mark

The gear does not have to be damp for there to be a problem with condensation inside a plastic bag. All you need is for the relative humidity to be high enough that a lower temperature will allow for condensation. Air circulation does not prevent humidity changes, but it does keep the humidity from becoming condensate. Mark

A sealed bag leads to mildew. The mildew doesn't affect the integrity of the nylon, but it does make the rig smell bad. If you must use a sealed container, then stick in some naphthelene flakes (moth balls). Your rig will smell like moth balls for a little while after it comes out of storage, but the smell will eventually go away. it is almost impossible to get rid of mildew smell. A cotton bag works better for air circulation and will keep most insects out. Creases in the fabric do not affect strength. Rubber band deterioration is a bit of an issue, but unless you have a newer Racer, there are no rubber bands on the reserve. Also, if going to a 180-day repack cycle is going to be okay for a Racer equipped with a rubber-band freebag, I think you'll probably be okay going for 6 months without the rubber bands on your main rotting. Also, the issue with rubber bands going bad is line dump, not contamination of grommets or lines. Repacking your main (required if it's been more than 120 days) will allow you to check. Mark

PPKU is the same as KAP-3, isn't it? If so, I don't think you will find any for sale outside Russia or former Eastern Bloc. There are no KAP-3 repair stations in the U.S. You might try http://www.paramecanic.se/sky/home.html (Sweden). PPKU/KAP-3 was used in Iskra jet trainers, perhaps including some flown by the Indian Air Force, so you may be able to find some close to home! If you are looking for a mechanical AAD, then the current production FXC 12000 has not changed design in 20 years. Older (manufactured in mid-1980's) FXC 12000 AADs can be had for $50 - $100, with mechanical/moving parts in as good condition as new. The factory service required every two years eats up all the savings on initial cost. Both FXC 12000 and KAP-3 require regular tests in a pressure chamber to ensure correct functioning. Mark

Not necessarily. Repairs do not have to be recorded on the data card, so many times I have no way of knowing if a repair was done by a rigger or no. If the DIY patch was nicely done, I probably wouldn't give it a second thought. However, if a rig with my name on the data card leaves my loft, then I have assumed responsibility for the repair; I have agreed the rig is airworthy. Mark

Here is yet another rigger who is going to tell you no. DIY coloring will not save you money. It reduces the value of your rig to $0. You will take a chance by always need a, uh, creative rigger to repack your gear. You will not be able to count on selling it, because most riggers will tell prospective buyers to stay away from it. Your conscience will prevent you from foisting it off on some unknowing newbie. Nylon does not take dye well, which is why tie-dye is such an expensive option. If there is a dye that sticks, many times it sticks because it etches the nylon first. That may be okay for craft-store projects, but why anyone would want to do that to life-support equipment baffles me. Mark

Raeford Diaper: a 3-bight diaper sewn to the side of a square canopy (if memory serves, on the end cell "B" line support tape). The canopy was flat/stack packed, then the diaper was folded around the canopy and closed with line bights. The remaining lines were free-packed, i.e. coiled in the pack tray. No bag needed. (Until several years ago, the ICAS magazine featured a raeper-equipped Strato-Cloud in one of the "please join" ads.) A variant was the frap strap: a 1-bight diaper made from Type 6 (or 7, 12, 13, what have you) webbing or similar. Mark

I've seen this listing in the Parachute Rigger Handbook, so I guess it's official now. IIRC, this taxonomy was invented by John Sherman to describe how to orient the lines/diaper/canopy in a Racer. I don't know any other reason to make a distinction between Type 3 (horizontal stows) and Type 4 (vertical stows). In fact, Types 2, 3, 4, and 5 could be collapsed into one category, let's call it "lines-first deployment," as opposed to Type 1, which we could call "canopy-first deployment." What kind of deployment is Reuter-wrap? Frap-strap? Tail pocket? Mark

Thanks! I guess I could just RTFM, couldn't I? Mark

Rotating the needle doesn't change the internal aneroid pressure. Unlike a wristwatch which is reset by disengaging the hands from the works, rotating the altimeter needle rotates the works under the face. (Some of us remember SSE Altimaster-3s where the face rotated, not the gears. Same idea, just a different point of reference.) So the question is still: How high can you go before you damage the aneroid or the gears? Mark

Your rig may not have been "Cypres-ready" when it left the factory, but there are plenty of riggers qualified to alter a Vector II to accept a Cypres. Ask around. Your FXC needs to go back to the factory every two years for a check-up. It also needs to go in a pressure chamber for a functional check at every repack; a plastic bag is no substitute. Ask your rigger what he does. (Those are the US FAA rules; I do not know what Canadian rules are.) You may find it is cheaper to go with a used Cypres than it is to try to keep up with FXC maintenance. Mark

Joseph Smith said he found the tablets in upstate New York. Rural, but not midwest. Mark

I'm going to speculate, too. I suspect at Wissota the pilots talk to Minneapolis Center, not Approach, who control aircraft in an enroute phase. The jets check in with MSP Approach at 12,000 (about 11,000 AGL) about halfway between Chip Falls and Baldwin, so when they fly in your vicinity they are above most of the jump operations. Mark

Here in the Twin Cities area, an experienced carpenter gets $60/hour. Shop rates at the local car dealers are in the $80-$100/hour range. Parachute packers ("working under the supervision of ...") can make about $40-60/hour. Good. Fast. Cheap. Pick two. How much of my time would you like to buy? Mark

One of "some people" would be me. Please cite the applicable section of the US Code for the criminal charges. What exactly would the civil charge be? Tampering with my own rig? As for the embarassing questions, what would those be? I would not be embarassed to tell you I took the seal off my own rig -- not that I've actually done that -- because the TSO testing was done with no seal, the rig has been in my possession the entire time, and I can show that it has been packed within the last 120 days by a certificated rigger. There may be sealed components on an aircraft engine; there are unsealed ones as well. The FAA trusts me not to change the cylinders on my airplane. Has there actually been a test case, or are folks just speculating? Mark

This is so complete, there is nothing more to say. All questions can be answered by citing the Master. No need for original thought; you don't have to think any more. Mark

Mechanical: it affects the deformability of the fabric. With a woven fabric, fibers at the end of a tear can move and slide a little bit. That distributes the stress and makes it harder to continue the tear. In a non-woven fabric (like paper), the fibers cannot move, so continuing a tear is easier. The ZP coating reduces the ability of the fibers to move, so moves the fabric a little bit toward the non-woven end of the scale. [Thanks, Dan Poynter!] Mark

That's my ideal world, too!

Reserves must pass drop tests regardless of materials, design, or construction method. Elegance of failure mode is not one of the criteria. Precision stopped using ZP fabric in reserves because riggers (rightly) complained and there wasn't enough of performance difference to warrant continuing. Thousands of jumps on thousands of ZP main canopies are a testament to the structural sufficiency of ZP fabrics. Maybe. But the lower tear strength of ZP also shows in pull tests on the ground, where differential air pressure is absent. The lower tear strength is a consequence of the coating that makes the fabric zero porosity. Mark

Your rig might have had a Swift reserve installed as the main, but that was not Para-Flite's intention. From Poynter, Vol2: The Swift main was about 200 square feet, the reserve was about 180 and designed to be more docile than the main. You might be thinking of Precision's original Ravens. Those were equipped with pilot chute attachment points for use as mains, and they were also TSOd for use as free-bagged reserves. Mark

No FAR requires a jump pilot to wear an emergency parachute in any aircraft, including a 182. Sometimes the STC for door removal specifies that the pilot must wear a rig. If so, compliance is mandatory. If the STC is silent on emergency rigs, you don't have to wear one. I think you should wear one, regardless of the legal requirement. Caravan VH-MMB, Nagambie, Victoria, Australia, 29 April 2001. I'll bet the pilot was glad he was actually wearing the parachute instead of just having it "available for emergency use" on the floor beside him. Mark

I don't think removing a seal is an alteration within the meaning of the FARs, as it is not an "approved" (in the FAR sense) part of the TSO configuration. Most of the folks who are arguing that the seal must be in place for the rig to be jumped cite FAR 65.131(b), which imposes a legal requirement on the rigger. I still haven't seen anyone citing an FAR which imposes a legal requirement for the owner to keep the seal on the rig. The closest has been tombuch, who makes the argument that the presence of the seal is the easiest way to show compliance with the 120-day rule. If I had an alternate means of showing compliance with the 120-day rule, would I still need a seal on my rig? How would you know if an unsealed UK rig being jumped in the US had been packed legally and was in date? Mark

I agree that matching seal symbol to card notation is common practice, and I think it's a good practice. Mark

The seal symbol is not required to be written on the card. FAR 65.131(c). Mark

Is that in an FAR somewhere? Mark

Moi aussi. Mark