riggerrob

............................................................................. The rest of us quietly read BPA reports and vow not to repeat those (British) mistakes. Hee! Hee! On a more serious note, United Parachute Technologies (aka. the Sigma Shop) published at list of all the tandem fatalities up until 2001. That was the year they introduced the Sigma, which claimed to eliminate several potential causes of tandem accidents. Since then tandems have moved to dominate the market, but we only suffer a few fatalities per year. When tandem students ask me if they are safe jumping with me, I reply "I have survived 4,000 tandems and 6,000 total jumps, you do the math."

I know that students and junior jumpers and renters freefly by accident from very early in their skydiving careers ... many attempt backloops and barrel rolls and sit flying on their first jumps. How do I know this? ... I have been a jumpmaster since 1982. Even when you tell renters not to sit-fly with an older rig, they sit-fly anyways. Then act surprised when the pilot chute sneaks out prematurely! Hah! Hah! Then they get really choked when the rigger charges them to sew the container back together! No sympathy!

What's "freeykng"? A typo I presume, did you mean freeflying? ............................................ I meant to type FREEFLYING but the acursed spell-check tried to help.

Does anyone have any old tandem drogues, d-bags, risers etc. that are faded, frayed and filthy and retiring this winter? The older the better. The dirtier the better. The worse the fraying the better. Would you like to donate them to assist young riggers in learning their trade? Please keep me in mind when you clean out your loft this spring.

..................................................................... New terminology????? "safety position?" I assume that you mean doing the "giant banana" in the doorway? The student doing something vaguely resembling an arch???? Should we move this part of the discussion to the tandem forum? Where is the break-even point (number of jump seats per day, number of seats per month, number of seats per year) before you add a Navajo to your fleet ..... add a single turbine ..... add a twin turbine ....?

................................................................... If you see someone landing with twisted steering lines .... send his kid out to tease daddy about his twisted steering lines.

***The way I see it is that is is an opportunity for a DZ owner to make a little more profit, hopefully to put aside for a rainy day or whatever they feel like. It's weird to me how people expect smalll businesses to give them a discount for any number of reasons, yet you don't ask for a discount in WalMart. Small business owners really get crapped on. ............................................................................... Even weirder is when whuffos chat up an instructor and ask "So can you give me a discount?" "Not much lady, ' us I don't own the airplane and I don't own the gasoline and I don't own the parachute ....." "I'm just a poor skydiving bum."

.......................................... It takes more minutes to find the tool that to re-do the finger trap.

When you defer maintenance too long your AMO will stop giving you technical release on your aircraft. Maintenance schedules are non negotiable. In Canada. ....................................................................... Tee! Hee! My dear Gowlerk, You have such a marvellous sense of humour! Hah! Hah! "Maintenance schedules are non-deferrable in Canada ......" How dare you quote a different rule book than Transport Canada? Rules change beyond recognition as you climb up the court system. The last time (January 2015) we were in court (Superior Court of British Columbia) Crown Counsel (representing Transport Canada) said: "Mr. Dause's maintenance schedule is okay with us." This statement contradicts a report (Canadian Transportation Safety Board) stating that Mr. Dause forgot to inspect a fuel pump. The pump inspection was detailed in a Special Inspection from the engine manufacturer (Pratt & Whitney). Even more bizarre is that Mr. Dause's AMO had signed off the same inspection on the other fuel pump?????? Meanwhile I am still wondering if Mr. Dause ever paid that $900,000 fine levied by the FAA. The FAA fine was related to skipped inspections of Twin Otter wing spars. Did anyone hear the outcome of Mr. Dause's disagreement with the FAA????

On a related note: does anyone know when George Quilter started making parachutes? Does anyone have a list of Quilter's patents?

As a Canadian-based Tandem Examiner, Strong Enterprises allows me a but more slack than Americans. Strong has never demanded an FAA medical from any of the new TIs that I trained. I cannot remember the last time I included a Transport Canada Class 3 Medical with a new TI's paperwork. Strong has always been satisfied with a note (signed by a doctor) saying that the patient is "healthy enough to participate in parachuting." Several new TIs were approved by TC Flight Surgeons, but I told them not to waste the extra $100 applying for a TC medical. The key point is that new TIs must produce paperwork (signed by a medical doctor) stating that they meet the same medical standards as a private pilot. It would be nice if they got re-examined every 2 or 3 years.

The "white thing" looks like an after-market belly-band. It is made of tubular nylon webbing. The photo is too grainy to count the black ID threads.... Judging by the thickness, it will hold a ton or more. Belly-bands help hold the main container close to your waist when you sit-fly. Belly-bands are an inexpensive fix when the second owner is smaller or thinner than the first owner. When second-hand harnesses are really loose/sloppy-fitting, they also help prevent the wearer from falling out of the harness butt-first. Belly-bands are also handy for stabilizing large containers (think student or tandem) on skinny skydivers.

We have heard the same sort of whining from Canadian automobile drivers lately. First off, the price of gasoline is driven by "how much the market will bear." Secondly, oil is sold in American dollars on the world market. Lately the Canadian dollar has slumped to around 70 cents on the Canadian dollar. Thirdly, most Canadian DZs have barely broken even over the last few years. Too many Canadian DZs carry huge loans and have already deferred maintenance several times. We all know what happens when you defer maintenance too long.

How do you discourage skydivers from sitting aft of the Navajo's cargo door? We have seen red lines painted on the floors of Skyvans along with warning signs in three or more languages. We have seen a fabric bulkhead in a Twin Otter. We have suggested stationing a small, fierce dog aft of the door. Any other suggestions?

6 Canadians also died in that attack. Rhetorical question: what do Boko Haram, Al Quieda, the Taliban and lawyers all believe? Beating on the weakest members of society is the best way to win friends and influence people.

............................................................................... We can agree with using a tourniquet after a propeller chops off an arm. Can we agree that "ladies' sanitary products" may be useful for staunching bleeding from deep puncture wounds (e.g. gunshot)?

All Navajos are powered by Lycoming TIO-540 engines producing between 310 to 425 horsepower. 350 horsepower was the most popular production variant. The best Navajos have contra-rotating propellers to ease the pilot's job after one engine quits. Despite urban myths, single-engine flight is the MOST dangerous time to ride in a light twin. Colemill Navajo Panther conversions drive 350 horsepower (per side) through 4-bladed, Q-tip propellers. Colemill also standardized "winglets" that lengthen the wingspan and improve climb rates.

I repeat: the CSAR Tech recommended LEAVING leg straps tight to reduce the risk of shock. IOW don't disturb the harness if the victim is laying there still breathing.

Yes, I just inspected a light-weight BASE canopy made by Squirrel. That slider uses PD slider tape only around the grommets. The rest of the slider is made of mesh and reinforced with 3/8 inch wide Type 3 tape. One tape goes around the periphery. A second tape connects the inboard edge of the grommet reinforcement tapes. Then a grid of narrow tapes reinforces the rectangular vent in the middle. Sometimes the vent is covered with a sheet of canopy fabric attached with tiny tuck tabs and more barracks than I can count! I also lost track of the parts-count! Holy complexity Batman! Squirrel's construction methods must triple the labour cost of manufacture over more conventional canopies built by the likes of Apex???? We also know that Squirrel BASE equipment is not as durable as older, heavier designs.

If you really want to over-spend on helmet liners, but from Oregon Aero. OA sells fancy, shock-absorbing liners for Pro-Tecs. SEALS, Rangers and other Special Forces soldiers too sneaky to mention wore Pro-Tecs for decades. As for half-shell helmets .... they are great after opening, but leave your ears exposed to injury during openings. Ear injuries are the same reason I quit wearing leather hats.

....... Tourniquets .............. You still have a couple hours to lower it if needed... We leave them on in ortho surgical procedures well over an hour at times ........................................................................................ Yes, my sole experience with a tourniquet was during knee surgery, but I was anaesthetized. Otherwise, my experience with tourniquets is limited to conversations like this. A few years back, some (Air Force) Canadian Search and Rescue Technicians were doing (parachute) refresher training at Pitt Meadows. I started discussing first aid with a CSAR Tech and the conversation got around to removing harnesses from wounded skydivers. He suggested leaving leg straps tight to reduce the risk of shock. He said that limiting blood flow to legs reduces the risk of wounded going into shock. I only I clip chin straps and raise visors to ease breathing, but leave the helmet on to avoid aggravating neck injuries. Disconnecting a chest strap can also help breathing, but beyond that, I prefer to wait for ambulances. Next question: what about suspended harness trauma if a jumper lands in a tree or wires or building? I have recently sewn patches on a couple of BASE canopies that hung up on "objects." Granted we see far fewer students in trees than during the 1970s. I have only needed to extract one student from a tree during this century. Fortunately, the land-owner provided a 30 foot 10 metre) ladder. I climbed the ladder, released the student's RSL, cutaway his main and ordered him to climb down the ladder. The student was not injured. Another instructor and I struggled for 30 minutes to remove his main parachute from the tree. The worst part about the whole experience was all the "helpful advice" from onlookers who didn't know how to climb trees! Grrrrrr! What would you do if the student was hanging from a tree and bleeding?

.................................... How much do UK first responders learn about tourniquets?

Another RAF test jumper was "The Yorkshire Birdman". He was one of the first to jump a wingsuit, but was smart enough to leave the RAF as a young man.

Lots of Australian DZs used to use Navajos, but eventually wore them out and replaced them with turbines. A few Canadian DZs use/used Navajos during this century: Alexandria, Westlock, Niagara, Pitt Meadows, etc. Be sure to get the larger (350 horsepower) engines and make sure your pilot is well-trained, especially on how to fly with only one engine. Station a large, angry dog aft of the cabin door to discourage stupid skydivers from sitting too far aft.

Tourniquets are a controversial subject. They were banned in Canada decades ago because of the risk of amateurs killing an otherwise healthy lower leg. Tourniquets have returned to fashion because of all the traumatic amputations suffered by soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. Think roadside bombs big enough to flip over a 5-ton truck. Tourniquets are really only wise if you understand how many minutes to tighten, how many minutes to loosen, total time you are allowed to apply a tourniquet, etc. Short of a traumatic amputation, Canadian first aid instructors still direct pressure on wounds.