chuteless

way back when....some guys would do a hook up, and one would reach over and pull the ripcord on the other guys chute, waving as he alone continued the freefall. Other jumpers would sometimes switch someone's capewell releases, so that when the chute opened, the unsuspecting guy was flying his canopy backwards..made for some interesting landings....Bill Cole

something to think about indeed. Well placed POST Muenkel, and God Bless you for putting it before everyone's eyes. I hope they do think about it.....seriously. Bill Cole

Good morning Judy. Yes a cutaway and quick pull for the reserve is in fact dealing with the problem of a mal. Unfortunately, students sometimes think, "phits not too bad...maybe if I can shake these lines it will clear" I had a series of photos showing a woman doing this, she disappeared behind the treetops and never got her hand on the reserve ripcord. Two days before it happened, I told another jumper, "remeber the name M.....R.....R....., because she is going to die soon. TWO DAYS. I was called by the police, and I cried for her....she hadnt been taught not o fool with a mal...she hadnt been told get rid of it....so she decided on her own, "Oh, I think I can fix it, "and was seen for the entire fall, shaking the lines apart as if that would help. Student mentality in this matter is NOT the same as a mature jumper who has been taught properly to chop it and get the reserve out quickly, so they will live to untangle the damn lines when they have their feet on solid ground. BILL

Alain: As you know many people get depressed and keep it within themselves. Others have serious problems and keep that to themselves as well. They may feel that if their problems were made public, they would hurt so much more. When a person gets a mindset to commit suicide, they sometimes would rather die doing theone thing they loved most. Most dont want a messy thing like shooting themselves, because sometimes they dont do it well, and they are afraid of suffering...even a little bit. Thundering into the earth at top speed makes it a sure, quick, death with no suffering. Its over VERY quickly. When it happens, they know at the funeral people will say " he died doing the thing he loved most" and they feel this to be an admirable trait. I knew a pilot, a good friend, who did the same thing. He got up on Sunday morning and moped around the house, something that was unusual for him. His wife finally asked him whats wrong. He replied " I think this is going to be the last air show I'll do,...I've had enough of it". She told him, "fine, its your decision, and thats okay if thats what you want." He went to the airshow, and flew his T-6. Performing a loop, he came out of it...and straight into the ground. It really was his final sow. His wife found my business card in his wallet and called me a few weeks later. It is felt, that he was suffering from incurable cancer. He didnt want to suffer any more, and so ended everything, providing his wife with immediate insurance, and himself freedom from suffering. Jumpers are no different. I know of at least three jumpers who committed suicide. Now I'll wipe the tears from my eyes and leave it at that. YES, I still hurt after all those years...Dean Ortner of Wakemen, Ohio, was a wonderful man...and I miss him still., Bill Cole D-41

I've jumped the Manta, but as for the other canopies, I would have to get an opening or twop on them before I would decide what was best for me. I definitely would not use any square for a low opening. ....like 500 ft. That is best on a round P.C> which I can get to explode off my back. However, I sold my three PCs, and doubt I'd ever get to have another one...besides, I dont jump that often now. regards, BILL

I jump a Strato-Cloud. and a 23 ft front mount reserve.Bill

I knew a jumper very well, and cant explain why he cutaway a perfect Para Commander and didnt bother to get his reserve out. I have also heard that it happened one other time. I knew a woman who didnt bother to use her reserve or cutaway from a bad main. There is all kinds, but I think the less experience a jumper has, the less likely he/she is to condition his/her mind to handle a problem they "hope" they never have to face. BILL COLE

I'm going to try this one more time: Judy, if anyone wishes to open at 3000 or 4000 or 10000, that is their perogative. Personally, I like 2000, but that is me. It seems to be a communications problem here: I am only saying, that although some can handle the old opening altitude of 2000, for those who dont have 1300 jumps like you Judy, I hope they dont feel that because the open at 3000, they have lots of extra time to fool around with a problem. Sure they have extra time, but at the speed they are falling with a malfunction, that speed wont allow them to "solve the problem" and land with their main. I have had about 10 reserve openings for various reasons, and I know there isnt much time to fool around with a serious problem...get the reserve out pronto. Open at 3000 or where ever you want, but if you have a serious problem, treat itas SERIOUS. I'm mainly concerned with people who dont have enough jumps to have conditioned their mind to react quickly and properly...people who think they have all the time in the world to fix things as they rocket to earth. People who have less tha 100 jumps , not 1300 like you do. ,

Andy: If you've been syking your mind to handle it that way for awhile, I have no doubt you'll carry it off exactly the way you should. I spent about four months syking myself to leave an aircraft without a rig...and when the time came I never gave it a second thought. Conditioning the mind is important, The main point I am trying to make is because one knows he opened higher than normal, that shouldnt give that person the idea he/she has "lots" of extra time to correct a serious problem. Its important NOT to waste whatever time one has in that situation. cutaway and sort the tangles out later. BILL

I dont disagree with either of you, but although you get a "bit" more time, someone might get the idea you get a lot more. As you know, things happen fast during a mal...and the ground comes up real fast> i just want jumpers not to be overconfident because they have a few hundred feet more....milliseconds in time. I always liked the faster harder openings of a para Commander....and would use it for low openings every time. I dont like the idea of low openings with any square. Bill

I am quite astonished that so many jumpers open so high. For what seemed like centuries, the BSR stated that the chute should be opened at 2000 feet, and later 1800 feet if you held a "D" licence. One thing a jumper should be very aware of is, if you open high, dont think that will give you extra time to "clear" the malfunction. Because you have a ball of garbage trailing behind you, you are not slowing down. Your time in which to react is low, so if you expeience a malfunction after activating at 3000 or higher, don't fool around with it. Chop the thing, and use your reserve. I know of one person who pulled at 2500, had a mal, and was seen trying to separate the lines to get the chute to open. After doing this for brief seconds (not even 1 minute) they decided to cutaway as they disappeared behind the treetops. My last mal/cutaway was in July 1990. I quickly realized I had a problem, and after a quick check, the lines were tangled around my arm. A hundred things flashed before my mind, and I even checked to see what kind of a field I would be killed in. I activated the reserve, and with a couple of swings, on the ground. In freefall, things happen fast....and you think they are taking place much slower. If your main hickups...get rid of it. don't waste time...and live to make another jump. Good luck all. Bill Cole D-41

Mike: Its HEMP 6 ; I know a woman wholeft a Cessna 180 and caught her wedding ring at the top of the door frame. It ripped her finger right off. The pilot, her hubby dove and met her as she landed, rushed her and the finger in ice to hospital but they couldnt reattach it. OUCH is right on.

Starting at the top and working down: Concussion left eye frozen/scratched with ice HALO broke both collar bones face gouged falling through tree Broken back cracked left wrist 2 smashed right wrist 1 broke left ankle broke left foot 5 bones massive bruising/front center to back center on right side/including right arm Bill Cole D-41

not so much a scary story..but a true one: I knew 2 jumpers who planned to make a "kitten pass" in freefall. They left the aircraft, and the cat scratched the guy holding it. All three landed at different places on the dropzone. 1 cat scratch.....scratch 1 cat. About the same time, (mid 1960s) we were sometimes able to get M-18 smoke bombs. In Canada, Canadian Industries Ltd made smoke bombs, but they were "EXCEPTIONALLY" hot. I gave one to Joe, and told him to wire it to a stick, that it would get so hot you'd make a hospital trip for repairs if you tried holding it. He later gave it to Norm, and told him, this is a VERY COOL smoke bomb. You can hand hold it all the way to the ground. They left the aircraft at 12,500 and Norm pulled the firing pin release, like a grenade. Joe watched him as the bomb began to get warm. Norm put it in his other hand, soon back to the first hand, and finally threw it. Smoke trailed all the way to the ground, and by the time the fire had been put out, it had burned 4-5 acres of grassland. Joe told me, and we laughed for months,Norm shook his head in disbelief. Oh for the good times.. Bill Cole D-41 CSPA licence. LOL

true story: I once knew a guy who tossed a spider monkey out of an aircraft attached to a small pilot chute. All went well, until the Monkey either got ground rush or decided he wanted a better view of the DZ he was to land at, and climbed up on top of the pilot chute, which precipitated a tumbling ball into an Ohio farmer's field. It is said, that at about 400 feet, the monkey hollered" a pox on you guys" and the jumper(s) couldn't figure out what he meant. Now we know.

why wasn't the guy wearing a rig...was he doing aerobatics?why dont these guys think. I've built and rebuilt several aircraft, and found one spar that was entirely wrapped with fabric...holding moisture in until (when I saw it) the wood was so soft you could poke your finger through it.

I was just standing out on my balcony 10 feet abocve the ground, and I brushed an ANT off the railing. The little critter went into freefall and hit the pavement below, and just walked off...not even limping. He didnt have a helmet...and no concussion. Not a bruise as faras I could see. Hewas about 1/4 inch in length, and that means he was falling the equivilent iof a 5 ft man falling from 2000 feet. How come he didnt splat as a man would have from 400 times his body length? It doesnt seem fair...the little varmin didnt even have to pack.... Gosh it must be nice. Bill Cole

airtwardo: Maybe I'll pay em a visit at the 2003 Nationals in Burnaby Ont. Chances are they'll piss on me and that will piss me off. Its a good job I have a bladder like a camel, eh????? I have a friend at the Toronto Sun; maybe he can write about the big piss off contest. LOL

I used to jump at Indiantown when Popenhager run the DZ. I filmed several TV commercials there. Always had good time ..Bill Cole D-41 CSPA licence.

I noticed in another thread, someone signed his comments off with " Its better to be pissed off than pissed on". Look at it this way: If someone pissed on you, you are going to be pissed off. Let me show you how that works; Back in 1969, I kinda pissed on some of CSPA's rules....kinda like bent them a bit. CSPA in turn, got pissed off with me and soon I was being pissed ON. As a result, I pissed on some more of CSPA's rules, bending them more often and a little further than the last time. Again, I was pissed on. I set the Canadian High Alt record, and CSPA decided they would piss on me some more by initiating a set of CSPA "records" from much lower than my jump. This is pissing on me from altitude, so I pissed back on them through the press. They didnt like me pissing on them for pissing on me, so the suspended me for a 2nd life term, and pissed on me again. Well, I was pissed off. Several current directors of CSPA have recently said in E Mails to other jumpers, that a girl I dropped was now a para-plegic., or had suffered a broken back.. In truth , the injury she received 31 years ago was a broken tailbone, and was entirely her own doing, as she pulled her legs up on landing. It is a painful injury, but not a serious one. Those E mails pissed me off again, because CSPA was knowingly pissing on me without justification. Now you see how it works. Its much like the Israelis and Palestinians...a vicious circle. I hope you understand...I have to go now, I need a good piss. Bill Cole D-41 CSPA licence.

I was Jack Nicholson'd driver when they made the movie "The Last Detail". Randy Quaid was also in it. I filmed Judy Garland on a stage (about 8 feet away) while she sang. They locked me in a room until I turned the film overa as the filming wasnt authorized. I met Danny Kaye, Sammy Davis Jr, Liberace, Neil Armstrong (several times), Buster Keaton, Eddie Foy Jr, Bert Lahr, two Canadian Prime Ministers (one I had a meeting with in his office in Ottawa, and many other movie actors, pro sports personalititesJames Lovell of Apollo 13, #1 idiot Evel Knievel, Jimmy Hoffa (backed by 2 thugs) and a whole bunh of names Ive forgotten.

Thanks Skypuppy: I dont like the reference to "legend" either. I hear it too many times regarding movie stars etc. I am neither. I was simply a guy doing what he liked and being paid for it, and having a great time . I wish I had started earlier and got in on a bit more of the barnstorming type jumps at air shows. Those I really enjoyed, and I can only imagine how exciting those jumps were back in the 1920s. I did my best to capture some of the 1920s feelings by doing "unusual" stunt jumps. The crowdss loved it, and so did I. No, I am not any "legend". I've been involved in many exciting and dangerous activities in and out of parachuting, but those things were just to get my batteries charged up. I like the risk, and perhaps the greatest adrenalin rush I ever had was the malfunction and low opening on your chute at Penetang. Anyhow, thanks for your support and such....but you are right, legend does not apply here.

I just renmembered...there is a flying DC3 at the airport at Brantford, Ontario, Canada. Its used to haul freight, I sometimes see it flying past where I live. It makes trips to the USA. Im sure if they can make some $$$$ with it, they'd fly jumpers.

years ago there was at least 1 at Ortner Field near Wakeman Ohio. I dont even know if the field is still active since Dean Ortner crashed at an air show. Man, he sure was a good pilot....and crashing to his death....it wasnt an accident....

many of you missed the point. The police were chasing the guy in a car because he was drunk and weaving all over the road. If he was drunk enough, they should have taken him without machine gun fire. Even IF he had a gun, he seemed to drunk to know which end to point.