riggerrob

The only way that I can imagine "under-loading" a canopy to be dangerous is if you combine that "under-loaded canopy" with gusty winds with strong updrafts and even stronger down-drafts. .... which makes us question why you were jumping in gusty winds??????????? When the air gets bumpy, POPS sit on the balcony and watch young pups get dragged through the cacti. Hah! Hah!

USPA membership is easy .... just send them a few dollars. USPA licenses will require you to demonstrate (e.g. logbook entries) that you have done all the skills required for the USPA license and demonstrate the knowledge by passing the USPA written exam. If you are only a short-term visitor to the USA, then local DZs might allow you to jump with only your APF membership and license. If you plan to live in the USA for a while, then DZOs will require you to pay for USPA membership. The process is similar in Canada, with DZOs sometimes letting visiting jumpers only pay for short-term CSPA membership, primarily for the third party liability insurance. CSPA's insurance policy pays for damages if you land on a third-party's car.

I disagree. Russia is facing a shortage of young men. Russia is facing a demographic crisis. Starting during World War 1, Russia has suffered a series of cycles of low birth rates. The most recent dip occurred in the immediate aftermath of the collapse of the USSR circa 1990, which means that Russia is suffering a shortage of young men under 30 years old. Russia can only maintain its labour force by importing many tens of thousands of young men from its former "stans." Mind you, right wing Russian thugs have an annoying habit of mugging "guest workers" in Moscow. What if a prolonged war in Ukraine so depletes Russian Army ranks that they become vulnerable to invasions from the various "stans?" Those sorts of invasions have ONLY happened a dozen or so time in the past.: Sythians, Mongols, Huns, Turkmen, Tatars, etc.

I tried that but did not enjoy it.

There is a huge difference between a hop-and-pop at 2,000 feet versus a terminal deployment at 2,000 feet. The terminal deployment requires far more altitude before you have a fully-inflated canopy overhead. For a BASE analogy, consider the difference in deploying 3 seconds after leaving a low object versus deploying 30 seconds after leaving a high object. Which eats up more altitude.

How many jumps did you make before your shoulder surgery? How many years did you jump before surgery? What type of canopy did you jump before surgery? What wing-loading? If you are worried about rusty skills, watch some malfunction videos (USPA or Australian Parachute Federation) and maybe sit through the first jump course again.

Be cautious about how you use the word "we." I doubt if NATO - much less the USA - had much say in what was done in Ukrainian laboratories. A few civilian university laboratories might need to hold small samples of nasty germs if only to compare with incoming. unknown samples coming in for examination. However, manufacturing BCW requires the huge vats and factories run by pharmaceutical companies or alcohol distilleries. How many of you remember the USA bombing a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan out of fear that it might have been making bio-weapons? Upon further investigation, it turned out to be manufacturing common prescription medications.

Did your wing-loading increase yesterday?

Military laboratories in more than a dozen nations keep small amounts of banned biological weapons (e.g. anthrax) for research purposes like developing vaccines and other counter-measures. Even Canadian federal labs keep small amounts of anthrax, etc. despite Canada having never publically admitted to holding NBCW. Those labs are usually under three or four levels of restrictions to reduce the risk of nasty germs escaping. If you want to know the finer points of operating a Canadian federal lab, ask my brother-in-law who monitors insects, etc. trying to sneak into Canada,

The sad thing is that the definition of "A well regulated militia ... " has changed over the years. During the American Revolutionary it meant part-time soldiers (e.g. Minutemen) who reported up a chain of command to the state governor. Today, many nations (e.g. Canada) still have formal "militias." In Canada, the term "militia" is slang for the Army Reserve, Navy Reserve and Air Force Reserve who all report up a chain of command to National Defense Headquarters, Parliament and the Prime Minister. Canadian "militiamen" wear the same uniforms as the Regular Army, carry the same weapons, drive the same vehicles and frequently attend the same courses, to the extent that when Canada sends troops overseas (Afghanistan or United Nations missions) almost half their contingent might be reservists on short-term (e.g. one year) contracts. Sadly, the popular American definition of "militia" has been so badly distorted over the last few d3ecades, that few Americans know what the term means any more. P.S. I am so old that I frequently get in trouble for using the dictionary definition of words. Hah! Hah!

The key word is "guidance." In a country with too many ambulance-chasing lawyers, if USPA "orders" - but does not rigidly enforce - wing-loading limits, then they leave USPA open to lawsuits launched by wounded skydivers who exceeded USPA's orders. Those frivolous lawsuits can cost tens of thousands of dollars to defend or result in multi-million dollar judgements against a well-meaning USPA. It is awkward the way that ambulance-chasing lawyers make policies so vague that they increase risks for junior jumpers.

Just messing with Gerry Baumchen .... What if the rigger is working in a country (e.g. most of the European Union) where parachutes have a nationally mandated "life" of 20 years? Yes, I know that the law primarily applies to pilot emergency parachutes, but skydivers generally follow the same standard. It does not matter what the manufacturer or FAA say, riggers in those countries are forbidden to return to service a parachute more than 20 years old. Does local law trump an American law? Then it gets really complicated when a rigger like skydiverek (see banner ad at the top of the page) buys up 20 year old reserves in Europe and re-sells them to North Americans. As an aside, it is difficult to give away 20 plus year old parachutes in North America. So the North American market has decided that 20 plus year old parachutes are devalued below zero.

Canadian prosecutors have ways of keeping the most violent criminals in prison for life. They just "stay" some accusations, meaning that when the criminal applies for parole, Crown prosecutors just offer try him for more crimes. At which time, the parole board declines to prosecute him, but also decline to release him. This tactic is especially convenient when the public does not want to hear the whole truth. For example, it was clear to most of us that Willy Picton was just a fall-guy for the many other people involved in murdering drug-addled prostitutes at his pig farm in Port Coquitlam, near Vancouver, British Columbia. He not the brightest member of the Picton family, but he provided a convenient public face to the dozens of other family members, friends, bikers, police, etc. who knew what was going on, but hid evidence. Vancouver police had a rough idea o what was going on, but they were just glad that one group of criminals was killing off another group of criminals. The fact that many of the prostitutes were native women (lowest class in Canadian society) just made it easier for racist police to look the other way. Nobody wants to talk publically about all the snuff-films that were made at the pig farm. Crown prosecutors (federal) tried Willy Picton for a few murders for which they had the best evidence. Then they "stayed" charges on another dozen murders for which they had less evidence.

Not beating on you own "gender identity group" is a lame legal defense. Sure, his defense lawyers are required to throw out all possible alibis, but few judges or juries will take this claim seriously. Funny how some of the most ardent "fag bashers" are later revealed to be closeted homosexuals themselves. In a similar vein, some of the most out-spoken Evangelical preachers have been caught committing adultery or child molestation. Though to be honest, most accusations of child molestation involved teenaged girls ... but those girls were less than the age of majority.

Dear Slim King, You are the first o mention bio labs in Ukraine. Do you know something that the mainstream media do not?????????

In a capitalist society (e.g. USA), you can be sued for doing anything ... even following the letter of the law. It is all about who has the most dollars. OTOH in a more authoritarian society (e.g. UK) if a licensed technician (e.g. rigger) "Xes" out your data panel, you are finished and there is no point to whining after the fact.

Dear Slim King, Most of us agree with you that a negotiated cease fire would be the best possible outcome. The problem is that Russians have a bad habit of not keeping their promises.

NATO attaches strings because the last thing they want is to fuel Russian propaganda about NATO wanting to expand all the way to the Ural mountains. France learned that invading Russia was impossible back during the days of Napoleon (circa 1800). During the First World War, Germany learned that they could at best fight Russia to a stand-still. Furing the Second World War Germany learned that it was impossible to HOLD Russian territory, no matter how easy it might have been to conquer. Long supply lines and "General Mud" made it impossible to re-supply German soldiers too many thousand kilometers/miles from German farms and factories. Bottom line is that NATO knows that invading Russia is a fool's game.

After viewing the video clip I have concluded that it was a high-performance round, but not a Thunderbow. A high-performance round is fitting for the 1970s filming date, but it was not a Thunderbow. Perhaps it was a Piglet?????? The container looks like another Security product, a Crossbow. Crossbow was the first piggyback container made for skydiving. The Crossbow container sold well and was widely copied.

Hello Gerry, Now we get into a lengthy debate about whether a lowly rigger should follow the second or third edition of the manual. Most of the time, I follow the latest edition of the manual, unless I know about some part that does not apply to older versions of that parachute. For example, when packing Javelins, I fold pilot chutes in accordance with the third or fourth version of the manual because it does a better job of concealing the F-111 fabric.

Execution was a quick and easy way for nomadic tribes to get rid of their most troublesome tribe members. Consider that nomadic tribes were not wealthy enough to feed and house an idle member. Execution had the secondary benefit of providing emotional "closure" for victims' families. Nowadays, wealthy nations can afford the $30,000. to $50,000. per cost of lifetime imprisonment. There are a few criminals too violent to ever be allowed back out in main stream society.

Dear pchapman, Following manufacturers' instructions is a great way to shut up ambulance-chasing lawyers. Lawyer "Why did you pack it this way?" Rigger "I packed it in accordance with page 19 in the container manual." L. "Why did you install it this way?" R. "Page 17 in the Cypres manual." L. Why did you install the connector links this way?" R. "Page 18 in the reserve manual." Then the lawyer wanders off to sue the manufacturers for big bucks. Lawyers only care about the big bucks.

Thanks Wendy. Please repeat that loudly within earshot of my boss.

1986 Earlier that summer, skydivers gathered at Pitt Meadows, near Vancouver, Canada to try and build a hundred-way. Their jumps were part of the festivities surrounding the EXPO 86 World's Fair. After building a series of 99-ways, they gave up. A month-or-so later, most of them gathered at a Freak Brothers Convention to attempt more hundred-ways. After building a series of 99-ways, they adjourned to the USPA Nationals in Muskogee where they succeeded.

Who skiied off a cliff and deployed a Thunderbow (high performance round) for a James Bond movie?