riggerrob

Over the last 40 years I have worn a variety of underwear: loose-fitting boxers, briefs, jockey shorts, jockey straps, long indies, Spandex tights, etc. under my jumpsuit, but none of them provided enough support to prevent the dreaded "nut under." Until yesterday ...... Last week I bought a pair of SAXX undershorts. Sunday. I did 8 tandems out of a narrow-bodied Cessna 182. Never had to do the embarrassing "crotch adjustment" just before boarding. Nor did I suffer any "nut unders", nor "scrotum scrunches" nor "foreskin pinches." The key to SAXX undershorts is their patented "Ball Park" that includes two small (Spandex) walls that keep "Bib and the Twins" clear of leg straps .... even the double-wide leg pads on old Vector 2 Tandems. SAXX also cover the tops of thighs where leg straps used to bruise my delicate thighs and backside. SAXX are made of quick-drying Nylon Spandex to keep the humoured in a comfortable range. Bottom line: SAXX undershorts are huge improvement over any other type of guys' underwear because they keep your "equipment" centered and prevent it from snagging on wandering leg straps. When I bought 4 more pairs of SAXX undershorts on Monday, the sales girl described the process as "bra-shopping for guys." The she said "Guys go nuts over SAXX undershorts! Final question: skydiving team will be the first sponsored by SAXX?

....... This being the same board that gives them lavish contracts and golden parachutes? ............ Contract negotiation skills (for any new hire) are measured during negotiations for pay, medical benefits, severance packages, etc. The better a new CEO negotiates his own wages and benefits, the more likely he will negotiate the biggest corporate profits in any contract with outside suppliers or clients. This attitude also extends to executives at publically-held corporations. For example, last year BC Transit paid an outside consultant close to half a million dollars to steer public opinion during a referendum on a new tax to fund public transit: buses, ferry boats and sky train. Unionized bus drivers kept waiting for management to bring voters up to speed on BC Transit operating costs. We never saw any effort to educate the public. The public remained as well-informed as a bag of hammers, but the consultant still collected his large fee. What did that executive consultant do? Did bus company management have a different agenda that required the tax referendum to fail?

Good logic Kallend! Since muzzle-loading Kentucky squirrel rifles were fashionable when the second amendment was written, American citizens should be allowed to freely carry muzzle-loaders. However, more modern rifles need more modern restrictions. Sadly, Congress and Churches and the NRA are always decades behind new technology.

The late Mike Mangold liked to fly his Pirts Special (aerobatic biplane) in formation with Twin Otters over Perris Valley, California. Mike started skydiving at the US Air Force Academy and made a few thousand skydives before I met him. I met Mike when he came to pick up a seat PEP (containing a square) from Bulter Parachute Systems. Mike learned to fly formations in USAF RF-4 Phantoms and practiced aerobatics during his days off from flying for a major airline. Mike eventually got good enough to compete at Aerobatic World Championships. The one time Mike took me flying in his Pitts Special, we turned and burned until I saw spots! Mike also introduced me to the basics of aerobatics and recovery from unusual attitudes. Last year we were saddened by news of Mike's demise during the crash of an L-39 jet trainer.

Classic precision accuracy, solo style, freefall formations, canopy formations, instructing: S/I, IAD, PFFand tandem students, BASE and wing-suiting. But dag nab it, those young punks keep inventing new disciplines faster than I can learn them. Enjoyed classic precise landing because it is a simple test of individual skills ...... that takes decades to perfect. Solo style is another solo challenge to turn as fast as possible, but still stop turns precisely on heading. While instructing, I share the feeling of success with students as they master a new skill. These days I mostly jump tandem with the ocaissonal wing suit jump to challenge me to continue learning. But the best is tandems where they pay me to get "tight" with pretty women ...... some only 1/3 my age. Hah! Hah! Whichever way ... I just enjoy flying around the sky.

Depends on how good you are with a clutch... In truth, I don't seem to mind jerky drivers as much as the mindless zombie drivers we seem to have in WA. No turn signals, no paying attention, no clue how to handle a 4 way stop or a traffic circle. ............................................................................................... John, Sadly the zombie virus has spread North to Southern British Columbia, where turn signals are rarely used, rather they add "aggressive styling" to automotive fashion. One old guy told me that the zombie virus infected Vancouverites about the same time that methamphetamines were first imported.

Flight decks are the busiest and most dangerous airports with dozens of things happening simultaneously. I have only worked on the flight decks of HMCS Athabaskan and HMCS Iroquois and we only handled Sea King helicopters. Even at 1/10 the operational tempo of an aircraft carrier, it was still a busy and dangerous place what with parks and starts and folding the blades traversing it into the hangar, the haul-down system, hot refuelling, 30 degree rolls, winds, rotor down wash, noise, ship's exhaust, rain, heat, cold, etc. Bottom line, it amazes me how few accidents occurr on flight decks.

I learned the "pinky finger" signal from an Australian tourist who was visiting Vancouver. A loud, obnoxious sportscar weaved across the Burrard Street Bridge, swapping lanes far faster than anyone else could predict. The Australian tourist flipped him the "pinky finger." I almost fell out of my seat laughing. "Sister. I agree with you completely, even if I don't have a clue what you just said. Hah! Hah!" She replied " He drives like a man with a small weenie!" Hah! Hah!

***Police in Munich just confirmed: - One 18 y/o student with hand gun (Glock) .......................................................................... And the shooter referred to himself as "German?" I call bullshit because a proud German would have fired a quality, German-made pistol. A variety of German factories like Heckler und Koch, Luger, Mauser, SIG/Sauer, Walther, etc. have manufactured millions of well-respected pistols. Glocks might be good pistols, but they are made in Austria ..... not Germany. Sadly, that sad young man killed 8-ish other Germans before committing suicide. Suicide is just violence, frustration and anger turned inward. As an American politician said after an Orlando night club got shot up recently "We need to do more about mental health, especially for young men."

What problems are poorly regulated militias causing? Derek V ............................... Last wintet a group of Montana militiamen barricaded a National Park. The confrontation started over the Park asking a local cattleman to pay for graizing his cattle on National Park land. A group of self-styled militiamen barricaded themselves in the Park. The original rancher and his son surrendered to the local sherriff and dis-avowed any connection with the militiamen. Eventually, police starved the militiamen out of the Park. This is just the latest disagreement over whether cattlemen should pay anything for grazing their cattle on federal land. Some cattlemen have not paid for grazing rights in decades![email]

"...... "A German-Iranian teenager who killed nine people and then himself in Munich had undergone psychiatric treatment and was in all probability a lone gunman who had no Islamist militant ties, police said on Saturday. The 18-year-old, who was born and raised locally, opened fire near a busy shopping mall on Friday, triggering a lockdown in the Bavarian capital in the third act of violence against civilians in Western Europe - and the second in southern Germany ....... The report suggests he was of Iranian descent born in Munich. Most Iranians are predominately Shia whereas IS is a Sunni (inspired)movement. ........................................................................... This latest mass-shooting is just the tip of the ice-berg in a long-standing problem of immigrants failing to integrate with mainstream European society. Over the last 40 years I have seen poorly-integrated immigrants in Canada, the USA, Germany, France, Holland, Switzerland and Portugal, but let's limit today's discussion to immigrants who fail to integrate with German society. Back in the 1970s, I saw hundreds of Turkish "guest workers" who still wore Turkish clothing, ate Turkish food and lived in run-down Turkish neighbourhoods within the walls of West German cities. Typical behaviour for first-generation immigrants. During the 1980s I bought a sewing machine in a German store. He advised me buy quickly "before Turks buy them all and ship them home." That Pfaff 230 served me well for many years. Shortly after the turn of the century a German friend recommended me to serve as the North American Technical Representative for a second German parachute factory. Becoming a Technical Rep included most of the privileges and responsibilities of a DFV Prufur. A decade later, another Canadian rigger got some confusing responses from the second factory, so I phoned my old friend. He said that a "Turk" had bought the company, knew nothing about parachutes and was running the company into the ground. His pronunciation of "Turk" spoke volumes! These latest 3 attacks further reinforce the notions that poorly-integrated immigrants are at greatest risk of violent crime. Before North Americans become too smug, consider how many problems have been created by poorly-integrated immigrants. Did Beothuks cheerfully greet Vikings. Did Cape Dorset natives enjoy the Inuits' arrival? Did Aleuts enjoy working for Russian immigrants? How much did Salish enjoy white folks "strip-mining" all their fish? ....... criminalizing potlatches? ..... Banning old religions? Did Abenakis enjoy the Pilgrims' arrival? Did Hurons survive waves of French immigrants? Did Latinos enjoy the millions of gringos who emigrated to California?

............................................................... Unfortunately, most American volunteer "militias" are little more than paranoid, armed rabbles with narrowly-focused political-agendas. Militias' fears of faggots, nigras, beaners, Catholics, communist hordes, etc. make them doubly susceptible to Trump's version of fear-mongering. Trump knows that fear is the quickest motivator and he knows how to "play" the media and "play" voters to get Trump elected to achieve Trump's short-term goals. Sadly, while fear may produce great short-term results, it erodes the confidence needed for long-term success. Oh! Didn't Hitler start many of his speeches with derogatory comments about: gypsies, communists, homosexuals, Jews, etc. Whichever ethnic group elicited the most boos became the focus of the rest of his speech. Since Jews elicited the most boos, Hitler focused on Jew-bashing. Jew-bashing produced great short-term results for Hitler, but his propsed "Thousand Year Reich" did not last quite as long as Hitler predicted. The 2nd Ammendment specifies "well regulated militia." The USA already has "well regulated militia" in the form of Air National, Army Reservists, Caoet Guard Auxilliary, etc. Consider how many thousands of Army Reservists and National Guardsmen served in recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan..... Any patriotic American - who wants to join a "militia" would be wise to enlist in his/her nearest USMC Reserve regiment, learn the basics of soldiering in boot camp and swear allegiance to a chain of command that includes might include his State Governor and definitely includes the regular chain of command all the way up through the Pentagon and POTUS. On a similar note: large numbers of Canadian militiamen .... and militia women (Army Reserve, RCN Reserve and a few RCAF Reserve) served alongside the Regular Canadian Army in Afghanistan. So many Canadian militiamen served in Afghanistan that many units were half reservists on 1-year contracts. A few regular army units were even commanded by militia officers.

I often give the "the finger"........ the pinky finger ....... as they swerve between lanes in big city traffic. Sadly, few of them are bright enough to understand what the "pinky finger" signal means.

That's landing on the back, which is not a sliding landing. Even bouncing landings on a slide attempt might not touch the spine to the ground. Don't know about you but my back is padded by a container, usually with a reserve, which is usually softer than the ground. ....................................................................................... I tried that once .... did not enjoy it! I stalled a square into the pea gravel bowl from about 10 feet up. I landed flat on my back! The bottom edge of the reserve container whacked my diaphragm. I promptly stood up, but could not breath for 5 minutes because my diaphragm spasmed similar to the way diaphragm muscles spasm after a punch to the solar plexis. I tried sliding - with one leg bent - for my first few hundred tandems. Eventually had to sit out the 2014 jumping season as my knee healed from surgery. I still have 3 fewer ligaments in my left knee than most people. As for tandem sliding on one hip? I often do that because my hip muscles are large enough to pad my pelvis and lower spine. The main reason for converting a tandem landing from a straight slide to a side slide is when a student digs in his heels and tries to front-loop the tandem pair. In that scenario, a hip slide landing does way less damage than a forward tumble. I have tumbled a few tandem landings and did not much enjoy them.

Ask your question of French-speaking rigger's in Quebec and Eastern Ontario. Those are the only places I have seen Citation harness/containers. Citations were originally seen in Valcourt, Quebec but that entire DZ moved to Farnham (Novelaire) more than a decade ago. Maybe you should start your search by talking to a rigger at Farnham. Circa 2007, I taught a CSPA Rigger A course at Farnham. All three Lemay brothers passed the course.

Sadly, most stolen skydiving gear gets discarded in dumpsters, by petty criminals, never to fly again. If it sounds like your gear was stolen, you should still cover your (legal) butt by ordering a new seal with a different logo on the backside. Speaking of covering your backside, send a letter to the FAA explaining the theft and include ink-stamps of your new seal press.

.................................................................................. Yes. Secular judges have been trying to limit Erdogan's religious agenda for years. Any military types involved in the coup will be shot and pissed upon. Bets that soldiers even get public trials?????

This is a challenge to some of the software geeks who like to skydive. Can they write an "app" that will simulate an analog altimeter to help Freefall students practice on the ground? An electrical simulator as been sold by Para-Gear for decades, but with cell phones more popular than ....... On an iPhone, the simulator would display an analog altimeter face (graduated for 12,000 feet or 4,000 metres). There would be 2 or 3 buttons off to the side to zero it, adjust rate of descent (120 for belly flying, 16o for sit-flying and 200 for tandem-terminal. The software would also calculate vertical acceleration during the first 15 seconds of freefall. Any takers?

According to Transport Canada's website, the current standard is CAN-TSO C23F effective August 2015. Airworthiness Manual Chapter 537.1 Airworthiness Standards Appliances says that C23F (August 2015) replaced the old CAN-TSO C23D (1994). TC claims that CAN-TSO C23F is the same as FAA TSO C23F.

American Technical Standard Orders are the defacto standard for certifying parachutes in the western world. Australian, Canadian, European (ETSO), New Zealand, South African, etc. TSOs are almost photo-copies of American standards. An American-licensed parachute rigger can sign a repack on TSOed parachutes made in any of those countries. Most Sidewinders were manufactured (by Flying High) under a Transport Canada TSO, photo-copied from American TSO C23. The only hassle with Sidewinders is that Flying High surrendered its Canadian TSO a few years ago. The problem was that Transport Canada was demanding additional paperwork (map of factory floor, etc.) and Al MacDonald thought that the paperwork was too expensive. Returning to the OP's question, FAA riggers can legally repack most Sidewinders, except for the most recent. In practice, Sidewinders pack the same way as Vector 2 - they even have Vector 2 reserve pilotchutes - and they have always been built to the same (Flying High) quality control standards.

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How recently was it relined? Which trim-measuring technique are you using? How badly are your cross ports frayed? Are they frayed all the way to the top skin? Are they frayed all the way to the bottom skin?

Several members of the Performance Designs team give seminars to military jumpers. Also remember that military HALO and HAHO special forces soldiers tend to jump huge (more than 300 square foot) ram-air canopies when jumping with rucksacks, rifles, snowshoes or 500 pound bundles. Not all the sport canopy exercises are possible on huge military canopies. Have you ever tried to do a rear riser flare on a 400 square foot canopy?

Many years ago - back when we were still using military-surplus rounds - I watched a petite static-line student roll on exit and grab her sleeve. She maintained a "death grip" on that sleeve until 1,000 feet. Fortunately Saint Francis Xavier Chevrier was on duty that day to deploy her reserve. Morale of the story: "long s/l (static-line assisting a spring-loaded pilot-chute to stretch out a full-length sleeve on a round canopy) allows students too many opportunities to interfere (roll, loop, grab, etc.) a partially deployed canopy. Direct bag s/l is better because bag is beyond reach before - all but the clumsiest - students can interfere with deployment. IAD is slightly better than direct bag because the pilot-chute and d-bag blow down-wind (the farthest possible angle) away from flailing arms and legs.