The complete contemporary account of the Rod Pack stunt contains a significant regulatory clue.
After discussing possible consequences of Pack’s jump, Lyle Cameron observed that the FAA did not issue licenses to parachutists and therefore could only fine Pack—but then wrote that the FAA could “lift Harry’s license” and fine him.4
In context, “Harry” is Schmoll, the man earlier identified as having built the specialized harness.
This provides strong circumstantial contemporary evidence that Schmoll held an FAA-issued certificate relevant to parachute equipment, most logically a parachute-rigger certificate. Under federal aviation regulation, parachute riggers were FAA-certificated airmen even though ordinary sport parachutists themselves were not.
Two cautions remain:
- Cameron did not explicitly write “parachute-rigger certificate.”
- No FAA airman record identifying Schmoll’s certificate grade has yet been located.
The most defensible formulation is therefore:
Schmoll was very likely an FAA-certificated parachute rigger; whether he held a Senior or Master Parachute Rigger certificate remains unverified.
It would be premature to style him specifically as a Master Rigger without the underlying FAA record.
References
- 4 Cameron’s account states that the FAA did not license parachutists but could potentially revoke Harry’s “license.” In context, this is strong evidence of an FAA airman or parachute-rigger certificate, although the precise certificate type is not named. See source in footnote 2. ↩