RogerRamjet

Really, only 6 E models? That means at least two were used for skydiving as we had one for several years at Z-Hills (at least 73-78 that I know of). According to Jeff Searles who owned the dropzone when I started jumping there, the 10E we had was the next serial number from Amelia's though I would certainly have never been able to check up on such a claim. The earlier poster saying the one in the photo was 4 numbers away would tend to support the low production numbers if the Z-Hills plane was indeed the next number.... ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Any broken or worn out stow bands? ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

I was 16th in the worlds first 16 man diamond (I know you would say 16 way today, but that's what they called them then [1974]). Like Lisa said above, in one jump, I went from just another local jumper to a world record holder and invited on pretty much everything from then on

Ok, then read it "As Bill was the manufacturer in charge." ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

He worked for a gear manufacturer. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> For the same reason that most of the ladies in production have never held any sort of FAA license ... as long as their work passes the (TSO) final inspector everything is legal. I repaired/re-sized/replaced hundreds of Talon harnesses while only an FAA Senior Rigger, but a Master Rigger was looking over my shoulder and all my work had to pass R.I.'s final inspectors. Even after I earned a Master Rigger rating, all my work still had to pass the final inspectors. Defective hardware may only sneak through production 1% of the time, but replacing it is standard procedure. As long as you use a good needle, most harness webbing can be sewn three times. And remember that manufacturers are fanatics about their products looking pretty. If there is the slightest damage to webbing, they will replace it. Dead on! And just to be clear, I worked for Bill Booth building Wonderhogs and Bill Buchman building Eagle rigs, both of these gentlemen had Master Riggers Licenses. As for the TSO stuff, here is something to think about. If the current enforcements were in place in 1974 (when the Wonderhog, SST, and others got started), there would probably not be a RWS or Jump Shack today. The cost of the TSO process was just too high for a "start up" manufacturer. In those days, you built and sold gear until you had enough money to do the TSO drops. I think that's probably why you don't see new manufacturers coming along these days like you did then. You may say "but it's much safer this way." To which I would reply, maybe. In 1974 I was jumping two rigs, a Surplus B12 main harness container with a pop-top reserve and a Pioneer "Pig Rig" (also called Hogs at the time). Bill Booth shows up at Deland one day with his new Wonderhog prototype, thin (by those days standards), light, no bungies, plastic ripcords, wrap-around pilot chute on the outside of the rig. One look and I knew it was safer than anything I had jumped to date. Luckily for me, Bill was looking for someone to build them

You don't have to be ANY kind of rigger to build gear for a manufacturer. And in the early days of the Wonderhog, SST, Eagle, and I'm sure all other custom gear of the time (mid 70s), none were even TSOd, scary huh.... It didn't mean the gear wasn't safer than the TSOd military surplus or even the TSOd "HOG" (Pioneer, Strong) rigs of the time, just that things were a bit "looser" regulation wise then.... I believe Bill was selling Wonderhogs for over three years before he attained his first TSO. Literally hundreds of rigs were sold in the meantime. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

The best advice I ever got for a 182 (or any step) exit is to simply hop to the side. The relative wind is from ahead anyway, so no need to kick the legs up, push backward, or anything fancy. Just trail a foot while holding onto the strut and hop 10 inches to the right and arch while looking forward, simple. When I was originally tought at Z-Hills in 1973, they used a kick the legs up and then push off from the strut method. The problem was, if you kicked up too little, you risked a back flip, too much and you could front flip. Don't push hard enough and you risk hitting the step, too hard and you flip like above. I seemed to be having all those troubles (though I never hit the step). One day another instructor is assigned to me and after I tell him my problems, he recommends just hopping sideways about a foot. Talk about easy.... I went back to the instructor that was in charge of student operations at the time and told him all about it. To his credit, he and the owner changed the training to the hop to the side method from that day on. Sorry for the long story, but it was the most difficult thing for me to "get" when I was training and the solution was so simple once presented. Try it, I think you'll agree. Umm, edited to add: As always, discuss this stuff with your instructor before trying.... ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

I am a rigger also and I used to build gear for among others, Bill Booth. First, I can't imagine any rigger telling someone it's ok to jump a ring with visible cracks. Second, if I got such a rig back, when replacing the ring(s), I would go through the same stiching holes as the original pattern when re-assembling to minimize any new cutting (the needle going through the webbing does cut some material). I would be perfectly comfortable jumping such a repaired rig. The newly sewed area would still NOT be the weakest link in your harness system. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

The last time I saw one of those was on Jim Hooper when Z-Hills was still a commercial center.... ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

That strap is a little lower than the original built in straps on the rigs of the mid '70s. The original Wonderhogs, Eagle Rigs, SST, etc. all had a strap running from the leg strap junction through the backpad to the other leg strap junction. As in this link: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/gallery/imageFolio.cgi?action=view&link=Personal_Galleries/RogerRamjet/Blast_from_the_Past&image=RogTraciGreg-2.jpg&img=&tt= If this strap still exists today, I think it has migrated up the jumpers back as the containers have gotten smaller to the point where the "hole" is now large enough to egress through. Add in articulated harnesses with hip rings and that only exacerbates the problem. I like your strap solution very much! I would think the harness makers could easily integrate a strap into their designs as well. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

A couple of Wonderhogs with "anti-BLAST handles." http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/gallery/imageFolio.cgi?action=view&link=Personal_Galleries/RogerRamjet/Blast_from_the_Past&image=RogTraciGreg-2.jpg&img=&tt= Sorry the picture isn't better, but both Wonderhogs in the picture have blast handles for the reserves. Picture was taken in Fall of 1978 at the Sod Farm just outside of Tampa. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Yes it did. The trick was to tack the housing 1/2 to 1" from the handle so the housing could follow your pulling direction a bit to prevent this from happening. I used the blast handle unmodified until the PVC stuff came out on Booth's rigs. I went back to a blast handle when we went back to metal reserve ripcords on the Wonderhogs. When I had a B12 main and belly wart reserve, I used a unmodied blast handle for my main ripcord, never had a problem. The blast handle was originally designed for use on ejection seat rigs (hence the name). I think they were standard on the original HALO military rigs as well (but not sure about that). ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

I have not registered nor did I last year. It will be a non-jumping day trip for me. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

I guess the belly band would help, I think we made them from type-8. The lateral band a spoke of was made of the same material as the rest of the harness, type-13 I believe. BTW: Anyone know Greg's last name in the photo I linked to above. The photo was taken in the Fall of 1978 at the Sod Farm near Tampa. He jumped there and at Z-Hills mid to late '70s. The Sod Farm was run by Cliff and Patty Dobson at the time. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Daytime food provided by the carbonezone Tami Now I know I have to come down

Here is the link to the picture from my previous post. Look at Greg (on the right). Note there are two straps (besides the leg strap) coming from the back pad area, one by his elbow and one between that one and the leg strap. One is the belly band (by the elbow), the other is the strap that runs from leg strap crossing point to leg strap crossing point through the back pad. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/gallery/imageFolio.cgi?action=view&link=Personal_Galleries/RogerRamjet/Blast_from_the_Past&image=RogTraciGreg-2.jpg&img=&tt= If this strap exists on modern gear, it must be so high now that you can slide out under it... ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Man, I miss the belly band on my old Wonderhog Sprint. Sure, it had the pilot chute pouch on it, but, the harness felt *secure*. When I first put on a modern rig this past spring, it felt really minimal, compared with what I remembered about my early 80s gear. Just a chest-strap and legstraps make me feel much less "contained." I'd pay for a well thought-out belly-band and backstrap mod to my new rig, that's for sure. shall The original Wonderhog (and all other gear I built) had a lateral band running from the legstrap crossing point through the backpad to the other legstrap crossing point. this band was independent of the belly band which just attached to the container to hold the bottom of it close to your ass. You could not fall out backwards. The lateral band ran across your back just above your hips (about where your belt would be). I don't know when this particular strap was deleted from modern rigs. The Wonderhog had it, Buchman's Eagle rig had one, and my rigs had one. I'm pretty sure the SST rigs of the same time period had one as well. It was "normal" in other words, split saddles or not. Edited to add: I have uploaded a picture to my gallery that shows this band on the Wonderhog. As soon as the powers that be approve the image, I will post a link to it. I didn't think I could downrez it enough to attach here and still see the strap clearly. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Hi Wendy, I attended last year and it was great to see Roger, Carl, and Scotty after not seeing them in more than 25 years! If I can make it down this year, I will certainly make a point of finding you this time to say hi and thank you for your efforts putting this together! I should be able to at least do a day trip (about 3 hours from where I live).... ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

These guys are all from where I grew up...not more than 6 miles from me. Both the name McGrath and Zuchelli sounds familiar. I'd love to know what DZ. Did he tell you where he jumped? I'll have to check my log book; I can't remember where I was jumping in '64. Cool pics. Brings back lots of memories. Particularly the two-shot Capewells. I hated them. Here is a part of an email I received from Bill concerning where they jumped (and who they were): ================================== A little info about the army parachute teams back then. There were 2 parachute teams back in 1960. One with the 101st Airborne at Fort Campbell, Kentucky & the other with the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg.(Golden Knights). Both teams were pretty new at the time. We occasionally jump with each other on demo's. I was with the Screaming Eagles team at Fort Campbell. We billed our team as, The Famed Army Parachute Team. Enclosed is a picture of one of our posters and a team picture. Your friend jim may like the poster. =================================== He sent several more pictures that I will have to downrez to post, but I will in case Jim wants some more art Edited to add the images.... ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Look at the mccurley post in this thread: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=510339;page=2;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25; See the zhills DC3 attachment. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

These guys are all from where I grew up...not more than 6 miles from me. Both the name McGrath and Zuchelli sounds familiar. I'd love to know what DZ. Did he tell you where he jumped? I'll have to check my log book; I can't remember where I was jumping in '64. Cool pics. Brings back lots of memories. Particularly the two-shot Capewells. I hated them. He said he jumped with the Army Parachute team, I'll have to ask him at what dropzone. He and some of his family have seen this thread so maybe he'll sign up and leave some information for us all... ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

The simple answer, coming from someone who jumped everything from a C9 7TU to a 24 reserve 7TU for mains is the conical canopy would not produce as much forward speed (and I use the term loosely) as the flat rounds would. On my C9, I even had a center line I pulled down after deployment to flatten the canopy out and extract just that extra 1/2 mph from it. Never tried that trick on a conical, it might have worked well, who knows? My ride on my 26' Navy Con after a lineover on my C9 was a standup landing. The rig was the original Wonderhog with plastic ripcords for both main and reserve (before we came out with the hand-deploy), One Shot Capewells. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Perhaps the best "sport" reserve ever made and the one I jumped (and used once) as well. They were ejection seat canopies and could take very high speed openings though I'm not too sure we would survive up to the capabilities of the canopy. I would not hesitate to jump one today as my reserve. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

My brother Ted had a mal on a paracommander and came down with a bloody lip. He said the capewell got him, but I always thought it was the instrument cluster (much like the one in the picture). ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Here are a couple more photos... Edit to add: the group shot caption reads (complete with typos): In formation (l. to r.): Bill Zuchelli, Upper Darby, a Bell Employe; Jerry Bradley, Glenolden office worker; Tim McGrath, Narberth, parachute rigger. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519