wartload

I'm glad this thread is about thermals, otherwise you might be drifting off topic. As it is, though, your skirt's clearly been blown up ... a thermal if ever I saw one! How am I s'posed to answer that "Who are you?" question, anyway?

Promises ... promises! You're such a tease!

Clicky for a look at a very faded crossbow logo as it appeared on the early systems. Clicky Again to see the reserve ripcord "blast" handle (26ftconical, does this look like the original, or was it replaced before I got it?) Note the yellow lanyard that connected to the left risers. The other end attached to the reserve ripcord housing, which was snapped onto the reserve container (Clicky). When the main was cut away, the housing pulled away, snatching our the pins ... FAST! The conical reserve deployed within about 75 feet. Also note the nylon plug in the reserve ripcord housing. It was intended to keep pea gravel from getting into the housing and jamming the ripcord. These were originally in both ends of the main ripcord housing, too, but most were later removed. There's also a pic of the One Shot releases, if you aren't too tired to Click again. The piece of white suspension cord shown in the last two pics was connected at the other end to the reserve container ... just in case it didn't want to open for some reason. This is one of the first of the famous "Jesus Strings" (aka "Oh SH**! Strings) ever installed.

Click Here to see an early Crossbow system, minus the main canopy. This is one of the oldest pig rigs around -- possibly the fourth one made after the two prototypes.

Click Here to see one of the original Crossbow system handles. The lead stop (an oval fishing sinker) was removed from this one by a nervous rigger, but I never dropped it. The "bend" in it curved it away from the chest, making it easier to grip in FF. There were two spring-steel clips inside the ripcord pocket that held the thing secure.

Yeah, but the pudding is too far away to try it out.

QuoteWartlord: Part 1 reply] Oh, GOOD!! I'm presuming that this is the first part of a 50-part series of postings ... please?

"I'd prefer the courtesy of the singed nuts?"

26ftconical - Do you happen to know if a lead stop on the ripcord (to keep it from being lost) was part of the original design, or if some rigs had that later, to prevent the loss of the unique ripcord & handle?

As soon as I can be home on a day when there's enough daylight to haul it outside, I'll take some pics of one of these original rigs, making sure to note all of these features. This appears to be one of the original Crossbow rigs that Abbott made for the 1964 U.S. Team: One shots Blast handle reserve Big-mutha trapezoidal main ripcord handle Automatic reserve lanyard & pull-away reserve ripcord housing Jeeziz String (aftermarket addition) Gravel stop on ripcord housing (one still on it) Zipper for closing main pack Other stuff that I might have forgotten

He seemed to be doing pretty well for an old fart who has outlived several species of dinosaurs. His sense of humor is clearly still intact.

Sorry ... we need proof. Post pictures!

Dayum! You started this one out SOOO well! Hmmm ... I was hoping that you might be into that!

I believe that her standard line, when asked if she used a reserve, was, "Oh, yes! I always had a reserve parachute on the ground in case the one that I was using got wet or torn!" As a bonus, I recently was in WalMart and they had a bunch of DVDs for a buck each. One of them was a collection of clips from from Groucho's "You Bet Your Life" television show. Imagine what a great buy that DVD turned out to be when one of the guests was Tiny!

Yeah, if your name is Dave Letterman. Others usually spell it, "hypnotist" (or "mesmerist"), but that's close enough for the Internet.

Yes ma'am ... answering question here! Wart loads were manifested during the time that some of the folks at the DZ had gone to pig rigs, but some still had a chest "wart" to contend with in the plane. The latter group usually didn't fly as well as the former, so for awhile, at least, they tended to jump together. So far as I know, I don't have any of the other sort of warts -- just the usual nasty stuff that every fun person has.

Who are you? Sparky -- If he doesn't introduce himself pretty soon, I'll be tempted to out him. In the meantime, don't hesitate to ask him any questions that you always wanted to know concerning early canopy designs ... in almost all cases, he WILL know the answer!

I'm SO glad I wasn't the only one who thought of that when his name was announced!!! No, that would be John Ratzenberger. Close enough for pontifical work.

Hmmm ... I'll bet that I can guess who posted these last messages! I still need to look for that serial number in the sunlight!

I'd be *very* nice to you!

I can just hear the PR committee of the College of Cardinals now: "Ok, guys, most of the other princes think that we need to stick to the conservative hard-line approach. That's what the world is wanting these days, sorta like Bush II over there in America. We aren't sure about it, so why don't we blow some Ratzinger smoke up the chimney and see who cheers it? If it's a bust, he can always fall off the Popemobile and break a hip, or something. Then we can all get back here again in a few months, have a few more good meals (Tell Tony that he gets 347 thumbs up for the linguini, by the way!), and put someone in there that will be a real keeper!"

I'm taking on new clients and I still have some stalking time open on my calendar. Interested?

They were all in a hurry to get the vote over with, so that they could go back to the Vatican Inn and watch TV broadcasts of Bush visiting the new Abe Lincoln museum.

EDITThis message cancelled due to great minds thinking alike, but one of them not being smart enough to read the first posting all the way through!

Thanks for the compliment. I try to please. Good stalkers are at a premium these days, so I'm thinking of leaving Stalkers'R'Us and going out on my own.