riggerrob

Guys, Sorry if I gave you the wrong impression. I have never fired a rocket into orbit or large naval guns. The biggest I fired was Browning .50 cal. and the Carl Gustavo.

.................................................................................... Yes, I jumped with the Black Forest Parachute Club at Canadian Forces Base Baden. I also jumped with the West Germany Army at Altenstadt. I jumped with civilians in: Ampfing, Bad Tolz, Baden Baden, Freiberg, Kockertalle Bridge, Leutekirche, Saint Johan Im Tyrol, Schweighofen, Strassbourg and Texel. I was quite the jumping slut back in those days.

Thanks, I missed it. So there you have it. Directions from a manufacturer telling a senior rigger that he can legally do master rigger work. No where in Part 65 Rigging) allows a manufacturer to do that. MEL ...................................................................................... I disagree with your interpretation. I read it as the manufacturer saying that the work is simple enough that it can be done by an FAA Senior Rigger. The work can also be done by a (more qualified) FAA Master Rigger or foreign equivalent. They mention "Master Rigger or foreign equivalent" because some bureaucrats get their panties all in a twist if all the "I"s are not dotted and all the "t"s are not crossed. We do agree that it is silly for Senior Riggers to do "Master" level "major repairs" or "alterations" without supervision.

Good point, tilting the neck already puts extra pressure on spinal discs. A sudden load might then herniated a disc. Both of my herniated discs are low in my spine (lumbar, sciatic). If I don't do regular exercises to keep them (neutrally) aligned , they bulge and press on my sciatic nerve and my leg muscles cramp up and I get grumpy. Note to self: go to gym today and do stretches (e.g. Warrior One).

7.62 x 54 NATO Never heard of 7.62X54 being called NATO .................................................................................. Sorry. My bad. 7.62 x 54 mm is popular in former Communist countries, heck it was popular before communism was invented. The Tsarist Armies shot 7.6 x 54 by the millions of rounds. It is still widely used in light machine guns (PKM) and sniper rifles (Dragonyev).

How about the European approach where the government regulates pilot emergency parachutes, but allows national sporting bodies to regulate skydiving equipment?

***You have read the regulations (many of which are out of date and contradictory as you have already agreed) and have formed an opinion. ..................................................................................... Most of the regulations were written long before (try 1948) long before skydiving was a serious sport. Most of the Federal Air Regulations only mention parachutes as pilot emergency parachutes and most of those FARs were adapted from military parachute standards. Since skydiving represents less than 1 percent of their business, the FAA is just happy that skydivers do not interfere with scheduled airlines. Unfortunately, the FAA is saddled with a bunch of outdated FARs which force them to regulate skydiving equipment. The FAA cares even less about repairs to main parachutes. The bottom line is that the FAA will continue to ignore skydivers as long as skydivers keep the fatality rate low.

Carl Gustavo anti-tank rocket 84 mm

Be careful about advising junior jumpers to skip breakfast. Most of the tandem students who vomited on me skipped breakfast. Fear burned through all their blood sugar reserves, then they felt weak and nauseous under canopy. They tossed the meagre remains of their stomach contents all over their jumpsuits. The worst of them lost consciousness under canopy. Instead, we advise students to nibble light snacks (fruits and vegetables) and stay hydrated while preparing to jump.

That USAF article is great! Few skydivers west neck braces because they limit visibility. Only a few free fall photographers wear neck braces and only when they jump their heaviest helmets. What you really need to do is stretch and strengthen all your neck muscles. Start with the USAF exercises (after approval by your physiotherapist) and eventually work up to wrestlers' neck bridges.

.22 long rifle 5.56 NATO .44 Magnum .45 ACP .303 British 7.62 x 25 Warsaw 7.62 x 39 Warsaw 7.62 x 51 NATO 7.62 x 54 NATO 7.92 x 59 Mauser 9 mm Parabellum .338 Lapua .50 Browning Russian heavy machine guns Mortars Anti-tank rocket 105 mm howitzer 120 mm tank gun 155 mm howitzer Large naval guns Rocket to orbit Other, please specify

Austria France Holland Portugal Puerto Rico United States of America West Germany

Austria Belgium Bermuda Cuba Denmark France Great Britain Greenland Holland Italy Liechtenstein Luxembourg Norway Puerto Rico Portugal Spain Sweden Switzerland United States of America West Germany

In Canada that would count as a "prohibited" short-barrelled, double-barrelled shotgun. Canadian laws also specify which calibres and which models are "restricted" (pistols) or "prohibited" (full automatic).

Caught that error on a couple of my own pack jobs. Caught the error before I finished the paperwork and long before the owner came to pick up his rig.

... like the rather infamous case where Poynter and another skydiver both were expert witnesses in a case where a lady stalled a reserve, known to fly poorly (both the skydiver and reserve brand) and sued the container manufacturer. ......................................................................................... The rigging business is radically different from the legal business. First, during any transaction between a professional rigger and an amateur skydiver, the onus is always on the rigger to keep the transaction honest, legal, etc. OTOH all dealings with lawyers are "caveat emptor." Secondly, no lawyer ever tells more than half the truth in court. Further, he coaches his "expert witnesses" to only tell enough of the truth to support his side of the debate. Finally, lawyers do not care who is a fault/guilty. Lawyers only care who has the deepest pockets. In the aforementioned case, lawyers believed that the container manufacturer had the deeper pockets.

Agreed! The last political shooting - in Canada - was done with a lever-action cowboy-gun. Meanwhile small-time dope-dealers brag that they can get their hands on any machine-gun or rocket-launcher they want. Law-makers in Ottawa are so far from the criminal classes.........

.............................................................................. Maybe installing a Y-strap on a Sigma harness is "a minor alteration" done by a Senior Rigger, but installing the same Y-strap on a Strong Tandem Student harness requires popping a bunch of stitching on the leg-pads and back-pad and sewing (with 5 cord) the new Y-strap to the leg straps and shoulder straps. Then you re-close the leg-pads and back-pad, etc. I up-dated 20-some-odd Strong Student harnesses the winter they announced that update. My Class 7 sewing machine got lots of exercise that winter, what with frayed Javelin MLWs, etc. Since the Strong Y-strap update requires 5-cord, it counts as a major repair. I count most harness sewing as major repairs.

Replacing a leg pad (done competently) should not affect the opening, flight or strength of a harness, erg it is a minor repair.

"Crusty," "Dead Ted," "Tree" and "Splat."

Same as shotguns. It takes a fairly powerful firearm and makes it concealable. Keep in mind that the 38 Super was considered a very powerful pistol at the time. NFA 1934 was a result of the "gangster era" of Prohibition and the early depression era. (think Al Capone, Dillinger and Bonnie & Clyde). Clyde Barrow had a BAR (yes, he stole it from a National Guard armory) that he cut down and could hide under a long coat. He also had a shotgun (Rem 1100 IIRC) that he cut way down and would wear under a coat. He had it on a short sling around his shoulder and could swing it up to his shoulder and fire very fast. And he'd shoot it from the shoulder so that he'd hit what he was aiming for. The St Valentine's Day massacre in Chicago was one of the triggers for the NFA (kinda like Sandy Hook or similar). The good old "Let's ban them and keep them out of the hands of the criminals" mindset. ................................................................................. This confusion is the result of keeping a 1934 law on the books long after technology has made the legal terminology obsolete. Back in 1942, those nasty Nazis introduced the Sturmgwehr 43 with a two-piece receiver. That two-piece receiver made all the old laws obsolete. Armalite, Fabrique Nationale, Kalashnikov, etc. just perpetuated the problem. A modern law would tightly control "automatic components" while easing restrictions on "semi-automatic" fire-arms. As for short-barrelled rifles ... they are great for converting ammo to noise, but of limited tactical use. Why carry a rifle that does not allow you to extract all the energy from a given cartridge?????

There are a couple of options, all vastly more expensive than many DZOs are willing to spend. The first option is to project those images onto the ceiling. The second option involves buying one of those fancy canopy control simulators and projecting the images into virtual reality goggles.

The harness is an inch or two too short over the shoulders. The only solution is to sew a new rig with a longer yoke. The Infinity factory cheerfully did that for Josh, who is also built like you. Be sure to send the photos to the Infinity factory before you call them again.

Make sure you are re-measured by a tailor or rigger. Half the fit problems are caused by skydivers trying to measure themselves ... impossible solo.

.................................................................................... The FAA quit certifying parachute "Repair Facilities" and lofts during the Clinton administration.