riggerrob

Step 1: install a kill-line on your existing slider. Step 2: install mini risers Step 3: install slinks Step 4: transition to smaller canopy. Step 5: install a kill-line pilotchute. I have a couple of split sliders collecting dust in my locker because I consider them too much of a nuisance to pack on a regular basis.

Has any entrepreneur mounted a wind tunnel on a barge or trailer so it could tour with the circus? Much of the success or failure of a wind tunnel depends upon marketing skills.

For information on the Talon FS, go to Parachutes Australia's website. www.parachutesaustralia.com/S2/prod_talon fs.php

If you are having problems with your Reflex riser cover tuck tabs, ask Trident/Bomber to sew on a new reserve top flap with the current pattern tuck tabs.

There are few hard, fast rules on parachute life. A few manufacturers have set limits. For example, Cypri must be reitred when they reach 12 years old. Also Strong Enterprises requires 8-year inspections on tandem gear. Tandem gear is faded, frayed and filthy after spending 8 years in the desert. Other wise you have to trust the judgement of your local rigger. Better riggers/lofts may refuse to repack anything that has been jumped in the desert for more than 10 years, or sport gear more than 20 years old or pilot emergency parachutes more than 30 years old. Some of those guidelines are based on wear patterns, but others are based on advances in technology. For example, hardly anyone takes round reserves seriously anymore for three reasons. First, few modern skydivers know how to land round reserves, and secondly there was a bad batch of mesh made during the 1980s. Many riggers refuse to have anything to do with 1980s round reserves because they simply do not want the hassle of worrying about acid mesh. Thirdly, round reserves border on use-less when you are trying to steer away from obstacles. For example, there are so many obstacles (river, town, ditches, etc.) surrounding Pitt Meadows that we have banned round reserves. The first decent square reserve was introduced in 1981 - 21 years ago. Unfortunately, Swift 5-cell reserves have a weird steering line configuration that new riggers are not taught how to pack. Ergo, it is un-wise to purchase a 5-cell Swift reserve, no matter how in-expensive. NOTE: Swift Plus reserves have 7-cells and normal steering lines. Also consider container configuration. For example, I still jump a 17-year-old Mirage, but have updated it with a BOC and bridle-hider-flap for sit-flying.

This thread reminds me of an original Talon that Parachutes Australia built back in the mid-1990s. They shipped the modified rig to Rigging Innovations to have it "blessed" by Sandy Reid (the guy who designed the Talon, Telesis, Voodoo, Genera, Aviator series of harness/containers). I took one look at it and said "way too many moving parts!" P.A. was trying to solve a problem with students who started out on static-line with SOS, then converted to a 2-handle system. The problem was that it was too easy for them to panic and revert to original training when they had their first malfunction. P.A.'s goal was to build an idiot-proof cutaway system. While the system may have been idiot-proof in the air, it was far too easy to mis-route on the ground. I understand that P.A. also built a few Pigmee rigs with this system, but the one picture I saw had a veritable snake's nest of reserve ripcord cables! Fortunately, most of this is behind us. Now that the dumber students can be quietly routed to tandem, we don't need SOS nor re-training junior jumpers on 2-handle systems.

Yes, I have packed a couple of X-210R reserves. They are typical early-1980s square reserves, except that they have "normal" steering lines. The service bulletin refers to shoddily built harnesses. Since there is little tension on steering lines on round reserves, you can get away with installing cheap, non-welded steering guide rings. Unfortunately, steering lines on square canopies carry a substantial load during opening shock, so they need serious, forged, guide rings, sewn on with multiple bartacks. X-210R canopies are among the few reserves that can be packed with a diaper or freebag (Type 4 or Type 5 respectively). Also the pilotchute and bridle are tied on semi-permanently. This configuration made sense back before they perfected freebags and safety stows. Diapers also made sense before they perfected the Racer Elite. Diapers also make sense when you are wading through a swamp at sunset searching for you r!@#$% freebag! Freebags are not so "free" these days. When packing an X-210R with a diaper, it is easiest when you follow the manual exactly. Overall, the X210R is a decent canopy, albeit a low-speed canopy. I would have no qualms about repacking and signing off an X210R as long as there was not too much fraying. Since your X-210R was built in August 1984, it was one of the last canopies shipped before GQ Security closed its San Leandro, California factory. Pity, they were starting to build some decent gear just before they closed.

This scenario remind us of why all DZs should have separate landing areas designated for straight in and hook turners. The difference should be explained to junior jumpers and visiting jumpers before they board the plane. Since we have small landing area in Pitt Meadows, we could not designate separate landing areas. After too many close calls, we removed the air blades and reminded everyone to follow the leader. If the leader lands down-wind, you still have to follow him, but you get the pleasure of kicking his stupid ass after the fact! After too many close calls - at Pitt Meadows - we hid the air blades.

There is so kind of karma about doing century jumps. If you don't buy the beer or get pied, then fate will catch up to you. For example, my 4,000 th jump was "normal." I strapped on a tandem student and leaped out of a Cessna 182. I did not try to hide it, but it was a slow Thursday afternoon, so I only told the pilot, the PFF grad who was on the load and a photographer who had 1,000 jumps. Jump number 4001 was way too exciting in comparison. Have you ever had a premonition that things were not going to go right? My mission was to drop a first jump student. The guy had done a tandem and sat through the first jump course the day before, but when I quizzed him, he kept giving me wrong answers and asking irrelevant questions. I was trying to figure out if the guy was stupid or stoned. Eventually he started giving me decent answers, so we suited up. Since I expected him to be slow, I told him to start climbing out early. He waited until I told him "GO!" for the fourth time, before letting go of the airplane. (Note: we had reviewed the climb-out procedure a half=hour before on the ground.) he did the usual Willie Coyote impersonation. Ho hum! By now we were over the middle of the airport. The two PFF grads climbed out fairly quickly, but this left me at the far end of the runway. Since I was so far from the target, I only waited a couple of seconds before tossing my pilotchute. After a three second pause, I began to wonder if it was inflating, so I glanced over my right shoulder. I saw a lash of black (d-bag?) then an inflated canopy overhead. Next thing I knew, my main was in a hard left turn, with line twists. It was on the horizon, turning faster than I could kick out of line twists. I tried kicking, but it only spun faster and I could see the ground getting closer out of the corner of my eye. So I looked at orange, grabbed orange, looked at silver, grabbed silver and pulled more handles. I knew I was spinning when I cutaway, but did not dare sacrifice altitude for stability, Fortunately, the reserve bridle slid off my left arm and I found myself hanging under a beautiful, silver Amigo 172.Stuffed my handles inside my jumpsuit, then grabbed the toggles and looked around. Hum, I could still make it back to the end of the runway. Oh, there is my main above me, to the west and there is my freebag below me to the west. Hum? I hate searching for freebags and I cannot afford to buy a new main, so I decided to follow them down into the tree plantation off the end of the runway. A little half-brakes on final approach bled off some forward speed so I did not overshoot my freebag. I landed softly on a dirt road along the edge of the tree plantation. While the Amigo flies a lot like a Sabre 170, I still had to remember to do a full flare. I had a little sideways drift and almost ran into the ditch during runout. Ha! Ha! I picked up my freebag and walked over to my main before the plane landed. I was standing by the end of the runway - with all my pieces when the pick up van arrived. Lessons learned, loudly announce your century jumps, buy beer, and keep your shoulders level when deploying small Diablos.

My experience has been that a jumpmaster - with one hundred hours pilot in command - is a vastly superior jump-pilot than most ex-military jet jockeys who have thousands of hours, but no skydiving experience. By the same logic, you would not hire a city-slicker pilot to dust crops or hire a land-lubber to spot fish.

Tombuch is right, get a bit of tunnel time before you try AFF. The big advantage of tunnel time is that it allows you to learn basic freefall moves without time pressure. Half of first-time freefallers are so overwhelmed by all the weird and wonderful sensations that they lose track of time. The thing to remember is that no single training method is perfect. Different schools are different at teaching different skills at different levels. The best schools combine a variety of training methods at different levels. For example: tandem is the best way to get over the huge psychological hurdle of the first jump. Then a few static-line or IAD jumps allow you to concentrate on learning the basics of steering a parachute. Once you are comfortable under canopy, then you can learn the basics of freefall in a tunnel. The next step is to fine-tune freefall skills with AFF or PFF instructors. Complete the process by doing a few jumps with a coach to polish solo skills. Sure, the brightest students can handle all the new information involved in doing AFF, but most of us learn better by breaking it down into small chunks and digesting a little new information on each skydive.

Fortunately there are plenty of coaching videos and textbooks. You guys should try reading these books in the evenings, when your coach is not around. The trick will be quietly ignoring him on the DZ while you work through the exercises from the coaching video. Maybe your alibi can be "We meant to launch the 4-way - like you told us - but Abdul missed the exit count, so Bill and I just turned 2-way until break-off." Many 4-way problems are easily solved by doing 2-way or 3-way drill dives. Once you get good at 2-way exercises, then you can put the 4-way back together. As for a coach who only cares about numbers, well, he is not much of a coach. Maybe his boss is impressed with numbers, but does not understand quality. And it sounds like your team is just repeating mistakes. Repeating mistakes only teaches you how to repeat mistakes. Perhaps your coach is an "uncoscious competant" , who learned everything by trial and error, and expects you to do the same. Judging by your scores, you are not learning, just repeating old mistakes. Maybe your coach has so much natural skill, that he does not have to think through maneuvers. In otherwords, just because he is a top-notch skydiver does not mean that he knows how to teach/coach. Since he has never had to think through a maneuver, he cannot describe the maneuver to anyone else. Fortunately, there are dozens of decent coaches working in Europe, Australia and North America who would be glad to work with your team. I would even offer, if I was any good at 4-way. Another major coaching aid is video. I don't know how your team is funded, but even if the video cameraman just sits in the doorway, he can help you with feedback. Some people stubbornly refuse to admit to making mistakes, until they see their mistake on video, then they quickly change their ways. If you are fortunate to have a decent freefall videographer, then a coach can view the video from thousands of miles away and give you tips on how to improve performance.

One of the nice thing about jumping with old-school skydivers thing about old-school skydivers is that they will tease you about your rig if it is not tirght. Come on folks, this goes way beyond elgal responsiblities. It is about keeping your buddies alive. If you are not glancing over your buddies gear while walking to the plane or riding to altitude, then you should not be on that load. I have been jumping and instructing for so long, that detecting gear problems is not even a conscious effort. "Some thing does not look right." is the first thing that crosses my mind, followed a a systematic gear inspection. Decades ago I lost track of hoe many mis-routed chest straps I have caught, and half the time I was not even on the load! skydiving is the most social of all sky sports for a reason. Our constant interaction keeps us.

Protec half-shells probably work well for most fun jumpers. They are probably the best type of helmet for blade-running so you can judge airspeed by wind noise. However, half-shells are a bad idea for tandem instructors, especially Strong Tandem instructors. It is too easy for a hard opening to lead to line twists, to the risers tearing your ear off. I have driven one colleague to the hospital because a riser knocked him unconscious and saw seven stitches in the ear of another. I have also lost count of how many times I have been whacked in the helmet by risers. Oh, did I mention that I did my 4,000 the jump this week and more than half those jumps were tandems?

Wedge-shaped alitimeter mounts are aesy to make with a wedge of foam rubber wrapped in parapack and some sort of strap. However, I suspect that the poster was referring to an ABS plastic gadget that Pat Works showed me about 5 years ago. I slipped from the bottom of the mud flap and hooked over the top edge. This positioned the altimeter a bit below the bottom edge of the mud flap, making it easier for us old farts to focus on.

As far as I know only one tandem BASE jump has been done. Robin Heid told me that he was on the front. To clarify:back in 1981 or 1982 the U.S.Army did the first tandem jumps. In early 1983, Ted Strong and Bill Booth started test jumping tandems. By the end of the year, both companies started selling tandems. At the 1984 Canadian Nationals, a few guys earned Vector tandem instructor ratings and I did my first tandem jumped strapped to the front of Rob Laidlaw.

Jump pilot manuals were published during the 1980s by both CSPA and BPA. Perhaps they should be re-printed with updates on GPS and tandems. Small, part-time DZs will always moan about the high cost and inconvenience of pilot training, whereas large DZs tend to see their airplanes as investments and see pilot training as protecting their investments. Some DZ or flying school should be able to turn a profit training new jump pilots, the trick is to make it convenient. As for the cost, remember that many insurance companies offer reduced rates for pilots who attend refresher training on a regular basis. Perhaps the first step is for our pilots is to attend the 2003 PIA Symposium. PIA usually hosts a few lectures on aircraft operating procedures and aircraft maintenance. Perhaps that would be a good time and place for jump pilots from around the world to compare operating procedures and start compiling a list of best practices. I have seen jump pilot check-outs on three different levels in Canada. Back in the good old days, CSPA only required a private pilot license and 1000 hours pilot in command time. I rented a Cessna 172, ferried it to the DZ and promptly began hauling skydivers. My only training consisted of reading a jump pilots' handbook published by CSPA and the Cessna 172 operating handbook. It helped that I had 300 jumps and was a jumpmaster. My second check out consisted of a ground briefing on constant speed propellers (Cessna 182) followed by a check ride with the clubs' chief pilot. The third time through I am still struggling with the commercial pilot written exam, and accumulating a total of 300 hours pilot in command time. Then I still need a day's ground school and a check ride with the chief pilot/airplane owner. The final factor is pilot maturity. No amount of training or check rides will prevent buzz jobs if a pilot is immature.

I preferr skymonkey's technique with a set of diagonal sidecutters and a skilled wrist. Start cutting on the washer side. As soon as you have cut through the cylinder, shift to using the sidecutter blade to start levering up the edge of the washer. If you keep one blade under the outer edge and the other in the center, you can use the pliers movement to raise the edge of the washer. Hint, when you do first cut on stainless steel grommets, lean one handle on the table and put all of your weight on the other handle. Removing grommets is definitely an art form that takes hundreds of tries to master.

I've tried baseball gloves with liners, wind-surfing gloves, bicycle gloves, several variations of insulated leather gloves, but have been wearing ski gloves on the seriously cold days (-20 degrees Celcius). The real key is keeping your body core warm so that there is enough warm blood to keep the fingertips flexible. Long underwear, turtlenecks, booties, beards, etc. all help, but hte best protection is still hiding behind a tandem student.

Yeah, I packed her reserve once or twice when she was jumping at Perris. Really p-ed off the younger riggers when I grabbed her reserve! Ha! Ha!

Despite two years at sea with the Canadian Navy, I never understood their legalized homophobia. I never hot excited by staring at another guy';s ass, but I also never understood why I should be afraid of them either. Will someone please explain homophobia to me?

CAN$750 for a slightly used Strato Star, 26' Lopo packed in a Six Pack. Paid for it out of military salary. Oh and that was back in 1979 when a Strato Star was a hot canopy.

Bicycle to work every morning. Usually do a few stretches every morning. Tae boxing two evenings a week. Rode my bicycle along the dikes for 3 hours yesterday.

Wow, sewing your own harness/container is way more than required for an FAA Senior Rigger rating. To pass the FAA Senior Rigger test, you only have to sew a simple canopy patch and maybe do a little hand tacking/sewing.It takes most people another 2 or 3 years to acquire the sewing skilss and experience to build a complete rig. Trust me there are hundreds of subtle tricks to container construction that you will only master with hundreds of hours on the sewing machine. The only way you can legally build a harness/container (in the USA) is if Kelly Farrington is willing to sign off the final inspection on your work. I doubt is he willing do that, simply because no beginner will be neat enough to match his high standards. Maybe you should consider building something simpler for your senior project, like a pilotchute or deployment bag. Building a complete rig is another 2 or 3 years in your futur.

It is very difficult to wear out a reserve with normal usage. Packing only wears out fabric slowly. I suspect that performance Designs limits on reserve canopy life were written by lawyers, not riggers. PD's service life limits were clearly written to limit PD's liability. If someone tries to sell you a used reserve with more than three deployments, be deeply suspicious of how well they maintained the rest of their gear. As for reserves wearing out from being packed too often .... that is a minor point. Reserves tend to fall out of fashion long before they wear out from packing. For example, there are plenty of air-worthy 5-cell Swift reserves still in use, but younger riggers are not learning how to stow their steering lines, so they will gradually fade from the skydiving scene. One other factor that makes older reserve fabric look older is quality control. For example, different batches of Strong reserve fabric look so much different, you wonder if they were even woven to the same specification. The oldest Strong reserve in my fleet looks like 40 cfm military fabric, while the newest reserve has so many layers of coatings, that it looks like Zero porosity fabric at first glance.