Terry Urban

211 Cherryview Drive

Portage, Michigan

trurban@hotmail.com

269-323-8160

Specific Exemption Requested

This letter is my petition for an exemption from FAA Order 8900.2 Change 1 Effective Date 8/16/10, 

General Aviation Airman Designee Handbook. Specifically I request an exemption Chapter 6, Section 1, 

Paragraph 1, subparagraph b.(2). This is under the “Technical Personnel Examiner Program, General, 

Additional Requirements for Appointment”, “For Designated Parachute Rigger Examiner (DPRE) 

Appointment”. Subparagraph (2) states as an additional requirement “Held a valid master parachute 

rigger certificate for 2 years with the rating(s) for which the managing FAA office will issue a 

designation.

I request an exemption from the 2 year requirement to allow Lap type, added to my Master Parachute 

Rigger certificate March 2, 2011, to be added to my Authorized Functions immediately. 

Public Benefit

This exemption will allow additional riggers to be tested for the Lap Rating for their Parachute Rigger 

Certificate. This will allow Aerosports USA, Inc. to market their newly designed, approved lap type 

emergency parachute. This parachute will provide an additional option for the use of this safety device in 

appropriate aircraft. Specifically this will provide an either an additional safety option or the only safety 

option for side stick control aircraft with limited seat adjustment that make it difficult to use either a back 

or seat type emergency parachute.

Safety

Granting this exemption will not adversely affect safety. I am a consultant to AeroSports USA, Inc., the 

manufacturer of a newly introduced lap parachute. The first production item of this TSO’d lap parachute 

was produced in January 2011 and was used for my practical examination for my additional rating. I 

assisted the manufacturer, Jerry Baumchen, with the design the container and harness, determination of 

the packing method, and writing the manual for this parachute. I evaluated several prototypes for Jerry 

during the design of this version of his container. The photos in the manual illustrating the packing 

method for this container were taken by me in my facility while I packed the lap parachute. I am one of 

three designers listed in the manual. 

Other than one other FAA certificated rigger who packed the lap parachute twice for a demonstration 

under my guidance, I am the only rigger who has packed the production version of this parachute. Since 

adding the rating to my certificate I’ve begun to supervise other riggers in packing this parachute so they 

may qualify for the rating. Many other riggers have expressed interest in obtaining the lap rating when 

testing is available. 

The lap parachute is very much like a seat parachute or a chest parachute in that it contains a round 

canopy and is packed in a very similar manner. In fact the lap parachute container produced by 
AeroSports, USA is being developed as both a chest container and a seat container with very little 

modification. While my lap parachute rating is recent I have held a chest rating since 1985 and a seat 

rating since app. 1992. I currently have 217 seat and 65 chest pack jobs logged. I also have a total of 546 

round emergency/reserve parachute packs logged and I estimate I have pack approximately 500 round 

main parachutes. I believe this extensive round experience, along with my experience with parachute 

types which pack in a similar manner add to my qualifications for Lap to be added as an Authorized 

Function. 

Summary

An exemption from FAA Order 8900.2 Change 1 Effective Date 8/16/10, General Aviation Airman 

Designee Handbook. Specifically I request an exemption Chapter 6, Section 1, Paragraph 1, 

subparagraph b.(2). This is under the “Technical Personnel Examiner Program, General, Additional 

Requirements for Appointment”, “For Designated Parachute Rigger Examiner (DPRE) Appointment”. 

Subparagraph (2) states as an additional requirement “Held a valid master parachute rigger certificate for 

2 years with the rating(s) for which the managing FAA office will issue a designation.

I request an exemption from the 2 year requirement to allow Lap type, added to my Master Parachute 

Rigger certificate March 2, 2011, to be added to my Designated Parachute Rigger Examiner Authorized 

Functions immediately. 

Additional information.

Attached is my initial request for an exemption or deviation that was submitted to my Principle Managing 

Inspector in September 2011. It includes additional details and information concerning this request.