1,010
Packed Size (mm)
200(L) x 190(W) x 80(H)
Packed Volume [cc]
3000
Sink Rate [m/s]
(at 100 Kg)
5.4
Sink Rate [m/s]
(at 120 Kg)
5.72
EN Load/Drop test
120
EN/LTF Certification
100
Grams per kg Load
10.89
Certification
EN - 100kg
Load Tested to 120Kg
Bridle
The Mayday Square boasts superior light-weight construction and materials. The canopy cloth is PN9 ripstop nylon. The skirt and canopy is reinforced with mil spec nylon tape, neatly wrapped and stitched with a precision double needle machine. The dyneema line attachments are sewn using automated pattern stitches into the canopy, reducing potential weak points while ensuring consistently high quality and strength.
The Bridle is made from 1700kg Dyneema Webbing. The attachment loop is covered with a Teflon sheath, to protect it from dangerous friction which may occur during deployment.
MSM – stands for Military Spec Monkey and confirms that our reserves are made from fabrics, designed and manufactured in accordance to the strictest Military Specifications. This adds another level of quality assurance.
INCLUDED:
Each MayDay reserve parachute is supplied in a kitbag. Which is a useful to keep other equipment in once your mayday is installed in your harness.
Options & Accessories
Q: What is the opening time and minimum height for deployment?
A: APCO does not usually advertise this information as it depends on many variables that change in real life situations, and can therefore be very misleading.
According to the certification tests, the opening time is 2.75 seconds. This is measured during a controlled deployment test.
Minimum height – this is not a parameter measured during certification, but according to the opening time (2.75 seconds) – if you calculate falling speed of 16 – 32 m/s (32 m/s is the speed at which the certification test is done), then the min height required for deployment would be 44-88m, however, we advise that if you are in trouble, no matter how low, there is no harm in throwing, we have witnessed saves at very low altitudes!
The volume is measured by water displacement, and represents the smallest recommended packed volume, or the volume of the smallest recommended container to be used for the reserve. The specified volume is therefore far lower than the calculated volume that would be derived from the specified measurements.
The Packed Size measurement represents the measurements of the factory packed, but not compressed reserve, ie. the max dimension for each axis, and in its specified deployment bag, as shipped from apco.
* Weight Excludes weight of optional long bridle for Hang-glider version:
Add 190gr for Hanggliding (HG) Extension Bridle (Code: 43006), or
Add 550gr for MD Bi HG Bridle (Code: 43002L)
** Sink Rate as measured by Air Turquoise test laboratory
Stability rating by Air Turquoise (1 bad - 5 excellent)
*** Gram per [Kg] Load
This is a unit that makes it easy to compare Reserves.
The unit is calculated by dividing the weight of the reserve, by its max load rating. The lower the number, the lighter the reserve is for its carrying capacity.
42485: MayDay Presentation Bag
Each MayDay reserve parachute will be supplied in the new “Presentation gift bag” external package. This is a small aesthetic upgrade, a nice addition and gift for the pilot.
Use this bag for your instruments, shoes, as a shower bag, as a lunch box, or whatever you like and be reassured your life is in good hands.
Mayday Prices remain unchanged 😉
FEATURES
Looks great
Extremely useful
Made from light materials
Detachable carry-strap, can also be used to buckle up folded wing.
Designated, clear-cover slot for owner’s details card.
Owner’s details card included. Just fill up and slide in.