howardwhite

For those who want to act on Woody's challenge, contributions may be sent to the Museum (currently based at USPA): The National Skydiving Museum 5401 Southpoint Centre Blvd. Fredericksburg, VA 22407 Phone: 540-604-9745 or at the Museum web site via PayPal: http://www.nationalskydivingmuseum.org/ Museum trustees met recently again with designers and started revisions on the original building plan.They also drew up an outline for discussion of the specifics of the museum's contents and the "museum experience." They are also interviewing candidate for the position of Museum Administrator. I expect there will be more to report after the meeting of the full board of trustees next month. HW

And Rick celebrated his thousandth, resulting in slime and pie... HW

The Twin Otter in this movie is N121PM, then at Cal City, CA (and Edwards AFB), now spending the summer at Pepperell, MA. HW

http://www.carbonezone.com/

The birthday cake, before and sort of after.... HW

Just for the record, it's Charlie Hillard, not Hilliard. HW

Well, it was long, but it had a lot of empty space in it. HW

Lew Sanborn and Jacques-André Istel hold the U.S.patent on the attached sleeve (see first page of patent.) Their claim notes: "The most important disadvantage of the prior art sleeve was its separability from the parachute. After the canopy inflated, the sleeve was carried away from the jumper by the pilot parachute. In sport jumping, this is undesirable because of the difficulty in locating the sleeve after the jump and the expense incurred in replacing lost sleeves. For military purposes, the separability of sleeve and parachute is an even more serious problem. A lost sleeve can inform the enemy that a parachutist has been landed in their territory." The patent was filed in 1957, one of the early "products" of their then-new company, Parachutes, Inc. HW

I'm also saddened to hear about Mac. I jumped at Tampa Bay Parachute Ranch both before and after the incident described in the news story, and heard him talk about calling McDill to have the runway foamed. It was not altogether surprising that the 182 gear gave up. The "airport" was a cow pasture, complete with real cows, which had to be shooed away from the plane in the morning, and with real cow pies. Among those jumping there at the time was Richard Bach, of "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" fame. He occasionally flew in in a de Havilland Dove, but no one jumped out of it, as far as I know. A friend who was there at the time remembers his young son asking Bach for an autograph. "I don't do that," Bach said. Later, Bach landed in a tree. My friend walked by and heard Bach yelling for help getting down. "I don't do that,"my friend replied. HW

The women judges at that event (Tahlequah, '73) were: Lorrie Young (4-way) Lynda Ballard Betty Giarusso Diane Sherman Gerri Solis HW

...or this. (I have the Parachutist with the list of judges, but I can't quite figure out who these ones are.) HW

From the web site (advertised here) of http://www.4xtremetime.com/en/page/: 4xtremetime Skydiving Center is the first professional free-fall school in Belgium. Our mission is to promote actively this sensational sport at: * the young people * Individuals who want get acquainted with the sport by means of an initiation jump * people who want make their hobby of skydiving, by an intensive formation * companies which want incinerate their customers and employees in an original manner

Hold it right there. I resent a thread with my name in it being included in a thread about DB Cooper, Hooper, and bad taste.

I can 'cuz I have the magazine. But that would be cheating, no? HW

Sure, no problem. I look pretty much the same now. HW

Here's the real deal... "THE WORKS: SKYDIVING (Thursday, September 18 at 10pm ET/PT) "Many of us have marveled to see a man whizzing to earth in free fall wondering how it’s possible. Now, we’re uncovering the physics, biology and technology behind skydiving. Its history in World War II aside, skydiving today has many surprising applications, from law enforcement to fire jumping, that few ever consider. Find out firsthand why free falling is so thrilling physiologically and how scientists are using skydiving to develop new technology for undersea, outer space and medical uses." Meanwhile, two pics (which I notice I already posted once).. one with a Pepperell double rainbow, the other with the TV crew getting sound from the show host (not visible). He made a tandem, flew in the SkyVenture NH tunnel, and narrated wingsuit jumps while hanging out the door of 121PM. More in the September Parachutist. And 121PM made a field trip in July to Orange, MA, where it flew big-way formation loads with Jumptown's Otter. We've had the pleasure of VP Sr.'s company here lately. HW

This one sat on the ramp at Connecticut Parachutists Inc. for several months a bunch of years ago before the owner finally gave up on trying to get permission to use it for jumping; note that it's clearly labeled "Experimental." There was also one at Finger Lakes Skydivers in New York for a long time, but the FAA told the owner in no uncertain terms that he'd better not let anyone jump out of it. HW

I don't, offhand, recognize the people, but the location is (I didn't even need to look at the names of the pictures) .. Z-Hills. I jumped out of that 196 both in that paint job and in its later rainbow configuration. Mid 70s. You can see the 196 and other Z-Hills planes of the time in a little movie clip here. HW

Depending on which 206 it is, it wlll either climb as well as or faster than the Otter. The fast one did an impressive job as the chase plane for the History Channel taping. Dunno how the CASA fits into the mix. Of the two remaining 206s, one is at another DZ, and the other is on summer vacation, so not likely to be there. HW

Lowell died in late February, just after returning from the PIA Symposium in Barcelona with Dori and Curt. His "celebration of life" event in Chicago was wonderful -- more than 450 people, including many well-known skydivers -- paid tribute to him. The new Para-Gear catalog has a great tribute to its founder. Johnny Higgins was in Barcelona and at the Bachman event. HW

I bought a Maxtor Firewire/USB 1 TB drive from Micro Center a couple of weeks ago for $179 HW

So, those who jumped at Indiantown will remember John Coppe as your pilot. Here he is in April, 2008, with Lenny Potts at the Lowell Bachman memorial party. When I told him I had his signature in my logbook from 1968, he seemed skeptical. But when I reminded him of his admonition -- don' t throw beer bottles out of the plane on the way up -- beer cans are o.k. -- he believed me. HW

This would better be posted in History and Trivia, where people who actually jump this stuff are more likely to see it. That said.... -It is not enough to "understand how Capewells work." You should have a hanging harness set up for practice -- lots of practice -- not just on how to release your main but also how to deploy a belly reserve; -The reserve will be a round canopy. It should go without saying that it is probably old. Make sure it's inspected and packed by a rigger who is at least as old as the canopy; -Same for finding a harness and container(s). And for packing the main; -Practice your PLFs. There are a number of people around here who have collections of well-maintained old gear and jump it regularly. (I'm not one of them.) It's not, as you rightly suggest, inherently dangerous. HW

There's also this one. HW