mark

What besides answering questions were you hoping your mentor would be able to help you with? Mark

The pilot chute may not compress enough to launch well. Mark

I made them, Karl Eakins jumped them. It was interesting exercise. Not very practical except for wow factor. If speed flyers were really serious about drag reduction, they would be wearing helmets with the pointy end in back. Mark

You can change the control lines so there is a brake set eye 4 inches higher, and add a guide ring at the top of the riser. For those who are tempted to try making risers like this, there were a large number of preliminary designs that failed, some spectacularly. Some broke with just a 300-400 pound load, and on others the release force was excessive. The failures occurred during ground tests using specialized equipment not available to most riggers. Mark

Yes, at 2011 USPA Swoop Nationals. Mark

Save a little more weight with risers like these. [inline skeleton-risers.jpg] Mark

PTS Task VI-A Basic Patch is a required task on all Senior and Master exams. Mark

Poynter Vol 1 para 7.98 suggests naphthalene flakes to prevent mildew. I have seen mildewed containers and canopies. I agree that the mildew doesn't attack the nylon itself, but it is feeding on something. As to whether petroleum-based solvents are bad for nylon, Poynter also suggests white gasoline or lighter fluid for cleaning. Mark

I don't think this is true, but I could be persuaded. What is the basis for your statement? Mark

IIRC, that was an FAA trial balloon in the late 80's. What I remember is is that it didn't go any farther because neither PIA nor USPA wanted to be in the rigger certification business, USPA having tried it with the ram-air rigger rating around 1980. Mark

If you want a certification system, we're better off with the FAA doing it. PIA and/or USPA could set up a rigger certification system and/or an equipment certification section, but we'd literally have to pay for it. Right now, we get a free ride from the FAA. On the other hand, if you'd like to do away with certification altogether, I'll agree. Any number of recreational industries do fine without the level of oversight we get from the FAA, and I don't think the parachute industry is any different. Jerry, do you think we can get the manufacturers, USPA, DZOs, and jumpers on board with our program? Mark

On the other hand, ultralights do not have Airworthiness Certificates. I agree that if there were such a thing as an experimental reserve, it should have some sort of Airworthiness Certificate. You need to show me and the others this in writing! Mark

A main canopy does not have "airworthiness." "Airworthiness" is a characteristic of TSO'd components only. An airworthy component is one that meets its certification standards, and mains are not certified. A main canopy is neither airworthy nor unairworthy. No one can do a repair that would affect a characteristic it does not possess. Whatever repairs you as a Senior Rigger might do would all be minor repairs. You need a rigger certificate to maintain a main canopy, but your certificate does not limit what main canopy repairs you can do. Your knowledge, ability, equipment, and materials do. Work within your limits. Mark

Like what? Some crappy ad in a magazine that only members get? It is not a coerced transaction. The group members give some value (money), they get some value in return. I don't know what they value, but it must be something, otherwise why would they bother? Mark

You're right, USPA is a voluntary organization. Drop zones do not have to be USPA group members, and there are several well-known drop zones that are not. Drop zones that choose group membership receive some benefits, and in exchange they agree to the group member pledge. That pledge says, among other things, they will use just USPA-rated staff. Usually the reason non-USPA-rated tandem masters do not have USPA ratings is they are unable to pass the FAA 3rd Class Medical USPA requires for renewal. That doesn't make them necessarily unsafe, but it does mean the group member dz where they are working is in violation of its group member pledge. Two ethical resolutions are for the tandem master to do what it takes to pass an FAA medical (and cease doing tandems in the meantime), or for the dz to withdraw from the group member program. Mark

In the US it's the FAA that decides on repack periods. Folks talked about the rigger short repack cycle motivation when we began considering the move to 180 days in the US too. It's crap. ... And who is consulting the FAA? Anyhow.. This was quite exactly the answer, that has to come from people, who are interested in short cycles. I still see no reply to the fact, that 1-year cycles in many countries work perfectly. I'd be okay with no required repack at all for personal equipment. I'd keep the current pack cycles for student/rental/tandem equipment for the time being, until we could see what sort of issues developed with personal equipment. Mark

Your welcome. The other rig from the double fatality in Z-Hills, according to the thread here on dz.com: Here's another from dz.com, this one from Spaceland 7 Nov 2007: and also from dz.com, one from Cross Keys 11 Apr 2011: Not many data points, no pattern. Mark

This is from TK's report here on dz.com on the most recent incident, in Z-Hills: Mark

While this view is intuitively appealing, the little bit of data I've collected shows more incidents involving older gear (PDRs, Ravens, Javelins, etc) than newer (Optimums, very small tight containers). I'd be interested in whatever you'd be able to contribute to the data set, including incidents where equipment did not perform as expected but no injury or fatality resulted. Mark

Where did I say I thought they knew all the data? Please provide that quote to me. In fact, I said they DON'T have all the info and instead made a rule in the blind hope it would fix something. As for giving the information to the USPA. The USPA has already given personal information to lawyers that hurt a DZ during a lawsuit. It was information that the USPA was not supposed to keep. But they are ignoring the real issue and their actions *might* help in a VERY small set of circumstances. All I. Really does is help to protect the manufacturers. I give up. Mark

Time to put in a plug for better incident reporting. USPA needs more reports and more complete reports. Something like what Bryan Burke (Skydive Arizona) and TK Hayes (Z-Hills) write up. Many posters in this thread, including you, I'm afraid, seem to have the impression that USPA knows make/model/size etc of many or most of the suspect incidents. I'm not sure that's the case, and it's up to us to make sure USPA has the information it needs. I have also tried to collect information from a variety of sources, some confidential. I'd be happy if folks sent me more. So far, from the very thin information I have, there is nothing that points to a particular manufacturer or combination of components. Mark

My question was directed more at Ron, who has identified the problem as "slower opening reserves," and who, I hope, has something specific in mind. Mark

Are you saying the problem is slower opening reserve canopies (which canopies?), slower opening reserve containers (which containers?), or some combination (which combinations)? Mark

I agree, the goal would be that we would both benefit, and the hope would be that at some point the value of the work you'd have done would equal the value of the time and effort I would have expended on your training. On the other hand, I won't have twice as many customers just because I've taken on an apprentice, and my personal productivity would go down by the amount of time I spend on training instead of on generating revenue. But let's say I can increase my business by, oh, 20% because you're available. What exactly would be the value-added stuff you'd do during the other 80% of your work week? There's only just so much cleaning and organizing you can do. Would you be willing to mow the grass, wash the airplanes, clean the toilets, etc.? See, the problem is that I imagine myself taking time to teach you one-off tasks like adjusting the length of the kill line on a collapsible pilot chute. It would be quicker to do it myself, which means you'd have to be able to do it by yourself and do it several times when I was unavailable before the end of your apprenticeship. It might be several months between opportunities. How long were you thinking your apprenticeship would last? Mark

Okay. That's what most applicants ask me. Where things get bogged down is when I ask first, "Exactly what work would you be doing that I couldn't do myself?" My second question is, "Once I've trained you, how can I be sure you'll work for free?" How would you answer those questions? Mark