riggerrob

.... ... ............ If you sent me your e-mail address, I will send you an electronic copy of the Lone Star manual. Meanwhile the whole subject on sewing your canopy is being discussed on a thread called "My little project."

It is all about tolerances while sewing AAD pockets into reserve containers. First generation Automatic Activation Devices (KAP3, FXC 8000, Sentinel and a dozen military devices) were all pin-pullers. The primary disadvantage of pin-pullers is the tight tolerances between the grommet and the end of the pin-puller cable housing. The P-P power cable housing usually looks like a spiral-wound ripcord housing and lays parallel with the ripcord housing. If the power cable is anchored too far from the grommet, it pre-loads the ripcord and risks pre-mature activation. OTOH if the power cable is anchored too close to the grommet, it will not pull the pin(s) far enough to open the reserve. OTOH tolerances are far looser on loop-cutter AADs. If the only thing you do is route the closing loop through the cutter (and leave the rest of the AAD dragging down the taxiway) an electronic AAD will save your sorry ass.

I usually take them for a walk around the landing area, pointing our fences and landmarks and wind socks. While we are in the landing area, I point out key turning points for the landing pattern based on today's winds. I also point out the jump run (always west at Pitt Meadows). As for alternate landing areas, I say sure you can land there if you are willing to let the airport manager scream at you for awhile, you can land on this side of the fence as long as you are willing to buy a case every of beer every time you land on the wrong side of the fence, you can land in the middle of the airport as long as you are willing to wait for permission from the control tower before you walk across runways, etc.

Exactly and when you give them all an izu, nobody will think of going in a school for an average duration mass school shooting. And then you won't need an MRAP either. .......................................................... ...... and dead teachers do not collect pensions. (Plus need for funding will go down, since there likely will be significantly less students to worry about. Hence, salaries for school board administrators and trustees can go up. Really is a win win)

***One of the other reasons that I suggest having a rigger at least assist besides the actual disconnection is that people have done screwy things like leaving .... parts of the reserve risers still attached. ......................................................................... Only times I have received (second-hand) reserves on cut risers was after the original harness was trashed. Medics cut the harness off the original owner after he hook-turned himself into the hospital.

***Yea assuming it has metal links it is the same. Use a screw driver inside the link to give you a way to hold it when you torque with a wrench to loosen the barrel. Make sure you turn it the right way. .......................................... I gave up on using a screwdriver decades ago. Something about a bleeding finger. Rather I clamp the open-end wrench onto the link then lean it against the workbench or floor. Usually I use one hand on the wrench handle and press on the barrel with my other hand the "flatten the bridge." Fewer skinned knuckles that way. One other warning: make sure you understand the difference between the small end of the Maillon Rapide link and the big end. 9 mm wrench fits the most popular size (5) of Maillon Rapide metal connector link.

............................................................ About a decade ago, Performance Designs published video of Stilettos, Katanas, maybe early Velocities doing similar barrel-rolls. Then PD shut up. Maybe they were afraid that amateurs would try to roll too slowly, lose positive Gs, lose line tension, wrap up in their canopies, then make a mistake??????

"Moved". The famed Sunlife line-up of Brinks trucks was all for show. .................................................. Both sides spewed massive amounts of propaganda. Some days you needed a snow plow. Some politicians gave a French-language speech on Monday and a radically different English speech on Tuesday. When I hear two different opinions from the same person, begin to distrust them. The scariest thing was the English-language press told one story while the French-language press told another story, but they never seemed bright enough to realize that the better-educated Canadians could understand both languages.

for gas balloons. The economical cruising altitude of hot air balloons is more like 4,000 or 5,000 feet because life of the envelope depends upon how hot you heat it for how many hours.

.... and with one of my used reserves I got no links. I figured they probably had purchased soft links and wanted to keep them for the new reserve. ..... ......................................................... The seller cheated you. I hope he discounted the cost by the price of a new set of links. As an aside, saying something like "links are easy to come by" may be accurate at large DZs, but is annoying at small DZs where it might take weeks to mail-order missing parts. Also, you need to learn to be more gentle, more welcoming to newbies who did not benefit from your superior upbringing. Many newbies have never ever seen a rigger, much less apprenticed under a rigger. Bottom line DZers would be wiser to respectfully educate newbies .

That sort of armoured response only makes sense if the school board is willing to share it with municipal police. Then it becomes a question of which police department (school, municipal, state) has the budget to buy the shared equipment this year. Just be cautious about loaning the MRAP to the local drug squad because they will quickly wear it out doing no-knock raids!

What if they send the MRAP to auto shop and use it to train heavy duty mechanics?

.......................... Simple! If you sell:harness, reserve and AAD separately, send photo-copies of the packing data card with each component. Traditionally the card went with the reserve canopy because jumpers often wore out 2 or 3 containers before they wore out their reserve canopy. They just transferred their old reserve and card to their new container when they threw their faded, frayed and filthy old container in the trash.

Awesome footage! Thanks for sharing. How do you barrel-roll those canopies ? How soon til we see barrel-rolling at our local swoop pond? Your swoop pond is way prettier than the swoop ponds at most DZs.

"Moved". The famed Sunlife line-up of Brinks trucks was all for show. ...................................................................... Some of that "big money " continued moving west to Calgary where it was invested in the oil industry.

That also reminds me of Quebec's threats to separate. When separatists politicians got loud and obnoxious -during the 1960s - several large banks and major corporations moved their headquarters to Toronto.

The Federation Aeronautique International has little to say about balloon jumps. People have been parachuting out of balloons since shortly after the Montgolfier brothers invented hot air balloons. During World War One (a century ago) hundreds of pilots saved their lives by parachuting from flaming balloons. During WW2 and the Cold War the British Army used barrage balloons to train static-line jumpers. The Federation Aeronautique International has few regulations about parachuting from balloons. So you need to refer to your local federal air regulations. FARs limit which balloon you can jump from (in Canada "parachuting" must be written on the commercial operating certificate). FARs often also require a commercial-licensed balloon pilot when carrying paying passengers (e.g. skydivers). FARs also limit where you can jump. Unless you plan to jump near an existing DZ you will need to negotiate with local air traffic controllers and file a notice to airmen (NOTAM). FARs also require reserves in most countries. The simple answer is to visit a big DZ (Eloy, Arizona or Perris, California) when they are scheduled to jump from balloons. Hint: if you complete your profile, it will be easier for DZers to advise about FARs in your country.

............................................... 1,000 pounds greater empty weight? Ouch! That means leaving a couple of tandems on the ground. That may explain why Maldives Airlines only has one Vista Liner in their fleet of floating Twin Otters.

This sort of reactionary propaganda reminds me of the stuff spewed by anglophone federalists (my tribe) every time Quebec threatened to separate from the rest of Canada?

.................................. We discuss a subject until we agree on a course of action or best business practice. I think about only half of the people here would agree. ............................ Yes, I know that some people come here to enjoy rousing debates. They don't really care which side they are on as long as they can enjoy a rollicking debate. Some of them would even take Hitler's side if thought it would make for a more amusing debate. That's just the foreigners that do that. .......................................... Do you mean furners like Hitler?

.................................. We discuss a subject until we agree on a course of action or best business practice. I think about only half of the people here would agree. ............................ Yes, I know that some people come here to enjoy rousing debates. They don't really care which side they are on as long as they can enjoy a rollicking debate. Some of them would even take Hitler's side if thought it would make for a more amusing debate.

.................................................................. You missed the lesson. As soon as your buddy dropped a name, those constables switched from "new school" policing to "old school" policing. Your buddy's (retired cop) father probably laid a worse beating on him than he would have gotten in the drunk tank. No question that your buddy deserved a beating for something as stupid as shooting cats, the only difference is whether the beating was administered by police, drunks or his father.

***A little off topic, but my dream ship would be: Top wing, with dehidral, similar wing to the PAC, but a bit longer. Twin diesel engines, turbo charged, 700Hp each .. Diesel engines are not yet so explored in "larger" aviation, but they do perform much better at altitude, and economical. ......................................................................... Diesel engines climb better because most of them are turbo-charged. OTOH less than half of small (less than 300 horsepower) airplane engines are turbo-charged or super-charged. That makes Diesel engines heavier than gasoline engine with similar horsepower. While diesels may be more fuel- efficient (on long flights) the heavier curb weight out-weighs the lighter fuel, so that negates any diesel advantage on short-range missions like skydiving. The primary advantage of diesels is that they can burn a much wider range of fuels: car gas, a gas, truck diesel, jet fuel, home heating oil, ethanol, moonshine, natural gas, etc. As the price of gasoline increases, alternative fuel engines (e.g. diesel) will become more attractive.

.... (And would a see through bubble like window in the floor not be cool for spotting) ...................................................................... Agreed. Most pilots would spot much better if they had a window in the cockpit floor (ala deHavilland Cariboo). Bulged side windows are another option. Has any skydiver flown in a Twin Otter with Vista View windows?

Plenty of FAA Master Riggers work in Canada, Australia and Europe and they can train you, testing is tough outside the USA. I had to drive to New York State for my written test and Pennsylvania for my practical test.