riggerrob

...... It's one of the reasons ICE (traditionally) doesn't crack down on ALL undocumented workers -- typically just the violent criminal ones -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Agreed! When I surveyed the issue 25 years ago, I quickly concluded that half the undocumented Latinos were deported directly from county jails. OTOH unscrupulous employers have always exploited the most recent wave of immigrants, be they slaves from Africa, indentured servants from Europe, Irishmen fleeing the Potatoe Famine, Somalis fleeing civil war, etc. Refugees fleeing to North America tend to be tougher, healthier, smarter, etc. than the poor besieged souls who remained in their homeland. Immigrants usually believe the American myth that "anyone can grow up to become the President." I have seen Spanish-speaking day-labourers in California "show up early, work hard all day and not steal tools."

Is this a good place to post dates and locations of local Safety Days? For example: Pitt Meadows' SD starts at noon on Saturday, 2017 March 4. Abbotsford hosts their SD a week later on March 11.

Like the title says: what is the silliest logic invented after the decision? For example: during World War One, generals refused to issue parachutes to pilots for fear that "the cowards would abandon airworthy airplanes to escape the fight." Truth be told, only the crews of static observation balloons were issued with static-line parachutes. Those chutes were crude and ocaissionally tangled with balloon tethers. Casualties among balloon crews did not make the newspapers because fatality rates were tiny compared with the thousands of foot soldiers who died per day. Only during the last year (1918) were a few elite German fighter pilots(e.g. Richtofen Staffel) issued crude pilot emergency parachutes developed from balloon 'chutes. It was not until the 1920s that the USAAF and RAF developed reliable pilot emergency parachutes.

The skydiving school at Perris Valley, California had a similar set-up until 2,000. They had FXC12000M installed on their main ripcords. Shortly before 2,000 they also installed Cypres in the reserves. During one week (early 2,000) I converted all 18 of their student Telesis 1 rigs to (double handle) BOC.

My personal limit is 22 knots. I also stand down when gusts reach a 5 knot difference. Oh! The time we watched a solo jumper break his heel - when hit by a downdraft - both TIs refused to jump for the rest of the day.

The key factor is how fast older students are deteriorating. Commercial pilot mericals are required once a year before age 40, then every six months as they age. Few commercial pilots still work past age 60. General health is the key. If the older student is athletic, flexible, alert and mentally agile, then learning skydiving should be easy. For example: retired US President George Bush Senior did his second jump at age 73. It was all AFF jump in 1997. I packed his reserve. His regular tennis habit and his previous work as a navy pilot eased the learning process. Also consider that we heal slower as we age. Right now I am trying to lose a few pounds and build muscle. That is a slow process at age 59.

2 points 1- Did you try grabbing both steering toggles with one hand? Hint: grab the toggles from inboard and pull both of them straight ahead, towards your belly to flare. 2- I can count on one hand the number of left-handed BOCs that I have sewn. The first customer's shoulder was shoot during the war in Viet Nam. The lady was a BASE jumper with too many "exciting" landings.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ You scared yourself because you knew you were at risk of breaking bones. Then your glands secreted a series of "feel good" neuro-chemicals like adrenaline and endorphins. Those new chemicals anesthetize you against pain while the adrenaline might help you escape danger. After repeated exposure, your brain got better and better at secreting "feel good" endorphins, while your fear diminished. Anxiety after a long period of non-jumping means that your brain has developed a craving for "feel good" endorphins.

Censorship can take over when any minority group feels threatened. During this lifetime, I have seen censorship to limit: anti-Jewish, anti-Somali, anti-PTSD, anti-alcoholic, anti-single-mother, anti-abortion, pro-abortion, gun-lover, gun-hater, homophobic, etc. news, editorials, advertisements.

Does the USAFA still install FXC12000M AADs on main ripcords?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------- One look at the globe will reveal that Canada is bigger and Canada is on top. If we were imprisoned, the USA would be our bitch!

Some yes and some no. Signatures are not mandatory for mere inspection reports. Any professional rigger will cheerfully sign an inspection report. OTOH reserve packing data cards and rigger's' logbooks must contain the rigger's: license number, seal symbol and signature.

Once we see documents from PISA, Zodiac or Parachutes de France, we can have a serious discussion. Manufacturers' instructions must be followed by every rigger, or you stand alone in court.

While I enjoyed "Point Break" I was born into an earlier era and watched "Ripcord" on TV and saw "Gypsy Moths" on the big screen. Watched "A Bridge Too Far" after I earned army jump wings.

1) Back when I rigged in Perris, I was brutally honest when inspecting second-hand parachutes. This sometimes put me at odds with Square One's salespeople, but I always put the lives of customers first. I hope today's rigger's work to the same standard. Most Southern California riggers are narrow-minded, anal-retentive, control-freak perfectionists. They work in a fiercely-competitive environment and compete on quality of workmanship. Also remember that forging packing data cards is a federal crime, because it risks lives. Anyone forging a packing card risks losing their rigging license. Your local rigger can spot 90 percent of defects with a quick (10 minute) external inspection ($10 to $20). Judging by the photos, that Javelin looks lightly-used. 2) Yes! Share serial numbers and we will help you research Service Bulletins. Hint: the Australian Parachute Federation maintains the best master-list of Airworthiness Directives, Product Updates, Service Bulletins, Special Inspections, etc.

Please share the page in the PISA manual that sets a 20 year life.

Propaganda! When I worked at Square One, sales people bad-mouthed Tempos and Dolphins because they sold for such low prices that their commission was insignificant. I have never noticed any defects of workmanship on any canopy sewn by Parachute Industries of South Africa. I have only seen frayed cross-ports on one small Tempo ... but was owned by a guy who loaded it at least 2 pounds per square foot and had deployed it a half-dozen times! As for built-in turns .... I have only heard that from one student. Mind you he complained of an unusual turn on a Manta 280 main canopy a few seconds earlier. After he landed, we noticed his unusual harness adjustment method: one long MLW and he other MLW adjusted to the correct length for his torso. Hah! Hah!

You guys tickled my curiosity, so I started sketching a modern QA seat type parachute. I reduced the number of snaps to 5 (3 harness & 2 risers) by including modern materials like Velcro and magnets. Like the original military QA seat pack, my concept has separate harness and container. The pilot leaves the container in the cockpit most of the time. When the pilot wants to go flying, they don the harness and snug it up. Once they are seated, they grab 2 snaps (from the cockpit sides) and clip the snaps onto a pair of D-Rings on their chest. My key innovation is routing harness risers over the shoulders and curving them forward under the armpits so that they hang near the chest strap. I started with an old seat pack, so that lower risers (while hanging under canopy) are 50" long. Both lower risers terminate with D-Rings (MBS 5,000 pounds). I am seriously considering using a torso harness to simplify donning and conceal lower risers. Both sets of risers will be concealed/protected by the usual riser covers. Velcro or magnets will close riser covers (as per modern containers). At a bare minimum, the harness will include side walls (between container and MLW) like a Security 150/250/350 or Australian Slimline PEP. I am debating whether to sew an apron between risers to reduce the risk of a pilot tumbling between risers during opening. Meanwhile, the container starts like a regular seat pack, except that risers are only 30" long and terminate in Snap hooks (MBS 5,000 pounds). Risers still exit the rear corners of the container (as per normal seat packs). The new part is a fabric "skirt" that is sewn to 3 edges of the container/seat cushion (back and sides) and extends upwards to chest level. IOW fabric skirts resemble bucket seats. Side skirts extend straight up from front corners to chest strap level. The upper front corners of the skirt terminate with snap hooks. The left side skirt also contains a ripcord handle pocket that hangs just below the chest strap (as per normal). The back portion of the skirt guides the upper risers upwards. The key difference is that upper risers (when hanging under canopy) curve forward under the pilot's armpits. Upper risers clip to lower risers at chest level. A secondary function of the back skirt is preventing the container from swinging so far forward that it blocks the pilots' legs as they bail out of a doomed airplane. A secondary function is that it reduces the risk of falling between the risers buttocks first. I am also contemplating sewing aprons between the risers to further reduce the risk of tumbling between risers. The skirt will be made of Sumbrella or Dyvatain or a similar fabric that resists UV damage. UV resistant fabric will allow pilots to leave QA seat packs in the cockpit for extended periods of time without risking fading or loss of strength. The only disadvantage is that extra-long risers limit QA seat packs to round canopies. Rounds can be installed without steering lines. Round canopies are not a big limitation since half the pilots who wear seat packs fly antique airplanes. The primary reason I am sharing this (modern QA seat pack) concept on dz. com is to establish "prior art." I will cheerfully share sketches and prototypes with manufacturers. If any manufacturer wants to produce my concept: Sure! Just be polite enough to pay me royalties.

Please

Yes John Crawford. After I had a hundred civilian skydives from 3,000 to 10,000 feet, I attended military jump school. For my second military static-line jump, I was first in the door. As we flew towards the DZ at 1,000 feet AGL, I remember saying to myself "Jesus that barn is big!" Hah! Hah!

Your fears are normal and healthy ..... just late in maturing. Hah! Hah! As we mature, our fears refine. Most children are born with a fear of falling, but if you succeed in climbing too many trees, then your fear of falling diminishes. That teaches "young man arrogance." That is why teenagers make such good paratroopers. For example, well into my fifties, I climbed way more trees than guys half my age. And I enjoyed teasing them. OTOH cliffs and exposed balconies scare me. On the one hand, my inner BASE jumper says "you could jump this!" While my inner mathematician says "it's only 15 stories and too close to a telephone wire." I never was never very good at math. Hah! Hah! Funny how looking out of an airplane does not scare me in the same way. Mind you I am a private pilot, (retired) jump pilot, (retired) military helicopter mechanic, and skydiver with a few thousand jumps. When I look out an airplane window, I just see a giant moving map a long way away. Perhaps this is because the maximum height of fear (as taught at the Canadian Army jump school) is 33 feet (10 metres). I believe that is because at long distances, we measure distance by size. Only during the last 33 feet does our binocular vision come into play. At short distances, we measure distance by the different angles between our eyeballs.

Tempos are still decent reserves ..... as long as they have less than half-a-dozen jumps and are loaded less than 4 pounds per square foot. Hah! Hah! (Note my sarcasm about loading.)

Judging by the photos, it looks like a lightly-used rig, but ask a local rigger to inspect it before any money changes hands. If the container is already "RSL ready" it only takes the rigger an extra minute to install an RSL at repack time. That Canopy Relative Work mod is a precursor to the tuck-in top flap found on more modern Javelins. It prevents snagging your reserve pin on another jumper's canopy or inside the airplane. Keep the CRW mod. As for the question about: is it Cypres-ready? 1993 was around the time Cypres came into fashion, so it may or may not have Cypres pockets sewn in at the factory. Sewing Cypres pockets no big deal. I sewed Cypres pockets into hundreds of containers during the 1990s. In any case, ask your local rigger. Type 8 risers and large (RW-1) 3-Rings may not be the heighth of this week's fashion, but they are stronger and more reliable than mini-risers. In any case, ask your local rigger to inspect the risers for wear-and-tear because main risers wear out after a thousand jumps. Fortunately, main risers are also easy to replace. Finally, ask you local rigger how many jumps are left on the BOC, since they only last 300 or 400 jumps. While he is replacing the BOC, ask him to sew on a bridle cover (similar to current production). A bridle cover reduces the risk of pre-mature deployment while sit-flying. Bottom line, as long as that Javelin passes your local rigger's inspection, it can easily be updated to almost the same standard as new Javelins.

Back during the late 1970s, I heard rumours - through my local Army Reserve regiment - about how tough para-troopers were. I applied for the Canadian Army Basic Parachutist Course 3 years in a row. Only the colonel's son and one athletic Corporal went to jump school. When the local civilian skydiving school posted fliers about an FJC, I spent a Saturday in class. I did six static-line jumps on military-surplus rounds. A couple of years later, I spent the summer at Air Force technical school in CFB Borden. On weekends, I hitch-hiked to the DZ at Arthur, Ontario, did 50 jumps and earned my A License. That set a pattern for dozens of other accomplishments. Every time the Canadian Armed Forces ignored my request for training, I paid for training out my own pocket to earn: private pilot license, Bachelor's degree, scuba license, and a long list of skydiving ratings. I worked full-time in the skydiving industry for 18 years. I eventually earned Canadian Army and West German Army jump wings, but that was after I had more than a hundred civilian skydives.

Damn kids raised on the metric system!!!!!!!