chuteless

I just bought a Russian PC with about 15 jumps on it. I'll definitely get some use out of it next summer. The Para Commander is one of the very best canopies ever made. Bill Cole D-41

This is a poem I wrote several years ago, dedicated to all those who never came back from their flights over Germany 1939-1945 WILL I GET HOME AGAIN The day had started warm and bright Its good to be alive, But what will happen by tonight Cause we take off at five. We go to bomb our country's foe Across the channel wide, Who knows if I'll get back again, So many went, and died. I think of when I was a lad My father was around, He surely didnt raise me up To crash on foreign ground. Oh how I miss those days of yore, It was so peaceful then, Who knows if after this days' gone If I'll get home again. Our lancs will have their bellies stuffed With many tons of death, Andf always when above the foe I'm sure to lose my breath. The inky sky is cold and dark, They're firing at our plane, Will we get in to drop our bombs? Will I get back again? Wave after wave of bombers fly Across the target zone, The searchlights shine from far below, They get one in a cone. A hit is taken on its wing, It spouts an orange flame, The crew bails out, and then I ask, Will I get back again? The Pathfinders have marked the spot, Our target is so clear, The bombs are dropped, a voice calls out Get my ass out of here. The engines roar and up we go To level off our plane, It looks like we have done our job, And I'll get back again. The lights of London shine below, The channel slips behind, I'll soon be sleeping in my bunk, I hope with peace of mind. With every mission that we fly Its like an old refrain, Cause I will pray through dark of night That I'll get back again. I hope this fighting soon will stop And peace will come to all, And only stars are in the sky And not a bomb will fall. I really know within my heart That war is so insane, I hope this war will soon be won And I'll get hopme again. Bill Cole D-41. and here is another...with a reference to SWOOP lol Up in the pine tree Dark and green The great Horned Owl Is seldom seen. He scans the forest floor below A long eared Jack Runs to and fro, The Owl swoops down on velvet wing, The long eared Jack Wont hear a thing. Some rustling leaves With spots of red The long eared Jack, So swiftly dead.

here is two poems...not about skydiving, but 1 maybe of interest, especially if you are interested in World War II. BOMBER CREW 1943 Will I get home again? The day had started warm and bright Its good to be alive, But what will happen by tonight Cause we take off at five. We go to bomb our country's foe Across the channel wide, Who knows if I'll get back again, So many went and died. I think of when I was a lad, My father was around, He surely didnt raise me up To crash on foreign ground. Oh how I miss those days of yore It was so peaceful then, Who knows if after this day's gone If I'll get home again. Our Lancs will have their bellies stuffed With many tons of death , And always when above the foe I'll surely lose my breath. The inky sky is cold and dark, They're firing at our plane, Will we get in to drop our bombs? Will I get back again? Wave after wave of bombers fly Toward the target zone, The searchlights shine from far below, They get one in a cone. A hit is taken on its wing It spouts an orange flame, The crew bails out, and then I ask Will I get back again? The Pathfinders have marked the spot, Our target is so clear, The bombs are dropped, a voice calls out, Get my ass out of here. The engines roar and up we go To level off our plane, It looks like we have done our job, And I'll get back again. The lights of London shine below, The Channel slips behind, I'll soon be sleeping in my bunk, I hope with peace of mind. With every mission that we fly Its like an old refrain, Cause I will pray through dark of night That I'll get back again. I hope this fighting soon will stop And peace will come to all, And only stars are in the sky, And not a bomb will fall. I really know within my heart That war is so insane. I hope this war will soon be won, And I'll get home again. The Great Horned Owl Up in the pine tree Dark and green, The great Horned Owl Is seldom seen. He scans the forest floor below A long eared Jack runs to and fro The owl swoops down With velvet wing The long eared Jack Wont hear a thing. Some rustling leaves With spots of red, The long eared Jack So swiftly dead. Bill Cole

On August 27th 1967, Bob Karns, who was a pilot working for Ortner Aviation at Wakeman Ohio, was giving a free jump from 20,000 ft + in a B-25 WW II bomber, to some jumpers who had jumped from that aircraft at an air show, for which Karns had been paid. There was so many jumpers showed up at Ortner Field, the plane was overloaded to the extent that the nose wheel came up off the ground. As a result, three or four jumpers were taken from the aircraft, and the rest were to make the jump. The plane took off and began its long climb, disappearing into 100% cloud cover . Cloud base was about 4000 ft and the tops about 6000 feet. A local jumper who should have known better, took off a bit later in a Cessna 180, and was planning to take 35mm still photos of the jumpers as they fell towards Ortner field. Common sense should have made him realize that the jumpers would be passing his Cessna 180 like bullets, and he would not get any usable photos, and if they were far enough away from the Cessna, they would be nothing but tiny specks in his viewfinder. The plane reached altitude, and the pilot (Bob Karns) received confirmation that the aircraft was directly over Ortner field. The radar screen was showing a blip at that spot ( actually it was the Cessna 180) and Karns turned and waved the jumpers out the bomb bay doors. Jimmy Simmons was first to go, and the others followed like they were tied on a long string. There was a total of 18 jumpers, and Bob Coy (one of the survivors) told me later they had a real blast getting together and just flying....until they approached the dark clouds at 6K. As the jumpers came through the clouds, they were faced with a rainstorm and the fact that they were 5 miles out over Lake Erie. They opened the chutes immediately, hoping to make it closer to shore. I believe everyone had Para-Commanders, and although its a great canopy, it doesnt fly like a square...not even close. Few made any headway, and prepared to ditch in the lake, which was 72 degrees F. Norm Allard had two jumpsuits on because of the cold at altitude, but he managed to get them off, except for the altimeter pinning them both to his wrist. Thats how they found him. Bill Onyska had the only piece of flotation gear, which he inflated, but the CO2 went out a small hole that had gone unnoticed in the device...and it was useless. BoB Coy, tried using his packed reserve as floatation, but it soon became waterlogged, and he discarded it, and then he tried to lay on his helmet which had styrofoam inside. That probably saved his life. A search was quickly started, and over the next 5 days, they collected all the bodies from the lake. A boat had been brought alongside a jumper named Johnson, and the boat then drove off leaving him in the lake. It is possible the guy was a smuggler or out for a cruise with someone elses wife and didnt want to get involved. A second boat rescued Johnson. Para Commanders were floating on the lake...with no one in the harness, or near them. Several were cut to pieces by boat propellers and founds later. My best friend, Joe Malarik was the last to be found. Oddly enough, Joe had been in a bar the night before with his girldfriend Barb and another guy, and he said that when he died, he would prefer to drown. He did so the very next day. When Joe was a young boy, he drowned in a swimming pool, but was revived. He thought it would be the best way to go. The B-25 aircraft, made another circuit, and again was told by Oberlin Tower that it was directly over Ortner Field, and Larry Hartman and Al Olmstead jumped, wearinmg oxygen masks and bottles. The Cessna hand landed by this time, and the B-25 was in fact, over the target area. Hartman noticed through a small hole in the clouds, one of the airport runways, and he pointed to it for Olmstead. They tracked over, and landed on the airport. By this time, the accident was known, and everyone got involved in the search. Dale Gates of the Parkman DZ, flew his Cessna a few feet above the choppy waves of the lake, trying to spot survivors, but none were seen. In all 16 jumpers died that day. The following Sunday while at the DZ in Parkman, I was asked to take photos of a young lad in freefall after he would make one more good jump alone. I agreed, and when the young lad jumped ( Paul Camelford) he went right into the ground. He had concentrated on holding his heading so much, he never attempted to get his main out. That made 17 dead over the two weekends. Even now when I think about it, I get quite upset inside. Two weekends before the B-25 flight, I had been filming many of these guys at Parkman, and I later gave copies of the 16mm film to their families. They told me it was like having their son back again.....even if only on film. One thing that came out of this, was I conducted tests that showed a canopy (especially one of 0 porosity) can have a portion of it inflated by scooping air inside it, and it will act like a large beach ball in an emergency, and keep a person afloat for quite awhile. It may be necessary to inflate a portion of the canopy several times before one is rescued...but when you have nothing else, that may be your only hope. Keep that in mind. Bill Cole D-41 Canada PLEASE STAY SAFE !!!

149 seconds from 36916, several jumps at 120 sec , others 30571 (night) I'd have to check my logbook on that one

The fullness of anything can only be measured ias 100%. Look at the word " HUNDRED " which has a numerical value of 74. So too, do the following capitalized words, all have a numerical count of 74, which is equal therefore to the Fullness of one "HUNDRED" JESUS = 74 MESSIAH = 74 The HEAVENS he created = 74 His GOSPEL = 74 His KINGDOM = 74 Only Jesus is the mediator BETWEEN God and man=74 If you add GOD, which has a numerical count of 26 to any of those words, your will also get 74 26 _____ 100 showing all things of God are seen in a fullness of 100 as in "percent" Notice too, that it was God that gave man the 26 letters of the universal alphabet, and everything you can name in this world can be done by using those 26 letters, given by GOD=26. God also gave mankind the numbers to use 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 first midst last and all numbers are made from those nine numbers. the "O" is a cipher and not a number and must be used with a number to denote an amount. The Bible ( King James version) has a total of 1189 chapters, and we can see that those numbers are equal to a Fullness 1 numerical value is 34 1 " " " 34 8 " " " 49 9 " " " 42 ____________________________ 159 Look too, at God's word which was first published in the NATION = 73 of BRITAIN = 73, and this SEVENTYTHREE has a value of 166, which is similar to the 1 Bible containing a total of 66 books. It was King JAMES = 48 who was inspired by God to first publish the Bible, and the 48 is seen as 40 = 84 8 = 49 and together they are ______ 133 which represents a fullness of 1 with the MIDST of the 66 books in God's word. The Bible was first published in LONDON = 74 which is equal to the fullness of 100, and that city is located exactly on the PRIME = 60 Meridian = 73 ____ 133 , again equal to 1 fullness with the midst of the 66 books. London England, is the center of the world, with 12 hours to the international dateline in either direction, and from the center of the world, God's word can go out to the "four corners of the globe. North, East, West, South. England, is also known as GREAT = 51 BRITAIN = 73 and together seen as ____ the center of 124 or 1 -24 hour day. Look at the five habitable continents of the world... AMERICA = 50 ASIA = 30 EUROPE = 80 AFRICA = 38 AUSTRALIA = 102 and totalling ______ 300. This is the the habitable continents that mankind lives in during that 24 hour day, and if you take and add the numbers from 1 to 24 inclusive, the total is also 300, and this THREE = 56 and HUNDRED = 74 with a total of 130, which is 1 = 34 3 = 56 0 = 10 ( the cipher 0 always counts as 10) ______ giving a fullness of 100 There is more to numbers and letters and their relationship to God's creation than you could ever possible know. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein Psalm 24:1

yeah...but he drank a gallon of laundry bleach...now he wants to play the part of snow white.....should be one of the seven barfs.

SKYMONKEYONE: My jumps were all with the sport gear of the day. The only things that werent consdered as "sport" was the CO2 mask and bailout bottle. I made my own console for in the aircraft, with the usual long cylinder and regulators, then switched to bailout bottle before exit. I had as much as 2 1/2 minutes of freefall on the highest, and had access to High Altitude Chambers, and was as high as 43000 feet in the chamber. All the actual jumps had no military involvement. BILL COLE Yes the view is awesome indeed...and I guess I'm boring LOL

HALO jumps are long and just a boring freefall. Ive done about 5 between 30K and 37K, including 1 at night. Its interesting to make them even in -65 degree temps, and I recommend that anybody should make at least 1 for the experience. I only ever paid for 1 jump $75.00 for the plane. Be absolutely sure to have good oxygen equipment....its a must, including a bailout bottle which usually gives two minutes of pressure breathing. Make sure the mask is a good tight fit. Bill Cole

if the goggles have a semi-rigid frame, drill a small hole or two in each side to let air in behind the goggle. It will keep them clear at all times and you'll never feel any wind effects through the small 1/8th inch holes

I'm not blind, but I made a blind jhump back in1967. I had been a regular at Parkman DZ in Ohio, and another jumper (Larry Hartman) dared me to make a blindfold jump. We wrapped my eyes with black cloth and stuffed some more inside the pair of goggles I was to wear. The idea was that we would leave the aircraft at 7500 ft, and I would go base, with Larry hooking up with me. All went well until Larry overshot me, and I had no idea where he was. I started counting in the middle of the jump, and figured I'd fallen for 30 seconds, and opened my Para Commander. The next phase was to be talked into the target area with the aid of a 3 ft bullhorn....which broke about the time we left the aircraft. I thought I must be in good position, so wasnt to worried, but after a bit, no bullhorn diirections. I just flew the ole PC around, and had no idea where I was going. I finally hollered "where am I?" No answer. I hollered again "where am I?" Still no answer, and Ihit the ground with a THUD. I got up, and took off the blindfold, and was surprised to find I had just drifted over a set of multi high tension wires along the side of a road, about 1/2 mile south of the airport. Larry drove up in his car and apologized, and we both had a good laugh over it. ME LARRY Both of us Bill Cole D-41

Thanks for the good posting. Its nice to have it confirmed that the behaviour that has been under discussion here has stopped. I just think its a mark of disrespect to piss on the site where a guy/gal was killed, adding a terrible insult to the injury of the family and friends . Thanks, Bill Cole D-41

Im not getting from skydiving in AZ to Nazis....I am saying that indecent and disrespectful behaviour isnt good anywhere, and that the Nazis used their pissing on the Jews as the ultimate disrespect. If it was the ultimate disrespect then, its no better now. Perhaps they dont piss in the crater of a jumper who died now....and thats good, and I hope that is the case. It means someone is growing up and maturing.

You may not be young enough or interested enough to remember or know about it, but the ultimate indignity and evil insult that the Nazis could do to the thousands of Jews they killed, was to piss into the side of the pit where the Jews were being buried (sometimes alive). I do not wish to see skydivers or skydiving equated to that kind of indignity. Skydiving history is more than that sir, it is parachuting, not showing disrepect for a guy who died taking part in the sport.

Ive flown with a few anvils in my time. However, I wish this one a very special day...all the best Vinnie Bill Cole

all the very bst wishes Kath...I hope its the best day of your life. congrats Bill Cole

he made the Honeymooners the success it was.

thats better. You had me worried there for a moment.....no jumpers life is worth more than his/her gear. Bill Cole

if you fear roaches...dont ever go to Ecuador, South America. The cockroaches there are 2 to 3 inches long. Dinosaurs of the cockroach clans....maybe they'd make good soup.LOL Bill Cole

After posting a remark or two on the Ghoulidge thread, and feeling quite upset inside, I thought I'd add something to this thread, which might make me feel better inside. Once when making a demo jump at a football game in Ohio, another jumper named Luicas and I drove to the airport to get readty. We found that the aircraft we had was a Cessna 170, a small taildragger. The seating room was not condusive to two guys with large sized rigs but we crambed our way into the back seat like sardines. The pilot taxied out onto the grass strip, and did his engine runup. He turned and looked at me and said, " she's only hitting on one magneto" Hell, one is good enough....lets go for it I told him, and he poured the fuel to it and we began bouncing down the runway. I think the aircraft may have been borderline to overloaded, but we kept going. Soon we were about run out of grass runway, and we werent up. I could see cars on the road that indicated where the runway stopped, and to make it worse, there was a large willow tree and an advertising billboard on the other side of the road, and about 35 ft between them. We lifted off slowly, but the sign and the tree challenged our climb out. The pilot banked the aircraft and neatly slipped between the sign and the tree. He striaghtened out and turned to look at me, and all three of us were grinning like cats that had just raided the fishbowl. real neat, I calls it....adrenalin just apumpin Gosh I miss those days !!!!! Bill Cole D-41 Canada

whether they would smile or not can never be proven, and my point is that it is disrepectful to act in such a bizarre manner when it comes to a friend. what do you suppose his wife, mother, father, kids would think of such behaviour? I doubt in their grief they would approve, and if they wouldnt, why allow a message ever be given them that their fellow jumpers pissed on the spot where they hit/ it is totally uncalled for. My best friend went into lake Erie and drowned with the other 15. I couldnt disrespect him or any of the others in that way. as for the earlier post, being young is no excuse for being stupid. we all have our moments of stupidity, but I dont think they should be in disrespect for someone who died. That same week that we were searching for those 16 jumpers, a young boy (16yr old) asked me if I would take photos of him the next day. He wanted to do one more jump alone and then we would go for pictures. On that jump, he concentrated so hard on holding a heading, he forgot to pull. We rolled his mangled body into a blanket...it was impossible to pick him up...he had no bone structure. It wasnt very nice....and I had only met him the day before his death, and I liked him. If you think that doesnt hurt...you are wrong. I fell apart more than once that week....and still have a hard time dealing with much of it 36 yrs later. If I had seen anyone piss on where that young lad hit, I would certainly have lost it then and there. The night before the 16 drowned, my friend, Joe Malarik was in a bar with his girlfriend Barb and another guy. Joe said at the table, that when he died, he would like to drown. He had fallen into a swimming pool when he was about 5 or 6 yrs old, and he went quickly and peacefully, and he woke up in a recovery room . He said it was a good way to go, ....... the next day he drowned. Bill Cole D-41

If I wasnt a dedicated Christian , I would fear the wrath of God when we all stand before him. However, with Christ, I am not afraid of what any man can do to me, any time, anywhere. The worst thing a man can do is take my life, but God will restore it to me in His kingdom. I have no fear...but of God Bill Cole The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom. Proverbs 1:7

whats to worry about your pilot chute etc etc. If the main hiccups, chop it. to hell with the loss of some gear....its better than losing your life. you can replace the gear.....who is going to replace YOU???? BILL COLE

all the very best Lou.....safe blue sky and safer landings always Bill Cole D-41

If you happened to read "Parachutist Magazine" last month, you may understand where My remarks come from. I lost 16 friends onm 1 jump....and I think it tasteless and inconsiderate to do what was described to dishonour someone who died jumping. People who carry on like that have NO class or respect fo anyone...and certainly dont have any self respect either. I have taken rigs off two people who bounced...and its a messy anupleasant sight. One you have seen/or done that, maybe you wont think so much of stupid people who trivialize a jumper's death as some kind of joke. Bill Cole D-41