riggerrob

Good points. May I recommend working your way through BillVon's list of canopy tasks on your old canopy before you down-size. Also consider that down-sizing is often more of a fashion choice than a "must have." If you are considering later doing BASE jumps or wingsuits or precision landing competitions or exhibition jumps into stadiums, down-sizing might be a disadvantage.

Perhaps earning an AFF rating was USPA's way of "bringing him back into the fold." If he conformed to USPA standards during an AFF rating course, hopefully he will continue to follow USPA standards after he is no longer under close scrutiny.

If you want a portable zig-zag sewing machine, I have plenty of experience with a Pfaff 230 and a Sailrite. I sewed two kit canopies on my Pfaff 230 and have been using my Sailrite for almost a decade.

If you read the original document (as linked in the first post on this thread) it is Mr. G.'s "motion for contempt." It is not a judge's decision. So it is still the two parties (Mr. G. versus USPA) debating. A huge part of this debate is whether Mr. G. knew that someone lese was forging his signature on T.I. certification documents.

That "struggle ... " was often caused by sloppy packers who were too lazy to learn the finer points of packing pull-out pilot-chutes. I watched one woman have two reserve rides - during the same day - because she did not understand how to pack a pull-out.

Canadian DZs affiliated with USPA enjoy two benefits: first, they get free advertising in PARACHUTIST Magazine. This advertisement encourages travelling sport jumpers to visit USPA-affiliated DZs. The second benefit is avoiding scrutiny by CSPA officials. A few of those CSPA officials can be arrogant jerks. I know because I briefly served on CSPA's Technical Committee. After Tom McCarthy (Gananoque, Ontario) got tired of CSPA officials telling to teach via static-line methods, Tom revived Instructor Assisted Deployment (circa 1979). A few years later, most CSPA DZs adopted IAD and most USPA DZs adopted IAD another couple of decades later. CSPA's original mandate was to lend an air of respectability to Canadian skydivers jumping in Canadian air space. IOW CSPA's original role was to keep the Canadian Ministry of Transport (now Transport Canada) at arm's length. CSPA's secondary roles include training instructors, riggers, judges and competitors. A number of years back (perhaps 30) those renegade Canadian DZs founded Canadian Association of Parachutists (or variations on that name) to distance themselves from CSPA. I have worked for a few CAPS DZs, but the only CAPs DZO that I respected was Tom McCarthy because he was one of the few DZOs who truly knew more than CSPA. A disadvantage of USPA membership is a lack of USPA oversight. IOW USPA group membership is little more than a cash-grab by USPA as they never seem to inspect USPA-affiliated DZs in Canada. The last time I got into a "disagreement" with a USPA-affiliated DZO in Canada, I called Chuck Aikins and dropped the problem in his lap. I told Chuck that USPA's credibility was at stake.

The French invented EVERYTHING in skydiving. A Frenchman even invented ram-air parachutes. Well Domina Jalbert was sort of a Frenchman in that he was born in Quebec into a French-speaking family, but his family moved to New England and that is where he learned engineering and learned how to build balloons and kites and parachutes and how to apply for US patents.

If you refuse to repack a rig (return to service) remember the write why on your invoice. That way you have handed a written record to the customer. Keep a photo-copy of that invoice for your loft records ... in case any lawyer tries to sue you a few years down the road.

"Tested to FAA TSO standards" is distinct from "manufactured in accordance with FAA TSO." A production certificate requires annual inspections of the production line, The chances of the American FAA issuing a production certificate to anyone manufacturing outside of the USA are slim ... bordering on impossible ... simply because of the cost of travel for FAA Inspectors. Mind you, most of this legal debate is irrelevant to the original poster who is Russian. Russia never bought into FAA standards. Instead, Russians rely on a series of old Soviet military specifications.

One example is the PD176 Reserve that failed porosity tests at Performance Designs' factory. They sent it back with a note saying that it is no longer airworthy. Since then, no rigger has dared touch it, so it is effectively grounded. It might be possible to "repair" repair it to airworthy status, but that would require replacing all of the top skins, which is more labor and dollars than the cost of a newly-manufactured reserve. Let's be honest, the only people that are doing that level of "repair" are restoration shops that haul RARE corroded wrecks out of Papua-New Guinea jungles in order to jack up the data panel and build a new airframe underneath it. By the time they complete "repairs" they have installed new spars, new ribs, new skins, new hinges, new control cables, new hydraulics, new tires, new radios, freshly-overhauled engines, etc. Wealthy warbird collectors are only willing to do that for RARE airplanes that sell at auction for upwards of $1 million. Think P-51 Mustang or Spitfire whose production lines closed in 1945. For another comparison, look at all the restoration work done on the muscle cars auctioned by Barret-James: new engine, new transmission, new upholstery, new glass, etc. until little remains of the original.

All good advice above. Protect yourself by having any purchases inspected by a well-known loft before it shipped across the border. A complete inspection of harness, container, AAD and reserve is the same as the cost ($80 to $100 Canadian) of a regular reserve inspect-and-repack. Expect to pay another $30 for for a main inspection. An independent loft will tell you honestly whether any second-hand gear is worth four dollars/yen/yuan/euros/etc. If the equipment needs any repairs (e.g. new line set) you are best to have the Australian loft do the work before the gear crosses the border.

A wiser man would leave the bad guys guessing as to how many guns you own.

A wiser man would leave the bad guys guessing as to how many guns you own.

A wiser man would leave the bad guys guessing as to how many guns you own.

Fine! Don't vote. But by not voting, you also lose the privilege of complaining about whichever politician gets elected.

I jumped a rainbow Strato-Cloud for a few years and my jumpsuit had rainbow decorations .... lonnnnnnng before rainbows were associated with gay people or lesbians or trans people or LGBTQ+++++++

Voting is mandatory in some Scandinavian countries ... I forget which. They treat voting the same way they treat jury duty. Personally ... I believe that if you don't vote, you should be forbidden to criticize any politician that does get elected. You had an opportunity to say your piece on electing day.

Yes, but enough Abrams were damaged in Iraq that Russian and Chinese engineer spies understand what the finished armor looks like. The only thing they lack are the finer points of how to manufacture laminated armor.

Terror has always been a tactic in warfare. The difference is that Russia openly uses terror to this day, while Western nations are more subtle in their use of terror. Russians still kill off most of the military age men and sell the remainder into slavery/Siberia, burn all the buildings, rape all the cattle, stampede the women and sell the children into slavery. I would like to know how many live Ukrainian soldiers surrendered in the rubble of Mariupol ... and how many will still be alive to return home after this war??????????

I have only jumped Cessna 207 via the co-pilot's door. That inflight door was configured to hinge up the same way as on most other piston-pounding Cessnas.

Why is Germany reluctant to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine?

If you can afford to buy a second rig .... SURE! Just ensure that its handles are in the same place and that the main canopy is similar in size and handling to your primary main canopy. If the second main canopy differs from your first, then install different-colored risers to remind you when you are under canopy.

Why are you worried about getting a non-airworthy rig back? Why are you wasting time on this "legal" argument. Jerry knows how and why I love and respect lawyers and how much I want to become a lawyer when I grow up. Hah! Hah! Your money is far wiser spent on surgeons, ambulance drivers, mechanics and riggers. Since the factory has determined that the harness is non air-worthy, no rigger can legally repack and return it to the air. Shipping an non-airworthy harness to another country only benefits the shipping company. As for where to do harness repairs, the factory can do the job quicker and neater than any local rigger. The biggest hassle with factory repairs is the cost and time to ship it to the factory. Sinc ethe rig is already at the factory, that question is nul. Finally, some factories forbid major repairs outside of the factory because they have seen too many sloppy repairs done by outsiders who lacked the machines, patterns, materials or skills to do repairs properly. My advice comes from an FAA Master Rigger who used to make those sorts fo decisions at Rigging Innovations. I re-sized or repaired dozens of Talon, Telesis, Javelin, VEctor, Racer, etc. harnesses.

Yes BUT updating thermal sights means at minimum finding those sights in US Army warehouses, Secondly manufacturing new thermal sights. At worse, re-starting a production line for thermal sights. All of those options take months or years ... years that Ukraine lacks as they are being pummeled by Russian artillery, missiles, etc. Curent Ukrainian tanks fire Soviet-pattern 125mm ammo. All the NATO tanks fire the same 120mm ammo. Any new Western tanks will also need a new supply train to push 120mm ammo to the front.