mark

Fixed it for you. For body position under a towed pilot chute, watch a tandem video. The tandem pair stays face to earth because the drogue is attached at the jumpers' CG (more or less). For a bag lock, the attachment is at the shoulders. You tow a bag lock via the risers, after all. Your body rotates so the CG is under the attachment point, into a standing position (more or less). With a bag lock, you could stay belly to earth only if you could fall as slowly as your pilot chute. There are some aerodynamic issues (CP: Center of Pressure, for example), but they don't affect the gist of what's happening. Mark

Yes, but no need to cringe. The pack jobs only make you a Master Packer. A Master Rigger ticket has always been more about repairs and alterations than about packing. Perhaps someone who was around back in the day can tell us the rationale for the 100/100 pack job requirement. Longevity, time in service, exposure perhaps? Mark

I guess I'm not exactly clear on where you're going on this. Are you suggesting that lack of skill or knowledge is what causes folks to femur? And that there might be different sources for acquiring skill or knowledge? Mark

FAR 65.131? Or a different place? Mark

I didn't see it in my 2003 copy of the PTS. In the DPRE guide perhaps? I learned a new word from the PTS: "Recordation." Mark

Many dropzones have a staff rigger or concessionaire who maintains their equipment. Para-Gone (Sally Hathaway at Z-Hills) and Para-Concepts (Kirk Smith at Skydive Chicago) come to mind. The shops are well supervised and the staff knowledgeable. If I had an equipment problem at one of those dropzones, I'd go there. If there isn't an obvious staff rigger, then you're best bet is to check with local jumpers and manifest. For example, at Deland there isn't an obvious rigging shop, so I'd see what TSO-D recommended. Most dropzones also have "basement" riggers, whose knowledge and abilities vary widely. What they have to recommend themselves is mostly convenience. How did you go about choosing the rigger who did your work? And what did the recommenders say when they learned of your experience? Not required. I'm not sure it's even a good idea, since the stitch line is likely to postage-stamp tear. You have a point. That would make me mad, too. My shop rate is $50/hour. How much time would you like to buy? I encourage my customers to do as much as they can for themselves. If they choose to have me do something anyway, they should expect to pay. Straightening your lines after a cutaway is one task, untwisting your brake lines is a separate task. The first is one it's nice to have an experienced untangler do, and your $10 buys a lot of non-aggrevation. The second is something you can do yourself, so why not? I'm guessing that you wouldn't have been so ticked off about the twisties if they hadn't ticked you off already about the ripcord pin SB. Mark

Must be a new fashion. i saw my first example two weeks ago: upper edge of the new card sewn to the upper edge of the old, like crude book binding. I can't imagine trying this with paper data cards. Well, actually I can imagine it, so I wouldn't do it. There are no FAA requirements for retaining previous packing cards. Even the current card needs only the information for the current pack job, so it would be legal (but thoroughly unprofessional) to throw away the old card and make a new one for every repack.

Clicky. I see their demonstrator's for sale. Don't you need a jump plane on amphibs? No price listed, though.

Well, who woulda thunk? A definition and an example in just a few posts after asking the question!

In the US, a kit-built Moose would be registered as "Experimental" and no commercial operations, including skydiving, would be allowed. Are the rules different in Canada?

We're only talking about 1 or 2 significant digits for the aspect ratio, so I don't think it matters. Would be nice to know, though, if only for knowing. Mark

The Quest Aircraft web Press Center, from the October 11, 2005 release: "The KODIAK ... is on track for certification in early 2006, with customer deliveries immediately following. Base price for the KODIAK is $1,111,000." By comparison, controller.com lists a new 2005 Caravan for $1.6M, and a 1987 model for $765K. Did you scope out the landing strips they showed?

That's an interesting question, and since this is posted in S&T instead of Incidents, I'm going to take a chance and speculate. Depending on the altitude, an engine problem may be a serious problem (on the way to becoming an emergency), or it may be a full-blown emergency from the get-go. If you were two miles from the spot, at 11K climbing to jump altitude when the engine quit, would that be an emergency requiring an immediate exit? In most cases, I would think not. My preference would be to stay in the glider until I was closer to the spot. I'd accept a lower altitude in exchange for landing on the dz. Think about what happened in this case. The report is "about halfway to jump altitude" is where one of the two engines was shut down. If I were a tandem instructor on that aircraft, I'd be interested in getting out if we were at 5000 feet; if I were at 6000 feet I might want to stay with the aircraft (which should be able to hold altitude, at worst descend slowly), so I wouldn't have to land in a "forestry area." Mark

The FAA allows riggers to determine compatibility of components, so a compatible TSO'd ripcord from a different manufacturer may be substituted for the original. For compatibility, I'd check the length, number of pins, and fit in the ripcord pocket. After that, my legal rigger responsibilities are done. And my instructor responsibilities begin. As an instructor, I'd ask if a different handle shape were easier or harder to pull if needed, easier or harder to accidentally pull. That's a different issue than TSO legalities. Mark

The first photo shows a main about the same volume as the 180 sq ft Safety-Star reserve. That and "maximum weight on the main is 200lbs" suggests possibly a Swift main, at most a Cirrus Cloud, probably not the much larger 260 sq ft DC-5. Mark

With SOS, once you are below do-not-cutaway-below altitude, you are landing whatever you have out. Time you'd spend trying to pull the reserve ripcord without pulling the yellow cables is time better spent working on the main canopy. While you're working on reinflating your main canopy, put your feet and knees together so you can do the best PLF in world history. You'll be landing soon. I'd be interested in hearing from jumpers who had to deal with canopy collapses while they were students. I don't imagine there are very many. Mark

Thanks for getting to this before me. I was going to say "EOS" because of the emergency handles placement and the riser covers, and the data card pocket, plus the "made by Para-Flite" in the description. The reserve pin cover flap is wrong for an EOS, though. But both EOS and Centaurus Delta are Troy's design, aren't they? Mark

It might be more correct to say you weren't set up for AFF for this particular student, given her previous training. It's okay to use ripcord-equipped rigs for AFF. I'd discourage switching back and forth between ripcord and BOC. Shayna started with IAD/throwout (I think I read that somewhere in the first 8 pages of this thread, but someone else can go back to look), so sticking with BOC was a good move. Mark

Would that have made a difference? This was the student's 10th jump. The instructor was appropriately rated. The equipment was TSO'd and BSR-legal for a student. No one is alleging there was a problem with the freefall portion of the skydive. Calling the student's home dz might have resulted in finding out the Rick-Shayna relationship and assigning a different freefall accompanist, but it's hard to see how that would have changed the student's reaction to canopy problems. Mark

Some attention to grammar and spelling would make your post easier to read. Read the student gear requirements in the USPA BSRs. Scroll down to 2-1.K.2. It doesn't matter who owns the gear, which is why no one has raised the ownership issue before. Mark

The RSL requirement can be waived on a case-by-case basis for a student cleared for self-supervised freefall, i.e. Categories F/G/H (what used to be called Level 8). Shayna's dive has been described as "Level 1" (Category A?), so an RSL would have been required, not waiverable. Mark

Now that you've had a couple weeks worth of responses, can you tell us why you asked? Thanks! Mark

I agree that the preapproval process bogged down the PIA Rigger Forum. Not only every thread, but every post in the thread needed an ok. I'd like to try preapproval for starting a new Rigging thread, just to keep the topics on point, but no approval needed to post in an existing thread. On a slightly different tack, would you sort the next "How do I pack my main" thread into the Gear forum, or the Rigging forum? Mark

I'd also like to see the forum split. Mark

There is some overlap between the paragliding/powered parachute community and the skydiving community, and you're probably better off talking directly to experts who know both sides. Performance Designs is one company in both markets. You might also try High Energy Sports; Bill Gargano was a well-known skydiving parachute designer/manufacturer before he turned to making powered-parachute canopies. If you call, talk to Betty -- lots of good advice and information from that side of aviation. Mark