PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Meatbombers - they are their own worst enemy
Old 15th Sep 2004, 06:10
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gadgetguru
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Victoria
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splat-cats

I took 12 months LWOP from the Army & managed to get myself a job as a Parachute Rigger, got a chute once , that belonged to the operator of a DZ, owned the airfield, plane, etc.

anyway this chute was in such a bad way, i mean i've seen ancient parchments that had more integrity than this rig. there was so much masking tape over the rips, i couldn't tell where the canopy started & the tape stopped.... i thought my boss had given it to me to salvage any bits & pieces for patches, when he said "no - fix it" i politely asked him if he was kidding, then where would he like me to start, because i simply couldn't tell

this guy was well known for completing a jump, & rather than packing his chute properly missing a run (waiting for the next one like everyone else), he would stuff it in a garbage bag (& i mean stuff it in), tuck the bag under his arm, jump back in the plane & simply toss the bag over his shoulder as he exited the A/C.

Some of the jumpers (particularly instructors) whom voiced their concerns over his activities in front of junior members of the club got chewed out.
if he was every pulled up for it, he would simply spit the dummy, take his bat & ball (A/C) & go home. leaving everyone at the DZ with blue skies, big canopies & bugger all else to do.

i had the good fortune of doing a few jumps under a couple of Para Rescue Jumpers from the (then) recently disbanded NSCA, i was still military back then & it was good to train with some other motivated professionals. They also advised me to be wary of where i chose to jump, knowing that i was likely to be posted all over the shop, & might run into some nidgets.
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