riggerrob

Accuracy canopies are normally loaded about 0.7 pounds per square foot. IOW you need more square feet overhead than pounds hanging underneath.

............................................................... As long as the replacement RSL is the same length (as the original) it is easy for a Master Rigger to sew on a piece of Velcro. Hint: it helps if he can copy a genuine Mirage RSL's stitch pattern. Sometimes a Master Rigger can substitute an RSL from another manufacturer, but that raises a whole bunch of compatibility questions.

Agreed! It is more about how fancy a lawyer you can afford ... than written regulations. I wasted Monday in the Vancouver Court House listening to a long-winded lawyer and an old bureaucrat babble on about the "intent" of Canadian Air Regulations. Why the witness droned on for so long about a bunch of regulations than he wrote, but were never enacted by South Asian governments ??????? .... and the trial is scheduled to drag on for another 5 weeks! The wounded were relegated to "priority last" back in 2012 or 2013, now the case has devolved to "pissing contest" between - two different levels of government - about who will pay millions of dollars worth of disability benefits for JP Forest. This court case is worse than a waste of time! Grrrrrrdr!

Lots of good advice in that "Parachutist" article. As for hand-tacking making it more difficult to inspect soft links .... Hah! A little slack (in the hand-tacking) helps, but I am always able to push the button end out far enough to confirm that it is fastened with a larkshead knot. ... no matter who tacked it. As to the life of soft links, I always install fresh soft links when I re-line a canopy. Meanwhile, metal links last as long as 3 or 4 line sets. IOW Metal links usually last as long as the canopy fabric ... maybe 1200 jumps on tandem mains. As for installing plastic tubing bumpers (over metal links on tandems) Strong sells extra-large bumpers for the #6 Maillon Rapide links on their tandem mains. The extra large bumpers are also great for reducing wear on the bottom of drogue bridles. Just remember to hand tack bumpers. firmly in place. Since hand-tacking frays quickly, it should be inspected during every 25-jump inspection. If a reserve has metal links, I install fabric bumpers made of Type 12 webbing (or whatever webbing scraps are laying around the loft). Type 12 bumpers usually last the life of a reserve canopy: 20 jumps, 20 years or 40 repacks ... ish.

The simple answer for young riggers is only installing SLinks. As long as they read the instruction sheet, they will be fine. Brighter riggers hand-tack Slinks to hide the tab, ring, ugly knot inside the riser. Never seen main Slinks on a reserve. As for home-made soft links on mains ...... I have seen dozens of home-made soft links dating back to 1980 .... even made a few dozen myself. Home-made soft links last hundreds of jumps. OTOH metal connector links have a half-dozen "know" wrong-ways to install. CSPA banned US Navy Speed Links dozens of years ago because of all the problems. The primary reason that I install Maillon Rapide links barrel-inboard is that I had to replace too many damaged Brass slider grommets!!!! Grrrrfr!!!!! I bled all over customers' sliders until I learned the correct technique! Grrrrrr!!!!! Installing silicon or webbing bumpers is easier than replacing slider grommets. Call me lazy. Did I tell you how much I hate replacing slider grommets? Hah! Hah! If installing metal links, I insist on genuine, French-made Maillon Rapides. Though Precision has been sending out some pretty Italian-made oval links in recent years. As for my opinion of off-brand, Oriental links .... block your ears because I am about to use some un-church-like-language! Hah! Hah! As for SLinks not being permitted ????? I have installed soft links ( from Aerodyne, Parachutes de France, Performance Designs, Precision, etc.) on modern canopies from most manufacturers. What is the fuss???? The only canopies -still in service - that use MIL SPEC L-bar links are tandem reserves (Strong Mighty Mack 425 and PD360). Strong is trying to convince customers to replace all their old 425 reserves with the new 366 reserve canopy. But I got distracted. That reminds me that I have to repack a PR360 reserve today. Bye folks!

......................................................................... Axl even admitted that on stage one time. Fans were brawling in the audience, so Axl confronted them saying "If you want to be a bigger asshole than me ......."

Repeating what I said in earlier posts ..... The original motive for 8 year and 13 year inspections finally retiring after 18 years was that Strong (and all the other tandem manufacturers dis a whole bunch of updates during their first few years of production. The initial motivation was to get all the updates done on all the first-generation tandems: reinforce drogue canopy, drogue release cables, stiffer cutaway cables, reinforce drogue, Type 7 main risers, add Cypres pockets, dual main closing loops, reinforce tail of reserve canopy, large mid-flap, etc. After they got a few 8-year-old tandems in for inspection, Strong realized how brutal the Southern California sand was on gear. It was faded, frayed and filthy after 8 years. After 18 years, Strong wanted their first-generation reserves retired, because they were now using better fabric, better reinforcing tapes, etc. As for DZs still using 23-year-old Strongs .... I have heard of a couple of Canadian DZs that really should replace their oldest Strong tandems because they are now ???? years old. Hint! Hint!

What is the "FFA?"

I am 58 years old and in no rush to retire. Perhaps old TIs should be required to pass a physical fitness test: x chin-ups, y sit-ups, z push-ups, low risk of heart or lung disease, eye-sight corrected to 20/20, no dementia symptoms, etc.

....................... In my opinion, TS-108.1 needs to be removed from the PIA website and tossed. ...................................................................................... Agreed! The PIA pull-testing standard should have retired when the last acid-mesh retired. According to National and Security, the last round reservec suspected of suffering from acid mesh should have retired a dozen years ago. When aerobatic pilots bring me old, round, reserves built during the acid-mesh era, I reply "Sorry, but I don't have the tools to re-test it." Under my breath I whisper to myself "... and I am not going to waster any money on pull-testing tools either." I also advise young riggers not to waste money on pull-testing tools. If you want to hear my opinion of Phantom reserves, just read what Manley Butler wrote circa 1990.

............................................................................................... If you have weak knees, the best way to strengthen them is walking or running on rough trails. The repetitive impact of running triggers your bones to grow denser, while all those steps trigger ligaments and tendons and muscles to "toughen up!" For example, yesterday, I hiked the "500 Stairs" trail up Burnaby Mountain. It is rumoured that local para-gliders and speed-fliers like to launch from the top of the "500 Steps Trail." ....... Either that, or I am trying to join young BASE jumpers ..... or ...... I enjoy watching the sunset from the top of he Mountain???????

I have only pull-tested a hole in one square reserve. It was a Safety-Flier or Safety-Star ... one of the first 5-cell reserves built by Para-Flie during the late 1970s. The fabric was LoPo, slightly off-white. It failed at 30 pounds or less. Meanwhile I Have pull-tested hundreds of round and square canopies to 40 pounds with only minor weave separation.

To replace a steering line: start at the top. Loop the top end of the line through the line attachment tape. Leave the (raw cut) end hanging 6 inches below the tail. Fingertrap (parallel to long axis of line) 4 or 5 inches into the long part of the line. Grab the bottom (raw cut) end of the line and pass it through (90 degrees) both inner and outer lines just below the loop. Massage flat. Repeat the (90 degree fingertrap) process an inch or 2 farther down. This can be done with a hollow fid (knitting needle with internal threads) but I find it much easier with a wire. A Cypres needle also works well with thinner lines.

Strong Enterprises has used a variety of clear-coated cables on their tandems. For a while, SE even used un-coated cutaway cables. SE recommends replacing all older cutaway cables with current-production, clear-coated cables. Your clear-coated cable is probably air-worthy. To inspect it, look at it, then slide your fingers along the cable. Look closely for cracks, grooves or missing coating. Cracked or missing coating means grounding and replacement. Caution, yellow-coated cables are not stiff enough for Strong tandems

Two different materials: braided suspension line versus woven webbing. To understand braided suspension line, try to picture the outer sheath of kernmantle rope (minus the straight inner strands). When we fingertrap braided suspension lines, the outer braid tightens around the inner braid, producing a join as strong as the original line. Sewing only holds the two pieces of line in alignment until they are loaded. Finger-trapped joints cannot slip once loaded. This "no-sew finger-trapping" technique includes passing the bitter end through the other two lines at 90 degrees, looping all the fibres together in what vaguely resembles a parks-head knot. This extra step prevents the finger-trapped joint from slipping. A "no-sew finger-trapped" joint is also as strong as the original suspension line. OTOH Harness webbing l cannot be finger-trapped, so all harness joints are sewn. Harness joints depend 100 percent on stitching to hold them together. I have only seen a few finger-trapped joints in tubular webbing, but tubular webbing is rarely used in parachute harnesses. Traditionally, harnesses were straight-stitched with heavy cord (5 or 6) borrowed from saddle-makers or sail-makers (5 stitches per inch) while newer harnesses are zig-zag stitched (dozens of stitches per inch) with lighter thread (E thread). Bar-tacks are just a fancy version of zig-zag stitches. Electronic sewing machines allow climbing harness manufacturers to use sew exotic curved, crescent-shaped, etc. bar-tacks that avoid point-loading on corners.

I have used the NS finger-trapping technique to replace dozens of lower control lines. It is as strong as an old-school, bar-tacked finger-trap and lasts hundreds of jumps. From my perspective, it is mainly about being too lazy to walk over to the sewing machine. If I have spare time, I might put a cosmetic stitch through the finger-trap. The most amusing reactions are from skydivers who get upset about bar-tacks that are not "factory perfect!" Hah! Hah! Do they understand how little stitching contributes to the strength of a finger-trapped joint? How many of them realize that a bar-tack is just a fancy zig-zag stitch? In most finger-trapped joints, the stitching only stabilizes line length until the outer line is loaded/tensioned.

Correction: it was the third tandem fatality. Mid-air collision. The lurker collided with the TI's head/neck and knocked him unconscious. No pull. High speed impact. Both the TI and student died. This accident occurred before Cypres was invented. No one trusted earlier AADs (FXC 8000, Sentinel, KAP-3, etc.) enough to install them on tandems. Hardly any licensed jumpers wore AADs either.

USPA and the manufacturers have put numerous restrictions on who is allowed to freefall with tandems: more than 500 jumps, AFFI, plenty of recent belly freefall formations, etc. These restrictions are a polite response to the first (or second?) tandem fatality when a clumsy lurker docked too hard and broke the TI's neck!

Never heard of that packing technique before?????? Was he referring to a Type 2 diaper (with only the left line group locking the diaper closed)? Like the other poster said, he may be confusing it with a Type 4 diaper. Strong and Butler manuals instruct riggers to pack Type 4 as Type 2 or Type 4 depending upon desired bulk distribution. For example, all but the oldest Strong, 26 foot diameter, conical canopies made of low-porosity fabric have Type 4 diapers with three locking stows (rubber bands). When packing a Strong LOPO, round canopy into a Strong Para-Cushion PEP, I always stow the left line group on the diaper. The right line group remains outside the diaper. The rest of the lines get stowed in the pack tray because that is the method illustrated in the Strong manual and it is important to pack most of the line bulk under the pilot chute to provide the spring with a solid platform to launch. OTOH when packing Strong LOPOs into most other containers, I stow all the lines on the diaper. The only exception is when I am packing a Strong LOPO into a thin container (e.g. Long Softie) then I revert to Type 2 line stowage to spread line bulk and make the pilot more comfortable. Packing in a manner not illustrated in the manual (per manufacturers' instructors) turns the user into a test-jumper ... not wise on gear that was perfected 40 years ago.

No personal experience. I worry about hypoxia as the airplane climbs into thinner air above 5,000 feet above sea level. Used to be that the only skydivers breathing through nasal canulas were those climbing to 18,000 feet for large formation record attempts. As our skydiving population ages (baby boomers) maybe the new fashion will be continuous-wear nasal canulas. Will we grow fancier moustaches to conceal our nasal canulas? Will canula tubing become standard in full-face skydiving helmets? Will knitted nose-toques become fashionable? Will lace veil become fashionable for skydiving ladies? Will rubber, fighter pilot masks become fashionable for skydivers? Will rigid face guards (as worn by military helicopter door gunners) become fashionable among skydivers? Lots of new markets for start-up skydiving entrepreneurs .....

....... I drink occasionally but not very much. Drinking the last few years has really screwed me up. Even just a couple beers and I can't sleep. ............. Agreed! I finally quit drinking when I realized how alcohol aggravated my insomnia. I sleep much better sober and was able to wake up in time for the (free) sunrise load. Bob and Judy Celaya were supportive of my sobriety and the rest of the jumpers were respectful. Free skydives are the best incentive to change behaviour! I am being to think that heavy drinking is a phase that most young men go through. Fortunately, their young bodies quickly recover from the damage. Sadly, a few get addicted to alcohol and continue that dangerous habit (heavy drinking) later in life, when their/our bodies heal slower or never heal from the chemical damage.

Yes, skydiving is addicting. Yes, lots of skydivers use skydiving-induced adrenaline to self-medicate their depression, anxiety, etc. Have you read the book "Positive Addictions?" The basic premise is that some people have addictive personalities and they self-medicate with heroin, marathon running (runners' high dopamine), bar-room brawling or religion. I tried self-medicating with alcohol, but it did not end gracefully. I tried self-medicating with long-distance running until my knees wore out. Knee surgery slowed my running and jumping for a year, but I stubbornly refuse to quit self-medicating with skydiving!

Moderators: please move this thread to "Gear and Rigging." How big is your Raven? How many times has it been deployed? How many times has it been repacked? Is there any visible damage, fading, fraying, etc.? Is it a Raven Dash-M? That "20 year rule" should become a sliding scale. 20 years is an honest measure of harness/container life, however 20 years is a less accurate way to measure the life of a reserve canopy. First, reserve canopies should experience less wear because they hide inside containers for 99 percent of their life span. IOW containers should absorb the abuse while protecting canopies. Like most manufacturers, Precision has not published life-limits on their canopies. Nor does Precision insist on pull-tests (by field riggers). So your local riggers are "inventing" life limits tougher than factory standards. If you want to compare life-limits written by other manufacturers, let's compare Performance Designs with Strong Enterprises. PD set limits of 25 deployments or 40 repacked (roughly 20 years service life) then the PD reserve is supposed to return to the PD factory for visual inspection, pull tests and porosity tests. Strong has similar standards for their tandem reserves: maximum 20 deployments, factory inspections after 8 years, 13 years, 18 years and retirement after 23 years. Strong factory inspections are similar to PD's. PD pull tests are only part of the inspection. PD recently eliminated pull tests from their field inspections because they were not seeing significant deterioration of strength, but they were seeing canopies accidentally damaged by sloppy field riggers. PD reports that most older reserves pass factory inspections and are returned to service. Testing porosity is more important, but few field riggers own porosity-testing machines. Another reason for setting age limits is to retire older generations of obsolete gear. For example, National set age limits to retire Phantom round reserves that were at risk for acid mesh. Strong tells tandem masters to retire tandem gear more than 18-23 years old because first generation tandems were ... crude ...

Naturally, I am biased. Tried it once and did not see much advantage. Do not see the profit on repeating the stunt??????

.........::::............................... Good! I was being sarcastic! My political education started in Quebec .... is it any wonder that my politics are confusing????????