riggerrob

Other alternatives include basting harness joints with E-Thread or metal staples. I don't like metal staples because they gum up the harness sewing machine and provide sharp ends that nick my fingers.

Thanks for sharing historic information about early parachutes in Russia and the Soviet Union. Since that information is almost impossible to to find in English or French language sources, we encourage you to post more in the Skydiving History & Trivia section. Few Western sources mention more than the German fascist Herman Goering being impressed by a Soviet parachute display during 1930.

To further complicate the issue, only certain batches of acidic mesh reacted with certain batches of F-111 fabric. Note that several other fabric mills sold fabric similar to F-111. Finally, it required a specific combination of heat and humidity for the the two types of fabric to interact and deteriorate the canopy fabric. Only Strong Enterprises and Free-Flight stuck with MIL-SPEC fabric and mesh. Round canopies from all other manufacturers are suspect. The FAA, GQ Security, National, Pioneer, etc. issued Service Bulletins to get their customers back in the air, but that was only a short-term goal. By 1990, square reserve manufacturers had caught up with demand and sold plenty of replacement reserves. Sales of round reserves plummeted during the late 1980s. By 1990, square reserve manufacturers had caught up with demand and by 1990 something like 80 or 90 percent of new containers were sold with square reserves. While I may have tested a thousand-ish round reserves with bromocreasol green and tensile tested them too, I no longer have the tools or the desire to ever test another round reserve built during the mid-1980s. If anyone brings me a 1980s vintage round canopy, I point them towards the museum.

Mak seemed to firmly believe in his flat earth theories.

Mak Parhar was a cheerful, cocky, single skydiving student when I met him at Pitt Meadows more than a decade ago. Since then Mak matured into a licensed skydiver, husband, father, yoga studio owner, flat-earther and anti-vaxxer. Mak died in his New Westminster, B.C., Canada home on Thursday, 4 November 2021. I visited Mak's yoga studio in Delta, B.C. and repacked his reserve several times. The last time I shared a jump-plane with Mak was two or three years ago at Abbottsford, B.C. Mak has been an outspoken flat-earther for many years and more recently has been arrested for failing to wear a mask or quaranteen after returning from a flat-earth conference during the autumn of 2020. Mak was involved in a court case, but missed a recent hearing because he was too sick to attend court. His last video postings show an ill Mak fatigued, coughing and talking about controversial drugs. We loved Mak even when we disagreed with his flat-earth and anti-vax beliefs. Time for a good cry at Mak's funeral.

I have been doing my research on van conversions and reminiscing on the days when I lived in a VW van. Space is important for your psychological health. So I need a full-height cargo van or RV. Horizontal space is also important, so a reasonably long chassis. But length is a compromise between internal space and ease of parking, so I do not want the longest vans with too much kick-out behind the read wheels. Buy quality. A minimum of 1 inch of insulation on all floors, walls and ceilings. Install noise-damping insulation on flat panels. Light colored ceiling to reflect and increase feeling-of-space. Curtains for all windows to provide insulation and privacy. Curtain across the back of the drivers' compartment for insulation, privacy and stealth. Perhaps a shower curtain that tucks into the over-cab storage space. Definitely need storage over the cab. One piece flooring is easy to clean. Airplane cargo rails (aka. L-Tracks) to allow a variety of anchors when you change configuration. Travel locks on all cabinets. Fold away extra passenger seats ... with seat-belts. Soft hanging cabinets at eye level. Net hammocks for fresh fruit. Ventilation is important. Max Air roof fan. Also install an air inlet in the bottom of your van, perhaps floor level if you live in the desert, because it sucks in cooler air. Dual use where ever possible. Fireproof and water-proof splash guards behind stove and sink. In-counter stove ... electric? ... induction? ... micro-wave? ... propane? ... Jet-Boil? Electric kettle? ... definitely a whistling kettle. In-counter sink with folding faucet and hinged glass cover (RV-style). Ideally it drains into a grey water tank. Minimum of a foot-powered pump. Hang drying cabinet over sink ... or on wall over-looking sink. Temporary shower in hall way or doorway, because you only spend a few minutes per day in the shower. Quick-drain floor under shower. Drains into grey water tank. Grey water tank is easy to dump. Fresh water tank is easy to re-fill ... not too heavy for an old man. Compact toilet that can slide under-a-cabinet. Trays in lower cabinets to ease finding stuff. Slide out pantry shelves, Again to make it easier to find stuff and rotate food cans. Label all drawers cabinets, storage pillows, etc. Enough windows that you can see outside your kitchen and working space. Ceiling windows import more light ... good for morale and seeing what you are working on. Use pillows to store spare clothing ... sew a zipper across the open end of a pillow case. Pockets on inside of door panels ... MOLLE on walls? MOLLE on ceiling? 20 second rule means that if it takes longer than 20 seconds to set up a tool, bed, etc. you will get lazy. This means a Murphy bed at the most, but I am seriously considering sleeping in a hammock because it dominates less space and is easier on my old bones. Magnets on wall to hold cutlery. If your worry about cutlery falling, install a pair of magnetic strips parallel and horizontal. An electric refrigerator with top access. Install so that it slides out from under a counter into a entry space (doorway or hallway). Plenty of electrical outlets to re-charge electronics. Install charger outlets in the shelves and cupboards where you normally store electronics. Plenty of ceiling lights. Separate vehicle and living electrical systems. Ability to recharge service-battery from engine, shore or solar panels. Need to conceal solar panels to maintain "stealth" exterior. "Gearage" that is direct-accessible from the rear door. Bike rack. Install a lockable metal safe for valuables and expensive electronics. At minimum a Faraday Cage, but ideally a fire-proof metal safe.

Hello Natalie, What have you learned from living and working on yachts? Only soft-sided luggage .....

Dear brenthutch, It is not as simple as your conclusion. Every new system has its hiccups. It is just going to take the California grid a few more years to build sufficient battery capacity. Note that I said "California grid." That grid includes thousands of different components ... and the perfect system includes a balance of components.

That extra flap was originally designed for a canopy formation team. I think they also built a few Reflexes with a similar flap protecting the bottom edge of the pilot-chute cap.

A scary thing is that 2 of my colleagues (bus drivers) are loud anti-vaxxers. One said good things about Trump during last year's election. The other anti-vaxxer has been told (by a union rep.) that if he persists, he will get fired. Other anti-vax employees have been warned that if they are not vaccinated by the end of November, they will be laid off without pay. Meanwhile, 90 plus percent of my co-workers (Amharic, Arab, Australian, British, Chinese, Columbian, Croat, Dutch, El Salvadorian, French, German, Hindu, Iraqi, Italian, Jamaican, Japanese, Nigerian, Phillipino, Polish, Scottish, Serb, Sikh, Venezualan, Xhosa, etc.) have already been double-vaccinated. As for anti-vaxxers also being anti-immigrant ... I fear those extreme right-wing groups: les berets blanc, KKK, Proud Boys, Sons of Odin, etc. An amusing observation about les berets blanc is that they chased large numbers of anglophones out of Quebec, but the last time I visited my home town, I saw large numbers of Afghans, Serbs, Somalis, Syrians, Vietnamese, etc. Many of those dark-haired women wore head scarves. Yup! Les berets blancs did a great job of chasing out all those hated Protestant Christians. Hah! Hah!

Sounds like Russia has West3ern Europe by the "short and curlies" by restricting the flow of natural gas. A couple of years back, some Canadian tree-huggers were trying to prevent a new natural gas pipeline from reaching the Pacific Ocean. part of their rational was low prices caused by a surplus of NG. Where is that projected surplus now??????

A narcisist's accusations are really confessions

Dear BIGUN, Thanks for the recommendation ... but it has been more than a decade since I sewed a replacement cosmetic cap for a Reflex. Actually, it is more than a cosmetic cap because it protects the Cypres loop. I started by laying a tape measure over the fiberglass cap, then adding a little (0.12 or 0.5 inches) for the binding tape. I forget how many layers of fabric are in a Reflex cap: Cordura, foam, ballistic and ? I would need to look at an original to confirm the number of layers. I sewed them together around the circumference, but allowed thread tension to shrink the perimeter. Then I sewed on the channel for the elastic cord. Then I bound the edge and finished binding with the same trick as Javelin pilot chute caps: diagonal end .... The last step was installing the bungee cord (cloth wrapped around rubber for North Americans). I used the same style of bungee cord as is used in free-bags. My first bungee cord was too long and it blew off in freefall, so I made the second cap with an even shorter bungee cord. The second cap lasted a few years.

Jerry, I vaguely remember a German BASE rig being certified with an optional chest-mounted reserve.

No. I have never seen any9one injured by an Aerodyne Pilot's opening-shock.

Dear Bludhow, I stand by my original statement. I have only done two BASE jumps. They were both from the same 600 foot bridge and they were done during the mid-1980s, before specialized BASE gear was readily available. Since then I have done repairs (FAA Master rigger) for dozens of young BASE jumpers. I am so old that I started skydiving when military-surplus parachutes were still fashionable. I jumped (6,000 plus jumps) for total of 40 years, the last 30 years most (4,000 plus) of my jumps were tandems. I earned a couple of USPA instructor ratings and all the CSPA instructor ratings, jump-pilot, two sets of military jump wings and a long list of rigger ratings. I still maintain that the vast majority of young BASE jumpers do not understand the physics or risks involved.

Yes Dear Wolfriverjoe. The pilot was a cadet at the US Air Force Academy and he was discharged from the Air Force. He may have been flying a civilian airplane (Cessna 208 Caravan) that day (on his civilian pilot license) but the last thing the Air Force wants is young pilots doing stupid things with multi-million dollar military airplanes.

My employer: Coast Mountain Bus Company just announced that all employees must be vaccinated by the end of November. Better than 90 percent are already double-vaccinated. If employees are not double-vaccinated by the dead-line, they will be suspended without pay. Similar announcements have been made about gov't and medical employees. The British Columbia provincial gov't has told doctors not to issue vaccination-waivers except for rare cases of pre-existing medical problems.

That is correctly spelled "The right to BARE arms ..." in preparation for vaccination.

Apparently space travel cures COVID, because none of the astronauts or recovery crew wore masks. Hah! Hah!

Everyone deserves at least one day of rest per week. Whether you sleep late in your bed or on a church pew is your decision.

An old Scottish farmer was on his death bed, his liver ruined by the drink, his lungs blackened with smoke, his knees worn out form walking too many miles. As he lay in his bed gasping, he smelled the sweet odor of his favorite scones wafting up from the kitchen. He tosses the blankets aside and pauses to catch his breath then he swings his legs over the side of the bed and pauses to catch his breath, then he struggles to stand up and pauses to catch his breath, then he shuffles towards the stairs and pauses at the top to catch his breath. Leaning heavily on the bannister, he descends one step and pauses to catch his breath ..... he shuffles into the kitchen and grabs a hot scone. His wife wraps him on the knuckles and chastises him: "Those are for the wake."

Do you understand that your car, truck, airplane, etc. will run just fine on the next higher octane gasoline?

I still give students a "complete" score if they pull the dummy handle during line-stretch. I emphasis that the goal is pulling the handle DESPITE distractions like deployment.

It is amazing how the term "hack" has changed over the years. Initially it simply meant to cut with an axe. Then it transofrmed to a sloppy cut with a dull axe. Then it changed to any job done sloppily. But more recently, computer "hackers" have adopted the term to describe their ability to "hack" into computer systems. Many computer "hackers" are malicious, but a newer generation has modified the term to mean clever improvements to computers and a wide variety of other equipment. Say "hacking" an old delivery van into an apartment on wheels. Now these entrepreneurs often use the term "hack" in the same sentence as "make."