RogerRamjet

All three pilot chutes tested (30", 36", and 40") pegged the 50lbs scale at anything over about 35mph. However, I can tell you that the 30" was not sufficient in size as I found out a few months later when I jumped it and had it in tow. Reached back and pulled the bridle free by hand, normal deployment after that. Booth figured at the time (and he was right as usual) that the 36" would "be about right." That's what we went with on the production Wonderhogs. I just happened on the 30" a few months later and decided to try it on my own with less than optimal results... As for "almost broke his arm" and "almost dislocated his shoulder", all I can say is there was certainly considerable drag on the pilots chutes, but unless you weren't ready for it, I don't think bodily injury was going to happen. Of course that was in 1975 and I was stronger and dumber then

Glad I didn't read your post before actually doing just that.... ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Not a chance - hell, you can probably find almost 10 Airspeed members past and present that have 15000 jumps. Still, an awesome accomplishment! Canuck Penta Ruby Wings (15,000 jumps) number 8 was awarded to Simon Wade in the Sept. 2005 Parachutist. Seems there is "a chance in hell" that she may very well be number 10. Remember that those are only people that apply for the award. Sparky I know Dan BC has over 22,000. That's right, only those who have applied. I ran into Carl Daughtery a few months ago at the Keys Boogie in Marathon Key and he had 16,500. Roger Ponce was there also and if has been jumping steady like Carl, he must also be in that range. Scotty Carbone was there and had about 12,800 so is closing in too. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Let's see, 750' @ 176ft/sec when entanglement occurs (4.2 seconds from impact). A really good skydiver maybe realizes they have a problem in 1 second. 1 more to pull silver (or bronze?), 2 seconds for deployment.... don't think so. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Update on my cutaway cables: I made a pre-Boogie visit to Byron this weekend. Master rigger Clay looked at my cables, and although the non-cutaway side is short, there is no danger of the cable coming through the "550" (why is the loop named that?). Therefore, my rig is perfectly flyable. Since it is in soft housings all the way and dips down in the reserve area, there is actually plenty of length if I were to switch to hard housings (i.e. route the cable straight across instead of wasting a few inches dipping down). And I as I guessed, he did say that doing this at the next reserve repack would be a good time. Thanks for the concern everyone, but no worries. Excellent! Am I reading that you will have the modification done to go to hard housings (highly recommended) at your next re-pack? Glad you had a rigger take a look; better safe than to show up in a differnt section of this forum! ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Lets see, I was 6 when I saw the Shooting Stars (now defunct Navy parachute team) at an airshow and was hooked. Read everything through school about skydiving and then entered the "real" world. In early 1973 decided to try it but ran into a roadblock. I was 20, but the legal age in Florida was 21 and my parents were "not about to sign a release to jump out of a perfectly good airplane." So, I watched my older brother jump for nearly 6 months until the Florida Government screwed my parents by lowering the legal age to 18 on July 1st, 1973. I made my first static line jump at Z-Hills that day. I already had my riggers license (had to do something besides just watch all those months), so packed T-10 static line rigs for jump money and moved to the dropzone for a couple of years. I'm now 52 and haven't jumped in 25 years but am entertaining the idea of re-entering the sport at least for a while. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Elisha, What was the outcome of having your cutaway cables checked out? Please tell us you took your rig to a rigger who either verified it as ok or made the modification to make it ok.... ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Ah! Like there's a knot or something in the bridle, disallowing the pilot chute from inflating enough to pull the pin? I don't know. To me, if the D-bad is still on my back, I'm not taking the extra time to cut it away. It's funny, I had this discussion just last night with a friend. Pilot chute in tow and I'm firing the reserve. I'm going to have my hand on the cutaway though... and my plan is to cutaway if the d-bad leaves my back. buh... that's just what I'm "rehearsing" in my mind. Yes, exactly like that and still a PC in tow. You have enough jumps to make an educated decision on your EPs and I will let you do that. Keep in mind though that if you think you will do your EPs differently for one situation vs another, you will probably be surprised when/if the situation arises that you will do your primary EPs. A number of people have tried even basic changes, like one hand on each handle vs two hands one at a time and found that in the actual emergency, they reverted to the originally trained EP. I've seen two PC in tow mals personally. One over my own back (read the other thread above) while testing hand deploy for Booth and I had time to deal with it as it was a TEST JUMP. The other, the jumper chose not to cutaway and the reserve entagled with the main into a perfect horseshoe mal. If the jumper had cutaway even after the horseshoe, he would still be with us (probably as there was no line entaglement, just apex to apex stuff). As I said earlier, either choice can still end in a fatality, you have to look at past incidents, think about how things are moving during a simultaneous deployment and make your decision. Before riser covers and free bags, I would have pulled silver, now I would cutaway first. Either way, it's a risk and I stress that the best cure is to avoid the situation by maintaining your gear, using a properly sized pilot chute, and if you must use a collapsible PC, make sure it's cocked! ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

I took the meaning as Pilot Chute entangled with bridle.... ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Before you decide that's always the case, you might want to read this thread: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1471198;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread Cutaway or not, there are still two bags headed up at the same time (when the main releases from the container when the tension is reduced by the reserve deployment). Entanglement can happen either way. There have been several entanglement fatalities where the jumper chose not to cutaway, this is just the most recent I know of... Either EP procedure can still result in death. Prevention of the scenario is the only sure cure. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

I'm sure John meant that water is pretty much featureless and looks the same from 10,000 to 200. I didn't use an altimeter after about 300 dives due to a stuck one nearly taking 4 of us out. I learned to eyeball 3500 += 200 ft and 2000 += 100 ft and stopped wearing one. I proved I could do this to more than one skeptic. However, if I were to make jumps over water or desert, I would wear and use one; you simply cannot judge altitude by sight over featureless terrain. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Interesting to note that Social Security had already failed in 1975. I AM old enough to remember that issue of MAD ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Have you ever been in freefall with rain, hail or ice crystals? Yeah, wouldn't want to be without them for those for sure. I have about 100 jumps without goggles, presented to particular issues for me, just more comfortable with them (and safer for rain, hail.....). ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Unless it happened more than once in France, that incident happened well before the 80s. I heard that story the year I started jumping... 1973. The story (as told by Jim Hooper) was that he followed the last static liner out, realized what he did, shrugged his shoulders at the aghast pilot, and turned a series on the way in. Hard to say how much might have been true. I NEVER went up in a skydiving plane without a rig on and still wouldn't. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

A packer is not a rigger . Point taken - but considering my low experience and that I've only jumped my own pack job around a dozen times now, random joe/jane packer gets more credibility than my own judgment. I think I'll ask my rigger to look next repack or the next one I meet - whatever comes first. Since nothing about the rig has really changed since I bought it from the DZ (where I had jumped it 3x prior), I don't think it will kill me in the meantime. You just got some pretty sound advice to have a rigger take a look at it, why would you take any chances at all?? One of the things Bill Booth has always said of the 3-Ring system is that it's primary function is to NOT release unless called upon. The scenarios where one riser releases when you don't want it to are all bad.... Have it checked out. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Thanks. Is that Skydive Greene County you mean when you say Xenia? Rog ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Perhaps it matters what type static line was/is in use? I was the resident rigger at Z-Hills commercial center in 1973/74 and close to the operation there for another 3 years. Z-Hills was probably the largest student dropzone anywhere at the time. During that 5 year period, we had 0 (zero) static line malfunctions. We used the T-10 direct bag system (same as the military). For those that weren't around then or haven't seen one, the T-10 is a 35' parabolic round. Used with the direct bag system, the static line and bag remain with the aircraft after deployment. The only serious injury I saw in that time was a power line landing by a jumper who did not respond to the radio calls at all (the radio was heard clearly by the EMT personnel during rescue while we were talking other jumpers down). A non-responding student could fly into an obsticle under a square just as easily. I'd bet most if not all of those static line incidents you posted were pilot chute assist type rigs rather than direct bag. Not biased toward round or square for students, but based on my experiences at Z-Hills, if you go round for students, it should be round/round and direct bag deployment. I liked the T-10 for this purpose because it was dead reliable and would land anyone from 90 lbs to 250lbs at a reasonable decent rate. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

I'm curious, why is your slider so much smaller than the recommended size to begin with. Is it not the original slider that came with the canopy? ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

The notion that increasing speed is often a good solution for traffic issues is suspect, and that doing it on the freeway is likely to unintentionally lead to a wheelie is ridiculous. Squids crash in the hills and while speeding on city streets, not on open, straight, one way highways. As for bike choice, I'd take the SV650 over the Katana for a first timer - bodywork is expensive even if you tip over in the parking lot. To me, the biggest knock against the race replicas is that they offer terrible comfort, at least for a 6 footer. That part seems as dangerous as the motor size. A new rider shouldn't go with anything they have to contort their body to sit on. While I'm not out to defend anyones choice in "starter" bikes here, I do agree that power, brakes, and handling are assets on a street bike. I rode for 13 years, 7 of those years I had no car so that's the only way I got from one place to another. I can remember more than one instance of using the bikes power rather than brakes to avoid being squashed. 3/4 of the way past a semi and he decides to change into my lane, I hit the gas... My first bike was a 750 (1976 CB750F Honda). My brother who had been riding for years recommended that bike as my starter bike because it had decent power, decent handling and above all was big enough to be seen. He took me to a high school parking lot and tought me about starting, stopping, and turning the machine. Most important of those was the proper use of the front brake. I'm sure I lasted as long as I did because of that. In those days the brakes were four finger things that required a ton of pressure and the engine power was "light" compared to even a sport touring 650 today. 3 years later I bought a CBX, the first street bike in the world with 2 finger racing front brakes. I took it opon myself to return to the parking lot and learn how to modulate them which also contributed to my longevity I think. Today, the front brakes on these machines will allow the rider to lift the rear right off the ground and would, in my opinion, require even more training (at least for me) to keep myself safe. It's an interesting delema. I believe the statistics at the time showed that the vast majority of accidents (involving another vehicle) were on 350cc and smaller bikes which is why my brother wanted me to start on a (large visible) 750. However, the 650 and up bikes of today have vastly more power (and brakes) than what I started on and could certainly get you in over your head very quickly. BTW, in those 13 years, I rode 10 without incident and fell off twice in the last three years, both times on open, straight, one way highways (oil slick for one, rail road dip for the other).... and I was a "sport" rider. I was the only CBX rider that ordered replacement footpeg feelers at the local Honda shop because I had worn them off. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

I did it for 8 years, but it was somewhat easier then (1973) than it is now I think. 1st two years, worked as the rigger at Z-Hills commercial center packing T-10 static line rigs, free fall rigs, reserves, etc. Also did a lot of container, canopy and harness repair work (under the local Master Rigger's watchful eye). Next year, moved to Miami and built the first 100+ Wonderhogs for Bill Booth. Next year, moved to Aurora Il and built Eagle rigs for Bill Buchman. Then back to Z-Hills and built my own rigs for a while (no one's rigs were TSOd at that time). Finally got a job outside skydiving and continued to jump though less than while doing the "inside" work. I wouldn't trade those times, but you aren't likely to get rich doing it, though it enriches your life IMO. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

This was back in the mid 70's (and I'll tell you why that matters at the end). I was on Jim Hooper's 10 man team at Z-Hills, but I lived in Miami working for Bill Booth. So, I traveled each weekend to practice with the team, sometimes driving, sometimes flying commercial. One weekend, I had a cold and during the first jump of the day, I was having some problems bleeding out the nose, etc. So, I went in to the local drug store and asked the guy behind the counter what he recommended. He said that scuba divers who have to work under water for a living were using a new drug called sudophed and it could be had "over the counter." I bought some and it worked great, no probems the rest of the weekend! Now, fast forward to 2005. Sudophed as I knew it is no more. The current version is maybe 10% as effective as what they sold then. My advice would be to find someone who scubas for a living and see what they recommend when you run into this situation. Normally, I would just not jump, but if you're part of a team like I was, you might feel compelled to find a way. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Thanks Don, will do. Do you happen to have known a Jose DeNatalie as well? She used to jump at Z-Hills (also from Canada). Tried to date her repeatedly, but she would not go out with me. Must be smart as well as attractive ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Anyone know (knew) him? He visited Z-Hills in the early to mid 70's almost every year from Canada. Very good RW jumper.... I would love to know what's become of him. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

What was his name? There are only a very few people in the world with that many jumps. I am highly skeptical... It should be a pretty short list. I know Carl Daugherty is on it with about 16,500. I'll have to ask him if he's had any mals though (I'm betting yes). ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Why mess with a winning streak! As long as it's air worthy, keep it... ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519