andrewhilton

Strong Stylemaster?

Can anyone help identify this North American harness/container? I have a few ideas as to what it might be but can't be sure. It has no identifying labels but has a few features of another design I know of, I wonder if its a genuine evolution of that (I'll name it in a while, lets see what answers we get in the meantime) or a copy. It has no chest strap, presumably the feeling was that the chest mounted reserve would do that job (as long as it remained clipped on both sides.....) and no legstrap hardware. Thanks for any help.

Poynters Clicky

As a British rigger I can advise that TSE have superb customer service ; and just as with any skydiving gear, the manufacturer is a great first point of contact for any matters of concern. If you haven't already, then please speak to Sally or Chris - contacts on http://www.thomas-sports.com/ - I'm sure they will help you and would like to hear more.

There were a few of these left over in Scotland in the late 1980s ; we called them Sodfarms too, though there was no datapanel on them. All in extreme late 1970s earth colour combos - orange, green, beige, brown etc. A similar rig albeit with R3's was on ebay at the end of last year with what looked like a Stratoflyer main.

Slots diagram attached showing differences between Mk1 , Mk2 and Competition PCs

To get back to Howard's quiz here are the official names of the colour schemes - 1. New Red, White and Blue 2. Church Window 3. Carrousel 4. 007 5. Super Checkerboard 6. Gold Keyhole 7. New Dark Blue Tel Star 8. Black and Gold Checkerboard 9. Firebird 10. Thunderball 11. The Black Knight 12. Aztec We've already seen my "Merry Widow" as posted by Beatnick Here is the 1968 menu of colours as well as a picture of a real Carousel. The Competition PC image I posted is called a "Sir Knight". Can anyone advise if PCs were available at all in custom build colours?

Here's a colour and slots scheme for a Competition PC showing indeed that the rear window is much bigger than a Mk1. Gary Lewis's PC Handbook shows all the different slots for each PC model too. Anyone recall the name of the colour scheme of this one?

Pic attached of a Church Window...number 2 in Howard's list

I know someone looking for a Thunderbow too ; keep us all posted if it goes to auction.

This is known as Slots3. There are only 2 in existence (at present....). It was designed by Dick Gays in Britain, who is also known for making the "WALLY" canopy in the Wally Gubbins movies, the Olympic rings and Volkswagen Parachutes. Slots3 is a very low bulk, single surface square with a forward speed between that of a PC and a ram air. It was conceived and developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Slots3 is the Mark 3 version, there having been 2 earlier design incarnations. Both of the existing canopies were jumped at the Teuge vintage weekend, and some people are dreaming of making their own ones already.

Here's my Top Secret, with a Switlik 26' reserve and Stratostar inside.

I restore the gear too - it's as interesting as jumping it. None of the stuff listed here is in need of work, its just old

As one of the vintage gear collectors on this forum I bet I'm not alone in accumulating bits and pieces I won’t throw away (I sometimes think I may never throw any gear away again ever). However I do have a growing set of gear that I would be willing to swap and help other collectors with. Others in a similar situation could post their surplus items here and we could all help each other out. Currently I have the following items that fall into this category. PM me if you have any interest, I am more interested in swapping for items I can extend my collection with, rather than selling simply for money Django Pegasus, has many jumps but is fully airworthy, jumped recently to test. 2 x slider installed ParaFlite Stratostar main canopies, airworthy A brand new GQ 6.5m Aeroconical round canopy, dated 1989. Still in the original manufacturer packaging. An Altitude Shop Top Secret Container. Fitted with R3's. Airworthy, not withstanding any required Safety Notices that may still apply. A variety of old hardware and capewells A Thomas Sports Equipment Chaser container - this is a mid 80's British JumpShack Racer copy, with 3 ring and legstrap throwaway main deployment. A ParaFlite slider installed Stratocloud main canopy, looks airworthy, but not yet fully inspected yet.

From Billy in the pic - "It was a Z-hills meet and a Symbiosis team who came 2nd or 3rd People from top left to right - Sandy Spence (Scottish), ??, Billy Somerville (Scotltish), Geoff Sanders, Tony Uragello, Rob Colpus, ??, Dane Kenny, ?? Bottom row from left ??, Fren Keery, ??, Kath McCormack, Jackie Smith and Fred Keery"

"Anyone have any info on how to flake/pack a ParaCommander? My dad just sent me his old gear. Added some photos...... Send me a PM with your email and I will send you packing instructions." -------------- PM me too and I can send my own PC packing instructions with full colour pics. This offer applies to anyone else who's interested. Andrew

Anyone fitting and playing around with Capewells might be interested to see that there are some bargain Capewell fitting tools in the classifieds - http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/classifieds/detail_page.cgi?ID=55776;d=1 $50 including shipping. I know of several purchases of this from this seller and they are what he claims.

See this thread http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2867477 ....for a discussion of what systems you could use to deploy your PC ; you should be able to fit it in a modern student system housing a Manta sized canopy, with a bit of preparation. Andrew Hilton

Found this in Germany last week - 7th Army Team Badge

7th Army Team Brochure from the late 1960's attached.

Richard Stuart is the name of the photographer you're looking for. {No I don't know how to get in touch with hm}

Here's some more pictures to confuse or explain ropes and rings, taken from a Stratocloud manual. I have a Paraplane Cloud with top surface PCR system and a Heavyweight Cloud with a bottom surface PCR, which I can post more pictures of some time. I would like to jump the Paraplane Cloud and wonder if I can just fit a slider - has anyone any experience or memories of doing that - any suggestions of the size of slider to try? Another question - is a Heavyweight cloud the same as a Strato-cloud? I couldn't find any direct reference to Heavyweight clouds in Poynters.... Thanks for any help anyone can provide. Andrew

Russian and Mark 1 PC pictures attached, recently taken