Reserve repack verification idea

[mcordell 2]

erdnarob

BTW, I am a rigger and my reserve is due. I didn't have the time to pack it this week therefore no jumps this weekend for me.

I have 2 rigs and a 3rd on the way and I pack them on different cycles for that very reason. I always have one that is current.

www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging

[hackish 8]

I don't really think this is a huge issue. A few people and a few riggers do pencil pack rigs. This is far from the norm. I think a better area to focus on is getting riggers to follow instructions instead of inventing their own ways to pack rigs.

-Michael

[dwhenline 0]

Is there any data backing up 180 day repacks vs a longer cycle.
180 days seems short. my airplane has a bsr chute and it only gets repacked once every ten years.
I would worry that numerous repacks would induce a certain failure rate

[riggerrob 558]

In the beginning, silk parachutes were hung up to dry and re packed every 30 days. This short repack cycle was meant to catch moths or mildew before it ate an entire canopy.
After nylon became fashionable, we quit worrying about moths and shifted our inspections to catch wear-and-tear and USPA petitioned the government for 120 day inspection schedules.
Since many northern latitude DZs only fly 6 months out of the year, many Northern European nations adopted a 180 day reserve inspection schedule. In practice, this meant that most skydivers only got their reserves inspected once a year, at the start of the skydiving season.

For example, today is April first. I just finished re packing all the tandem rigs for the nearest DZ and three skydivers just dropped off their reserves for repack. A local warbird pilot just phoned to ask me to repack both of his PEPs. The spring rush is on.

[mcordell 2]

Then going with a 1 year cycle theoretically wouldn't be harmful and putting hands on a reserve once a year seems reasonable. With modern fabrics I don't particularly understand the need for a 6 month repack cycle other than to ensure service bulletins and ADs are addressed often.

www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging

[phoenixlpr 0]

Quote

With modern fabrics I don't particularly understand the need for a 6 month repack cycle

There are discussion in some other thread why a more than 20 years old reserve should not grounded. So what modern fabrics?

[gowlerk 1,912]

PD recommends one year repacks if allowed by local law. The current North American 180 day cycle is mostly about inspecting the harness/container as far as I'm concerned.

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[riggerrob 558]

The current 180 day repack cycle ensures that parachutes get at least one inspection per calendar year.
Annual inspections are the bare minimum to catch corrosion, rats' nests, Service Bulletins, AAD inspections, etc.
Parachutes wear out a radically different rates depending upon where they are jumped and how often.
For example, if a free-fall videographer worked at a bust DZ in the American Southwest desert. He could easily make more than a thousand jumps per year and wear out one main canopy per year. His harness/ containers would only last three years before they were too faded, frayed and filthy for any rigger to allow into their loft.
OTOH a weekend jumper in Wisconsin could make the same rig last 30 years.
Regulators and manufacturers need to draw a line somewhere, so they draw the line at the worse wear rate scenario to cover their legal butts. If you hurt yourself while jumping worn-out equipment, it is your problem!

[grue 1]

drudchen

Just a thought - I was wondering - why don't rigs have a transparent window (similar to cypres one) in the reserve tray, accessible only behind the rigger's seal, that would have repack date written on it? It would solve pencil packing issue. To change it, seal needs to be broken (as opposed to current way of signing the packing card), but can be viewed through a transparent window any time

What pencil packing issue is that? The one where there is no significant amount of injuries or deaths from people pencil packing?

cavete terrae.

[mcordell 2]

phoenixlpr

Quote

With modern fabrics I don't particularly understand the need for a 6 month repack cycle

There are discussion in some other thread why a more than 20 years old reserve should not grounded. So what modern fabrics?

Modern fabrics meaning synthetic fabrics (i.e. nylon) which don't get eaten by insects, are mold and mildew resistant, and don't degrade appreciably with age. Meaning gear that is currently in use. You would be hard pressed to find a reserve made of silk that isn't in a vintage plane just to keep things original. That's what I mean by modern fabrics. The two threads have nothing to do with each other. A 20 year old super raven, the subject of the other thread, is made of modern fabrics. The same fabric in fact that a super raven is made of if you order it now.

www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging

[riggerrob 558]

... You would be hard pressed to find a reserve made of silk that isn't in a vintage plane just to keep things original. ...
..........................................................................................

The only time anyone asked me to pack silk parachutes was more than 20 years ago. They were manufactured in 1945 and promptly went to a museum. They never flew again.

[mcordell 2]

I know one master rigger who just had a request to pack a silk parachute. It was inside a vintage plane and they were anal about keeping everything 100% original, including the bailout rigs from the time the plane was manufactured. He agreed to do it with the understanding they would be fully inspected to verify they were airworthy and would have a very short pack cycle. I only know that he agreed to do the work. I have no idea what they looked like when they got there but I suspect they weren't airworthy.

www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging