JohnJ

Dear Jon, I don't have any photos and am not familiar/fond of putting knots in a line to shorten them (reducing the strength of it) Therefore I would rather sugest to finger trap a piece of line above the cats eye to shorten it. That way you can even remove it during flight if it causes any problem. Greetings John J.

Dear hurricane, I've repaired my share of french material. I've noticed that there is a line shrinkage possible of approximately 10 to 15 cm. (depending on initial line length, age etc.). So there is you difference. About installing them, I would say measure the (old) line lengths individually and project those lengths on the new lines. What I mean is, the shortest line on the old lines would most likely to be the shortest line in the new set. Hope this is useful for you.

Hi there waldschrat, attached you find a link to the general Atom manual which also includes the millenium version. It's in French and in English. Atom manual 8th ed And here you'll find the general packing instructions for their main canopies Main canopies packing manual 4th ed I hope this will work for you. Best regards John J.

Thanks Rob, But I don't I will join one of them. I still live in The Netherlands and when I'm not mistaking I only have to do the test in writing. I should be excused for the practical exam. But thanks anyway

You got a point there and surely you have to follow the rules which are demanded. but I would have expected a line somewhere in the regulations stating that when a canopy has been exposed to any atmosphere it should be tested thoroughly. If not (the riggers seal is still on the rig) just a normal inspection will do. (this way the owner is discouraged to open it ). Saves the rigger time (the lines ar not twisted no bugs or weird looking mushrooms inside, and the strength test doesn't have to be performed. Thus it could be cheaper for the owner. Perhaps I'm thinking a bit simplistic about this issue but we've got the liberty to act upon the situation using our common sense, of course our group is a lot smaller and therefore much easier to control.

I'm not trying to offend you but ehhh, why ? We've got almost 800 round canopies we never test them, but throw them away after 15 years (or 120 jumps) We make equipment jumps with a total weight (person, equipment and gear) sometimes up to 140 Kg. (308 lb.) and we even make water jumps (NOT SALT WATER) this with the same chutes. we never had any problems. And as mentioned in the article the pull test will often do more damage than good.

Ok, but as a fulltime coworker at a riggers loft that won't be any problem neither. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us

Hi, Shivon, As promised the article which I mentioned. It's an article published by the "KNVVL", let's just say the Dutch FAA My statement earlier in this forum was a bit incorrect but as said before I did remember it vaguely cause I just read it briefly for over a year ago because it wasn't our concern due to the fact we don't have that type of reserves. This is a translation (at least I did my best for it) of the dutch article, for those who would like to see the article in dutch it was published in "de sportparachutist" of March 2003. If anyone want's it posted here just let me know and I'll start typing again....

I think that instructor grew grey hair within a second.

Thanks McDuck, Sounds quite comforting. Frankly, I hope it won't go like that. But indeed, I do feel welcome around here

Hmm, more people from the low lands crawling through these realms. Could have known that, those people are every where around the world

As far as I remember the Pull test still have to be performed in the Netherlands but the acid mesh is history. I'm not 100% sure for that but I remember vaguely that it was a half useless idea. But talking about old parachutes. I've packed real silk parachutes (Bias constructed continuously biological lines) and a envelope system. There was no Harness on them just one bundle of lines and a webbing loop on the end of the suspension lines (no not even risers) and a metal part on the end of the webbing to connect a drop-bag. Never used though they used to connected the bag with a knot. In WWII it was used to drop personal. We used it to drop small packages of equipment. Until somewhere in the mid 90's (damn that sounds way back already) They overloaded these things (two of them) on exercise. The envelopes were torn from there tapes and functioned like a revered slider (ouch). At that moment we've grounded those antique things. Actually we've send the remains to a museum The moral of the story: Those canopies didn't even have a single patch. So who's talking about age ? It's the way you handle the equipment. Don't stress your chute, it might stress you much more.

Oh yeah, There might be on or two more things you want to take a look at when inspecting a round canopy. 1. Stains, rust, blood, insects and that kind of stuff can damage the fabric greatly. 2. if possible perform a porosity test. (those machines are far from cheap) (assuming it's a LoPo) 3. strength test on the ripcord (bend and pull). 4. Check the hardware for corrosion and bending. 5. Pilot strength 12 Kg (about 24 Lbs ) is the minimum. And the list goes on and on and on but the words if and when would appear very often like does it use a diaper system, elastic opening bands, what's the fabric of the pack (biological or some kind of nylon) is it a chest type or a back type. But again I don't know your regulations (the states that is) I've been working on military material in the netherlands only. Thank god there's a spelling check on the forum

Monday when I'm back at work I'll try to find the articel about it. But as I mentioned before this might be a national Agreement. (The Netherlands) I didn't pay to much attention to it because we don't use any round reserves anymore (with mesh).

Hi, I'm John and I live in the Netherlands. I've made my first jump in 1990 in Pau (south of France. I've made all kind of jumps since then Static water, static night, freefall night, static equipment and freefall equipment jumps including. I've made jump from 800 Ft. till 15000 Ft. Although I've been jumping for 13 years i've just made 250+ jumps of which 160+ static line. I work at a military rigger loft so Jumping is part of my job (yes I get payed to do it). I hope not to spend too much time here, I could use the time to jump as well, and I'm rebuilding my home so there goes the quality time for my girlfriend

Thanks Derek. Those requirements will be met with ease. Before we had a chest reserve of wich I pack almost 40 a day, now we have a new type of wich I pack just about 17 a day . Surely the square reserves won't be any problem neither. The 26 ft. LoPos (with diaper) mentioned earlier in this thread were pack pretty fast also, even the MT1XX could be done in a week (the total for the requirements that is) the part about foreign armed forces is checked But I was unaware of the part you mentioned about packed or supervised the packing, it's kind of silly indeed. I think I contact the IFO in Brussels to pay them a visit, or perhaps they'll visit us ? It's just 70 miles or so and I don't think they'll have the equipment at the IFO, since it's not in their normal line of work. Allready got a name of an inspector working there. Let's just see what possibilities we've got. Thanks again for the bright explainations. Even for this Dutch guy. Ps. the only thing I'm afraid of is my English

Great report indeed. One of the requirements mentioned is that you should have packed at least 20 parachutes of each type you seek a rating, I suppose that by type they actually mean the area, Back, chest, lap and seat. In the netherlands you have to pack really different types (like other Brands), and when you want to keep the license you have to pack 20 different types a year. Plus you have to be a trainee for at least a year at a riggers loft (here mostly the lofts doesn't pay for all the work you do.) Working a year as a trainee is no problem for me. Packing 20 reserves is no problem also. Hence even the repairs is a piece of cake, Hold the abuses please, this is not because I think I'm god, But I've been working at a military rigger loft for more than 13 years. But at my work we have only 4 types of reserves 1 chest (for round static line jumps) 1 for HaHo/HaLo 1 Instructors 1 Tandem So I would have to pack 16 different types of reserves every year just to get, and keep my civilian license Now I'm thinking of getting my USA Rigger license (senior or master) Because I'm a military rigger Section 65.117 Military Riggers or Former Military Riggers: Special Certification Rule should apply, But I think it's useless if I still have to repack 20 different types a year. Can you tell me whether this rule is the same like explained above or is it only for the examination ? BTW As you might have noticed my primary language isn't english, so if any grammatical (illogical, or even foolish) error have occured, please forgive me for that....

I'm not sure whether you are running behind the facts (no flame please ) but in the netherlands The acid mesh test is outdated. This test was designed to be perfomed at every repack cycle but due to the test, the quality of the mesh reduced significantly, and therefore should only be performed once. If the parachute fails the acid test but pass the pull test (40 lb) it can be neutralized. Surely if it fails the pull test, you've got a nice toy for the kids.

In my personal opinion you'ld better get cordura. This on my experience with parapack. At my work we have nearly 700 main containers (for round canopies) made of parapack and the biggest problem is the inner coating of it. It will come of after intensive use. (ofcourse this is not a problem when there's an innerlayer of a different fabric) At the bindings it will be damaged easier than cordura due to the thinness of plain parapack. A personal matter is that parapack feals a bit sticky when it's warm outside or a bit moist. But parapack is more easy to maintain, dries faster after geting wet and dirt is brushed away without any problem. On repair issues I would recommmend parapack, it's easier to handle and should be sheaper to repair. unfortunenatly I'm not sure how civilian riggers deals with this. Please forgive me for any gramatical flaws, my major language isn't English.

Hi I'm John and I'm the leading man on the repair facility of a riggers loft, and get paid to jump