RiggerLee

The only real question is, "Is it air worthy?" Having said that, help my memory, is it a Raven or a Super Raven? If it's an old one you might want to have a conversation with him about the quality of the canopy, Bikini sliders, and wing loading's on old ass reserves. It was a big step when they redesigned and went to the super Raven. The original was more on the Cruselite, Pegasus order of performance. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

Slightly off topic question. At PIA I talked to the lawyer guy about writing a letter. Lawyers treat law suits like shot gun rather then sniper rifles. They make them as broad as possible and include as many people as possible. Forget shot guns. With out a waver a lawsuit like this would be a nukelier blast and there will be no where to hide. It goes with out saying that every rigger that has ever signed the card will be named in the suit. As a rigger, once the rig leaves our hands we have no control over it. It's been a long time since I dealt with student gear but it bothers me that they could, with out my consent, chose to expose me to this kind of liability. The USPA is granting wavers to this BSR so they are not exactly helping. The question I asked Lawyer guy is, could he write an open letter in which we could disallow our work to be used in this way. An open statement that we do not authorize our pack jobs to be jumped by under aged jumpers. Some thing every rigger in the country could sign and add our name to. Manufacturers can publish some thing like this in their manuals but what about us as riggers. We are being held accountable for this pack job for the next 180 days and in truth forever do to the nature of liability in this country. If a manufacturer can declare that they do not authorize there equipment for use with under age jumpers why can't I do the same with my work that I'm being held accountable for? I'd like to see on open letter stating this that I and any other rigger could add their name to. I'd like to see every rigger in the country sign it then let a DZ try to find some one to pack there rig for this 16 year old. We have to stand together. On a personal note. I think all of this is stupid. If they can drive a car of course they can jump out of a plane. It's the fucking laws in this country. We just can't afford it. I don't want to lose every thing so they can do another dozen tandems a year. Not worth it. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

"And it may well also be that an eager 18 yo is more likely to bring along a group of friends that also don't need parental permission to jump, so possibly overall better for the DZ's (and MFG's) bottom line in the long run." I'm doing my best not to make comments about groups of 16 year olds, drop zones, under age drinking, age of consent, and statutory rape laws. May be 18 years of age requirement is all for the best. It all comes back to tort law in this country. You can't do it. It's insane. There are what? Four tandem manufacturers in this country. That's it. One good law suit and then there will be three. Then Two. Then... And if you think any of then could survive a major law suit, think again. There have already been a couple of good ones and they hurt. If a judge tears up a waver the lawyer will walk all over them. You think of them as these god like figures... Booth... Ted Strong, legendary kinds of people. And PD, Strong, Relative Workshop or UPT or what ever they are calling them selves today are spoken of with awe. That's bull shit. These are small companies. They are nothing in the grand sceam of things. A good law suit would roll over them and squash them like a bug with out even noticing. Say UPT folded. All of those rigs become orphans. No more new risers. No more drogues. No more free bags. How long could you keep them in service. Of course the law suit would hit PD as well. So kiss new canopies good by. Not just your tandem canopies but maybe all your sport mains as well. Do you want to see that? How many jumps left on your line set before it's worn out? Ready to build your next one from scratch your self? No one can afford this. No one should fly unwavered jumpers which is what underage jumpers are. It's just too risky in the US. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

That's the point. One consideration in the choosing of those measurements is to avoid that situation. Interesting note. Remember the non skyhook rig that had this very type of problem. I'm trying to remember the details. I want to say that it was a vilant spinning mal. RSL. He cutaway. The free bag was thrown out of the tray in the tumble. It spun twisting the lines and bridle together. The PC caught air pulling it tight. So the lines and bridle were twisted at the top of the bag and then the bag just flopped down and the square corner of the bag locked the twist in. Game over. It's an example of the importance of staging in all aspects of the deployment. It was a case where there was just not enough bag retention to keep every thing in sequence. A mard might have forced the extraction of the bag before any of this had the opportunity to entangle. Really a compensation for a design issue in the container but they all interrelate. Just one example where a Mard could save you but there are also ways that it can kill you... All design is trade offs. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

Dallas used to have a rental rig with a canopy that we named the Punisher. It was a Saber 1 150. Every one called it that. We eventually built a new slider for it and the name went away. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

It's not as insane as it sounds. And for the record it has been done. People have actually been doing this for a long time. Glide Path/Flight Concepts used to do this mod to demo canopies. Note that theses were generally things like Star Tracks. The demo canopies of that time period. Actually I think the Knights still use them. Point is they were large low performance canopies not hot rods. But yes it works and it looks fairly cool. Even with a large canopy your rather limited in size. The way Red used to set the canopy up they actually built a "pocket" on the bottom of the canopy. It was a flat, vertical envelope sewn to the bottom seam of the load bearing rib of the center cell. So it was sewn at the top edge to the seam. On these canopies you could easily sew it to the flares on the bottom skin. The long envelope opened on the bottom with peaces of velcro. The flag attached at the top, folded and then slipped into this long pocket running along the seam. An extra line ran down to the riser. Ring on the riser. Open. Pull the line down till the flag flies well and tie or clip the line to the ring. I don't recall where the top was attached I don't think it was the D line I think it was farther forwards at the B or C. It's bulky as hell. Were talking dedicated demo rigs. This is from memory, I never jumped one. I don't know why he didn't raise the flag from below. If you did that the bulk problem goes away but the ring at the top acts like a pulley. It dubles the load on that point from the flag. It may distort it too much. So he's not insane. It has been done. It does work well. With a full size flag he may find it draggy. Smaller flags are far less of a problem but it's not the same visual of a mega flag hanging bellow the canopy. I've even seen people fly two flags like this. An American on one side and a POW on the other. They were smaller, maybe 5 ft tall. If he really want to learn how to do this call Red at Flight concepts. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

I was referring to the spell checker in the computer. It keeps picking the wrong words for me. I know what I want to say and I keep trying different spellings trying to get close enough for it to guess but some times it just can't figure out what I'm trying to say. and then there are times when it pops out an answer and I just click on it with out reading it close enough.. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

Stupid spell checker. If it would just read my mind... Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

They're giving you good advice. The why is that it's not exactly a trivial job. It's simple, cut it off and install a new swedge. But you need the tooling, dies, hydroponic press. Which brings up the TSO issue. The rip cord is part of the TSO. It's just like the reserve bag and the reserve PC and the RSL on some rigs. I think I could make a good argument that you can not do an alteration to the design such as change the length or change the type of swedge. In point of fact some manufactures have added a statement that you can not even substitute another manufacturers rip cord for the one in their rig. Remember when we could buy RWS ripcords cheaper then other brands? All those Javelins are unairworthy. I think it's on page 6 of their manual? Point is that even if you have the means you probable shouldn't be shortening another manufactures rip cord. So the easy answer is for them to just sell you a new one. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

Really. Don't ever call it a chute again. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

You should be nervous. You should be very nervous. Packing your own CHUTE? That's fucked up. I know some people out there are into some really kinky things but some acts are just unnatural. Not to mention dangerous. Anal tears, infections, etc. I strongly advise against things like this and if some one is pressuring you into doing some thing you are not comfortable with then you should just walk away. They do not love you. On the other hand if you want to learn to pack your own CANOPY. We will be happy to help you with that. But these discussions of your chute do not belong here in this forum. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

So how is adding a molar bag to the G4 system an up grade? What purpose does it serve in this system other then to reduce available volume in the reserve tray and distort the stiffeners in the flaps above it? Totally pointless exercise in marketing to the detriment of function. It's got that fucking molar bag in there that is a fact not an opinion. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

Alcohol. Strange things done with alcohol. It's like the old T-shirt says. My drinking club has a skydiving problem. So I was trying to think of all the strange ceremonies associated with the consumption of alcohol. Reserve bottles owed to riggers for reserve saves. The ceremony of Cardinal Puff. The honorable order of the Turtle. The SCR ceremony. Alcohol free based off hot rocks in a sauna. Interesting note, Last year for Christmas I saw a wofo version of this. A sort of crack pipe for alcohol for the yupies. The Whang Bottle. A large glass bottle that they would burn alcohol fumes in. Apparently It would make all kinds of wavy lights inside it in a dark packing area. When they snuffed it by holding their hand over the opening it would draw a suction and make this "whang" noise when you pulled your hand off. Apparently a lot of fun till it shattered covering them in glass, but they were easily amused. A truly masochistic ceremony traditional at Perion involving a shot, some salt, and a few other things. I don't remember if they pored the tequila in their eye or the salt. Or maybe it was both. I'm sure other people have other stories. Of course the most interesting things are what they do afterwords but That's a separate topic. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

It's more then an opinion, it's a fact. The G3 is by far the superior rig of the two. By the time they built the G3 it was a mature well designed system. I think one of the best designed rigs on the market. Not just from function but also in terms of manufacturing. I say that as some one who builds things for a living. Every change or addition they made when they went to the G4 was a step backwards. I've always had this theory that it was a rig designed by committee. I don't have any proof but I believe that some marketing guy took a servey of random riggers and skydivers asking them what features they would like to see in a rig. They picked ten random features to add to the G3 and then dictated that these design changes be added to the container as a purely marketing gimmick. This is the only way that I can account for the random pointless changes made to the perfectly functional design of the G3 much of it to it's detriment. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

Some one out there will want them. I've made a lot of base jumps with a Peg. It's a perfectly good canopy that a lot of early base canopies were based on. Containers are smaller these days but there are people right now that are looking for larger rigs for testing purposes. Example. Quag was talking about sending me one of his canopies to test jump. It's in the 210 range. Any one doing so would need a large container. And there is nothing wrong with an old ass vector 1. Need a new PC but other then that they fucking work. Maybe not for free fly but I can make hop and pops with it all day long with that test canopy. Don't write it off or dismiss it. If it's in good shape it's still a rig. Some wont a be base jumper will buy it to have a container to jump his base canopy out of a plane. Try posting it on basejumper.com Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

Moon pass. Every one has seen a full moon, whole lines of them in fact at a drop zone. Not exactly unusual at least among skydivers. Any one that has ever been on a multi car road trip, convoy, or just group dinner outing with a group of skydivers has been mooned from a passing car. What is slightly more unusual is to see this done solo. Nothing strange about being passed by a car with a full moon hanging out the passenger window, hardly worth commenting on, but I know at least one jumper well known for doing this solo as he drove the car him self. He would drop back and then build up speed so that he could easily over take the leading cars. He would then hit cruse control maintaining his passing speed. Now that he is free to move he can climb into the passenger seat pulling down his pants to his ankles and extending his posterior fully out the passenger window. This entails standing on the far edge of the passenger seat bent double at the waist squeezing his back side out of the window while reaching at full arm extension across the car to reach the steering wheel to drive the car as he passed multiple vehicles in the convoy before returning to his own lane and seat. Note that most of the roads around here are two lane roads. It is important to chose a stretch with sufficient visibility to insure that you will complete this maneuver before encountering oncoming traffic. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

I'd like to see how they launched that exit back then. It would make for a messy funnel. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

Tow flight. If you build a split bridal, Y shaped with a loop on each end and a three ring on the point, almost like a riser but with larger loops at the ends and a Velcro cutaway pud on one of the straps. You can unthread your leg straps and route them through the loops so that the ends are around the leg strap just under the junction. wearing the rig the Y exits in front of you from under the harness. If you then have a large round RW-1 ring on the end of a rope some one inside the plane can lower the towey from the tow plane while in flight with a standard belay device. Note: it is important that you include a weak link between the Ring and the main tow rope in the event of a premature deployment. Once at the end of the tow line the low attachment point makes you want to rock slightly back. By extending your legs you can push forward and track. It balances very nicely. With that control you can track back and forth to each side and up and down. You can almost box the tail of the plane. And that is just with your body. Imagine what you can do with a wing suit. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

I never liked the walking foot zig zags. At least not for most of the work I've done. The Walking part of the foot is out side of the wide zig zag part. It makes the foot really wide and it's not really a full compound feed walking foot. It's more like an oscillating walking foot were there is no needle feed. If I was doing really big things like big heavy sails with big wide seams I'd love it. Sewing on rigs, not so much. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

Suicide 8 ways. At the drop zone I started at we had two Cessnas. We would do formation 8 ways with four jumpers in each plane. One day the winds aloft did not match the ground winds and this resulted in an argument over the course of the jump run. First jumper, "I'm not going unless the jump run is to the south!" Second jumper, "Well I'm not jumping unless the jump run is to the north!" At that moment you could feel the world grow still as all the eyes of the gods turned to watch what would occur. There eyes grew wide the realization of the solution to this dellima. The planes climbed in formation to the spot. Then each turned 90 degrees and flew for 2 minuets then turned 180 and headed back towards the spot at a set altitude. They opened the door and climbed out on the strut. It's important not to let the plane turn and maintain heading towards the spot. As they approached each other both groups exited allowing the forward throw to carry them together. The throw is more then you would think, the first time they actually passed each other and had to turn back to the formation. This was the birth of the Suicide 8 way. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

To list a few things. Some I've witnessed. Some are legend. Undoubtedly some are lies. The distinction fades with time. Flaming party hats. If you take the box from a twelve pack of beer you will notice that on the top there are the holes for the hand grip. With a little imagination you can see these as air inlets on an engine. An engine needs a tail pipe for thrust and a beer can with top and bottom carefully removed bears some resemblance to the aft of a jet engine. With a pocket knife you can open the two ends of the can and cut a hole in the top rear of the box. Note this refers to the air inlets/hand holes as the front, bottom as the back, end as the top, and other end as the bottom. A engine needs fuel and if you soak the top of the inside of the box with, for instance charcoal lighter fluid from the grill, it will absorb this fuel very nicely. If you open the other end you will find that it fits very nicely on your head as a hat. Remember, a ram jet like this with out a compressor needs a certain amount of air speed before you ignite it. But if you are running fast enough you can establish air flow through the "engine" and get a nice flame out of the after burner in your tail pipe as you run through the hanger, packing area, party, etc. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

So I actually made it to the world famous Amy and Gary annual party this year. A wofo girl made the mistake of trying to hang with the last remaining group of skydivers as we shut down the party late in the evening or early morning how ever you want to view it. She got a little freaked out. People had been behaving relatively well or at least she had missed the antics up till then. We were gathered around the island in the kitchen. Amy was going through the left over dregs of the alcohol for the party scavenging any remaining fuel from the auxiliary tanks. She was down on her knees going through a cabinet when she found the remains of an old bottle of liqueur. It was obviously old. Not thirty year old scotch kind of old but half empty bottle left over from a party several years before old. Oddly it had a number of small dead mice in the bottom of it. I'm assuming that they were put there when it was bottled and that they didn't crawl in over the years as the half empty bottle aged in the cabinet. Of course the latter could be possible... I'm reminded of a movie where the characters raised a mouse inside a beer bottle to try and get free beer. But in any case, they were standing around the island preparing to do shots of this... embalming fluid with little dead mice in the bottom of the glasses. This freaked wofo girl out and we got to talking about this. Wofo, "But they look so normal, but look at what they are doing!" Me, "They're not normal. They are sky divers. There is nothing normal about them." Wofo, "This is making me sick. This is not normal. How can they do this?" Me, "This is actually pretty normal for them. In fact this does not even make the top ten list of strange things I've seen at drop zones." Wofo, "What is stranger then this?" I want to infesize that she asked me this question. I did not just volunteer any of these stories. I related a few choice anecdotes about skydivers, including some of the things I've seen them do with human body ash. For some reason I don't think this helped her comfort level. Although I thought it illustrated how well behaved they were being that evening. In any case. The question is this. What are some of the strangest things you have seen skydivers do. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

You're just a non conformist. I've seen a couple of RTS built backwards like that. I was told that it dated back to when they were still using rip cords mounted on the main lift web. The idea was to avoid having some one pull their cutaway when reaching for their main ripcord that was in close proximity to it. The idea was that if you grabbed the wrong handle by mistake you would still get a canopy rather then cut away a good main still packed in the tray. I guess he couldn't convence the whole industry to change to his backward system and finly gave up and got with the flow of every one else. Later rigs were all normal. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

Roller skates? Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

I'm not sure you can have both. I think that's where the trade off is. If you think about it the recovery arc is determined normal component or lift of the canopy. So it relates to your Cl. Flatter gliding canopies have a higher Cl/Cd ratio. So for a flat glide ether you are trimmed flat with a high Cl or you have a low Cd, drag. Don't confuse this with wing loading. At a higher wing loading you have to go faster to make the same amount of lift and that force has a greater mass to affect to form the arc. So you're moving farther along the path and not turning the path as much. Longer arc. In terms of the actual design. If you wanted to build a flat flying canopy with a long recovery arc you would have to minimize it's drag. Higher aspect ratio. Cleaner trailing edge, little false ribs. Thinner airfoil. Smoother nose. Fewer lines, cross braced. Things like this can reduce the parasite and induced drag of the canopy. There are trade offs for all of them as well. For example a thinner airfoil might have a lower Cl which actually hurts you in this. A high aspect ratio implies longer lines which increases line drag and also affects the dynamics of how the canopy pitches. On the second front of wing loading. A more highly loaded canopy has an inherently longer recovery arc. That's why as you down size, reducing your lift area you find that you are not just flying faster but turning radius, recovery arc, is much longer. This is part of why people tend to plant them selves in the ground after they down size if the hook at there normal altitude. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com