councilman24

The term "four line" check was originally coined for rounds and borrowed for ram airs. As done for both it assumes the lines wew attached to the canopy and to the risers properly and really only checks for tangles or misattached riser. The longer description above is a good description except.that do the AB lines I flip the canopy over nose up. There is a way to do a full line rotation on a ram air laying on the ground in much less time than it takes to read the above description and you do sitting.on your butt at the harness. I've never tried to describe it in words and it takes a somewhat experienced eye. I teach it to my rigger candidates but also teach them the longer method above. The gold standard is hanging it up. I'm not trying to keep my way secret but have never found a way to describe it well. And have never posted a video to utube. I hesitate to describe it and then have someone think they are doing it right when they aren't. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

Rob told you who made it. Jerry is the manufacturer, it is TSO'd and last I knew I think he had only built the one. I helped design it and am a co-author of the manual. As Rob said he's built a couple but they are not TSO'd (don't have to be in Canada) and are not legal in the US. I've seen that photo before and it is a seat worn backwards as Rob pointed out. I have several photos in books of lap parachutes and now some Soviet copies. I also have an original photographic print of Leslie Irvin modeling his lap parachute (as well as prints with back seat and chest)from around 1930. They have center pull ripcords on the container. I've never found any indication any other company than Irving Parachutes built a lap before Jerry. By the time Irvin's patents ran out the airplanes that used laps were out of date. I've finally learned, from a Ukrainian rigger, what type of airplane it was used in. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

Bromo cresol green is a very crude test of pH and doesn't change color until pH 4.5 to 5.5. (Neutral 7 on a scale of 1 to 14) It worked for the mesh but not good for much else. Nylon is actually fairly resistant to mild acid damage and any measurement of a marking device would not be predictive. You could say neutral better than not but other properties of the marker may be important. The "acid mesh" problem was never just acid. On one canopy two panels of white material sewn next to the same single piece of mesh were completely different. One with a strength of about 1lb and one full strength at 40 lbs. That being said some measurement could be done but I no longer have access to a lab. Interesting enough the military papers found a spectroscopic indicator (by FTIR) of long term nylon 66 degradation that I didn't see when I tested samples of degraded and non degraded material. I may have missed it or more likely the damage was of a different chemical nature. I don't recall if bromo cresol green is still being sold by paragear but I do have a stock of dry powder and could make some up if anybody still wants some. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

This work was already done in the early 90's, I believe by Dan Wilcox at the same time he.did the webbing damage testing. I've been trying to find the info but haven't yet. At that time the dixon 134 pencils and a Staedtler lunicolor pen were the best. Everything should some degradation. The effect will not be instantaneous. Simply waiting until it dries is not.enough. Suggest several samples made and test over at least a year, enough samples for several years would be good. I found several military papers in my stacks on material aging. They did accelerated aging at several temperatures for periods of months. That would be good also except you would need to age unadulterated samples for each time point also to account for purely environmental changes. In the military papers they also used real world samples take from new old stock decades old. I certainly can find a reserve bridle that's had three feet of sharpie writing on it for twenty years. I have to believe Natick has already done this testing. Might contact Natick PIA rwps.and ask. I used to design stability studies as part of my job. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

Didn't think it would fit in a cone. But it does. Kind of works for swapping pins. I need to work on technique to get pin through far enough. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

Most newbies think a rig that fits them is too tight. Because the student gear they've been wearing is often too big. Get in front of an EXPERIENCED rigger or gear dealer and let them offer an opinion. If it doesn't have canopies in it you also don't know how it will fit when packed. Also hang in the harness and see where your out. And I'm not assuming what you mean by "stabilizer". Not a term used for H/C parts. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

Hah! I now have two. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

Wrap smaller LEDs around a traditional analog, or even digital, altimeter to give a fast reference might be more useful. Doesn't need to be as bright and I certainly want to know my altitude to higher precision than 1000'. Of course the fast reference should be looking at the ground. It even states that to tell if it's in freefall or canopy mode look at the ground. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

Think I have it. Poynter's shows a tool that has a 0.081" hole in the end for installing the spring on an Air Force back emergency rig. Works like a GQ Security 350 with the loops and ripcord pins installed before packing, the rig closed with temp pins and the the S hooks from the spring that connects the loops installed. You replace the temp pins with the tool (this tool?), then put the end of the s hook in the hole in the end and withdraw it through the loops. I've packed lots of Security rigs but never back a military rig that used the spring. The tool in Poynter's is less elegant but this could serve the same purpose. The bend allows your knuckles to clear. Unless someone else has another idea? I was wrong when I said the kit was for cones and pins, It also has the lever for closing the Switlik Saf T chute that I mentioned before. That's why I bought it but came with a nice polished line separator, polished long and short bars, line hook, temp pins, an end tab puller in a roll up case. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

I personally think that this is invalid guidance. If unconscious then it is just about luck whether you survive or not. - Petri While you CAN die if your unconscious with any size reserve your much more LIKELY to die with a small highly loaded reserve, even if hitting a grass lawn. That's why the smallest reserves are made under an exemption to the TSO rate of decent standards. And the FAA has indicated they will likely not issue new exemptions and they rejected a flared (conscious) rate of descent test and standard in the new TSO standard. Also remember that even the post deployment unaltered configuration test (brakes set) is done with 170lbs. NOT the 254 lbs or other max load. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

All reasonable thoughts but kit includes temporary pins. And a ripcord pin does not fit in the end. This kit is NOT designed for loops but for cones. And includes the tool used for closing a Switlik Safety Chute that doesn't use pins and cones because Leslie Irvin's 1920's patents were still in effect. In other words kit is designed for pre world war II rigging. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

Bought an old military rigger kit. But it has a tool I don't recognize or know the use of. Haven't walked downstairs to look at Poynter's but I don't remember seeing it. Time for me to learn something new. Any help? End has a shallow hole but not big enough for a pin. I can imagine uses but quite make sense. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

First decide if you want to die even if your AAD opens your reserve when your unconscious. I'm not kidding. Lots of.folks have.made that decision even if they don't realize it. Most folks get away with a tiny reserve because they're conscious and can flare and have a canopy with very few or no jumps on it that acts like zp. IF your willing to die if unconscious then you need to be confident in landing the lower performance airfoil at the wing loading you choose in someone's backyard, in a parking lot or along a city street. In other words off airport in tight conditions. This depends on your experience, in general and with a seven cell canopy. It also depends on the reserve model you choose. IF you want to survive if unconscious then better stay closer to 1:1 WING loading. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

I have two 238's. I increased the foot clearance on one years ago but can't explain it without looking. Contact me at some point and we can try to sort it on the phone. It still isn't as good at sewing the nose of a toggle as my viking home machine from the 50's. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

Planning? What planning? Usually went "Damn it's to windy to jump. Hey, lets do a cross country!" I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

Slightly bent pins are not uncommon. Few pins are dead straight after a few years, not an issue, never has been. Some rigs that have the pin and protector flap as the highest point of the container seem to be more susceptible. Also the Reflex with the design of the stiffeners routinely bends a little. My pin is usually bent. If you haven't seen one in 33 years you haven't been looking. As above pins have to be soft enough to swage to the cable. We could go back to wire wrap and solder, which the Chinese still use. If you're worried about your ripcord have your rigger test to according to the Capewell service bulletin, the block and weight not the pull up cord field test. It's very important they have the right diameter and depth hole for the test. Capewell distributed aluminum blocks with various holes to cover all the available pin lengths. An individual test hole can be be drilled as needed. There is another test that uses a shallower hole. I'm on my phone and can't look up the reference. IIRC there is or was a fatter pin on the market but nobody sees the need to use it. The Capewell problem was caused by two issues. One blank stock for making the pins that has included flaws. The forging process tended to cause those flaws to migrate to and concentrate at the shoulder. Second the dies used by Capewell were old and worn. Capewell was very up front about all this information and corrected the incoming inspection process and replaced the dies. BTW I still occasionally get rigs in that have ripcords covered by the service bulletin that haven't been tested. Riggers should still be checking. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

My crossbow piggy back has a last hope rope added. Just a piece of tubular nylon sewn to the reserve container (which is built like a chest.mount) near.the cones and tied of in the front. There to.break the a cone lock total malfunction. Don't.know.that any were standard equipment from the manufacturer. Mine certainly isn't. Didn't need it on a chest.mount because you could just punch it. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

Dori Bachman, widow of Lowell Bachman and owner of Para-Gear died this morning. Dori was the good woman behind the good man of Lowell. She with Lowell help found the Parachute Industry Association, has been the long time Treasurer of PIA and she was a trustee of the National Skydiving Museum. I missed the last PIA business meeting and if she was there am sorry I missed my last chance to spend time with her. As I got to know her as a know nothing basement senior rigger she and Lowell were always welcoming to me and to all and fast to welcome and include me as a voice in the organization and as a friend. If not involved in PIA you may very well have never heard of or met Dori. But she was a force in the parachute industry out of view of most skydivers and she will be very greatly missed by all who knew here. Condolences to her sons and family, to her inseparable friend Jean Beck of DJ Associates, all the folks at ParaGear and all her other good friends, mostly all who met her. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbCXI7iiDVE I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

Marc Nadeu (sp?) produced and sold it. When new, 10 years ago or more it wasn't very complete, only mildly useful in earlier days of the internet and over priced. But I bought one to support Marc's efforts. Any rigger that relied on it now would not be doing a their job and wasting their money. Sorry Marc. I know your not big on the internet. The parachute manuals site above is good but even better is http://www.ukskydiver.co.uk/cms/files/. In the rigging section is the most complete data base of manuals and other information that I know of in the world. I wish that guy would sell it on disc(s). It would actually probably take an external hard drive to hold.it all. There are very few things that aren't on the UK website. Anything that you or others have asked for I've usually gotten there. The only issue is that many of the file titles aren't very descriptive and you sometimes have to open several files to find what you want. Also some manuals are under the new parent company of a merger. It was down for a few months and I considered it a disaster for the industry. And of course the best place for current manuals is the individual manufacturer's websites. The best list of service bulletins is the Australian Parachute Federation website. They issue their own version but the original is there also. The only reason to have the discs (2 disc set) is if someone wants a complete library of the kinds of products published. Not the manuals, but the collection as assembled. It would be like buying Debra Blackman's paper set that took a hand cart to move. I tried to buy one just for my library as a curiosity but the guy wanted too much. Tell your rigger friend not to bother. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

I wouldn't choose to use any grease pencil. By the simple nature of it it can migrate. I have some of the old Dixon pencils that were good. While they have some binder they are more like chalk pencils. Besides those some testing a long time ago determined that Staedtler Lumicolor were the least destructive. It took a trip to austria to find them. I've sense found them in the US but haven't looked in a long time. I know lots of folks and some manufacturers use regular Sharpie's but I wouldn't chose those either. I'm pretty sure there was a non Dixon equivalent to the old Dixon pencils. Trying to find the reference. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

I can't think of a reason someone with under a hundred jumps on a Pilot 188 would want or need to pull their slider down other than being kewl. At your level you need to be sure your not running into someone and that your going.to land where you want, not worrying about your slider. If you do work on pulling it down wait until your alone.in the sky or at.least make absolutely sure you know where everyone else on the load is. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

That could look at a bar tacker machine in the GL liquidators auction and see what pattern it is? And might be able to pick it up and hold it for short while until I can get down there? I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

The is a 7-31 for sale in what looks like VG shape on ebay about 150 miles from me. $999 head only table isn't trivial. http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=371255261506&alt=web I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

Which couldn't happen in the US. FAA wouldn't be there and permanent revocation would take due process. At least this case the.seal isn't broken and the evidence remains intact. I'm assuming this is in the US based on the seal. Does anybody know if it was reported to FAA and what sanctions where/are being taken by the FAA? I was about to post the question again of what disciplinary/legal actions against riggers people have know of. I know of only two for sure and apparently MEL is involved in some legal case.. I've heard 'I heard' accounts but never enough detail to know if they're true. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

Frankly I don't want USPA anywhere near it. Not that the FAA has done a lot better but at least the inspectors aren't political and trying to please a BOD. I do think the APF and BPA do a good job. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE