riggerrob

- one of the guys at the DZ said it might help if I bring my knees up towards my chest a bit when I pull though...seems like that may exacerbate the problem though. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ... a bad habit ...

I burned out on this issue many years ago - back when I specialized in pilot emergency parachutes. None of those pilots were interested in listening to a MERE rigger tell them why they should not wear a low-speed parachute in a high speed airplane, so I just shut up. Trying to tell pilots anything about parachutes was like wrestling with a pig: no knowledge transferred! Trying to tell experienced skydivers that their reserve is too small is an equal waste of time.

So my questions I guess are: 1) What determines the "best" Reserve canopy or is it just a matter of personal preference/experience like a main >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The "best" reserves are the most recent generation: PD, Precision's A-Max, Parachutes de France Techno and Aerodyne "Smart." These are the first generation of reserves designed to be loaded much more than 1 pound per square foot. They can be identified by the span-wise reinforcement tapes across the bottom skin. Most of the people who had problems Ravens over-loaded them. Even the guys at the Precision factory admit that Ravens fly like $#% when you load them much beyond 1.3. The only torn Raven that I have ever seen was a Raven-M 282 that was overweight, over-speed and unstable when he scared his Cypres. Make that many mistakes and you are lucky to be alive! Period! And yes there is a lot of personal preference involved in chosing reserves. Often, the "best" reserve is whatever model your local dealer has in stock. For example, one major dealer bad-mouth Tempo reserves for years, but when I challenged her to quote specific accidents and dates, she shut up! I suspect that her real problem was that the company that manufactured Tempos would not give her a big enough dealer discount. Hee! Hee! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 2) Do you think PD makes a better Reserve canopy than the Precision Micro Raven >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Yes, and that is because PD reserves are designed to handle wing-loadings in the 1.5 range, whereas far too many skydivers operate Ravens outside the placarded limits. If you insist on loading a reserve much more than one pound per square foot, you should buy a PD, Techno, Smart or A-Max.

My pet peeve is up-jumpers who don't show up until 13:00 and then grumble that they didn't get enough jumps in, because - guess what - a crowd of tandem students arrived at noon!

Never heard of it. I did my first tandem jump in 1984 and became a tandem instructor in 1986. There have been a few cases of T/Is forgetting to attach shoulder hooks (hip hooks still worked fine) and there have been a couple cases of tandem students ALMOST slipping out of harnesses .... but no-one has ever LOST a tandem student.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I have a copy of Strong Enterprises' Tandem Side Spin video and you are welcome to borrow it.

Confusing: if you have refried beans for dinner, and you have leftovers and you fry them up the next day, what do you have? >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Tri-fried beans?

A-Star helicopter BEECHCRAFT C-45, D-18, Westwind conversion, Queen Air and King Air BELL UH-1 helicopter BOEING-VERTOL CH-47 Chinook helicopter Breezy BN Islander CESSNA 172, 180, 182 (narrow-body and wide-body), 185, 205, 206 (P, U and Soloy conversion), 207, 208 and a 400-series twin DeHavilland Cariboo, Buffalo and Twin Otter DORNIER 27 and 228 DOUGLAS DC-3 and C-47 FORD Tri-Motor GIPPSLAND Airvan KOCKERTAL Bridge Llama helicopter LOCKHEED C-130 MAULE PILATUS Turbo Porter PIPER Cherokee 6 SHORTS Skyvan Flown Cherokee 140, GA Cheetah, Cessna 150 and 172. Wrenched on CH-124A, CF-104, CT-133 and CF-18, but didn't jump them. Crewed balloons, but never jumped them. Dropped dummies out of NORTH AMERICAN B-25 Mitchell bomber and CASA 212, but didn't jump them either.

Teaching the Koran in school is fine by me .... as long as they devote equal time to Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Bhuddist, etc. religious practices. Bets that the teenagers enjoy the Mormon (minor sects) blocks of instruction on polygamy? Hee! Hee!

... listening to tandem students tell me how great I am! Tracking away from a PFF student who has just completed all his freefall tasks. Closing reserves that others struggle with. Seeing my articles published in Canpara magazine. Completing the world's first Bungee-Cam! Having heroes like Bill Booth, Ted Strong, John Sherman, Sandy Reid and Spider Robinson take my questions seriously! Kayaking with my girlfriend! Swimming with my buddy Paul! Long bicycle rides and coming home to be greeted by two or three cats and a smiling girlfriend!

Strap me to pretty girls, force me to jump out of airplanes and pay me at the end of the month. Yea! I love my job!

... a 370sq.ft canopy ... will forgive a lot of sloppy techniques. If you prefer this approach technique, then buy a (big) canopy that is specificlly designed for this type of approach(i.e. Para-Foil or Eiff).

For engineering answers to questions about opening shock, start by reading the chapters in Poynter's manuals http://www.parapublishing.com/parachute/resources.html that relate to drop testing. Next read what Theo Knacke says in the "Parachute Recovery Systems Design Manual" and finish your homework by reading the latest TSO (C23D) drop test standards published by the FAA.Javelin & Javelin Odyssey now approved to TSO-C23d! For example:"The Javelin and Javelin Odyssey have recently been certified by the FAA for the highest TSO rating currently available: TSO C23d. The placarded limits will be max. gross exit weight of 300 lbs (136 kg) and a maximum deployment speed of 170 knots (198 mph or 330 kph). The actual test speed and weight were much higher: 360 lbs measured at 200 knots, proving the strength and integrity of the world’s most comfortable harness/container system. An interesting fact: the highest single riser load measured during testing was in excess of 9000 lbs."

From the other side of the story .... how about the harness/container that arrives back at the manufacturer with no packing data card, no note, no letter, no return address on the box, etc. So the rig sits around the loft for a couple of months until the owner (more likely the second or third owner) angrily phones up demanding to know where his rig is! When queried as to why there was no note, the owner asks why the rigger cannot recall a drunken conversation two months before the rig landed in his lap! Hah! Hah!

Let's prioritize things, from worst to least life-threatening: - 25 pound pull force - steering lines finger-trapped but not sewn - no silicone bumpers - connector links upside down or backwards - sloppily-mated Velcro - no Lock-tite or torque stripes The first two items are protentially life-threatening, while the rest are merely sloppy workmanship. How he was able to close it with a 25 pull force is a mystery to me. Loop lengths listed in the Talon manual are tight enough to get the rig "solid," and will result in a 15-22 pound pull force. Any loop shorter than that requires dramatically more muscle to close. Note: I have never used a "positive leverage device" to close any R.I. product. Steering lines finger-trapped but not knotted or sewn will not kill a reserve-rider, but would slip loose after a dozen jumps on a main. Clearly the offending rigger did not read the manual published by Performance Designs! Connector links upside down or backwards is a minor point. On Type 8 webbing, link alignment makes little difference. However, on thicker webbing like Type 7 or Type 13, I have never been able to make them lay gracefully in any configuration except with the large end at the bottom. Aligning links with barrels inboard is a matter of preventing nicks in slider grommets. I am soooo tired of sanding nicks out of slider grommets! In the end we have two potentially life-threatening errors and a lot of sloppy workmanship. When are junior riggers going to read the f**ing manuals? Rob Warner R.I Customer Service Manager Emeritus and the guy who wrote the Talon packing manual

Congratulations! If you want a lesson on packing Racers, come over to my loft. We will start by tossing our steel T-bodkins in the trash, then make our own tools out of Cypres cord and scrap iron. The new tools will compatible with both Cypres and Tandem Racer - which the old tools aren't.

Hee! Hee! My little nephew is into the Wiggles and they are slowly driving my brother insane. To compensate, my brother listens to heavy metal music: Metallica and Euvey Malmsteen (sp?) in the car. Hah! Hah!

I have a paper copy of the Eclipse packing manual. Bad news is that I do not have ready access to a FAX machine. Fortunately the Eclipse is such a close copy of Vector 2, that you can use Vector 2 manual for 95% of packing process. I just have to double-check the closing sequence on the last two flaps. An amusing side-note is that the Eclipse tandem manual is a direct copy of the Vector 1 manual, including numerous references to drogue-less tandems. Hint, all Vectors built since the mid-1980s have drogues and no Eclipse ever left the factory without a drogue. Hee! Hee!

Returning to the original topic ... Why is it that when some skydivers see a mechanic near a jump plane on Saturday morning, that they turn all sorts of funny colors and refuse to board the airplane, while people like me refuse to board airplanes that mechanics have NOT looked over recently?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Turbo Finist, the Russian answer to the Pilatus Porter and DeHavilland's Turbo Beaver.

I prefer packing G4 reserves because of their molar configuration. That means one fewer tool and one fewer wear point on the reserve canopy. Note: assembled and packed two shiny new Mirage G3s yesterday.

Freedom of the press! Hah! The worst thing about living in the USA was only reading one side of every story. The only way to read both sides of an international story was to find the "Economist" or "Paris Match" or "der Spiegel." Oh wait a minute, those magazines are almost impossible to find in Los Angeles or Riverside Counties. I used to subscribe to "Soldier of Fortune" magazine - not for their right wing stance - because it provided a second perspective on wars in far-off places. For example, back in the 1970s I read dozens of SOF articles about the "white" side of the war in Rhodesia, then I listened to a black, communist fund raiser talk about the other side of the argument. I wondered if he was even talking about the same war! The bottom line is that you will never hear all of the story from one source. Well-informed people consult a variety of media from a variety of countries because that is the only way to see the big picture.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Right on! My family were United Empire Loyalists.

Line-overs were common back when I jumped first-generation tandem mains - or maybe it was just a lousy packer. Anyways, I cutaway from bunch of line-overs until Albert Champaign suggested pulling the toggles so far down and for so long that the canopy goes into a deep stall, then letting them up quickly. The resultant slack in the lines often allows a line-over to slide off the canopy. The smallest canopy this technique has worked on was my Sabre 170. Others posters mentioned trying to clear line-overs, but they did not mention specific techniques. What techniques did they try? But remember what all the other posters say: if you cannot clear the line-over by 1,800 feet, pull the red handle, closely followed by the silver handle!

Wow! That is a new one! That is the first time I heard of a safety stow made of anything other than bungee/shock cord. I have repacked a few Teardrops (1 and 2 pin versions) and they all had safety stows made of bungee cord. Suggest that you install a new safety stow made of shock cord.