riggerrob

.................................................. Zipperheads? Zipperheads mean something radically different in Canada. The Canadian Army calls tankers "zipperheads" ' us of the scars left after they sew your head back together, after it has been whacked by a wobbling tank hatch. Those things are HEAVY! A friend needed his ear sewn back on after Sherman hatch got loose! Next vocabulary challenge: what is the Canadian definition of "goof?"

According to the Strong TNT manual, it has a pair of drogue release handles, both on the right main lift web. The student's drogue release may be attached to the student harness. The manual does not include a picture. The instructor's drogue release handle is still co-located with the cutaway handle ... a good thing because it remedies one possible finger-malfunction: pulling the cutaway handle record drogue release. As for the "proper location" my bias is still towards the instructor's right leg pad (ala. Sigma) so that it simulates a BOC.

When a drogue release handle is attached to the instructor's right leg pad it simulates pulling a BOC. Right leg pad is standard on Sigmas and I have sewed extra buckles onto leg pads of a few dozen Strong Dual Hawks. If the DR incorporates a bungee cord, then it becomes a reasonable simulator to teach throwing a BOC pilot-chute.

Struth!

Not enough minerals in the soil means that A: you started with poor soil to begin with, B: you are trying to grow the wrong crops or C: you have grown too many crops. Poor soil and malnutrition have little to do with homosexuality. Like another poster said: gays have always been about 5 percent of the population. The only difference is that now they don't have to hide, because 2,000 years after the prophet Jesus Christ died, people are finally grasping his messages about "loving thy neighbor" and "forgiving sins" etc. Thankfully "gay bashing" has fallen out of fashion, because it was never more than a cowardly excuse to beat on weaker members of society. If you truly followed Jesus' teachings, you would not worry about your neighbors' sexual preferences. Or was it the Prophet Moses who said: "Don't covet your neighbors' ass"? Amen!

I jumped PD360 reserves back when they were fashionable as mains. Hated the way PD360s opened in a stall. Also hated the way a steering toggle could jam on the end of an L-Bar connector link. After you got the steering line clear, you needed LOTS of arm muscle to flare. I often wondered why Vector/Sigma never added an extra steering guide ring (level with the L-bar) to eliminate jammed steering lines???????? I have packed a few Angelfire 400 reserves into Racer Tandems. This year I have repacked Next 372, PD360, Strong 425 and Precision 350 reserves for local DZs. Precision reserves have more modern oval, metal connector links that save a little weight and eliminate one type of malfunction (jammed steering line). My most recent "save" was on a Precision 350 reserve. The young TI said that it "flew like shit!" He did not complain about a rock-and-roll opening or toggle pressure. Keep in mind that was his very first (virgin) reserve ride and his main mount was an elliptical Icarus 330. As an aside, I made a thousand jumps on Strong, rectangular, F-111 425 and 520 canopies when they were fashionable as mains. I also have about 20 rides on Strong 425 reserves. Both fly okay, but I much prefer SET400 mains. The new tapered Strong reserve (based on SET 366) looks way better.

Hee! Hee! Do you know how many students throw ripcords away? Tossed MIL SPEC ripcords used to be expensive ($100.). Do you know expensive modern ripcords (tandem drove release handles are)? Strong charges $25 for simple drogue release handles. This marketing scam is more about selling souvenir ripcord handles. If the student throws away their souvenir .... that is their problem .... but manifest will cheerfully sell them a shiny new souvenir!!!!!!! The long-term solution is installing the modern bungee-retractable drogue release handles as installed on Sigma or post-2000 String tandems.

My business partner grumbles about all the bags full of old round, Rogallo and square parachutes laying around the loft. I label them as "rigger training aids." Nothing quite like a faded, frayed, filthy, rusty old rig to reinforce the notion that 20 years is a reasonable service life.

With a field elevation of 6,609 feet above sea level ... we wonder what size main canopies they are using????? How close do they land to the rim of the canyon? Can you imagine the ground rush falling into the canyon? How deep is the canyon near that DZ?

Agreed! RiggerLee, Many Warbird pilots were born into tall families and never missed a meal in this lifetime. The last time they weighed 254 pounds was in high school. Hah! Hah! Some of my most challenging jobs have involved recommending PEPs for "well-nourished Texans" who recently bought warbirds. Too bad the cockpit was originally designed for a jockey ... enrolled in the Yugoslav Air Force. Hah! Hah! We enlarged a military-surplus harness for one "Texan." A few months later, he sold the airplane to an even larger "Texan", so we lengthened the harness a second time. Hah! Hah! The canopy was a "stout" MIL SPEC round, originally designed for an ejection seat. I expected that round to survive almost any opening, but was not half as confident about the pilots' ankles surviving. When I packed those Para-Flite 340 reserves into Butler chair packs (aka. along-back) it was because they were the only civilian reserves certified for a "Texan" that heavy. That was a few years before Butler certified his HX series with sombrero sliders.

.......................................................... Yes, Domina Jalbert started building kites as a boy. During World War 2, he worked in the balloon industry. His barrage balloons always "kited" at a positive angle of attack (nose up) to improve lift and stability. Many things he learned (e.g. internal bracing) in the balloon business were later applied to ram-air kites. Jalbert's first few ram-air prototypes were all kites. It was only late in his career that Jalbert partnered with Professor Nicoladius (sp?) to build powered parachutes. Prof. N. worked at University of Notre Dame and his main skill seemed to be gaining government grants from ARPA and the CIA. While the first ram-air parachutes were test-jumped during the late 1960s, it took another decade for Snyder, Yarbenet, etc. to make them open reliably.

Free Flight Enterprises' Gary Douris used to say "don't put any of those nasty chemicals on my reserves." These days, most of FFE's production is Preserve round reserves sold in Softie PEPs. FFE and Strong were among the few para manufacturers who stuck with MIL SPEC mesh throughout the acid-mesh era. Ergo FFE and Strong canopies are among the few round canopies that don't need testing for acid-mesh.

My last "save" was on a Precision TR-350 tandem reserve. The orange label says: "Maximum operating weight limit 500 lbs" and "Maximum operating speed limit 185 KEAS." Precision TR-350 reserve canopy is standard in Eclipse Tandem and Wings Tandem. It is also installed in Wings military freefall rigs. NEXT tandem is placarded for maximum 225 kg at 150 knots. The PD360 reserve (installed in Vector and Sigma) is rated for 500 pounds. Strong Tandem reserves are rated for 500 pounds. According to Jump Shack's website, their Angelfire 400 reserve is rated for 425 pounds and their Angelfire 500 reserve is rated for 500 pounds. Though I suspect that the website is "dated" because it says they applied for certification to 600 pounds. Bottom line, if a pilot with a big "bottom" (more than 254 pounds) wanted a PEP, I would steer him towards a large square, maybe even a tandem reserve.

............. Book, en Francais: Borge & Viasonoff gifted me "Le Parachute" in '97. Excellent photos. Sparse words. Mystery: who is Pere Robert?............................................. "Pere Robert" translates exactly as "Father Robert", IOW an ordained catholic priest. Similarly, "Frere Robert" translates as "Brother Robert"... as in a monk. This segways to a recent article (Canadian Aviation Historical Journal 2016) about (parachute patent-holder) Domina Jalbert who was born in Quebec, but raised in New England. An interesting point is that young Domina was educated by Catholic monks who served the large numbers of French-Canadians who migrated to New England mill towns. This article contradicts the historical tradition that says that the Quebec Gov't and Catholic Church officially discouraged French-Canadians from migrating to the USA. Domina Jalbert is credited with inventing the concept of ram-air (wing/shaped) parachutes, though another dozen patents were issued to people (Nocolades, Snyder, Yarbanet, Gargano, etc.) who refined Jalbert's basic ram-air concept

Ask the Iroquois, Abenakis, Aluets, Beothuks, Chesepeakes, Cherokees, Cree, Dakota, Dene, Hopi, Huron, Inuit, Migmaw, Seminoles, Sioux, Lakota, Salish, Zuni, etc. what they think of poorly-screened immigrants!

The other reason for linguistic shift is to distinguish sub-cultures. Kids want to sound as "cool" as their favourite athletes or musicians. For example: skate-boarders took the word "sick" (which used to mean "ill") and transformed it to mean "wow," "awesome," "crazy stunt," etc. If you use old words at a skate-board park, you will never be allowed to ride with the "in crowd."

Far more difficult to remove the door from a civilian 337 versus a military-surplus O-2. With an O-2, you just pull one lever and the door falls off. However, civilian 337 door hinge bolts are hidden deep under layers of upholstery and structure.

Amazing! Only two fatalities so far. During the evacuation, a pick-up truck collided head-on with a larger truck. Both trucks caught fire. Both people in the pick-up truck died. Typical Saturday night casualties in a bar in Fort Mac..... A similar fire in Africa would have killed hundreds of people.

Trim able risers were (briefly) fashionable during the 1980s. Trim-tabs can be sewn onto production risers. Ask your local Master Rigger.

If you pour an entire bottle over them, do they become as white as the KKK on laundry day?

During my last prostate exam, the kindly old Doctor put his hand on my shoulder - to reassure me - then he put his other hand on my other shoulder!

Antonov 2s are popular jump-planes in Eastern Europe, but were never approved for commercial operation in North America. At best, AN-2s fly with "restricted" registration, like most of the other communist-surplus airplanes.

Cessna approved 337 s for flight without the door. Not much chance of hitting the rear propeller because you fall away at a 45 degree angle. However, for caution's sake, many would want to stop the rear engine before jump run. Few civilians have jumped from 337s, And the soldiers who jumped 337s are the quiet, sneaky-leaky, special forces types who do not brag about their exploits. A few pilots who flew Cessna 0-2s (military version of 337) mentioned dropping special forces types, on "the wrong side of the border" but they did not go into detail. As for the details: follow the 337 manual for removing the right-hand door and co-pilot's seat. Remove anything laying loose in the cabin, coffee cups, tools, charts, logbooks, etc. Do a couple of dirt dives with the pilot. Probably best to retract the gear before jump-run, making for one less thing to whack. If it makes you feel safer, ask him to stop the rear engine before jump-run. Finally, hang a half-dozen GoPro cameras off the airframe and share the footage with your buddies on dz.com!

Waivers protect against everything except "gross negligence." Waivers also prevent frivolous lawsuits. In that respect, waivers protect the wounded against the prolonged stress of an 8-year-long lawsuit. Guess how I learned that???? Thirdly, if your bank account is small, lawyers will ignore you, because lawyers are only interested in money.

I have dressed first solo jump students with: DC-5 (280?), Goliath 340, Manta 288, Skymaster 290, Solo 270, Tutor 300, pLaser 280, PD269 and larger Navigators. The smallest students got Skymaster 230 mains. DC-5s were the only 5-cells and had the wimpiest flare. All those mains had F-111 bottom skins, while a few had ZP top skins. Reserves were: Tempo 250, Smart 250, PD253, Raven 249, etc. all 7-cells made of F-111 fabric. Yesterday I packed a PD235 reserve into a student rig.