Not just that, Mark. A repack is like a surgical procedure, carrying with it
the risk of something going wrong, like leaving the closing loop locked with
a cheater pin or a tool left under the stitches. How many of us undergo
voluntary surgical procudures because some nameless doc says we have to.
Much rather have the procedure done on an irregular basis by a doc I know
and can trust and can even watch.

"Mark James Boyd" wrote in message
news:41ef0ac1$1@darkstar...
Ted,

Yes, you might be right. The whole idea of having a parachute
in the glider may just be a bad idea anyway. Sure there are
a minute number of saves using a parachute, but where are the
statistics about how many people were killed
when the extra weight of the chute against their back
crushed their lungs during a high-G impact?

I'd like to see some crash test dummies in a car with
chutes on, and have them slam into walls at high speed.
One wonders how much the extra pounds on the back
multiplied by the Gs of impact
may help the shoulder harnesses and seatbelt
cut into the ribcage and lungs.

Yeah, the riggers and parachutists don't talk about that
part too much. Or how the extra pounds marginally raised the
stall speed just enough to cause a fatal stall/spin instead of
a close call or less-than-fatal injury.

Kind of like going to a donut shop and asking for recommendations
for dinner. Riggers and sport parachutists have a pretty
strong opinion about how important parachutes are...

In article . com,
wrote:
180 days would still be at least 185 days too long. The only argument
for sticking with 120 or 180 days is the work that the riggers would
lose.

I just had my skydiving reserve repacked two months ago. That cost me
$75, and it doesn't look like I'm going to get to use it before it's
due again. It's a scam and I'm sick of it.

ted/2NO



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Mark J. Boyd