howardwhite

http://tiny.cc/srTeM Interesting that he worked with James Cameron, who has a new film out some of you might have heard of. HW

Oddly, the same issue of Spotter had a short piece -- maybe contributed by me -- describing the new deployment system Pioneer was providing for the Volplane, replacing the hydraulic reefing system. Hmm, wonder what that thing was called? HW

Does this help? Orange (for Orange, MA). HW

Maybe, but one of a kind. It was the only Pioneer lopo made with all seven colors the company offered, and was a demo made to show them all off. Otherwise, you could only get any three. It's in good shape, should anyone want to jump it. HW

Here's a picture (published in Parachutist last year) of a 1964 Pioneer lopo jumped in Orange, MA in June 2009. HW

+1 HW

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&categoryId=3556&N=4294966231

Just the messenger. Dunno where the name came from. HW

Yup, Woodstock is where I first knew him. Attached is a pic of David -- in the chair -- on a train trip to Portland, ME a couple of years ago. HW

Well, it (the original picture) is a "Multi-Cell" by Jalbert Aerology Labs; pic was from a '73 Spotter. HW

Here's another, by the same guy. HW

The description accompanying the published (1973) photo refers to "shaped panels, drive holes in the rear and PC type steering slots. The descent rate is said to be very slow." (So it's not a Piglet.) HW

The skydiving world is smaller today with the departure early this morning of David Hersey. If you ever met him, it's unlikely you have forgotten him. Dave was a regular at New England DZs -- CT, MA, and finally Lebanon, ME. You may have remembered him by his long hair and beard -- some thought it a Christ-like appearance. Or you may remember him as the only rigger in the area who gladly packed SSTs and Racers when others found them too challenging. Or you may remember him as adventurous in his choice of canopies -- one of the first in the area to jump a Jonathan. Or you may remember him as a Justice of the Peace, who married many skydiving couples. Dave spent much of his life as a personal assistant -- helping disabled people with every part of their lives. So it was ironic that several years ago he was diagnosed with ALS -- "Lew Gehrig's Disease" -- which left him in a wheelchair but didn't affect his spirit He remained cheerful to his last days, sending New Year's greetings to his many friends on Facebook. He's donated his body to ALS research, and has asked for an ash dive -- with glitter -- when the snow melts in the northern New England he so loved. HW

We're thinking about it. Meanwhile (as I've suggested to you before) we're considering offering "web-ready" (whatever that may be) videos on some physical medium, maybe a thumb drive. HW

Mine, purchased in 1965. From the BSR info inside: HW

OK, obscure, maybe never put into production and probably too late for its potential market. But created by a well-known engineer whose other designs are embodied in canopies still being jumped. HW

Lemme look. I've got stuff. There are, as you probably know, at least two versions of what the acronym "LAGNAF" stands for -- the sanitized version is "Let's All Go North and Fall." HW

Wonder whether it was named for "Gene" Hunnell, the proprietor of DZ USA. HW

Excellent. Maybe we can make a jump together. (My 44th anniversary was just a month ago.) HW

Here, from the scrapbook collection of J. Scrimscher, is a picture of his late father honoring the movie. Ken Vos was one of the jumpers involved in the mid-air canopy collision pictured in Masters of the Sky. If you do a search here for his name, you'll see more details about that incident. HW

It's the [IMG] and [/IMG] thingies.

Dress in layers. Close to freezing on the ground and, of course, colder at 9 grand. 40+ mph winds at altitude. I've been colder. HW

So, you all are tired of seeing pictures in the Pilgrim colors, but this one flew into Ellington, CT Saturday. Its owner, Conrad Taylor, bought it from the estate of the founding president of Pilgrim, Joe Fugere. He took this pic of me standing in front of N7711. HW

I'm guessing it's at Issaquah. My scan is labelled Jamie Woodward. I was at a USPA board meeting there and we had 4-6 Cessna formations there. HW

A pretty picture. If you jumped in this area back in the day, you probably know where and about when this was taken. HW