riggerrob

............................................................................. Like the POPS motto: You don't quit skydiving because you grow old, rather you grow old because you quit skydiving. Legs: use them or lose them. I am really, really, really hoping that my surgeon allows me to lose the "sympathy sticks" next week, because I am eager to resume long walks on steep hills.

Damn, I thought that was just in the U.S. that you had to watch every legal utterance you made. It's spread to Canada, eh? ................................................................................ Yes John, It is truly sad that ambulance-chasing lawyers have migrated north of the border. The scariest thing is that these lawyers were hired by Workmans' Compensation Board of British Columbia.

DAMN! That was painful to watch!

So, if you are crashing a helicopter, which provides better restraint: G-strings or boxer shorts?

...................................................................................... My lawyer just advised me not to talk about seat-belts on the interweb. WARNING: any lawyer is free to quote anything I say on the internet provided they take a long, hard suck on my hot-knife before they quote me in court, legal papers, etc.

................................................................................. The aforementioned video does not show a "barrel roll." The worst maneuver is a 90 degree wing-over. Granted, a 90 degree exceeds the legal definition (60 degree bank) of aerobatics, but wing-overs are survivable in most airplanes. The air regulations are written in blood because too many poorly-trained pilots get bored and wreck airplanes by attempting to teach themselves aerobatics, in airplanes that were never designed for aerobatics. Bored young pilots repeat the same mistakes every year. If pilots want to learn aerobatics, they should rent Pitts Specials. I am well aware that the video does not show a barrel roll, that's exactly what got me thinking about what I experienced several times. I think it's painfully obvious to all by now, that I have (had) little to zero experience with FAA Aircraft regulations that would extend beyond the scope of skydiving. It should also be painfully obvious to all, that I vastly underestimated the response to such. If I only knew that it was that big of a secret... ................................................................................. Big secret? Air regulations are easy to understand. FARs are written around smoldering carters. Every-time some pilot wrecks an airplane, air regulations are modified to limit that type of stupid behavior. Sadly, all the major lessons were learned decades ago, and now most young pilots hurt themselves by repeating mistakes made decades ago. FARs are written the same way USPA BSRs are written. Most BSRs are based on bloody Accident, Incident and Malfunction reports. I read USPA Annual Fatality Summaries religiously for a many years. Those summaries cured me of a few bad habits (e.g. waving off with a pilot-chute in hand), but after a couple of decades, USPA AIMs started to blur and I only read the same mistakes being repeated.

Remind me to never buy closing loops from Eastern Europeans.

................................................................................. It is really easy to modify a flat-circular parachute into a conical parachute/tent, just sew a couple of radial seams together. Conical tents are easy to erect with one long pole up the center and a series of (same size) shorter poles around the circumference. How many gores (triangular bits extending from the circumference to the apex) are "hidden" determines the angle of your cone. If you only "hide" a few gores, your tent will be shallow and wide, like a circus tent. If you "hide" a lot of gores, your tent will be tall and narrow. Mathematically calculating the "finished" size might be an amusing way to keep the kids entertained until the weather warms up enough to erect the tent.

................................................................................ Good plan. To cover your butt, you might want to quietly discuss your plan with the DZO, Chief Instructor and Chief Rigger before you pull the *&^%$#@!'s ripcord in the boarding area. Once the senior jumpers understand "his" problem, they will probably join you in laughing at his predicament. P.S. If you want to appear truly professional, you will avoid pulling his ripcord until after most of the students have gone home.

................................................................................... Mr. Styahigh, You sound rather arrogant. Can you tell us what was fashionable for reserve closing loops before Cypres cord? Can you tell us what Racer used instead? Can you tell us what was fashionable for reserve closing loops back during the 1960s?

................................................................................... Mr. stayhigh would be wise to limit that brand of humour to senior jumpers who get the joke. The risk is that a junior jumper will follow his advice all the way into a smoldering carter.

................................................................................. The aforementioned video does not show a "barrel roll." The worst maneuver is a 90 degree wing-over. Granted, a 90 degree exceeds the legal definition (60 degree bank) of aerobatics, but wing-overs are survivable in most airplanes. The air regulations are written in blood because too many poorly-trained pilots get bored and wreck airplanes by attempting to teach themselves aerobatics, in airplanes that were never designed for aerobatics. Bored young pilots repeat the same mistakes every year. If pilots want to learn aerobatics, they should rent Pitts Specials.

........................................................................................... Fire hazard

Therein lies the rub. It sounds like it wasn't sufficiently similar to actually fool anyone. .................................................................................... This is where we start to disagree. All of the parts of his uniform were genuine (MIL SPEC), just that all of the pieces of the picture did not add up. At first glance, his uniform almost looked genuine. For starters, beards are really rare in the Canadian infantry. His fraud did not become apparent until Canadian paratrooper veterans started asking each other: "Do you know this guy?" This fraudser was called out because the Canadian paratrooper is too small to hide. I am willing to bet that a significant number of Canadian paratroopers would cheerfully march his ass into the ground, just to put him in his place. There is nothing "passive-aggressive" about my challenge. If I were not on crutches, I would invite him for a long walk TODAY! The only reason I am not offering to march his ass into the ground is recent knee surgery. signed: Master Corporal R. Warner Canadian Basic Paratrooper Course 8103 West German Army Bronze Paratrooper Wings

Only gloves will not keep your fingers warm. It is more important to keep your body core warm so that enough warm blood is still flowing towards your fingertips. This means wearing long underpants, 2 or 3 shirts, etc. The greatest challenge is not saturating your multiple layers of clothing with seat before you get near the door. To that end, I like to wear turtle-neck sweaters with zippers. I leave the neck open while walking around on the ground. As the airplane climbs, I gradually zip up my turtle-neck, add a neck-warmer, helmet and gloves.

Lately cats and dogs fear me. They worry that this clumsy human will step on them with one of his poorly coordinated 4 legs (2 flesh legs and a pair of wooden crutches).

Impersonating a wounded vet - in order to gain medical benefits - definitely counts as criminal. Mind you, if the imposter has to stoop to that level, maybe he is crazy enough to deserve medical help ... but at a civilian hospital.

An imposter recently wore a military uniform to Remembrance Day ceremonies in Canada. He dressed in the uniform of a pathfinder from the Royal Canadian Regiment (infantry). The imposter was "outed" because of several anomalies with his uniform. He claimed that he bought the uniform on e-bay and meant no harm. His wife was too embarrassed to talk with the press. Friday he surrendered to civilian police on multiple criminal charges. How do you think he should be handled?

How many suspension lines does it have? How long is it from the apex (center) to the skirt (circumference). Does it have net around the outboard edge?

Be thankful that only your Cordura was damaged. I have grounded several harnesses after hook Velcro chewed them so badly you could see the damage/weave separation from the un-touched side. I have also had to patch a couple of canopies that were packed into Softies, after they were chewed by Velcro. The Softie shop eventually made the side flaps 2 inches wider to increase the distance between the hook Velcro and the canopy.

Please tell us why the current Power Racer reserve pilot-chute is so much better than a ragged-out MA-1.

For every "fun" jumper that thinks its cool, there's one that hates the airplane ride. And unless you are a owner/operator you typically have no clue what gyros & instruments cost. You want to do aerobatics, buy your own airplane! ............................................................................... Agreed! Aerobatics can "tumble" and damage the delicate gyroscopes in instruments. I used to jump from a Cessna 182 that had a broken artificial horizon. It indicated a permanent 45 degree right bank. Glancing over the pilot's shoulder gave me vertigo! ... disoriented me ... I eventually slapped a post-it note over the AH.

Air Regulations are written in blood.

Yes that is cause for alarm. In the short run, I would refuse to fly with that pilot. In the long run, the airplane owner will be held liable for the smoldering crater. This reminds me of why Transport Canada shut down a local flying school recently. It seems that one of the instructors insisted on teaching loops and rolls to student pilots in Cessna 172s. Cessna 172 was never certified for aerobatics. The stupidest thing is that the flying school also had a Cessna 150 Aerobat (certified to teach aerobatics) on line. Yes the best and brightest of test pilots (Chuck Yeager, Bob Hoover) can do aerobatics in any lightly-loaded airplane (Aero Commander, Boeing 707), but doing aerobatics in a fully-loaded airplane that was never certified for aerobatics is STUPID! Doing aerobatics with paying passengers on board is criminally stupid!

Agreed! Before I allow any 400 jump wonder to video me doing tandems, I tell them to video their belly-flying or free-flying or whatever-flying buddies 24 or 36 times. The worse their buddies flail, cork, go low, etc. the better the practice. If they ever fly over a junior jumper - in freefall - I remind them of the dangers of "un-scheduled openings" and tell them to go practice some more. I tell them that they need to demonstrate consistent separation at opening time and under canopy. Once they show consistent video of fun jumpers, then I brief them on the basics of chasing videos. My briefing always starts with the hour-glass diagram.