riggerrob

Written rules (de jure) say that lines can only be replaced by Master Riggers, because if installed improperly, new lines may adversely affect strength, opening or flying characteristics. In practice (de facto) many senior riggers "exceed their certificates" by re-lining parachutes. Since the courts have not decided precedent, any injury resulting (from poorly installed lines) will see the senior rigger standing alone on court. As for Master Riggers supervising more junior riggers - doing major repairs (e.g. line replacement) - the Master Rigger must do the final line continuity check and trim check and ensure that all the lines are correctly sewn before signing on top of the less-experienced rigger's' work.

The period of no-drogue tandems was short because high-speed openings are hard on the human body and even harder on main canopies. Ted Strong started experimenting with tandems in January 1983. Relative Workshop stated a few months later. Strong's only canopy (main and reserve) was the Mighty Mack Master 425 made of F-111 fabric. After tearing too many mains, Strong introduced drogues. By 1984 drogues were standard on Strongs. RWS introduced drogue S a year or two later. All the early, drogue-less Strong containers were updated at the factory. I have only jumped a drogue-less Vector and only for one day. By 1987 it was considered obsolete.

Black Bakelite. Had to dial to call out. Range was limited to the length of the cord coming out of the wall.

master rigger, Did you notice that I started that sentence with "Something like ........"

Just measure the slack on the old lines ...... before you cut them off. Something like 2 inches slack on B lines, 3 on C and 5 on D. It is not rocket surgery as long as you keep things symmetrical. Overall line trims on Precision 365 and Icarus 365 are the same. I have even sewn Icarus line kits onto Precision canopies and they fly great!

During Argus testing, Strong strapped a 500 pound dummy to a DHT and tossed it out of an airplane. When the dummies exceeded 200 miles per hour, the Argus brain decided "this is crazy" and turned off. It created a dusty crater in the desert. After a second dummy created another (expensive) crater, Strong banned them for tandems. 500 pound barrels are standard cargo for military TIs resupplying troops behind enemy lines. The problem started with AAD engineers not knowing how fast tandem terminal was. Fortunately, they corrected the software and it stays awake/functional faster than 200 mph and they are approved in Strong tandems. Edited to correct brand of AAD

Double-layer patches last longer ..... more than 200 jumps. If you want to get fancy, ask a rigger to sew around the edge.

Yes! Thank you moderators for keeping this forum neat, civil and on track.

Find a flight of stairs with grass at the bottom. Pretend that you are only a few dozen feet about the dropzone. Walk down the stairs while flaring with your arms. Talk your way through the process. Ask an instructor to critique your first dozen practices. Then practice on your own. Before you go up for your next jump, ask the same instructor to critique your last practice. Since military PLFs are so deeply ingrained you may need hundreds of practices to learn new landing techniques. Walking down stairs is less expensive than walking out an airplane door.

I too have a pair of discs bulging out from my vertebrae. In the short run: consult your doctor (ideally a sports medicine Doctor) and physio-therapist. Listen carefully to your physio-therapist and do your exercises several times per week. The key to avoiding re-injury is strengthening and stretching all your core muscles to pull your spine back (apologies for the pun) into correct alignment. If you worry about information overload, try to find a skydiving school that breaks ground school into two or three short sessions. For example, some schools teach ground school on Thursday evening, then jump students on Saturday. Another alternative is doing ground school on Saturday. Saturday afternoon and evening, hang around the landing field watching jumpers get dressed, rehearse, land, pack, etc. Sleep on the new information, then do your first jump Sunday morning. "Sleeping on the idea" allows it sink into medium-term memory, improving performance during your first jump.

Start with an airplane that climbed slowly when it was new, add a warm summer day, load near gross (errrr ..... perhaps ... maybe a few pounds over) add drag, then wonder why it won't climb???????? The one lesson learned was about "safety straps." Both skydivers survived because they stayed with the plane. In an earlier accident, rumour has it that the skydiver (riding outside the cockpit breathed too much carbon monoxide, lost consciousness, lost his grip and fell off too low to deploy a parachute. Why do we keep repeating mistakes? Aren't us old farts supposed to share our scars and scary stories with young skydivers to help them park from our mistakes?

Reminds me of a book entitled "Positive Addiction." The author (a medical doctor) said that humans crave endorphins, adrenaline, dopamine, etc. in varying degrees. If your day-to-day existence does not produce enough "feel good" endorphins, you need to engage in recreational activities that stimulate production of endorphins. Endorphin generating activities may include barroom brawling, BASE jumping, marathon running, petty crime, skiing, warfare, etc. The author recommended adrenalin sports as positive ways to generate feel good endorphins. For example chosing marathon running over morphine injection is a "positive addiction."

Showa L2D3, a licensed version of DC-3 built in Japan. Less than 800 were built in Japan during World War. Extra cockpit windows distinguish it from American DC-3s. This example was captured by Americans and repainted with American insignia. Don't know if it was jumped byJapanese paratroopers as most of the histories refer to paratroopers jumping from Japanese-designed bombers and transports. Russians also built DC-3s under license from Douglas during World War 2.

If American parachutists are worried about tunnel-rats, why not include an end date? USPA's BOD would be forced to re-examine the new policy two years down the road and decide whether to continue allowing tunnel-rats to join.

Warning: historical trivia. Jerry's rumour is based on facts. NACA (Langley, Virginia) built its first vertical wind tunnel in 1935. It was only 15 feet in diameter and was used to spin-test model airplanes. These models closely matched loft lines of full-sized airplanes and had adjustable internal weights that permitted testing at a variety of weights and balances. In 1941, it was replaced by a 20 foot tunnel that is still used for spin-testing. Rumour has it that a variety of US military jumpers experimented in NACA's vertical wind tunnel. The first civilian/sporting wind tunnel was the Aerodium built in Quebec circa 1980.

CSIS (or other some other Canadian spy agency) visited Kahdr several times in Guantanamo Bay. Canadian agents knew how Americans were interrogating Kahdr, but were far too curious about confessions to interfere. Globally, this is part of a much bigger trend. While Canadian law severely restricts how the Canadian gov't can imprison/interrogate/spy on Canadian citizens, there are few legal restrictions on foreign gov'ts. This leads to American, etc. intelligence agencies spying on Canadian citizens and sharing their findings with the Canadian gov't. Meanwhile, Canadian police/intelligence/spy organizations often spy on American citizens and share their findings with the US gov't. Neither gov't spy agency broke their own laws. Gov't intelligence agencies have shared evidence for decades.

The Capewell Service Bulleton CW01-03 shows a test block similar to this new plastic block. Capewelll specifies soft aluminum or soft stainless steel. Part of Capewell's problem was that they used a different alloy of stainless steel than the original MIL SPEC. John Sherman (Parachute Labs) will give you a lengthy description of the various alloys used to make ripcord pins and will conclude that PL uses the best alloy.

Dear Gowlerk, We debated that exact point during CSPA's AGM. One side stated that tunnel fliers would bring plenty of new revenue (membership dues) to CSPA, with little additional expense ... perhaps maybe tunnel-specific coach ratings. Opinions, prejudice, bias, boilerplate, BS, etc. flew fast and furious during that meeting. Most of us concluded that new revenues would exceed new expenses.

Putting Gowlerk's comments in perspective: the Canadian government has already spent C$5 million defending their case in court. With little chance of success, the gov't decided to cut their (Canadian tax-payers') losses by settling for half of what Kahdr requested. It's clear that the Harper gov't violated the Canadian Charter of Rights when they left Omar Kahdr to rot in Guantanamo Bay for a decade. Now the Trudeau gov't (Liberals) are obliged to right the worst wrongs committed by a previous gov't, but I do not believe that any amount of money can heal psychological damages suffered during 10 years of confinement and interrogation. Considering how many members of the Kahdr family were involved with Al Queda - before Omar was captured - there is little hope of him renouncing his violent ways (religious fanaticism). The saddest thing is that boy soldiers (15 years old when captured) are mere cannon-fodder in hundreds of wars. They suffer irreparable damage and survive with few (legal) marketable skills. For example: look at the 'lost generation' of Iraqi men who fought in the Iraq-Iran War.

Show a pilot-chute above 2,500 feet.

***Unless the art work is awesome, like some of the old racer pop tops. .......... Lee[/quote ---------------------------------------------------------------------- If you paint or embroider on a non-structural part - while the rig is unpacked - I don't care. By non-structural, I mean: pin cover, pilot-chute cap, leg pad and maybe even a riser cover. It helps that most pin covers are multi-layer (MDS plastic, ballistic nylon, para-pack, Cordura, foam padding, etc.) so that even if you ruin the outer layer, it will not affect function. OTOH if you spray adhesive paint (epoxy or cyanoacrylate) on a single-layer reserve side flap - while packed - I will not let you jump it. I fear that adhesive paint might penetrate the side-flap and free-bag and glue the reserve closed.

I have only seen one swage come loose. That was ascribed to poor quality control at the factory .... er .... the final inspector missed a missed swage/squeeze/crimp. If the end of a spring does get loose, it is less likely to snag on a hard surface .... like a kicker plate. As for ripcords swages/pins/balls coming loose .... I have never seen it despite manufacturing hundreds of ripcords ( while working for Butler, Rigging Innovations and ParaPhernalia). I also assembled a few hundred pilot-chutes while working for Butler.

Agreed! I have difficulty with any Kahdr family member staying in Canada, considering that A: most have connections with Al Queda and B: Al Queda fought against Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan. Meaning that a few Canadian jihadis fought against Canadian soldiers. I also struggle with the notion of immigrants holding two passports: one from their country of origin and a second passport issued by the Canadian government?????? I also have difficulty with dual-citizens engaging in political violence in their countries of origin. I used to believe that foreign-born jihadis deserved to be extradited to the most miserable prison in their country of origin, but realized that most will be freed a week later. Now I believe that the most violent of Canadian jihadis deserve to spend the rest of their lives rotting in Canadian prisons. Part of the problem is that after "X" number of years service with Al Queda - they are impossible to reform and will never become productive members of society. Similarly, one of President Obama's difficulties with closing the Guantanamo Bay Prison was getting rid of prisoners. Some came from countries that no longer exist. Many of their home governments refused to repatriate them. Many neutral countries refused them asylum because of fears that they would resume political violence in their new-found home. Finally - like most Canadian citizens - I struggle with the notion of Canadian citizens fighting in wars unconnected with the Canadian government: Papal Zouaves, MacKenzie-Papineau Brigades (Spanish Civil War during the 1930s), Viet Nam War, Air India bombing, collapse of the former Yugoslavia, various African wars, Afghanistan, ISIL, etc.

----------------------------------------------------------------- Your literacy has improved immensely over the last few years.

***"Coil lock" could mean two different things: 1) ....... 2) The pilot chute fabric is tucked under the base of the pilot chute, thereby locking the pilot chute in the compressed position by it's own tension For #2, the practice used to be to stuff all the loose fabric under the base ....... The idea was that it helped serve as a good base "kicker plate" for launch, and also prevented a loose spring end from burrowing down into the canopy fabric and getting itself stuck there. ........ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- First time I have heard that! .... but I have only been a rigger for 33 years ....... I do know that when military-surplus aluminum kicker plates got prohibitively expensive (1970s) many riggers substituted paper plates. Since then, most sport containers have plastic (e.g. MDS Nylatron) kicker plates sewn into internal flaps.