Ted troubles...again

[airtwardo 7]

http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/cityregion/24367930-41/mayfield-faa-1994-eugene-license.csp

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[wayneflorida 0]

What were the circumstances of the 13 deaths.
Were they at his dropzone? Did he pack their
reserves? How long a time frame????

Lesson learned. If your going to fly without a license
use only uncontrolled airports. Also make sure your
pilot friend has the day off.

[skyrider 0]

Quote

http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/cityregion/24367930-41/mayfield-faa-1994-eugene-license.csp

My gawd...what a loose cannon!

[JerryBaumchen 1,468]

Hi wayne,

Most were of a variety of circumstances; none were due to reserve failure, that I know of.

It was my dz for its entire existence. I liked jumping there because it was a 'no rules' dropzone. However, I would NEVER send a student there for a First Jump.

One guy ( first jump student ) went in with a mis-rigged sport rig w/o an AAD. One very low-time jumper ( ~ 10 jumps ) went in with a low cutaway. One guy with ~35-40 jumps went in when a GreenStar harness failed.

The student gear was very, very questionable; I know because I did a lot of work on it trying to keep it in good shape. I cut more than one MA-1 pilot chute off of his reserve canopies due to have a spring so weak they could barely extend themselves when laying on the packing table.

One day there was a first jump student who was geared-up and standing right in front of me. I noticed that his 'last hope rope' was tied to the reserve ripcord handle. It had been tied in a manner that he would not have been able to pull the reserve ripcord handle more than an inch or so. I walked over to Ted & quietly asked him who had rigged up the 'last hope rope' and he said that he had.

Does that give you a general idea of the operation?

JerryBaumchen

[jtval 0]

Jerry,
What is a last hope rope?

My photos

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[JerryBaumchen 1,468]

Hi jtval,

When the piggyback rig came on the market in the Spring of '64 it had a RSL and a ripcord to activate/deploy the reserve.

Some folks began to be concerned about a total pack closure on the reserve container. Ralph Hatley had one on a cutaway in Spokane, WA in the late '60's. He got it open by pulling on the reserve ripcord housing; getting 'something' moving to get the pack open. Yes, he is still with us.

So people started tieing lanyards ( usually 550 suspension line ) to one flap of the reserve container ( usually the top flap ). This line came around to the front of the rig ( usually tied to the chest strap ) which allowed them to pull on this line which, in turn, would pull the top flap looose or back away from the rest of the container.

Does this answer your question; if not, let me know & I'll get back to you.

JerryBaumchen

[AggieDave 6]

Quote

What is a last hope rope?

Jesus string.

Think of it as a hand-operated RSL that you reached behind yourself and pulled the pin directly.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[skybill 22]

Quote

Jerry,
What is a last hope rope?

Hi jt,
do a search for ""last hope rope" aka "Jesus cord" we were just talking about them in the hist & trivia forum and I think another equip forum. Old farts know well of them!! They work great "if" they are rigged right!!

SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out

[airtwardo 7]

Quote

Quote

What is a last hope rope?

Jesus string.

Think of it as a hand-operated RSL that you reached behind yourself and pulled the pin directly.

Dave~ as Jerry described, it was a lanyard that attached to the top flap of the piggyback reserve.

My Piglet had a red one, it was tied off to the reserve ripcord housing. The idea was to pull the reserve and then grab the last hope rope & and start tugging.

There use to be steel cones that the ripcord pin went through, those cones could at times take a set and temporarily lock the container. Especially as Jerry mentioned, with a weak spring in the pilot-chute.

Another way to 'unlock' it was to slam an elbow into it...easy to do with the size of the rigs back then.

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[JerryBaumchen 1,468]

Hi Dave,

Quote

Think of it as a hand-operated RSL that you reached behind yourself and pulled the pin directly.

Over the years I've seen an awful lot of gear; but not everything.

I have never heard of any device like this. Could you explain it a little.

Not trying to be negative; just curious.

JerryBaumchen

PS) Hi skybill: Old farts know well of them!!

Takes one to know one.

[AggieDave 6]

I was going off of a beer-light induced hazy memory when some old farts were bringing out vintage gear, that they had bought new back in the day, out of their cars and trucks.

Sorry, I was off a bit,

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[ryoder 1,590]

Quote

Hi wayne,

Most were of a variety of circumstances; none were due to reserve failure, that I know of.

It was my dz for its entire existence. I liked jumping there because it was a 'no rules' dropzone. However, I would NEVER send a student there for a First Jump.

One guy ( first jump student ) went in with a mis-rigged sport rig w/o an AAD. One very low-time jumper ( ~ 10 jumps ) went in with a low cutaway. One guy with ~35-40 jumps went in when a GreenStar harness failed.

The student gear was very, very questionable; I know because I did a lot of work on it trying to keep it in good shape. I cut more than one MA-1 pilot chute off of his reserve canopies due to have a spring so weak they could barely extend themselves when laying on the packing table.

One day there was a first jump student who was geared-up and standing right in front of me. I noticed that his 'last hope rope' was tied to the reserve ripcord handle. It had been tied in a manner that he would not have been able to pull the reserve ripcord handle more than an inch or so. I walked over to Ted & quietly asked him who had rigged up the 'last hope rope' and he said that he had.

Does that give you a general idea of the operation?

JerryBaumchen

So you are saying "Fandango" was a documentary with the location changed to protect the guilty?

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[ryoder 1,590]

Quote

There use to be steel cones that the ripcord pin went through, those cones could at times take a set and temporarily lock the container. Especially as Jerry mentioned, with a weak spring in the pilot-chute.

Another way to 'unlock' it was to slam an elbow into it...easy to do with the size of the rigs back then.

Way back when I was just starting, the local video guy, (actually 16mm film rather than video), caught a cone lock on a main container of a guy at our DZ complete with him slamming an elbow into the side of the container to release it.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[JohnMitchell 16]

Even when they got rid of the cones, there were some reserves that would still total. Remember the Top Secret and Classiflyer? The top secret was the reserves didn't always open. I know 3 people who had totals on those in the air. I had one on the packing table. Scary to pull the RC and see the reserve stay shut.

Ted Mayfield's old DZ was Sheridan airport, about 40 NM SW of Portland, Oregon. It's in sector 6, one of the sectors I work daily as an air traffic controller. We had a few problems with that guy.

[mx757 4]

Just a few problems?

[JohnMitchell 16]

Like flying a Twin Beech with no transponder above 10,500, dropping jumpers with no traffic advisory. His DZ was right under a Victor airway. Almost took out a Horizon commuter flight one day.

[BillyVance 35]

Yeah, I think Mike meant, "only a few???" The guy was a menace to skydiving and aviation!

I could only shake my head after reading about him, and seeing the story on a national news program. Can't remember if it was 20/20 or Dateline.... It aired some 10 years ago and I have it on VHS somewhere.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[JohnMitchell 16]

Quote

Yeah, I think Mike meant, "only a few???" The guy was a menace to skydiving and aviation!

I work a different part of the FAA from Flight Standards, etc. So a lot of his violations were invisible to us. if some one goes in, it doesn't show up on radar, so a lot of the bad things he did were not an on-the-job concern for me. Yes, he was a real pariah. Good to have him muzzled.

[wayneflorida 0]

Thanks for the info.

[akjmpplt 0]

The 182 I owned was a Ted product. That first annual was fun...about $6000 worth. Just little things we found. Like the prop on the plane wasn't the prop in the log...and both of the prop models had been removed from service years before.

It sure climbed good with that prop though.

SmugMug

[JohnMitchell 16]

I'd rather buy a horse from a gypsy than a plane from Ted.