RogerRamjet

First Jump @135lbs - T-10 static line. First owned - 28' C-8 7TU all white. Next (and last) - Strato-Star (rings & ropes, then slider). Jumped about all the squares available at Z-Hills at the time, sled, foil, plane, cloud, etc. Known as Roger Ramair for a while. Even had a few rides on a 400ft cargo square, but no jumps. We pulled it up on a 1000' of line behind a car down the back runway! BTW, At Z-Hills and Deland in 74,75,76, you needed 200 jumps before being allowed to jump a square. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Well, I have to admit, Bill even gave ME weekends off when I was his only rigger making the Wonderhogs, so can't complain too much about that. I will try for a week day if at all possible. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Is the tour available every day or just week days? ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Gee, has it changed since I left? Let's see, we had one harness machine and one single needle container machine and a bunch of shelves and boxes of fabric, hardware, and webbing in Pam Tayon's converted garage in Miami. I'm guessing things look a little different these days. I just have to come by for a tour! BTW, Bill had no beard while I worked for him building the first 100 or so Wonderhogs (no, I don't have a picture, but I think Pam might).... ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

No, not saying that at all. I went to work for Bill Buchman when I left Bill Booth and he had been selling rigs for quite a while (though I don't know when he started, so don't know if they pre-date the Wonderhog). Also a very advanced design by the day's standards with loop closures and a custom harness. It was not as wedge shaped as the Wonderhog, but it was not as wide either making it a better fit for some smaller jumpers (IMO). The SST was released right in that time frame as well with a pop-top reserve and loop closure main, so there were certainly other forward thinking builders out there. I was an East Coast jumper, so it stands to reason there were also some West Coast designs of the time I may not have seen... It was a very good time for rig inovation in general in my opinion. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

I know my (our) memory isn't what it used to be Bill, but... When I met you in Deland, you showed me the prototype Wonderhog and I went to work for you the next weekend to make the first 100+ Wonderhogs at which point Silly, Bobby, and Susie joined in. I left around number 125 or so as I remember it. I made my first jump on July 1st, 1973 and had about 300 jumps when I moved to Miami to work for you. That would have put the first Wonderhog that I made for you at around September of 1974. Does that sound about right? I too would love to see an original Wonderhog again. For those reading this that weren't around in those days, you probably can't imagine just how revolutionary the Wonderhog was. I was occasionally jumping a Pioneer pig rig then. Imagine a belly mount wart reserve put on the back above a large bulky main container on a harness with all the adjustments you can think of. Then weigh it with a 28' "cheapo" and a 26' Navy Conical reserve and marvel at the 53lbs of it! Then one day you meet this guy Bill Booth at Deland during a meet and he shows you his new Wonderhog. It is wedge shaped, has plastic ripcords with the main pilot chute wrapped around the outside of the main container. The harness is custom fit for the jumper and the whole thing weighs 23lbs with the same canopies in it! No metal ripcords, no pins, no cones. The "ripcord" handles were orange PVC. I was stunned. Working as a rigger at Z-Hills, I had seen just about every kind of rig made come through there, but nothing remotely like this baby. I wanted one and when Bill said he was looking for someone to build them for him, I just said "ok." When I see people talk about Bill on these forums, it's usually about Hand-Deploy or 3-Ring, etc. But, Bill started all this with a "total rig concept" that seems to get lost in the details these days. There was simply no other skydiving "system" like it at the time. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Hence the large red flags on my temp pins, I didn't want a "bad day" because I was forgetful Of course not using temp pins is just as risky, I'm sure a deploying main at 70mph on your bike would also be a "bad day." Perhaps you could get your local rigger to make you a bag to fit, maybe allowing the use of your chest and leg straps somehow. Interesting challenge anyway. If I were still making gear, I might take a crack at that. Maybe even a small market for such a thing. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Probably doesn't apply to what you're looking for, but I used to put temporary pins in my gear and wear it when I rode to the dropzone Certainly got some interesting looks from other motorists and also from fellow skydivers that were just sure I'd eventually forget to remove the pins before jumping (they had rather large red flags on them, so I wasn't too warried about that).... ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Didn't always help.... When I was off static line and doing my first 5, 10, and 15 second delays I had a military 4 pin main container (I think a B-4), pretty standard at the time. I used to get the best cuts on jump run (not that I knew one cut from another). On one of my 30 second delays later, I dived out the door of the 182 instead of climbing out like I used to and didn't go anywhere at all. The Pilot had me by the ankle and was just laughing hardily at me. Later on the ground, he told me he owed me that for turning off the fuel selector in the 182 every time I was against the instrument panel while doing my student jumps. Apparently, my container was long enough to just catch the lever while I rotated into the door. The Pilot (Mike Patterson if you've been around a very long time) had no trouble handling the problem, but after a while he built up a pay-back attitude toward me and finally got me ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

That may have been around longer than you think. In 1974, I had a t-shirt with those words on the back kinda squashed together. People had such a hard time figuring out the words that they usually failed to notice that the shape of the wording was a penis (hey, I was young then)... ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Since I made the first jump on one, I will add my 2 cents worth... The original hand-deploy system was entirely about eliminating hesitations. It had the nice side effect of easier packing and less bulk in the rig. The Wonderhog of the time used an external wrap-around spring loaded pilot chute and we were already closing the container with a loop of the PC's bridle, so the transition was easy from that standpoint. As for the pilot chute effecting the flight characteristics of the chute. When the hand-deploy came out, most people were still jumping rounds and the squares of the day were pretty much not effected by the pilot chute. On my Strato-Star, I made a cotton deployment bag that would invert on opening and envelope the pilot chute (I still like this better than the collapsable PC used today simply because there was nothing to forget like cocking the PC). If you go to the photo's section of this website and look under my username, you can see my Strato-Star in flight with the bag over the pilot chute. Various tries were made at hand-deploy on reserves (though not at Booths shop while I was there), but there are just too many issues to overcome (some of them talked about in this thread). ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

To be quite honest, I don't remember, but I think the guy worked for the maker of the rig and did the sewing himself. At that time, nearly all the custom gear being jumped was NOT TSO'd, Wonderhog, SST, Eagle, etc., no TSO's on any of them. It was something of a lax time FAA wise.... ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

While working at Z-Hills in 1975, I got saddled with the safety check of rigs for the annual Turkey meet. This guy shows up to have his rig inspected and when I take a look at the harness, I just about fall over. Have you been jumping this? I asked to which he replied, "yeah, I have about a dozen jumps on it. Well, if you inspect your harness, you will see that critical junctions are sewn with a particular pattern. We used to call it a double diamond, though it is more of a quad diamond. His harness was sewn with a pattern resembling an "N" instead. I could not believe he had not dropped right out of the thing on the first jump. I have attached (I think) a crude example I drew in paint to illistrate. The first pattern is what should be, the 2nd is what he had.... ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Well, I'm no expert (thankfully), but it looks fake to me. Where did the grass go? The depressions I've seen were just that, the area was depressed, but if grass was there, it remained. I suppose someone could have removed it to keep the reminder that the sport is dangerous a little more visible over time though.... ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Well, first off, this was 31 years ago, I don't even remember who the rigger was (nor would I say here). I think the odds he still rigs or jumps are low based on how many people I jumped with at the time are still jumping... Personally, I think he learned his lesson right there. I have never seen the color leave someones face so fast and he looked like he'd just killed someone. I believe he was from Michigan as was the young lady, so I had no way to know anything more about him. Rigging courses in those days were not structured much. There were a basic set of items that the FAA required you know, but I was tought to count my tools before and after by Jeff Searles, the master rigger who trained me, not by any requirement in the FAA documents or in Poynter's manual. When I get a chance, I'll add my 2nd scariest riggers story. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

One other thing to note is the possibility of a one side release if the cables only come part way out. Now you have a potentially hellacious opening, a wildly spinning mal, and a cutaway handle which is "somewhere." Since all that would be VERY unexpected at pull time, how long to realize what happened, locate the cables to complete the cutaway and get your reserve out? Like I said earlier, Bill spent a lot of time designing this thing, like several months, he has some idea of what can go wrong and why. Oh, and he has also had the last 30 years of seeing the system in use every day and still recommends the same pillow setup for the same reasons. That's good enough for me.... ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Paddles or Fids as we called them scare me a lot less than temporary pins, but at least the riggers were able to contact you. Back then, I think you contacted people by calling them at home, no cell phones, no email, etc. He realized his temporary pins were missing, but probably had no way to contact traveling jumpers on their way to Z-Hills for the annual Turkey meet. I'm just happy she wanted a streamlined pack job that particular day.... ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

There are a few people in this sport that I listen to without question. Bill Booth is one of them. If he says its a bad idea....Its a bad idea. Bill ruled out a "regular" handle even before he finished designing the thing (I worked for him at the time). Even the orange PVC stuff we were using for main and reserve handles at the time worried him. When you are not under canopy, there is no tension on the system and it is VERY easy to extract the "cables." I would never say to anyone not to think of new things or try to improve existing things. But, to alter a well thought out proven system like this one, you'd better consider the reasons for everything Bill put into the design first (and that's not easy, I promise you). ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Keep in mind when you watch this that he had a perfectly good main when HE made it mal by inverting in the harness and getting his leg tangled in the (presumably) steering lines. He was unable to do a clean cutaway due to the lines on his leg so had to deploy his reserve into the mess. I would not call him lucky as he made his own bad luck, but certainly fortunate to tell the tale.... ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Scary story: I worked at the Z-Hills commercial center in 1973-74. I believe this took place at the '74 Thanksgiving meet. Pop-Top reserves were popular at the time and the SST piggy back rig was popular as well using a pop-top style reserve container on the back. Now, I owned a pop-top front mount before moving on to the Wonderhog when I went to work for Booth and I got very good at packing them. It follows that I was pretty good with the SST too... As the meet got underway, a girl came into the loft with a SST rig and said "I hear you can pack these into more of a wedge shape than this and I'd like to have you do that for me." I said I could have it done in about an hour and she could just leave me the rig to which she replied ok and left. I inspected the outside of the rig and other than the reserve being "lumpy" looking, found no exterior problems so I proceeded to do the fish scale pull test I always do. The pull force was no issue, BUT... when the pilot chute took off to the end of it's bridle, I could see that this person would have died if she had needed her reserve, for there screaming out at me were four temporary pins complete with red flags still in the temorary closing loops! They had been neatly packed under the pilot chute and it's cap and could not be seen from outside. I looked at the packing card (she had been jumping this pack job for about a month) to see who the rigger was and realized he was on the dropzone. I got the Master Rigger (Jeff Searles who also owned the center at the time) and the ASO (Jim Hooper) and we discussed the situation for a few minutes before calling in the rigger. When he came in, I asked him to look at the rig on the table and when he did, he actually turned completely white (I had never actually seen that before, only heard about it). He just looked at us and said "I've been having nightmares about where those temporaries were for a couple of weeks now..." I just said (I never really learned how to hold back) "Didn't you learn the first rule of packing? Count your tools when you start, count your tools when you finish, if the count's don't match, open the reserve back up!" It was decided among us NOT to tell the jumper involved. I re-packed the reserve in the correct manor and she picked it up without further problems. I don't think Jeff and Jim reported the incident (I left that to them of course). I don't know if that was good or bad, but I do believe that guy counted his tools from that day forward! I have seen other scary things as a rigger, but that incident really re-enforced the reasoning behind some of the things Jeff had tought me in the riggers course. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Yeah, I remember Steve Fugleburg packing his PC into a very small bag for his cut down pig rig. After he flaked it, he would roll it as tight as he could and then s-fold it into the bag. Only thing was, it didn't always unroll very well. I think he has my record for the most saves as I packed his reserve at least 7 times because of that packing method (3 times on one day). He eventually moved on to a more reliable setup.... I don't remember ever falling down under a PC or Papillon, but then again I only weighed 135lbs back then My main for the first 350 jumps was a 28 foot C-9 "cheapo" that I put a pull down center line on. I regularly stood it up as well. Once I got my Strato-Star, I could easily land on one foot if there was any wind at all. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

We had a very large (I think 360 sq ft) square at Z-Hills for a while that we towed each other up on. We had 1000ft of rope and a truck. The back runway was the ticket (probably should have gotten one too). I had trouble getting down on that thing being that I only weighed 135lbs back then (1974)... it was a blast. There was a guy staying at Z-Hills from Canada (Steve something) that was experimenting with cutting holes in squares to make them fly better and it was his. Eventually, he cut it up and ended our fun. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Is that the old 196 the pilot is standing in front of (I know it's technically a 195, but we called it a 196 because of the 450hp engine on it instead of the standard 250hp)? Anyone know what ever happened to that plane, I'm sure I still have oil on something from jumping it I remember Jeff Searles "coaching" a jump pilot about learning to fly it. Just take it out on the back runway and do some taxi runs up and down. takeoffs are just fast taxis.... Later, on his first or 2nd load in that plane, it lost oil pressure after dropping the load and he had to dead stick it. I figured he could handle it after that ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Gee, in a 1000 jumps in eight years, I only ever heard 3, 2, 1, go! ... I like your (their?) count much better

Gee, I wish I still had my first rig complete with 4-pin ripcord and belly-wart reserve, shot and a half capewells, etc. Later, I got really streamlined and modern with the addition of a Pop-Top reserve. Then one day I visited Deland and was introduced to a young (then and clean shaven too!) man who was about to change the sport with his new Wonderhog. I was stunned, wedge shaped, loop closers for the reserve with plastic ripcords, wrap-around pilot chute on the outside of the container also secured with a plastic ripcord. He said, "you want to build these for me?" I moved to Miami the following weekend to build the first 100+ Wonderhogs. Had my first (and only) cutaway with one (lineover on a 28' round) before we changed to metal reserve ripcord and hand-deploy. No pins though, just a loop of the bridle securing the container since the container was made to fit the canopy sizes of the time ... Pins came much later when people decided to stuff more canopy into less container. I suppose with free-fly and such, it was inevitable though. God I miss those days (sometimes) ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519