riggerrob

Bump! An amusing piece of ancient science fiction. Now all those generations of video cameras have been replaced by GoPro. Hah! Hah!

Less expensive try a half-dozen different styles of goggles from several different faces. Each different style of goggle is sized to fit a different face shape. You just need to find the shape of goggles that best fit your forehead.

Yes Jerry, Quality control programs vary widely from one manufacturer to another. At 1 factory, the ladies in production had to fill out a 3 page "traveller" for every rig, meanwhile, at another factory, a half page "traveller" was enough. Also remember that the FAA Inspector is probably the junior inspector in the office and he has been saddled with inspecting helicopter factories, engine overhaul facilities, balloon factories, an avionics shop, an upholstery shop, a seat-belt shop and finally a parachute manufacturer. Expecting a single inspector to keep up to date with all those different industries is almost impossible.

Jerry, Thanks filling in the details. There are 2 extremes of quality control for parachute materials. At one extreme, only certified MIL SPEC/PIA SPEC materials are allowed into the factory. At the other extreme, the factory pull-tests, porosity-tests, all the materials as they arrive. Most factories use a mixture of both methods. One thing that is missing from home built parachute parts is the paper trail tracking all the materials from iron mine to final product.

So those folks out there making their own parachutes, are they really violating the regs? ....................................................................................... Less than 1 percent of skydivers possess the machines, skills or patience to sew their own parachutes. I sewed and jumped (hundreds of times) a pair of kit parachutes during the 1980s. How many have you made?

.... 825 microline and 725 spectre are the exact same product. The spool says "at least 725" so my best guess is that PD pull tested it to 825 and that's where they got their number. ......................................................................................... Agreed. The MIL SPEC or PIA SPEC probably specifies a minimum breaking strength of 725. If a suspension line is stronger than the MBS, it still passes the MIL SPEC inspection. Weaving and braiding mill managers often deliberately make suspension lines slightly over-strength to ensure that they pass final inspection. The only disadvantage to over-strength lines is "mystery bulk." The better factories also pull-test in-coming materials before sending them to the cutting table. If lines sent to Performance Designs consistently pass 825 pound tensile tests, then they can advertise their lines as 825.

Don't those factories which make all of our parachutes employ seamstresses who aren't riggers? ............................................................................................. Yes, but all their sewing has to pass an inspector before it leaves the factory. Some factories insist on inspecting a harness/container 4 or 5 times along the production line. The first inspection is often at the cutting table to ensure that the sizes and colours match the order form. Some complex pieces (e.g. mid flaps with fancy coloured stripes ) are inspected before they are sewn to the next piece. If a stitch pattern will be hidden in the final product (e.g. structural back straps) they need a "closure inspection" before the chute can continue along the production line. The inspector must initial or stamp the production paperwork before the piece can continue along the production line. The final inspector compares the order form with the final product, colour(s), size, length of harness, symmetry of harness, correct number of rings, correct size of rings, 5-cord in all the major harness junctions, grommets in all the flaps, bar-tacks in all the heavily-loaded corners, etc. Inspection criteria are written into the quality control manual that is part of FAA approval to manufacture parachutes under TSO C22. Inspection criteria are often nailed to the wall above inspection stations. Each factory designates a chief inspector who can then designate his responsibility to a Senior rigger or highly-experienced sewer. Production parachute inspectors need keen eyesight, attention to detail and an intimate knowledge of sewing techniques. That is what is often lacking with home-made parachutes. Home-made parachutes also lack the "second set of eyeballs" which are virtual in the flying business.

........................................................................................ Yes, you could legally do that and tell yourself you have "layed your rating aside". But the sanction that you risk is that CSPA could revoke your rating. Not an insignificant action if you are wanting to sign packing cards. .......................................................................................... I am siding with Gowlerk on this debate. I don't know who gave Mr. Chapman's aunt the god-given right to sew parachutes????????? If anyone dies while jumping one of her parachutes, the coroner will ask her plenty of embarrassing questions. Police, courts and coroners treat all accidental deaths as criminal homicides. If anyone gets hurt - using home-made gear, then his heirs might drag the aunt in to court. A CSPA-certified rigger cannot plead "ignorance of the law." If a CSPA-certified rigger "exceeds his certificate" he stands alone in court. A judge might ask if the sloppy sewer ignored " best business practices." Certified riggers are bound to conduct their business in accordance with "best business practices." BBP including sewing stitch patterns that resemble factory standards, the same MIL SPEC/PIA SPEC materials and the same finished dimensions as parachutes manufactured in factories. IOW home-made parachutes are only kosher if the materials and workmanship resemble factory products at arm's length. Most riggers don't achieve that quality of workmanship until they have completed as much training as a CSPA Rigger C2.

... one can just lay aside one's ratings and sew as a member of the public, on a main, reserve, or harness . .................................................................................. Sorry, but a licensed/certified rigger is not allowed to "lay aside a rating." Any time a licensed rigger does business, the onus is always on the rigger to ensure that the transaction is legal, honest and airworthy.

By PIM1 2014, rigger privileges include ... Rigger A2 (only existed in last couple years) - complex patching, simple harness repairs, "manufacture components"

You cannot legally jump (reserve-less) BASE gear out of an airplane at a CSPA-affiliated DZ.

Agreed! 550 versus 825 Spectra makes a minor difference in pack volume, but 550 lasts half as long. I recommend 825 Spectra to most sport jumpers.

A variety of tailors' chalks work well and brush off easily. The key is finding soft chalk that brushes off easily. For marking suspension lines and closing loops, I have use a variety of alcohol and toluene-based markers (e.g. "Sharpie"). I have also used various felt markers to write on reserve bridles. The incidence of chemically-degraded reserve bridles is below one percent. I have also seen canopy fabric (both F-111and ZP) marked with a variety of inks ... again zero degradation over time.

Getting rid of the noise created by a flappy slider is a huge part of being cool. If you want to be totally cool, then you add safety whistles. Hah! Hah!

Gowlerk, please try to remember that Canada revolves around a Bay Street lawyer. Hah! Hah!

Yes, I also have a copy of "Skyhigh Irvin." Yes, the book is biased. I see it is a fine example of "corporate history." Major corporations: Boeing, Bombardier, Martin-Baker, etc. allow "tame" historians or journalists to interview company founders and rummage through company archives to write history books that paint the corporation in a favourable light. For example: a scion of the Molson (Brewery) family became an historian, curator of the (Canadian) Aviation Museum. I chatted with him once. He wrote a book that said that the first parachute jump - in Canada - was made near the family seat. And when archeologists wanted funding to excavate the wreckage of the first steamship built in Canada (with Molson money), underwater archeologists were housed in a comfortable hotel and ate steak on a regular basis. This formed of biased history book is a form of advertising to make the corporation look good. If you want to understand the complete story, you need to read a half-dozen books written specifically about their competitors, customers (e.g. "The Yorkshire Birdman" about RAF jumper Simon Ward), etc.

Both Abbotsford and Pitt Meadows standardized on Icarus mains. They use a mixture of Icarus 330 and 360 canopies packed into Sigma containers.

... It also looks like new Vectors will no longer have the hook velcro on the top main flap. I had to request this explicitly when ordering my V3 a few months .... One of the instructors at DeWolf's course actually pointed out to me that routing the bridle from the bottom may cause problems if you happen to deploy from an upright position. You have to leave enough slack to allow the pin to rotate 180 degrees. ............................................................................................ All curved pins need some slack ... Roughly double the length of the pin ... That is why many rigs have a small piece if Velcro on the top flap, to remind packers to leave a bit if slack in the bridle before it disappears inside the container.

Fortunately, you only need to hand-wheel it backwards 3/4 of a turn. IOW Stitch to the edge of the fabric, pushing the needle past bottom dead centre, until it catches the bottom thread. The put your hand on the wheel and rotate it backwards until there is a little slack in the top threads. Turn the fabric. Fold the corner of the tape and resume sewing forwards.

.................................................................................. UPT says that a Senior Rigger may install a Y-strap on a Sigma student harness. However, retro-fitting a Y-strap to a Strong tandem student harness requires plenty of machine-sewing (both 5-cord and E-thread) so Strong says that it must be done by a Master Rigger. Remember that civilian air regulations (in most countries) loop back to "in accordance with the manufacturers' instructions."

A Senior Rigger - working under the supervision of a Master Rigger is distinct from a Senior Rigger working alone. When we discuss Senior Rigger privileges, let's limit our comments to Senior a Riggers working alone.

.... Plenty of senior riggers have access to dz lofts with tons of machines too, so it is more than an intellectual debate, but real world application. I know a former senior riggers (deceased) who would kick out 10 linesets a week... .............................................................................. Let's try to limit this discussion to recently-licensed FAA Senior Riggers working alone, many miles from a fully-equipped loft.

.... everyone appears to have a slight skew on the interpretation but that everyone knows the FAA documents are full of contradictions and outdated references (everyone except the FAA who appear to move very slooooooowly and either don't have the expertise or don't want to make changes). .... ................................................................................. FAA have much bigger fish to fry. Their primary goal is facilitating aerial commerce (read the airline industry). Parachutes represent less than 1 percent of the FAA's business. As long as parachutes do not interfere with airliners, the FAA would prefer to ignore parachutes. Al Queda can do more damage in one minute than skydivers can do in a year.

A few years back tandem manufacturers tried to ban "buzzing" tandems because of the high risk of collision. Why did this fool repeat that foolish practice around solo canopies. A toggle-stab by any of those solo canopies would have put them on a collision course with the wing-suit.

I am backing McCordell and Baumchen on this issue. The confusion started with debate over whether adding a Y-strap is an alteration. May I further muddy the waters by introducing the terminology of "minor alteration" and "major alteration?" Adding a Y-strap to a Sigma tandem student harness is a "minor alteration" because most of the sewing was already done at the Sigma factory. A Sigma Y-strap can be installed by an FAA Senior Rigger because it is a series of "elementary operations," with only a little non-structural sewing to close the back-pad. OTOH installing a Y-strap on a Strong tandem student harness is a "major alteration" because it involves un-picking lots of stitching, then sewing the new Y-strap to the shoulder straps and leg straps with 5 cord and then sewing the leg-pads and back-pad closed. Since Strong requires structural stitching, it is a "major alteration." Back when Strong introduced the Y-strap, I sewed (using factory drawings) them onto 20-some-odd student harnesses. I define the difference between "minor" and "major" by the type of sewing machine required. I define "major" as requiring a Class 7 (5 cord) or bar-tacker (E thread). Performance Designs will back me on this, because PD says that any "major" repair requiring bar-tacks (e.g. line attachment tapes) must be returned to the factory. Since few part-time FAA Senior Riggers are going to invest in bar-tackers or harness machines, this becomes a purely intellectual debate.