NickDG

Nice opener . . . NickD

That handle on a balloon is still called a "rip cord" and in fact the apex of the balloon it rips out (to let the hot air escape) is called the "parachute." NickD

I've never seen a Bar Tack machine that did anything else, but there may be something new out there . . . Here's what most Bar Tack machines used in gear manufacture look like. You set the work under the needle and drop the pressure foot. Then you hit the push button, or floor pedal, and away it goes by itself. Watch those fingers! These machines are spendy, but not as expensive as a harness machine. You could also look into leasing one . . . NickD

I had to come up with a name for a business license after Perris made all us AFF Instructors independent contractors. I had ten seconds while standing in line at city hall to figure something out and it came to me pretty quickly. "Rent-A-Grip" NickD

>>When is someone going to tow a wingsuit behind something and fly it??????

Stooges go BASE jumping . . . I've got this episode and its too much. They land right in their open top car and make a clean getaway. The Boys were so far ahead of their time . . . "How High Is Up?" (1940) The Three Stooges are working as fix-it men who don't have any work, so after irritating workers at a construction site, they end up as riveters on the 97th floor of a new skyscraper. Red-hot rivets and the Stooges are a bad combination, including gems such as Curly eating a rivet thinking it's a hot dog, and having to parachute from the building to escape their angry boss, played by Vernon Dent. Another funny para-Stooge moment . . . Moe: We'll have to bail out! (The Stooges boat has a hole in it) Larry: I ain't got a parachute! NickD

>>but I am not sure of how FAA rules apply over Indian Nations. I would hope they would not

$536.50 NickD

Back in the late 50s when our b&w Zenith TV went on the fritz Dad, who once took a mail order TV repair course, would pull out the oscilloscope he built for lesson number eight, and set to work. First he would remove the back from the set, turn the living room lights out, and then turn on the TV. "See," he'd say me, "you can see which tube is bad because it doesn't light up like the rest." And I'd sit there mesmerized my nose an inch or two from a bazillion volts. Mom would be standing near the kitchen, all of 22 and looking worried. "Keep Nicky's fingers out of there," she'd warn Dad, and even so long ago I still remember how very pretty she was. The next step was the "jiggle" and when that didn’t make the tube glow Dad used the last trick in his mail order quiver, pull the tube out, blow on the pins, and stick it back in. When that didn't work I'd anxiously wait to see Dad use the oscilloscope but he never did. But there it always sat, just in case. It was now time for a trip around the corner to the drug store because they had a tube tester. Dad always let me carry the tube my mother had wrapped neatly in a tissue. The tube tester was a grand machine with a million holes to fit any kind of tube along with a thousand switches and Dad would always boost me up so I could see better. You were supposed to match the number on the tube to the number on the hole, but Dad would just try each hole until he found one where the tube would fit. "Nope," he mutter, and I'd repeat, "nope," and on we went until the tube slide neatly into one of the holes and Dad would exclaim, "Bingo!" And I'd repeat, "Bingo!" "Just as I thought," he'd pronounce, "tubes' bad," and "tubes' bad," I'd echo back. Underneath the tube tester was a cabinet holding all the new tubes, and only then would Dad look at the number to get the right one. With change back from the 50 cents he handed the druggist I'd always get a candy and we'd head back where Mom always had coffee for Dad and hot chocolate for me. Only thing was I never got to carry the new tube home . . . Thanks 1969912, your mention of vacuum tubes made me think of all that . . . NickD

I want to be buried (my parts are too worn to be useful to anyone) with a big headstone where you can push a button and out flows reams of paper with every post to the internet I've ever made. Well, except for this one . . . NickD

I'd read they were both pilot's rigs, but your version brings up some interesting clues. I'm thinking your average paratrooper of the time wouldn't know how to pack so that could mean he was either a military rigger or an older/uncurrent sport jumper not familiar enough with the PC to repack it. But, did he really need to repack at all, as asking for more than one rig raised the possibility of his taking one of the crewmembers with him and thus ruled out sabotaging the rigs. Maybe he was just overly paranoid or in his nervousness he zapped the rig open by mistake. On the winds, well who really knows, what they were doing where and when he landed. And even if they were high a tree landing may have made the landing more survivable then less so. The fact they've never found the parachute, besides the fact it's an awful big search area, leads me to think he landed okay, got the rig out of the tree, and buried it. The money the young boy found in the river mud was probably planted, to make it appear he didn’t make it, and a smart thing to do in hindsight. The FBI is/was approaching this all wrong. The denigrated the guy, as a lowdown criminal scumbag taking a wild ass chance, and mainly because he beat them. (And during a time when J. Edgar Hoover is prancing around his office in a tutu). When rather they should have thought, okay, he definitely knew what he was doing, so how did he do it? Either way you've got to admit, of all the great mysteries of our time, this one is a doozy . . . NickD

I had one of those pouches. We called it a Kleenex Box. It came on the first Racer I bought that was not an SST. This was about 1981 . . . It worked fine and I guess might be considered one of the "missing links" between leg mount pouches and BOCs . . . NickD

>>1. Are balloon pilots commercially rated? what does this mean for jumping from Balloons? How does that work.

So . . . did they spring you . . . or did you bust out? NickD

There are thousands of terminal BASE jumps being made throughout the world. And a D-bag still isn't used. There are many reasons for the differences between the gear in BASE and skydiving, and much of it too nuanced to offer up here without lengthy explanation. Simply put, BASE works as well as it does because of something I call the, "BASE Triangle." Simple Gear – Easy Task – Major Commitment Simple Gear - The root reliability of modern BASE equipment stems from using a minimalist approach. In short, parachutes are very reliable devices until you start layering in more steps between activation and full deployment. Easy Task – BASE jumps are not complicated by aircraft emergencies, other jumpers to collide with, or using the gear outside its design element. Major Commitment – The average BASE jumper packing a BASE rig, does so with a skill level that approaches, and often exceeds, parachute rigger standards. NickD

If I have the right incident, and even if I don't . . . What's really blows in this situation is what Judge VanDervort said after a pretty good explanation by the jumpers of why they thought the jumps should be allowed. And this is a judge who's in a position to see the positive effects BASE has on the local area. The judge said he wished he could, "hold the jumpers’ chutes until their fines are paid in full," but he said forfeiture regulations prevent him from doing so. He went on to say, "It never ceases to amaze me that the people into BASE jumping are all college graduates, some are university professors, ... and it is incomprehensible to me ... that they are willing to take that risk. ... Please understand that we must follow the law, and we will. It’s just so darn dangerous, you see." Okay your honor – how many people are injured, and in some cases killed, on the New River while rafting and such? How many climbers and cavers are injured in the area? What's the freaking difference? The difference is in your own prejudice simply because you can personally relate, on some level, to those other sports but not to parachuting. A judge, to call himself such, should be able to rise above that sort of thing. Danger, in and of itself, is not the test of anything being, or not being, a worthwhile pursuit . . . NickD

>>was this guy safe or also cheap and put everyone at risk with his tactics?

It used to be these guys were unflappable, but check out this silly twit . . . http://www.londonist.com/archives/2007/02/royal_guard_goe.php NickD

Colin owned ParaTech, and I believe it was passed onto a new owner who was injured jumping (?) and that was in 2004, I think . . . Here's the last contact info I have: 250-542-1657 paratechrigging@hotmail.com. NickD

We had a DZO in Southern California in the late 80s who flew jumpers with a PP license and also worked on the plane without an A&P license. In his case it wasn't an "old hand" thumbing his nose at the FAA, it was just he was cheap and greedy SOB. He sucked every dime he could out of what used to be a pretty good DZ then cashed out, bought a yacht, and sailed off into the sunset. I agree that "jump pilot" should be a stand alone rating. When a pilot wants to tack a rating onto his ticket, like a sea plane rating, he goes to the FAA for the stamp, but he first goes to "Joe's Seaplane School" for the training. If I recall correctly, there have been some attempts at "Jump Pilot School" in the past but it doesn't seem to have caught on. Some DZs will advertise their pilots have trained at someplace like "Flight Safety" in Florida, but the emphasis there doesn't fully address the role of a jump pilot. Someone like Chris (diverdriver) should start such a school. But, it still wouldn't work unless we (individual jumpers & USPA) demanded prospective pilots attend. This would put the "pro" back in pro-active. Sooner or later after some innocent tandem passenger is killed on the way to altitude some smart lawyer is going to stand in front of a wuffo jury and say, "Sure, Sky King here had all the proper FAA ratings, but he didn't know squat about parachute operations!" BTW, Chris, as one "Lister" to another, nice job on the accident database . . . NickD

Volkswagon is running a new TV ad campaign touting three 2007 models for the low price of $17,000. In 1971 I purchased my first new car, a brand new Volkswagon Super Beetle for $1,700. I handed the guy 17 one hundred dollar bills and he handed me the keys . . . I understand the economics of it, but damn! NickD

"Animal Farm" by George Orwell, was written in 1945 and was one of the very first books I read. Highly recommended!!! Oh, and I'd apologize for the hijack, but it's more of a save . . . NickD

They're coming to a wrong conclusion on the news. She asked to have her head shaved, and the hairdresser refused, and the news inferred something in that. A California licensed beautician (cosmetologist) cannot by law use a straight razor. Only licensed Barbers can . . . I know as I am one. They could, of course, have done it with the clippers, so she was probably acting pretty strange if they wouldn't. BTW, she did a crappy job on herself, it looked patchy . . . NickD

Sheesh, this sport is circling the drain . . . NickD

Earl J. Cossey is still listed in the FAA database as a Private Pilot and Master Rigger (his seal symbol is HF9) and his last medical was in 1976. If he's still alive, or not, is another thing as the FAA is notoriously bad at keeping their records up to date. There's a rule saying they must be notified within 30-days of a certificate holder's death, but they have no power to enforce that on anyone, least of all the airman in question, as they're dead . . . Jo, if you want his last known address PM me . . . NickD