JerryBaumchen

Hi steve, Get some old ripcord (with sufficient length) with the same type of handle that you will need for your new ripcord. Pack the rig up, put your 'dummy' ripcord in the pocket and thread the cable/pins through the housing, then do your best to figure out the necessary pin spacing (one way is to put some masking tape on the cable and mark on the tape where you want the pins), then remove the 'dummy' ripcord and measure it out so that you can send this information onto whomever you want to make it for you. I would advise allowing at least 2 inches for the ball to be beyond where the cable goes through the ripcord handle. I hope that you can understand what I am trying to convey to you. You might just consider getting two ripcords made so that you have a backup. Hope that this gets you going in the right direction, JerryBaumchen

Hi howard, You're getting down to the bottom of the barrel now. I think it was an R&D project as a replacement for military paratroopers. A precursor to what Para-Flite (oops, Airborne Systems) is now producing. Was it glued together? I seem to remember something like that about it. NO, I do not want to jump it. JerryBaumchen

A Thousand Clowns. Most have never even heard of it, JerryBaumchen

Hi bill, One thing you never had to worry about at Sheridan was a 'program.' As I have mentioned before, it was the one dz that I NEVER sent a student to. JerryBaumchen

Hi raptor, He was Jim Lowe, D-855 and the 1969 US National Champion. JerryBaumchen

Hi jump, Ironically, just yesterday I happened to be driving by the now-defunct airport where I made my first jump in early '64. The 'loft' was just an old lean-to with a dirt floor, some very poorly built packing tables, that was nailed to another building. We jumped about nine miles away, into whatever field someone would let us land in. There was no such thing as a 'manifest,' you just started talking and a 3-4-5 of us would load into the V-77 and head for altitude. Most of the day was spent driving out to the 'dz' to pickup people who had jumped. JerryBaumchen

Hi Rob, Actually, Jamie Woodward's wife ( a Master Rigger ) made a lot of drogues for his Strong tandem rigs. He actually got some form of 'FAA-approval' to build them. Strong fought it vigorously but in the end Jamie built his own. JerryBaumchen

Hi Jim, Not to beat a dead horse: Back, many years ago, when Dan Poynter was the chairman of the committee charged with writing a new TSO standard he asked me if I would like to be a part of it. I, of course, immediately said YES; and spent the next 20 yrs or so on that committee. My first submittal to the committee included a recommendation to changing the Strength Test req'ment that the very same sample of product must be used for all three Strength Test drops. This recommendation was accepted by the committee and that req'ment has remained in all versions of the TSO standard to this date. My concern then was that the TSO C23(b) req'ment of three Strength Test drops did not require that the same sample be used. This lead me to believe that it would be possible to develop a product that would not take subsequent loadings, i.e., just make up three canopies ( or whatever product you were testing ) and run each one through one of the test drops only, the sample(s) would pass the testing and then the product could be put on the market. I felt that this could lead to a product(s) that could be weakened during a high speed opening but not to the extent that a field rigger could find that weakening during normal I & R. If I remember correctly, Sandy Reid discovered this situation when he was doing the Strength Test drops for his Talon harness & container. He once told me that [ using canopies certificated under TSO C23(b) ] often after the 2nd drop test he could see some weakening and then failure on the 3rd drop test; occasionally he saw the weakening after the 1st drop test and failure during the 2nd drop test; I understood that he was referring to round canopies. IMO, by requiring that the same sample be subjected to all three Strength Test drops you build redundancy into the product. I believe that this results in a higher level of safety to the end user. Just a bit of history & trivia for those that might be interested, JerryBaumchen

Hi howard, I've read a lot of his writings and when it comes to 'I can point out lots of errors' so can anyone who was there 'back in the day.' It is too bad that all those errors are there because someday that will be considered the truth. One small example: Lyle Cameron did not start SKYDIVER magazine, he took it over/bought it after it had been around about a year. JerryBaumchen

Hi hiighspeed, Back in 'the day' Steve Snyder told me that he could not understand how the Tri-Con ever made it through the Strength Test req'ment of the TSO. His concern was the flat profile; he said that the design/geometry of the canopy loaded this area of fabric way too high for it to hold together upon a 'firm' opening. A 'normal' conical canopy, with the high profile, has a very low fabric loading because of the angle of the material to the onrushing air. JerryBaumchen

Hi Strato, The first ParaCommanders hit the market in late Spring-early Summer of '64. Just so you will know, JerryBaumchen

Hi Nick, What might be considered even more important, he brought back the sleeve he discovered in France. It finally made the opening shock tolerable. JerryBaumchen

Hi Wendy, Would you mind getting a bag for me also? This one is going to get entertaining. JerryBaumchen

20 Jan 2009 End of an Error

Hi Tom, My first logbook, purchased in early '64, only had the Distance Fallen Chart. You made your own calculations depending on what altitude you opened at. Also, the first piggybacks came out in Spring '64. JerryBaumchen

Here is another source: John Heathcoat & Co., Ltd. Westexe, Tiverton, Devon EX165LL England UK Phone: 44 (0) 1884 254949 www.heathcoat.co.uk info@heathcoat.co.uk JerryBaumchen

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. JerryBaumchen

Hi zig, Early gut-pack risers (ala military) had two links on each side, four connector links in total. Then sometime in the '70's or so, Security put their 26 ft LoPo onto a single link on each side. Previously it had been with two links on each side (gut-pack or piggyback) with a clove hitch. When they went to the single link on each side they merely went around the link then put a half-hitch into the lines. This gave them the room for all of the lines (1/2 of the canopy lines) onto a single link. I hope that you can understand this; I don't even think I am explaining it very well . About that same time some folks were untwisting the lines on the canopies with the clove hitch to fit onto the single-link risers; it looked kind of goofy but the lines would fit onto the links. Check Poynter's original Parachute Manual, you will find the results of some testing that I did with lines that were built with clove hitch and then untwisted (I'm too lazy to go look it up; and it's me ). When Strong built his StyleMaster in the late '60's he used a single leg riser (one each side) for the gutpack reserve but he made the loop at the top of the riser large enough so you could put one link or two links in each end. Kinda strange but it worked. JerryBaumchen

Well, at the First POPs World Meet in Australia in '90 someone scheduled a 'demo' load into a schoolyard. I got elected to spot it from 3500 ft out of that elongated Beaver that they have down there; as I was lining her up one guy said "How about a 4-way." So it was "Hell yes, want do ya want to do?" Someone says a star & something else (which I do not remember). The first four of us just grabbed onto each other on exit, did the 4-way and almost got the 2nd point. I think I unpacked about 1800 and saw two other guys below me. Got my face on national tv later that night. These things can be done! JerryBaumchen

Hi howard, I think Zing has it correct. Looks like the reserve was in a gut-pack; and check the line twists. JerryBaumchen

Hi winsor, A month or so after the LoadStall went in north of Seattle 20+ years ago, Tom Classen (who was in it) told me he was stuck opposite the open door, pressed against the side of the aircraft, and could not even lift an arm up & suddenly he found himself in freefall outside of the aircraft. He had no idea how he got outside of the aircraft. JerryBaumchen

Hi Jay, I went to your 'clicky' and found about one paragraph and a couple of sentences. The report I had was about 4-5 pages and maybe a 1/2 dozen photos. Not being negative; just commenting. JerryBaumchen PS) Deb, Elevator said that would Jim wear his pilot rig when flying that bird; and he believed that he was trying to get out when it went in. My thinking is why would he blow the doors unless he wanted to get out. The lone 'eye witness' (an ultalight pilot flying in the area) said that the plane first nosed over about 1300-1500 feet, it then came back nose level or so, the doors blew and it nosed over again and went it. A couple months before it happened I was having dinner with Jim in the Issaquah area (we go back to when I first started jumping in early '64 and we were born the same year) and we got talking about life and things in general. He told me that he had it in his will that he was to be cremated and scattered within 24 hours of his death. I heard about the crash in the afternoon of that day, called to Perris and talked to Jim Perry about trying to get Lowe to a crematorium as soon as possible. But Perry was nervous about doing anything (only Jim's attorney & Jamie Woodward had copies of his will) and by the next day Jim's family in West Virginia got involved and stopped everything. They called the shots after that. But he did finally got cremated and then scattered out of a P-51, his last flight.

Hi usedta, It was not during any cert. course. It had some quite good looking female as the passenger and (I think) it was part of some promo via a local tv station. I haven't looked at it for quite some time, though. Also, when you look at the video (as a jumper) it makes you think that they made more than one jump with this woman; although the storyline suggests only one jump. JerryBaumchen PS) I actually got the video from Rouillard many years ago.

Hi TKATC, I'm sending a harness/container to France later this week and the phone quote from US Postal Service is $47.00 including $500 of insurance. JerryBaumchen

Hi Dropped, IMO Strong was way ahead of Booth in the development of a tandem rig. If I remember correctly (and don't bet any $$$ on it) Strong had his rig on the market at least a year before Booth. I 'think' the very original Strong rigs were designed to be static-lined from the aircraft due to any delay causing hard openings and canopy damage. Strong once told me that on the very first jumps on their prototype tandem they had a 26 ft LoPo conical for a reserve canopy. I have a very early video of Jerry Rouillard doing a tandem without a drogue when he was operating a dz in Dallas, TX. It has a clip of Strong explaining just what his concept was for this type of parachute system; and it was not as a circus ride as we have today. If interested, drop me an email. JerryBaumchen PS) IMO (again), if you want the very early history then I would recommend contacting Strong.