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It was the first seminar I attended at this year’s PIA symposium, and it’s the last time I hope to ever see a so-called “emergency parachute system” for hang glider and paraglider pilots. Emergency parachutes in the hang glider and paraglider industry are unregulated, which is quite evident by the shoddy construction and questionable deployment systems sold by many companies. Betty Pfeiffer of High Energy Sports was the speaker for this seminar and evidently hoped to teach riggers how to inspect, modify, repair and repack these systems. While Pfeiffer’s company may manufacture some of the best parachutes in the hang glider industry, the product is still unregulated and can put an FAA rigger at a high liability risk. When asked questions on liability at the symposium, Pfeiffer responded that no lawsuits had ever been filed in the industry. She also tried to impress upon the riggers in attendance that if they didn’t repack these emergency systems then the customer would do it themselves, which is an even bigger recipe for disaster. Still, Pfeiffer spoke at length about incorrect line attachments, incorrect line stitching, the lack of canopy reinforcement and faulty hardware. She played several videos of emergency deployments. Even the supposed “saves” looked nasty and it is a wonder these people walked away from the deployments and landings. With many of these deployment systems, the operator attempts to throw the parachute past the wrecked hang glider or paraglider. A long bridle allows the parachute to open far above the trailing wreckage with the operator suspended below the wrecked hang glider/paraglider and parachute. Some videos showed the parachute entangled in the wreckage. These type of systems should be left to the operator or manufacturer to inspect and repack. The liability and risk are just too high for an FAA rigger to take due to the litigious society we live in today.

Shlomo Pearl’s “Ram Air Reserve Inspection and Assembly” seminar at this year’s PIA symposium was by far the most thorough and informative presentation I attended. Pearl, a master rigger, owns Nimbus Parachuting Services in Israel. His presentation immediately increased my checklist for reserve canopy inspections and assemblies. Pearl has compiled 17 pages of rigging information, canopy specifications and general recommendations. Trying to absorb all the information can be overwhelming at first, but most of his inspection process becomes second nature after a few reserve inspections and assemblies. Starting with the harness/container inspection, Pearl provides specifications for reserve riser guide rings as well as information on cosmetic abnormalities in harness webbing. Canopy specifications are provided such as correct steering line attachment points on PD reserves, correct slider sizing, information on pull testing and canopy trim checks. Pearl is very adamant about the benefits of slider bumpers on reserves with “French Links.” Several photos of lines wrapped around barrels along with information on incorrectly loaded links supports his position. Chuting Star Rigging Loft has since made it a “loft standard” that all reserves we service with metal “French Links” will now have slider bumpers added. Precision and PD reserve canopies come with slider bumpers, but Flight Concepts, PISA and Strong reserves do not come standard with slider bumpers. Bumpers not only keep the lines centered on the link and away from the barrel, but also protect the slider grommets from nicks on a hard terminal deployment. Other areas of inspection include safety stow length, steering line setups, Mil-Spec rubber bands usage for Racers freebags, freebag bridle length, spring tests and reserve deployment limits. For the complete inspection/assembly list, contact Pearl at nimbusps@hotmail.com.