DiverStump

Whatever Dave your just pissed cuz i got more boose last night than you. If your not here you can't jump

You can listen from your PC you dont need an I Pod If your not here you can't jump

I did post a note before saying thank you for all the advice and input from the riggers especially Bill Von and that the manufacture of the rig had contacted me and was making a genuine effort to make me happy and fix the problem. I don't know why it didn't post... I do want to say again thanks for all the help. I am still unhappy with the way I wasn't contacted. However they (Mirage which you now know who it is because of unisyn's response to my thread) has called me and we are talking about how to fix the current problem. Skydiving is a sport where we all take risks and we all sign waivers saying we understand those risks. All the manufactures of skydiving gear have there own little way of covering their asses for example some of the helmets I have seen say they are not intended for skydiving even though they are built for and marketed to skydivers. So in a sport where we cant say hey my gear didn't save me from getting broken, I'd like to at least be able to say, " This is my gear please respect that and me with a phone call or email" And just a little side note.... This is the best rig I have owned it is comfortable reliable and sturdy. I have owned 3 and currently own 2 but I really only Jump the Mirage unless I'm trying to pack 'em in at a boogie. If I were to buy another rig I would still want a Mirage!

Responding to this......... >Technically I think the container manufacture can say what an approved modification is . . . Any modification a manufacturer makes is, by definition, a manufacturer-approved modification, and is legal provided the rig still matches the drawings sent to the FAA during certification. -bill von After they cut off the secondary closing loop attachment point I don't think it would match the original drawing anymore. Also I believe that a manufacturer must get FAA approval before they build or modify anything.

i believe they did away with that attachment point because of the 2 fatalities when lines were caught on the closing loop gromet on two different brands of rigs.

service bullitens are not manditory to my knowledge. at least they are not on aircraft. AD's are however. and the service bulletin that most people received a few years ago was to cover the gromet not cut it out of the packing tray completely. I have contacted the company and they don't seem to want to talk to me. I asked them to call me when it was convieniant for them and gave them nine hour window to do so and they responded with an email instead. I am still trying but I'm looking for advice from other people so I can make a good decission after a have some advice from some other skydivers and riggers

Yes a car mechanic would. However an AIRFRAME or POWERPLANT MECHANIC would not work on your plane without talking to the pilot/owner first and that is a little more like a rigger with a rig

OK maybe i need to explain a little more. It was not an update. and to my understanding Service bulitens do not have to be complied with unless you want to. to my knowledge there is no service bulitin on this rig anyway. Airworthyness Directives from the FAA have to be complied with. I should know a little about this I am a certified Arplane Mechanic. It was not complying with any AD they cut off the closing loop in the main packing tray because of the 2 fatalities when lines got caught on the grometts in the main packing tray on two different types of rigs (Reflex and Javlin I believe) If I am working on an airplane and the owner does not want me to comply with a service bulliten I don't and if he or she doesn't want me to comply with an FAA airworthyness directive (because he is cheap or doesn't have the money) I don't but i write in the log book that the aircraft is un-airworthy and why its un-airworthy. If I want to use that gromett to close my rig and there isn't an FAA AD that says it needs to be removed then what gives Them the right to chop it out without my knowledge? Not only that but they didn't even hot knife it so there is loose fraying nylon in the bottom of my packing tray where they cut it. Does Rigger know what FAR governs rigs and who can do what to who's rig?

Well I'm not complaining about free updates. It wasn't an update it was a removal of an atattchment point/grommet in the main packing tray. My rig does not close properly with the closing loop at the #1 flap the fix on thier web site says to change to the secondary closing loop atatchment point to fix this problem. However I can't do that since they cut it off. And when they cut it off they didn't even bother to hot knife it so now there is loose fraying nylon in the bottom of my main packing tray. Not like it was an improvement they did it was a mistake they did. As the owner of said equipment they should have gotten my permission first. Also the response i got from them was....... 95% of our customers don't use that so when they come in we just cut them off...... well where did they get this 95% they are talking about? do they work on all the rigs they make or are they talking about the 95% out of the ones they work on?

:þ

I sent my rig in(I wont say where for now) for some work to be done on the cypress cable housing and when it came back from the manufacturer the main tray had been modified without my permission or prior knowledge before the work was done. They basicly cut off the closing loop grommet inside the packing tray so that now I can only use the one on the #1 flap. Can any manufacturer cut up my rig just because they made it or do they have to get my permission first? There wasn't an FAA Airworthyness Directive released saying to do this. So why would they and is it "Their right" as the maker of the rig? What can I or should I do?

I have 2 boys 9 and 10 years old. They love the drop zone. My oldest is trying to learn to pack ( he wants to make money) and my youngest thought he was going to get to jump 4 years ago when my best friend took him on a plane ride. they have watched me jump several tmies and can't wait to do it. Their Grandmother on the other hand doesn't think it's such a hot idea.

What do you mean cheap? what would you consider cheap and what did they cost new?