piper17

I will add that I think the R4D was a US Navy aircraft so the jumpers may be Navy personnel...Leapfrogs? Lakehurst, NJ? "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

Yes, the earth has been warming..and cooling..and warming for millions of years. How does one explain this when it predates industrialization by man..in fact, previous warming and cooling periods predate man? Recent warming periods date to Roman Empire times as well as medieval times. To what do you attribute that warming? To what could you attribute the subsequent cooling ie "the little ice age"? "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

Jason Whitlock at the Kansas City Star sheds some light on facts about the case you may not have heard that undermine the presumed racial narrative: There are undeniable racial and economic inequities in our criminal justice system, and from afar the “Jena Six” rallies certainly looked and felt like the righteous protests of the 1960s. But the reality is Thursday’s protests are just another sign that we remain deeply locked in denial about the path we need to travel today for true American liberation, equality and power in the new millennium. The fact that we waited to love Mychal Bell until after he’d thrown away a Division I football scholarship and nine months of his life is just as heinous as the grossly excessive attempted-murder charges that originally landed him in jail. Reed Walters, the Jena district attorney, is being accused of racism because he didn’t show Bell compassion when the teenager was brought before the court for the third time on assault charges in a two-year span. Where was our compassion long before Bell got into this kind of trouble? That’s the question that needed to be asked in Jena and across the country on Thursday. But it wasn’t asked because everyone has been lied to about what really transpired in the small southern town. There was no “schoolyard fight” as a result of nooses being hung on a whites-only tree. Justin Barker, the white victim, was cold-cocked from behind, knocked unconscious and stomped by six black athletes. Barker, luckily, sustained no life-threatening injuries and was released from the hospital three hours after the attack. A black U.S. attorney, Don Washington, investigated the “Jena Six” case and concluded that the attack on Barker had absolutely nothing to do with the noose-hanging incident three months before. The nooses and two off-campus incidents were tied to Barker’s assault by people wanting to gain sympathy for the “Jena Six” in reaction to Walters’ extreme charges of attempted murder. Much has been written about Bell’s trial, the six-person all-white jury that convicted him of aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery and the clueless public defender who called no witnesses and offered no defense. It is rarely mentioned that no black people responded to the jury summonses and that Bell’s public defender was black. It’s almost never mentioned that Bell’s absentee father returned from Dallas and re-entered his son’s life only after Bell faced attempted-murder charges. At a bond hearing in August, Bell’s father and a parade of local ministers promised a judge that they would supervise Bell if he was released from prison. Where were the promises and supervision before any of this? It’s rarely mentioned that Bell was already on probation for assault when he was accused of participating in Barker’s attack. And it’s never mentioned that white people in the “racist” town of Jena provided Bell support and protected his football career long before Jesse, Al, Bell’s father and all the others took a sincere interest in Mychal Bell. Michael Van Der Galien makes the simple moral point that you are not hearing from the race card-playing reverends: Racism does not excuse violence. Racism should, at all times, be condemned. However, the black students are (no longer) the victims in this case. They turned themselves from victims into aggressors and they should be punished for it. Was it an attempt to murder the victim? I don’t know, it’s not likely. Second degree battery? Quite more likely. The Jena six are no martyrs for the cause of Civil Rights. They are no heroes. They’re a bunch of cowards who don’t dare take on someone that can actually fight back. Instead of fighting against six others, they singled out one white and beat him. Would Martin Luther King Jr. have supported their crime? I don’t think so. He advocated non-violence, not beating up a single individual with a group of six. Racism should be fought against, and Jena obviously has some major problems. Excusing the outrageous behavior of criminals, however, isn’t the way to do so. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

No drinking until the last load is back on the ground. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

I'm not arguing any of that. When I was doing test drops and test jumps on new Pioneer prototype reserves, we usually had only one or two examples since we wouldn't have gone into production without the completion of the TSO tests. I would guess that most or all manufacturers would have followed a similar path. No reputable (that's the operative word here) manufacturer would want to cheat on TSO testing. Litigation being what it is in this country, it would probably come back to haunt them. Manufacturers have (and had) enough concerns with jumpers screwing up with a perfectly sound, safe canopy and still suing. I could relate a few examples of that, including a USAF senior NCO with a large, docile square, but I won't in this venue. I also seem to remember more like ten strenth and opening tests but I'm going back about thirty years so things are a little fuzzy. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

I'd have no problems jumping the tri-con canopies as a main or reserve today. I never owned a 23' (had a Navy Conical before joining Pioneer in '78) I did use the Super 22 and K-XX reserves when my main 'functioned with excellent results. I'd would have to go back to my old wind limits as they certainly don't have the drive of modern square reserves. I'd prefer the standard diaper deployment system as it was superior to the Reuter Wrap, in my opinion. Pioneer had no reluctance to go to the diaper when it came along. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

I wasn't there for the 23' Tri Con TSO testing, but we had no problems making it with the K-series of canopies. I'm trying to remember if the Super 22 series was a tri-con design and I think it was. We made both low-speed and standard categories with them. With the K-series, I don't remember if we bothered with standard category as, by then, the market realized it was overkill for skydiving purposes. Steve was certainly entitled to his opinions - just as all are and skydivers and aviators certainly have strong opinions - but Pioneer had their stuff together TSO testing and documented via film and video (when it became available) TSO testing. \When I was with Pioneer, we used Orange, MA, Eustis, and Deland for TSO testing and it was available for all to see...including some "interesting" events. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

The same thing happened at a para-ski meet in the northeast a bunch of years ago. The perp/victim is a well-known DZO in the northeast US whose name I won't drop here "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

Not being an engineer, I won't get into a technical discussion. Maybe the low profile was more prone to inversion or "rebound" malfunctions. Another contributor to inversions, I believe, was the use of a much lower porosity fabric. Look at the net-extended skirt on the newer T-10 canopies that virtually eliminated inversions. Whatever the cause, the problem was solved by the use of the Reuter Wrap and, later, the diaper. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

One of the exceptions to the lack of women in the sport "way back when" was my first jumpmaster - Ellen Jefferies, mother of Jack Jefferies. If believe I was her first student when she put me out on 8 Nov 70 on my first S/L jump at CPI. As I recall, the saying was that women were good for two things - "holding tension and relieving tension". Of course, I never said such a thing. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

Zing, The K-XX and K-22 reserves were not produced until very late in the 70s or early 80s. I joined Pioneer in May of 78. I was hired to get them back into the sport market. We quickly released the Super 22 reserve and sold a lot of them. With the push to smaller and lighter gear, we then produced the K-XX and K-22. These were both tri-conical in design but had diapers for deployment. The lack of a diaper was what caused the problems with the original "Tri-Con" reserve and the "Reuter Wrap" was what Pioneer's Jim Reuter developed to fix the issue. The diaper appeared sometime later and was adopted by Pioneer (and other round reserve manufacturers) as being superior to the Reuter Wrap. By the way, the "K" referred to the use of kevlar reinforcing bands instead of nylon. Since kevlar does not burn like nylon does, in the event of an inversion (line-over, mae west, etc) during deployment, the kevlar bands would help the canopy remain round even if the nylon panels were damaged. National Parachute adopted the idea with their round reserve shortly thereafter. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

In my opinion, giving up your wallet in this instance makes you an "enabler". These guys will simply keep doing this and, eventually, they will resort to force and the use of dangerous weapons. The fact that brandishing a weapon resulted in the ending of this attempted robbery illustrates how firearms in the right hands can deter crimes. I'll bet the perps will think long and hard before trying to rob another person...wondering if they might be armed and might be more willing to shoot. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

The Cessan Skymaster was used in RVN as a FAC aircraft with the designation O-2. I think it was to replace the O-1 Birddog which was a single engine aircraft. I think the O-1 was a military version of the Cessna 170. I would expect that it did have hard points for mounting rockets used for marking ground targets to be hit by fighters/bombers providing close air support to troops in contact on the ground etc. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

I remember you and Mike Arbour (sp?) being on the scene quickly. I actually had four complete rigs at the time since I was working at Pioneer. I think we were up for round two an hour or so later. Had to buy two cases of beer that night - first double mal and first time I went in. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

Well, there was the time I "went in" at a Z-Hills Turkey Meet during the 10-way competition with a main/reserve entanglement following a pilot chute in tow. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

Can someone point out ONE scientist that is NOT supported by one interest group or the other - liberal or conservative. Universities get grants from liberal organizations that go to professors/scientists who will tout theories that argue what that liberal organization espouses just as conservative organizations will support professors/scientists that will espouse theories that support their point of view. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

Ever hear of Coventry, UK. Or London, Manchester, Guernica, Manila, Singapore, etc, etc, etc???? Without the support of the "civilian" population, no country's military can persevere. The citizens choose the country's government, provide the manpower that fills the ranks of the military, works in the armament factories designing and manufacturing the weapons that the military uses, operate the refineries that supply the fuels that the military needs to operate etc. What exempts the civilian population of any country from the dangers of a war that their country is fighting? "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

I don't care for the AARP as they are a big supporter of liberal policies. They are very anti-Second Amendment and I'm a registered, card-carrying gun nut. They haven't sent me a single piece of material since I returned their membership application with an NRA bumper sticker pasted on it. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

You're right...should have been Nick DG. Guess I was in a hurry. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

I can't argue with you about your opinion regarding USPA's decision back then about BASE jumping. There was, however, a lot on their/our plate back then and limited resources - both money and time - to pursue it. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

The other aircraft is a US Navy SNJ (AT-6 Texan was the Army Air Corp/US Air Force equivalent). It was an "advanced" trainer during WWII and used as a FAC during the Korean War. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

I used my one telephone call (actually, I think it was two) when we were in jail to call Carl Boenish to get guidance re: the Yosemite court. He gave us the advice to request a change of venue. I may also have spoken with a skydiving lawyer - it's been almost 30 years so I'm a little foggy on this. Coincidently, I was serving as the NE conference director on the board of USPA when USPA bascially said that since no airplanes were used, BASE was not a USPA activity...a decision that I agreed with then and still do today. I never did get to make the El Cap jump....the "lift ticket" was just too pricey. One or two of my buddies did go back out when it was "legal" and had obtained a permit and made successful jumps. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

As I recall (going back to 1979 or thereabouts), four of us hiked with all our gear from the Tamarack campground where we parked to the top of El Cap in four hours fifteen minutes. The trip off was a lot faster and less physical as the park rangers were nice enough to come up in a turbine helicopter to give us all a ride back down...to Yosemite's jail. Your tax dollars at work. Since we had been ratted out by a club member, the rangers were in the Tamarack campground when we arrived. Two others had hiked up in front of us (I followed their jungle boot tracks all the way up) and called in the helicopter shortly after we arrived. They even called each of us by our names, so good was the description given by the club member rat! All the rangers in the campground would have needed to do was approach us, tell us they knew what we planned and not to do it. We would have left, having been "busted". They preferred to make a big production out of it. Spent five days in jail before going to court in Yosemite with a ranger judge. We asked for a change in venue and left without our gear. We had to go back out (from CT) a month or so later to appear in federal court with our attorney. A couple of thousand dollars a piece later, we left with our gear, having promised to be good boys for six months. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

Looks like a "double-keeled 'dactyl" to me. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

Maybe we can help him get a date with Barney Frank or one of the other homosexual congresspeople from MA or WI....Democrats all! "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling