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Actually pulling your cutaway and reserve handles on the ground just before a reserve inspection and repack is a great idea and highly encouraged by Chuting Star Rigging Loft. A jumper should put the rig on, snugging down the leg and chest straps as if they were about to jump. You can then go through a malfunction scenario in your mind as you throw out your main, followed by an arch, cutaway and reserve deployment. I have seen jumpers who struggled with a cutaway on the ground as they forgot the need to peel the Velcro first. I have also witnessed jumpers who tried to push upwards on the handles (increasing the pull force) instead of pulling downwards. Recent comments and postings on the newsgroup rec.skydiving encouraged jumpers to pop their reserve when leaving a rig for a repack to ensure the rigger actually repacks the reserve and doesn’t just sign the packing data card. If that makes you feel better, that’s fine, but most riggers do inspect and repack every reserve. If you have doubts, then maybe you should find a rigger you trust a little more. Most riggers will let you watch, which is also an option for those that doubt a rigger is actually inspecting and repacking a reserve. But please don’t drag your open main up to the loft to cutaway, pop your reserve and leave the whole tangled mess for your rigger to sort through. Let your rigger inspect the closed container before you practice. An inspection/repack at the 120-day required FAA cycle (without a reserve ride) allows a rigger to inspect the loop length with the reserve closed to see how the pack job settled and make adjustments for the repack. When you pop the reserve before letting your rigger inspect the closed container, you take away that valuable advantage. Also, if you deploy your reserve in a loft, riggers generally like to remove the lead seal before you pop the reserve so it doesn’t accidentally end up in your reserve container or canopy.

An airframe parachute manufacturer made aviation history this month when it logged its first-ever “save” with a certified aircraft. The pilot of a Cirrus SR22 fired the rocket-launched Ballistic Recovery Systems parachute when he encountered control problems. “Lionel Morrison was on a return-to-service flight when he experienced a serious control problem,” AOPA ePilot reported. “When the airplane was in the shop, the left aileron was removed and put back on. Later while he was in the air he noticed that it was hanging on by a hinge. Morrison said it took both hands on the side-stick yoke to keep the airplane level. He launched the chute and the airplane landed in cedar and mesquite trees in northern Texas as golfers at a nearby golf course looked on in amazement.” Morrison was not injured in the emergency landing. “I've never had any desire to go skydiving," he told ePilot. Morrison said that Cirrus Design is replacing his aircraft. Ballistic Recovery Systems manufactures emergency parachutes for ultralights, experimental and certified aircraft. While the company has more than 100 “saves” with ultralights, this was the company’s first save with a certified aircraft. "A lot of people thought we were nuts," Cirrus President Alan Klapmeier told ePilot concerning the $10 million spent in development. "They believed the parachute was an unnecessary expense that added weight to the aircraft to boot. To make things worse, they thought competent, macho pilots didn't need it and wouldn't use it anyway. Lionel Morrison proved them wrong." In addition to the Cirrus aircraft, BRS parachutes are now available for Cessna 150s, 152s and 172s.