Hooknswoop

From June 26, 2003 by Bill Booth: Derek

I asked Jesse about the riser covers (and the reserve ripcords being too short, zero slack), he said, "our Eclipse's don't have that problem." Um, thanks. That's really helpful. He said he would take a look at the ripcords, but never did. Sigmas are the only way to go. Anything else is sub standard. Derek

The old bank, dated 5/11/2004 (305 questions), contained a lot of confusing, outdated or wrong questions. The new questions bank, dated 11/23/2004 (118 questions), looks better, but still has issues. The actual test still consists of 50 questions from the bank. They only reference Figures 10 and 14 now. They removed any main alteration questions and the reserve alteration questions specifically refer to the ‘auxiliary parachute’. There are 2 ‘double’ questions in the bank: 28. A44 RIG During the inspection of a parachute intended for emergency use, a certificated senior parachute rigger finds a canopy section which shows evidence of weakness or damage. What procedure should be followed? A) Contact the local FAA inspector for disposition instructions. B) Refuse to pack the parachute in that condition. C) Pack the parachute; however, a rejection tag should be placed in the record pocket. 46. A44 RIG Inspection of a parachute reveals a canopy section which shows evidence of weakness or damage. The parachute rigger conducting the inspection shall A) pack the parachute in the normal manner, but place a rejection tag in a conspicuous location on the pack. B) contact the local FAA inspector for disposition instructions. C) refuse to pack the parachute. and; 101. P33 RIG What determines the proper size sewing machine needle to use in repairing a parachute? A) The machine being used. B) The size of hole in the feed dog. C) The thread size and material being used. 111. P33 RIG Which of the following is used to determine the size of the sewing machine needle to be used for a particular job? A) Size of the hole in the feed dog. B) Length of the seam to be sewn. C) Thread size and type of cloth. The FAA puts ‘Parachute Operations’ low on their priority list. They have been making changes and updates. They aren’t perfect or current, but they are better. A FAA study guide is supposed to be released by the FAA soon and available from ASA. My written study guide was supposed to be ready soon, but with the new bank, it will be delayed a bit. Derek

I repack it after I deploy it. Derek

No canopy will fly straight with a line over. Derek

More than one. One of them doesn't allow anyone over 1.5:1. No exceptions. Derek

What about you? Derek

18 March 2005 Kelli is making a cool program to track everything for me. Makes thing a lot more organized and easier. Derek

Makes sense to me. Derek

Questions, no problem. Playing debate games, yes, I am tired of that. I've signed my letter. I am no longer a member of USPA. So I won't be going to the BOD w/ anything. That is on you. I think you need to work on the proposal and run with it. It is your sport, you make it better. Beyond a few posts here, I'm not doing anything else with it. If it does or doesn't become a BSR, it won't affect me at all. I will either feel like I amde a contribution or shake my head and laugh every time I read about another 200 jump wonder hammering in under a pocket rocket. Derek

That is fine. Open discussion has and does make things better. What I disagree with is 1) The attitude that we must prove something to you and if we don't then the proposal has no value and 2) The attitude that some people have that they are self appointed judges of BSR proposals. If you have reservations about the WL BSR, that is OK. But don't just say, I don't think it will work or it is a good idea or necessary, “You must prove to me that it is a good idea.” Take the attitude of my fellow skydivers have an idea, I think I can improve upon that idea, I'll throw out what I think can be improved and how I think it should be improved. Be a part of the team, not just some self appointed troll under the bridge. This proposal affects you, be a part of it. Some people seem to want to argue every step of the way, then argue how that step was argued, then argue how we argued how that step was argued. That is tiresome and unnecessary. It feels like I’m arguing with the flat earth society sometimes and the high school debate club other times. As some are beginning to realize, I think, it is very difficult and frustrating to be on the idea side. There is a huge difference between constructive criticism and helping to make the proposal as good as it can be. This is what I know: There are an increasing number of preventable injuries and fatalities from open canopy incidents. Canopy performance is increasing and outpacing canopy instruction. Until the ISP and before that, on a smaller scale, the AFP program, canopy control instruction was neglected beyond just talking a student down on a radio for a few jumps. That worked OK for very large, slow canopies and when a Sabre 150 the highest performance canopy around. Jumpers are downsizing faster and to smaller canopies than ever before. Canopy control training and education will prevent open canopy incidents. Higher wing loadings cause a canopy to fly and descend faster and have a higher top speed, all other things being equal. A BSR must be like a student harness. It must fit almost everyone. This means it will fit almost no one perfectly. The minimum pull altitude BSR is a perfect example of this. The lower you pull, especially below 2000 feet without a lot of experience, the risk level starts to really rise quickly. Newer jumpers tend to not be equipped to make accurate determinations of their risk level. They don’t even know everything that can go wrong yet. You can downsize too quickly, but you cannot downsize too slowly. A 180-degree turn under a Sabre 190 at a WL of 1.1:1 at 300 feet won’t result in the jumper impacting the ground. A 180-degree turn under a Stiletto 107 at a WL of 1.95:1 will result in the jumper impacting the ground. Hard. Jumps number is a good indication of experience. There are always exceptions, but it is fairly accurate. Experience is necessary to fly HP canopies. Education and training makes for a safer canopy pilot. A WL BSR will no more stop all open canopy incidents any more than the minimum pull altitude BSR prevents all low pull/no pull incidents. A WL BSR combined with canopy training and education will reduce the number of injuries and fatalities from open canopy incidents. Derek

OK, here is why it won't work: Mirage can do the mod and ship it for less than $20.00. So it would cost Mirage more to manage a voucher system and pay Master Riggers to do the Mod, than it costs them to do the mod and pay return shipping. Another good idea shot to hell by reality. Derek

I was watching the pilot very carefully to let him know the deal if he noticed the oil pressure guage. I would think a bigger concern is that he didn't notice it. This is a pilot people trusted their lives to. Skydivers tend to think every pilot that manages to get them to altitude is an awesome pilot. Most skydivers can't judge a pilot's abilities. I suspected this pilot was a lousy pilot, confirmed it, and didn't get in the plane with him ever again. Everyone else did though. Derek

I'm a pilot and was an AH-64A Apache crewchief for 6 years. I knew the systems better than this pilot did, which isn't saying much. You would have been rightfully pissed because you would have caught it. This guy didn't have a clue and flew almost the whole flight to altitude w/o noticing. Derek

No, my proposal includes mandatory education/training for each license level. Derek

I'm sure you would. I wouldn't have done it to you I had been watching this pilot for a while. He thought he was god's gift to aviation, but made a lot of small mistakes. If he would have caught it and banned from any airplane he was flying, I would have been OK with that. As it was, I banned myself from flying with him. Derek

Ya, just the pic on the home page. Derek

I misunderstood. I thought you were talking about an airlocked crossbraced canopy Derek

It's called the Sensei from Big Air Sportz. http://www.bigairsportz.com/ Derek

How many bad riggers are out there? Like you said; "the local grapevine keeps track of who is a good rigger and one who is struggling." That should be enough to keep people fro bringing them their rigs. If the rigger submitted the S/N's of the rigs they did the SB's on, that should prevent abuse. If the manufacturer got the same S/N twice, it wouldn't be too hard to figure out which rigger submitted the S/N w/o doing the work. If a rigger did such a poor job on a rig that the owner had to get the work re-done, the only difference is they would have to pay another rigger to get the work they didn't have to pay for fixed. If they pay their rigger to do the SB and the rigger screws it up, then they have to pay agian to get it fixed. I don't think there are that many bad riggers out there. Riggers that do bad work get identified and don't get much work after a while. Derek

I suppose the same way they would know if their reserve was packed correctly, they wouldn't. All I was saying is it is a good idea for the owner to understand what is going on with their rig. Do you think all maintenance, re-packs, repairs, AB's, and AD's should only be done at the factory because all riggers are inept? People take their rigs to their rigger for SB's all the time. Having the manufacturer pay the rigger a set amount for doing the work saves the owner from paying for the SB. That is all I am proposing. I don't see how having the owner pay the rigger for the SB or the manufacturer pay the rigger affects the quality of the work done. Derek

I had an old Star Trac I with a bunch of jumps on it and it was still in trim. Derek

Here is 2 pics of a used shell for starting a Venom. Derek

I pulled an engine oil pressue CB on a Twin Otter not long after take off. I watched the pilot to see when he would notice it and to calm him when he realized one of the engines had no oil pressure. Well, finally, I had to get ready for exit, so I put it back in. I wasn't impressed with the pilot. Derek

This is the point and bears repeating. Derek