Chute Rigger Recommendations

akpilot907

akpilot907

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
May 14, 2013
Messages
398
Location
Anchorage, Alaska
Display Name
Display name:
citabriav8tr
Who would you recommend for inspection and repacking of chutes?

- Silverparachutes.com (Allen Silver)
- Parachuteshop.com (Don Mayor's)
 
They're both good. If you can find somebody local that's generally a better deal if you're looking for the 180 day inspect & repack.
 
Not really, but eventually things do wear out. The inspection will let you know, IMHO I'd consider a 15 YO rig about like a 30 YO airplane. Taken care of, it's not new, but no worries either.
 
akpilot907 said:
Does age of a chute really matter if it's well taken care of? Say, 15 years...
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Yes, there are riggers that won't repack a parachute if it is beyond the manufacturer's recommended life.
 
Not sure if you fly to Anchorage much, but there is an operational skydive facility there and I would guarantee that they have at least one certified FAA rigger. Outside of that I assume you would be shipping no matter what. I personally don't know the two you listed but any large skydiving operation would have riggers that would be able to do repacks for you. As an example, one of our riggers at Skydive Atlanta repacks at least 15 different parachutes for pilots around our area.

In the skydiving communtiy there are a few companies that are well known, not being on the west coast I don't closely know ones out there but I do know of Chutingstar in GA that is very highly regarded.
 
vfsit said:
Not sure if you fly to Anchorage much, but there is an operational skydive facility there and I would guarantee that they have at least one certified FAA rigger. Outside of that I assume you would be shipping no matter what. I personally don't know the two you listed but any large skydiving operation would have riggers that would be able to do repacks for you. As an example, one of our riggers at Skydive Atlanta repacks at least 15 different parachutes for pilots around our area.

In the skydiving communtiy there are a few companies that are well known, not being on the west coast I don't closely know ones out there but I do know of Chutingstar in GA that is very highly regarded.
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I'll fly the Citabria or 182 down a few times a year... But shipping to Anchorage is still cheaper than sending it all the way to the lower 48...
 
akpilot907 said:
I'll fly the Citabria or 182 down a few times a year... But shipping to Anchorage is still cheaper than sending it all the way to the lower 48...
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Right now is probably the wrong time of the year, but if you can hook up with one of the smoke jumpers that are based at Ft Wainwright, they can probably put you in touch with one of their riggers that might be willing to moonlight. IIRC, the smoke jumpers start to congregate in mid-late March.
 
warthog1984 said:
It's YOUR 'chute- answer the question for yourself. Do you want to be pulling on the D-ring of a 15 y/o chute if you need it?
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Read this letter from the FAA saying that, "Service Life" of a parachute is not true... Think about it, if you're getting the chute repacked every 120 days, it's never been used in a bailout situation, and it's handled with care... What does it matter at that point?
 

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Anymouse said:
Right now is probably the wrong time of the year, but if you can hook up with one of the smoke jumpers that are based at Ft Wainwright, they can probably put you in touch with one of their riggers that might be willing to moonlight. IIRC, the smoke jumpers start to congregate in mid-late March.
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The BLM was busy this year with all the fire Fairbanks had... We had a 560,000 acre fire northeast of Fairbanks, near Eielson, that was started by the Army... They did artillery practice on a hot day when they weren't supposed to.
 
akpilot907 said:
The BLM was busy this year with all the fire Fairbanks had... We had a 560,000 acre fire northeast of Fairbanks, near Eielson, that was started by the Army... They did artillery practice on a hot day when they weren't supposed to.
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DOH!!!

The Army/Air Force has been known to start a bunch of fires up there. :no:
 
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