riggerrob

US Navy seat pack. You can find pictures in Poynter's Manual. Korean war vintage chutes were similar to World War 2 vintage seat packs, but made of nylon. F4U pilots probably carried plenty of survival gear, so they sat on a 4 inch thick seat cushion in addition to the 4 inch thick parachute pack. Modern replacements (for Warbirds) are made by Butler, Para-Phernalia and Strong. The biggest difference is that modern seat packs hide their risers and back straps under (Velcroed) covers, while Korean War vintage packs had a bewildering array of backstraps and risers flying in loose formation, held together by little straps and snaps and break cord. Strong advertises that they can exactly match colours, but their Pop-Top style was not was not invented until after the Korean War.

Just clip a large carbines to the top of the cabane struts. Bonus points if you clip it onto a piece of hardware that directly connects to balloon suspension lines. A locking carbiner is best. Even a huge (10?) Maillon Rapide locks. Pack the parachute with a direct-bag and static-line. Stow most of the excess S/L in a series of rubber bands. Stow the last bit of excess S/L to a rubber band that is Velcroed to a main riser cover (extra magnet on newer containers?). Flop the last bit of S/L forward, over the jumper's shoulder and secure it to the chest strap buckle with one last rubber band. Once you are above jump altitude, clip the end of the S/L to the carbines. Assist the jumper in climbing over the gunwale of the basket. Trace S/L one last time to ensure that it is clear. Wish them a happy jump. Tell jumper to shove off.

Been there, done that. It was easy, as easy as packing a modern seat type PEP.

Here is another article about jump-planes that are older than their pilots. Have you ever looked at an airplane as a bauxite-based life-form? There is a good article in today's AvWeb about corrosion is slowly destroying the general aviation fleet.

Minor damage.

Note the 1 x 6 inch piece of Velcro that assists the pot-chute to full bridle-extension before the static-line releases. The strip of pile Velcro is tied to the base of the pot-chute, while hook Velcro is sewn to the static-line.

To practice a relax arch -without wind - try laying face down in a hammock, or laying your back on a huge Swiss/boss ball. The challenge is to breath, relax and feel the stretch in your abdomen muscles.

I am going to make sure I remove the belt before I downsize to a 170 in a couple of weeks. ............................................................................................... Do you wear your weight belt inside or outside your jumpsuit. Might also want to practice "losing" the weight belt in case you open over water.

I ran a lot of 20 km volksmarchs when I was younger. It was my last year in the Air Force. A 20 km run was a good hang-over cure. It was also safer than punching out my boss.

Overly-long ripcords pose two problems. The first problem is difficulty pulling if the users' arms are too short. The second problem is accidentally snagging the ball accidentally.

.... Seemed more focused on tunnel things like me learning to strafe rather than working on my AFF stuff. ... ..................................................................................... "Strafe?" What is "strafe?"

Agreed! That ripcord is too long. Tell the factory that they owe you the correct length ripcord. Most ripcords terminate the cable at the middle or bottom edge of the D-handle. This allows the yoke to stretch a little (during opening shock) without risking accidentally pulling the ripcord. The shortest production standard is the Sidewinder, which only has one inch of slack. Despite packing hundreds of Sidewinder reserves, I have never seen a Sidewinder reserve accidentally deployed. As for a Master Rigger shortening ripcords or manufacturing new ripcords ... I have no problem with that. I manufactured hundreds of ripcords when I worked for Butler, Rigging Innovations, Para-Phernalia and various other smaller lofts. The key issue is quality control. Manley Butler taught me how to test ripcords with his wall-mounted test equipment. Every ripcord that I built after that, I pull-tested with a Butler tool. The shop (that I worked at) had some home-made ripcord swaging tools, but no tensile-testing machine. The original g-no-go gauges had disappeared before I arrived. With no gauges and no manual, I quit manufacturing ripcords.

.... -wrapping all of that up into a student's progression with goals and performance expectations .................................................................................... Really depends what your long-term goals are. For half a century, the British Army had great success starting g para-troopers with S/L jumps from balloons. The primary reason they used balloons was because barrage balloons were readily available and less expensive to operate than airplanes. From a psychological perspective, balloons reduced stress on students. By removing loud noises and time-pressure from the lesson, students had fewer things to worry about. Once a para-trooper had mastered the basics of a "jab" exit, side-slipping and PLFs, then instructors could "layer on" loud airplanes, time pressure, rucksacks, rifles and snowshoes. Fast forward to today, many first jump students are scared because their first jump is also their first flight in a cramped, noisy Cessna. Remove two or three stressors and you improve student performance during their first jump. If your primary goal is to train BASE jumpers, balloons are perfect because they fly at low speeds and eliminate worries about off-heading openings and cliff strikes.

........................................................................................ Old school. Try to look at the bigger picture. There are a dozen ways to rig static-lines. Since 1940, most military jumpers have used direct-bag static-lines. The static-line is clipped to an anchor cable running along the ceiling. Excess S/L is stowed in rubber bands on the outside, top of the container. The canopy is packed into a d-bag that is tied to the S/L. After the jumper falls away, the S/L and D-bag trail behind the aircraft. Because the S/L is anchored to the ceiling, (above the jumper's head) the jump-master only needs a second or two to confirm that the S/L is clear of arms and legs and necks and yell "GO!"

...... But I do know of quite a few people who stopped logging at about 200 jumps for reasons I don't understand. ......................................................................................... If 200 jumps is enough to start jumping a wing-suit or start jump off bridges, the incentive to log more jumps disappears.

....................................................................................... Rather easy to avoid entanglements. Just use the same logic as when dropping static-liners from airplanes. Start by anchoring the static-line to a solid part of the airframe .... are ..... basket. Ceiling-mounted anchors reduce tripping and entangling of static-lines with feet. May I suggest anchoring the static-line to the top of the frame, where the balloon's suspension lines attach? A locking carbiner (Maillon Rapide 10) can easily attach up there. As the jumper climbs over the edge of basket, the jump-master's duty is to ensure that the static-line remains clear of his arms and legs. Once the jumper is poised on the step, the JM traces the S/L one more time to confirm there are no entanglements and wishes the jumper a happy jump. How does that process differ from dropping S/L students from a Cessna?

... But still, a PCA is pretty much the same as static-line. ........................................................................................... Key point: buddy needs to maintain a tight grip on your pilot-chute until you reach line-stretch. At low airspeeds, a pilot-chute may or may not provide enough drag to unstow lines from rubber bands. Even line tension is important to avoid tension knots .... doubly so on round canopies.

Warming up popcorn ... For comparison, I have 14 tandems in one day. The first time was in Illinois and the second time was north of the 49 parallel, so the second day does not count in an American political debate. Hah! Hah!

The civilian method for grounding canopies requires cutting of the (orange data panel. Many riggers also cut off the lines to ensure that no-one ever jumps it again. The Canadian Armed Forces ground old canopies by rigger-rolling them, the band-sawing them at least 3 times. That is standard military practice for scrapping weapons, vehicles, etc. The Canadian gov't fears that some silly civilian will injure themselves jumping an old military parachute, then try to sue for damages. In the long run, band saws are cheaper than lawyers.

.... I have no problem with my reserves based on age. And btw the one ... is a phantom from 1986. I trust that .... ......................................................................................... You are braver than I. I refuse to repack any round reserves built during the acid-mesh era. A - Because 25 years of bromocreasol and tensile-testing has damaged the fabric. B - Because no young jumper knows how to land a round canopy. Most have never seen a round canopy in the air and it is increasingly difficult to find an instructor who has jumped rounds. For example, I did 70 jumps on round canopies back during the 1970s, but my last "round" jump was in 1986 ... almost 30 years ago! Because of accumulated injuries, I will never jump a round again.

Military balloons have 3-sided baskets. May they have a strap across the 4th side. At most they have a door that is only waist-high. A side door exit is the most realistic if your long-term goal is teaching g them how to jump out of airplanes. Modern, civilian hot-air balloons tend to hang a step outside the basket. The step is about a foot wide and most of the width of the basket. The distance from the lip of the basket to the step is the same as the instep of a short, adult female.

Shhhhhh! Don't tell that to the millions of British military para-troopers who started their careers by jumping from barrage balloons.

The long-term question is whether the rods increase the risk of re-fracturing his leg bones. Students do stupid stuff during landings. TIs often jolt their leg bones and I have seen a dozen TIs sprain or break their legs even after they flew a perfect approach.

.............................................................................. Does that mean that when I quit drinking, I slacked off on training? Hah! Hah!

You are getting upset by the difference between "shelf life" and "service life." The "shelf life" of nylon parachutes is 40 or 50 years. The problem with shelf life is that military parachutes become obsolete sitting on the shelf, or the mission changes. For example, modern paratroopers are better fed, more muscular and carry more "light-weight, go-fast gadgets" than their fathers did 40 years ago, ergo 40-year-old designs cannot no longer do the job. Meanwhile, "service life" is much shorter. If a paratrooper lands in a tree, the parachute has a "service life" of one jump. OTOH if he only jumps in the prairies, that same canopy ought last up to 1,000 jumps. "Service life" of pilot emergency parachutes is a average of the wear-and-tear suffered during regular flying. At one extreme, we have an air show team that also gave joy rides. They replaced their PEPs after one year because they were faded, frayed and stained with oil, dirt, sweat and vomit. At the other end of the scale, we have glider pilots who only fly on weekends and carefully store their equipment over the winter. Despite careful storage, few glider PEPs last more than 20 or 25 years in the California desert before they get worn out by sunlight, sweat and getting dragged in an out of airplanes. Closet queens are the most difficult to determine a "service life." Closet Queens may be returned to service by old riggers, who know the history of a particular model. OTOH Closet Queens can be dangerous for young riggers because they cannot find manuals and Service Bulletins in the internet. That is why I advise new riggers not to repack any PEP older than themselves.