TheMarshMan1 0 #1 January 1, 2002 Anybody ever go to or know someone who went to the U.S. Academy of Parachute Rigging out in Eloy, AZ? I'm thinking about going out there for my Sr. Rigger's rating, but I wanted some input on it first.... Also...any idea what the job outlook/pay is like for a full time, newly-minted rigger at a big DZ? Just curious....Blue skies,Marshall Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Emmie 0 #2 January 2, 2002 hey MarshallLooks like you're interested in getting your rigger's ticket. I was in the same boat as you till a couple of weeks ago. I broke my foot, so since I couldn't jump for a couple of months, and had to do something involving skydiving (besides terrifying the tandems at my DZ with stories of AFF gone terribly wrong) I decided to become a Senior rigger. I bought the Turner's Vol 2, practically memorised it, and desided to find a rigger to apprentice with. Apparently there's a real shortage of them around here, and the ones that I did find weren't too friendly, or enthusiastic about the idea. Finally found an open DZ, (mine's closed because of the cold), thougth I'd go down, find an old rig and pack 20 reseres that weekend. When I told the riggers there of my brilliant plan they were rolling on the floor laughing at me. Apparently getting rigger's rating isn't as easy as I thought it would be. A couple of riggers did suggest taking the 10 day course though. You'd save yourself major time. Trying to apprentice w/ a rigger will probably take you months, (if you can find one willing to have you hanging around).I don't know about the pay, but from what I can tell riggers are always in demand (at least here anyway). When I was looknig to apprentice, I found out that many charge 25$+ an hour. Hope this helps. Good Luck! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Milo 0 #3 January 2, 2002 If you want to know everything possible about your gear and Rigging, I agree, you can never know too much.If you are thinking about making a living as a rigger, I want to hear how your story turns out.I am curious what the take home pay and working conditions are really like. $25-$30 an hour sounds good until you hear that on a good week they may only have 30 billable hours. They may choose to pay taxes and insurance out of that as well ;) Maybe it is 60 hours a week in the summer, but if the average is only 25 hours a week for the whole year that only works out to a $15 or $20 an hour full time 9-5 job in other career paths. Maybe that isn't so bad, EXCEPT, your main working hours are the hours everyone else gets to jump.It sounds like a good job at first glance, but do I really want a job where the only time off I get is when it is raining?I'd like to hear input from other people who have given it more thought than I have.Milo Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Aviatrr 0 #4 January 2, 2002 Quote Anybody ever go to or know someone who went to the U.S. Academy of Parachute Rigging out in Eloy, AZ? I know a couple people that have gone there, and both were very happy.. Sandy Reid is the man! Ask "riggerrob" what he thinks about the place......he used to work at Rigging Innovations(owned by Sandy Reid, who also owns USAPR).. If you are going to go to a Rigger's training course, that is the one I would recommend..Mike Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites riggerrob 643 #5 January 2, 2002 riggerrob here,Yes I used to work with Sandy Reid when Rigging Innovations was still in California. They left me in California when they moved to Arizona and opened the American School of Parachute Rigging.While I was in California I helped Sandy train half a dozen riggers. There was a bit of friction between Sandy and I. You see, Sandy and the FAA are old school and I just cannot see the point to a lot of the old school stuff. (Hint, I started jumping military surplus parachutes in 1977 and earned my riggers rating in 1984) The problem with old school is that you memorize a lot of stuff for the test that you deliberately forget a day later. I never grasped the logic of that school. Yes, I know that the FAA still thinks that every rigger with a "back" rating should be able to pack any type of "back" type parachute, but most sport riggers rightly refuse to pack some of the antique military surplus !@#$% that shows up in their lofts. I just never saw the logic to teaching apprentice riggers to pack antiques that I refuse to touch.If you train at the American School of Parachute Rigging, you will far exceed FAA minimums. Whether you retain that edge depends upon your curiosity and work ethic. In the long run curiosity and work ethic are more important that which school you attended.As for whether rigging is a viable career choice, I doubt it. You will make far more money in a computer job. I have been making my living as a rigger and tandem instructor for the last nine years. I have no debts, but no savings either. I console myself by remembering that I would have to work three times as hard at a "real" job to have this much fun on weekends.Riggers are among the few professional skydivers who can earn money on rainy days. Smart riggers work really hard on rainy days so they are free to jump with students on sunny days. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Join the conversation You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible. Reply to this topic... × Pasted as rich text. Paste as plain text instead Only 75 emoji are allowed. × Your link has been automatically embedded. Display as a link instead × Your previous content has been restored. Clear editor × You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL. Insert image from URL × Desktop Tablet Phone Submit Reply 0
Emmie 0 #2 January 2, 2002 hey MarshallLooks like you're interested in getting your rigger's ticket. I was in the same boat as you till a couple of weeks ago. I broke my foot, so since I couldn't jump for a couple of months, and had to do something involving skydiving (besides terrifying the tandems at my DZ with stories of AFF gone terribly wrong) I decided to become a Senior rigger. I bought the Turner's Vol 2, practically memorised it, and desided to find a rigger to apprentice with. Apparently there's a real shortage of them around here, and the ones that I did find weren't too friendly, or enthusiastic about the idea. Finally found an open DZ, (mine's closed because of the cold), thougth I'd go down, find an old rig and pack 20 reseres that weekend. When I told the riggers there of my brilliant plan they were rolling on the floor laughing at me. Apparently getting rigger's rating isn't as easy as I thought it would be. A couple of riggers did suggest taking the 10 day course though. You'd save yourself major time. Trying to apprentice w/ a rigger will probably take you months, (if you can find one willing to have you hanging around).I don't know about the pay, but from what I can tell riggers are always in demand (at least here anyway). When I was looknig to apprentice, I found out that many charge 25$+ an hour. Hope this helps. Good Luck! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Milo 0 #3 January 2, 2002 If you want to know everything possible about your gear and Rigging, I agree, you can never know too much.If you are thinking about making a living as a rigger, I want to hear how your story turns out.I am curious what the take home pay and working conditions are really like. $25-$30 an hour sounds good until you hear that on a good week they may only have 30 billable hours. They may choose to pay taxes and insurance out of that as well ;) Maybe it is 60 hours a week in the summer, but if the average is only 25 hours a week for the whole year that only works out to a $15 or $20 an hour full time 9-5 job in other career paths. Maybe that isn't so bad, EXCEPT, your main working hours are the hours everyone else gets to jump.It sounds like a good job at first glance, but do I really want a job where the only time off I get is when it is raining?I'd like to hear input from other people who have given it more thought than I have.Milo Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aviatrr 0 #4 January 2, 2002 Quote Anybody ever go to or know someone who went to the U.S. Academy of Parachute Rigging out in Eloy, AZ? I know a couple people that have gone there, and both were very happy.. Sandy Reid is the man! Ask "riggerrob" what he thinks about the place......he used to work at Rigging Innovations(owned by Sandy Reid, who also owns USAPR).. If you are going to go to a Rigger's training course, that is the one I would recommend..Mike Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 643 #5 January 2, 2002 riggerrob here,Yes I used to work with Sandy Reid when Rigging Innovations was still in California. They left me in California when they moved to Arizona and opened the American School of Parachute Rigging.While I was in California I helped Sandy train half a dozen riggers. There was a bit of friction between Sandy and I. You see, Sandy and the FAA are old school and I just cannot see the point to a lot of the old school stuff. (Hint, I started jumping military surplus parachutes in 1977 and earned my riggers rating in 1984) The problem with old school is that you memorize a lot of stuff for the test that you deliberately forget a day later. I never grasped the logic of that school. Yes, I know that the FAA still thinks that every rigger with a "back" rating should be able to pack any type of "back" type parachute, but most sport riggers rightly refuse to pack some of the antique military surplus !@#$% that shows up in their lofts. I just never saw the logic to teaching apprentice riggers to pack antiques that I refuse to touch.If you train at the American School of Parachute Rigging, you will far exceed FAA minimums. Whether you retain that edge depends upon your curiosity and work ethic. In the long run curiosity and work ethic are more important that which school you attended.As for whether rigging is a viable career choice, I doubt it. You will make far more money in a computer job. I have been making my living as a rigger and tandem instructor for the last nine years. I have no debts, but no savings either. I console myself by remembering that I would have to work three times as hard at a "real" job to have this much fun on weekends.Riggers are among the few professional skydivers who can earn money on rainy days. Smart riggers work really hard on rainy days so they are free to jump with students on sunny days. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
