hackish

This sort of thing scares the heck out of me. I've worked in the auto trade for years and it's full of counterfeit parts. Aviation even had its trouble when knockoff bolts sheared and the tail blew off an AC killing everyone onboard. I've gotten material traceability sheets with products that were entirely fake. I knew from welding a SS part that it wasn't 304. A friend working for a metallurgical lab proved the alloy wasn't even close. Yet it came with "documentation". How can we protect against a rig that shows up complete with serial numbers that's made with sub-standard webbing, hardware and stitching made in a chinese sweat shop by a 10 year-old? $200 is insane but what of a rig sold for $1200? $2500? Remove all the R&D, support and QA checks that go into a company like UPT and I'm confident you could build a rig of sub-standard material $200. What do you suppose 350sq ft of ripstop tent nylon costs? Imagine how many counterfeit spectre 150's you could sell before it's found out? -Michael

The point was more about: Whether someone has experience and access to the tools only relate to their capabilities to properly do a repair, not the legality of that repair. -Michael

Without real data to show that they do open too slow it's really hard to say. PD has probably done more testing than all their competitors combined. The same PDR design has stayed in production so long because of careful design and extensive testing. The incident filmed isn't even a smoking gun against the optimum. How was it packed? Did the PC get a good launch? Is the exact cypres firing altitude known? In a single incident there are too many unknowns. You need a careful statistical analysis of multiple reserve openings to draw _ANY_ conclusion. Not 1, not 2. Dozens. Opening softer can simply mean the peak opening force is lower as the force is better distributed over the entire opening time. I've had a 800' snivel on my katana that ended in a bang. -Michael

I think the FAA doesn't care how old the ticket or what tools the rigger has access to. The thread is about understanding what the letter of the law says about types of repairs. I've been working for many years under supervision doing repairs that could be major or minor. It's time consuming and only possible through the generosity of others who are willing to donate the time to inspect/approve and offer suggestions. -Michael

Usually 2 to 4 lbs, sometimes none and occasionally 5. I always record before and after pull force on every rig and I have mostly return customers. That's what I have found the difference to be. From memory I believe I found about the same. I gave up when I realized that none of the local riggers who wrote numbers down were actually testing them. -Michael

I was once interested in trying to figure out how much pull reduction to expect in the 180 day life of a packjob. Some riggers were far more consistent than the pins themselves. They always wrote 15# but their lying cheating bastard pins could be anywhere from 10 to 25. -Michael

Really? Alot of senior riggers will do work that is considered outside of their certificate privileges, at least from what I see. A master rigger will not have that worry. I think in fact this is the point of this discussion. There are opinions and then there is the list of rules published by the FAA as to what each rigger can do. I find it difficult to reconcile that in the face of very specific language one could still claim that some of these repairs described are outside the ticket. I'm not a lawyer or even a professional rigger. I just maintain and repack gear as a part time gig out of personal enjoyment. I will be happy to pack 100 skydiver rigs this year. I just want to understand the rules to avoid running afoul. -Michael

I need to change the leg pad on my Javelin. I contact Sunpath for a new one and ask them if they would consider this a minor repair. They sell it and say it's a minor repair. In this fictional case you have a manufacturer specifying that they consider something to be a class of repair a senior rigger could do. You could infer that a manufacturer saying a "repair can be done by a senior rigger" does that not imply that they class it as a minor repair? -Michael

I don't disagree with Sandy at all. In fact I've made and done quite a number of repairs under supervision. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=144038; Understanding the correct process and the technical details of the rules is important to me. I think I'm correct to summarize this by saying that a Sr. Rigger would need to check with the manufacturer if they don't exist then fall back on the FAA book or Poynter for an opinion. -Michael

First, A manufacturer cannot extend privileges to a person that does not own them by the FAA. It is the responsibility of the individual to stay within the confines of the certificate that he or she holds. In other words, a similar instance would be like a barkeeper or bartender telling a customer it is OK to drive home drunk... MEL A manufacturer can advise if they consider a repair to be a minor or major category of repair. Being experts in their own gear and repairs to that gear I would expect them to be qualified to make a definitive judgement. There is a local Sr Rigger doing relines. He maintains it's a minor repair because it's a main. Based on the info posted previously I can see his point. -Michael

I like the simplification of CSPA for that fact but there are some positives and some negatives to the system. I really wanted to do the A1 course last year but this family man knows he would become a dead family man if he vanishes on Thanksgiving weekend. -Michael

I'm finding this discussion quite informative. I once heard a story of a rigger being questioned on the stand. It went sort of like this: When we inspected this rig packed and sealed by you we found the fabric was folded like this. Why did you do that? Page 34. Excuse me? I said Page 34. What do you mean by that sir? On page 34 of the manual it says to do that. --- MEL, you're a professional witness called to comment if a senior rigger was permitted to do a repair. Rigger: FAA says check with the manufacturer or their document. Manufacturer went out of business in 2002. The FAA document here says authorized repairmen: senior rigger or master rigger. How would you argue against that logic? -Michael

I was a little curious about an FAA published manual giving out information that I felt was incorrect. If you look at AC 105-2E it says the following: That was published in 2013 so I wonder if it's been supersceded by any other clarifications? -Michael

MEL, What do you think about manufacturers? Like my ACME example above. Do you know where I'd find published info on what they can and cannot do or what qualifications they need? -Michael

The reason I asked is that the FAA manual (which I copied the criteria from) lists many repairs as senior rigger but the FAA released an AC at one point (Can't find it at the moment) that specifically said things like a line replacement was a Major repair. -Michael

The FAA lists a major repair as something that if improperly done might appreciably affect weight balance, structure, strength, performance,... flight characteristics or other qualities affecting airworthiness... Replacing a grommet is a minor repair... but suppose you're an idiot and leave a sharp edge and it cuts the reserve loop it meets the above criteria. I have a tuck tab with a broken piece of nylon inside. I assume this is a major repair even though I feel if it were done with a reasonable amount of skill to mimic the original it probably doesn't meet the criteria. What about if I need to replace a centre A line on a velo? Line replacements are supposed to be a major repair but with no cascade you simply replace a part. No sewing, no tacking nothing. How does a manufacturer do stuff? Not all of their people are master riggers. What if ACME pilot chute company makes a main pilot chute? Do it wrong and it could certainly cause trouble as above. Not a TSO'd part but still. How does the FAA consider manufacturing? I think you could argue either way on many items and I hate grey because I never know what side it belongs on. Where and how do you draw the line? -Michael

Just curious but what sort of servo motors are you using? I bought a chinese one for $80 new and it seems to work well on my 20U. I did a sewing class not long ago and they had the consew servos on theirs but they looked and operated exactly the same. Mine just doesn't say consew on it. -Michael

I gave Mel's tool a crank last week. Pardon the pun. It's pretty slick. Something that isn't evident is that he's used a high quality ratchet head so this gives you good resolution. Operationally it's quite nice but I feel that some cost saving improvements could be made to satisfy all the cheap-ass riggers. -Michael

I'm not sure what sensor they use but I played with a MEMS unit and it can only do a limited number of samples per second. I don't recall the exact number but it was somewhere around 8hz. Since I'm not involved in any AAD R&D I have no idea what the innards of any of the AADs look like. It would be interesting to take someone with a chamber and a "fake" cutter circuit (timer) to actually instrument the 2 brands. Another variable to consider is that a number of riggers have tweaked packing to their own taste which sometimes deviates significantly from the manufacturer published method. I tend to be the stubborn published way or not at all type but I often worry how differences really affect the opening time. If I am involved in doing drop testing in an upcoming project then I'll see if I can't process the data in such a fashion to extract some information from this. I'm especially interested to know if my packjobs would yield a statistically significant difference as compared to some other rigger's work. -Michael

Was packing up a Javelin today and I see that Sunpath has released a new interactive manual. It has great photos and even video clips integrated. I think they've raised the bar significantly. Now their E-Fold thing... Can anyone explain what they're doing with the lines? It really looks like the lines are being folded into the flake. -Michael

In my area practically everyone dumped their cypres after the 12 year expiry so it's rare to see anything but a vigil. I've sent a couple of them back for checkups and firmware upgrades over the years. I don't ever remember spending more than $100 including shipping. -Michael

I sewed them mainly to practice bartacking. Sewing does stop them from ever pulling out, but I'm confident that someone will just invent a different way to screw it up. -Michael

Thanks. I assume they're main risers. I was interested to see how the snap was attached to the riser itself. -Michael

Check out the Vector Manuals. They're pretty good. People don't realize the amount of work it really is to write a good manual. Jeff was the primary force behind it and he did a really good job. -Michael

I think you will be most pleased with the pricing and you won't want to replace them with any of the other compatible parts. -Michael