III. Airborne Equipment
Maintenance
RIGGER INSPECTIONS
GRADUATION - We Are
RIGGERS
RIGGER SCHOOL
III. Airborne Equipment
Maintenance
This portion of Rigger
School was learning how to make repairs to all the
materials we used in parachute packing and aerial delivery.
We learned how to make hand repairs, which was seldom used,
and the use of sewing machines. From the commercial version
of the one your mother or wife uses to the large and
powerful sewing machines having up to a 10 horsepower
motor. This large sewing machine was used to sew the stack
of webbing on a harness for Heavy Drop.
We also revisited the
parachute inspection process. Typically the Parachute
Maintenance Section dealt with the parachutes that a Rigger
had rejected during the packing process. The Rigger in the
Maintenance Section would do a complete inspection since
Rigger who rejected the parachute only needed one reason to
reject the parachute and did not finish the inspection
process. Depending on what the Rigger finds the repair
might be made within the Maintenance Section or shipped to
a Maintenance Depot which was staffed with
civilians.
At left is Rigger M Suggs
making a patch to a parachute canopy.
Seated on the right is
Rigger WJ Phillips making a repair to a T-7A Reserve
Parachute.
For a repair we had to know
what material to use, which, of many threads and cords to
use. What kind of stitching and sewing machine to use. Even
what kind of knot to use in tying the thread.
We could do repairs on all
kinds of personnel parachutes and on cargo and heavy drop
parachutes. We had learned to repair each part of the
different parachutes. If we had to I think we could have
made a parachute.
Most Riggers wore tailored
uniforms. We did our own - everything from fatigues to
field jackets to “Class A”..
RIGGER INSPECTIONS
I don’t remember
which phase of Rigger School we learned how to perform a
Rigger Check. Its not a simple process. We had to inspect
each jumper before they could enter the aircraft. One of
the Riggers had to inspect the aircraft. The check lists
were:
As indicated above we would
look over the aircraft.
In the 50’s we mainly used
the C-119 Flying Boxcar.
GRADUATION - We Are
RIGGERS
At the end of Rigger School
we had the option of taking the Federal Aviation
Administration’s (FAA) Rigger Certification test
which allowed us to pack parachutes and rig equipment for
civilians. The FAA Certification was not required for
packing parachutes for paratroopers. I guess they figured
that if you wanted to jump from a perfectly good aircraft
they needed to certify you and not the Rigger.
Upon graduating from Rigger
School we were awarded a Rigger Certificate and Rigger
Wings. We were authorized to wear the Rigger Wings on our
fatigues above our name and to wear a red baseball cap with
Rigger Wings. The red cap made it easier to find a Rigger
during the jump process.
RIGGER SCHOOL
CERTIFICATE
RIGGER WINGS (of the
50’s)
[HOME]
[TOP]
[CONTENTS]
[TALES FROM RIGGER SCHOOL]
Visits This Site
FastCounter by bCentral
