A dream come true...

[anj4de 0]

Hello all

Yesterday I again jumped at my home DZ in Southern Bavaria. A very nice place and club far away from modern tandem factory processes (even though they happen). Small club, very high knowledge/skill level within the membership community, own airfield and hangars, own jump ship! Club members jump everything from 89sqft suicide sqaures to static line military rounds. On Friday we had a very special event though. A very good friend of mine came out to fulfil a dream he has had for a long time, a paracommander jump. The whole project started to materialize after he found a pefect condition yellow-black Pioneer jump suit ob a flee market. Being an Army paratropper and master rigger with a strong intrest in history he figured this could become a "Gloden Knight" outfit. A couple of weeks later a search post on e-bay Germany led to a chute, PC Mk.1, which when it arrived turned out to be in super nice condition. An in debth inspection showed the kit was fully air worthy, getting it certified hence was no problem. So Friday was the big day! Two successful jumps were made, one hop'n pop from 4500ft and a "real" one from 7500ft. My buddy is in heaven...and I am jelous. I had two great SF-10A jumps that day, ok...but that was nothing against the PC jumps. More jumps will for sure follow, the plan for a second rig, a Papplion, is being drawn as I type those lines. Now for myself I would need a "28ft Jumbo" canopy since I am too heavy for a normal 24ft one. I am searching now...so if anybody wants to part from one please let me know.
I am also looking for suche a heavy duty jump suit, preferably in red (Burt Lancaster style!) Are those still being made? US size 48 would be cool. Here some pics from Friady...
cheers
Uwe

For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return.

-Leonardo da Vinci

[Beatnik 2]

Congats to your friend for fulfilling his dream. Jumping a PC is something else.

I think you might be a little disappointed in a Jumbo if you do happen to find one. I have one along with several other parachutes in my collection. While the Jumbo looks just like a larger MK1, it doesn't perform anywhere near it. It is pretty sluggish in comparison. I am not exactly a light guy myself so I don't think it has to do with the load. It doesn't seem that the success of the 24' is directly scalable in size.

[Bob_Church 7]

That's a nice rig. I find myself missing my old Red White and Blue Paracommander more and more these days. I'd like to put a few jumps on one but don't have the gear. Ok, I'll be honest, I can't convince my wife to let me buy another rig. But I would like to get a couple of jumps in on one again.
Please tell your friend "Well Done!" from me.

[wmw999 2,370]

I got to jump a Starlite a couple of years ago. I absolutely loved mine; put 4-500 jumps on it.

It was still really quiet, and all floaty, like it used to be. However, they land a lot harder than they used to when I was in my early 20's

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[Cloggy 1]

Thanks for sharing Uwe, nice photos.
Great to see what people drag from their attics nowadays
Your friend is a braver man than me: going old school all the way! I put a PC Mk1 on three ring risers last year, that's where I drew the limit on the vintage experience.
If you have any use for a NAA Mini System, let me know, it is just gathering dust. Or turning into dust
I like the Paracommander a lot, made many fun jumps with it last year. The landings are a tad harder than on the SF-10a, but nothing bone jarring: PLF not always necessary (I'm ~87kg).
Bart

[Bob_Church 7]

wmw999

I got to jump a Starlite a couple of years ago. I absolutely loved mine; put 4-500 jumps on it.

It was still really quiet, and all floaty, like it used to be. However, they land a lot harder than they used to when I was in my early 20's

Wendy P.

There are several things that I miss about rounds but to be honest I think the main one is being 25.

[FastRodriguez 0]

Hi!

Which dropzone is this? Im a spanish Skydiver living in Munich and im always looking for a smaller dropzone to play at. Nuggets and the rest are tooo tandem oriented :)

"I don´t stop when I am tired. I stop when I am done"

[anj4de 0]

Hi

This is our web page...
https://www.lsg-burgheim.de/

Burgheim is about 1h north/west of Munich between Neuburg and Donauwörth. You're welcome to come and jump with us...

cheers
Uwe

For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return.

-Leonardo da Vinci

[377 21]

Those are great photos! I have a few PC jumps. After making my first 100 jumps on surplus rounds, the PC was an absolute dream.

Beatnik is right about the Jumbo PC. Bigger is not better with PCs. It's counterintuitive but correct. You are better off under a standard size (24 ft) Mk 1 IMO.

377

2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

[JerryBaumchen 1,333]

Hi 337,

Quote

After making my first 100 jumps on surplus rounds, the PC was an absolute dream.

There are not many people on here who can really know what this means. My 27th jump was on PC #363. My first landing was like jumping off of a 4" curb.

Jerry Baumchen

[Bob_Church 7]

JerryBaumchen

Hi 337,

Quote

After making my first 100 jumps on surplus rounds, the PC was an absolute dream.

There are not many people on here who can really know what this means. My 27th jump was on PC #363. My first landing was like jumping off of a 4" curb.

Jerry Baumchen

My student jumps were on a 7-tu. The thing I remember most about those early jumps was the sound of landing. And it's not a pleasant memory.

[377 21]

As long as that sound wasn't a crack, I was happy. The orthopedic surgeons were probably quite disappointed when squares replaced surplus rounds, but then swooping was invented and bountiful times returned.

377

2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

[Bob_Church 7]

377

As long as that sound wasn't a crack, I was happy. The orthopedic surgeons were probably quite disappointed when squares replaced surplus rounds, but then swooping was invented and bountiful times returned.

377

Yeh, but remember those first years of squares? I didn't know anyone except myself who hadn't been hurt under one. I hadn't been, yet. Jim Sizemore remembers walking to the plane then waking up to the machine that goes ping. Nothing in between. Gary Westmoreland had to tie a board to his leg to let him run the heavy equipment at work until his leg grew back together. Then there was my first and second square jump. My first one wasn't too bad, but on the second one I stalled at 30 feet and released the wooden toggles of the Strato Star. I asked them how I watched the ground come up but was looking at the sky when I woke up. "you bounced." Spurgeon was on the payphone to 911 when I started getting up. And I was one of the really lucky ones. Later they came out with High Performance squares like the CruiseLite. As you know, back then high performance meant that the parachute probably *wouldn't* kill you.

[377 21]

Fortunately, I missed the first gen marginal square canopies. I was still jumping a surplus Cheapo at Pope Valley well into the 1970s. I was always years behind the latest gear due to financial constraints arising from college and grad school. When I finally started making decent money in the 90s, the gear had matured and you could buy a conservative square canopy that would deliver creampuff landings reliably. Sometimes being late to the party has advantages.

377

2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

[cnsky54 0]

I have my first Double L freefall canopy in the closet, and a new and unjumped Paracommander Mk 3 in it's bag. Someday I want to fly it but wonder how my knees and legs will like the landing.

[377 21]

I’d sell the PC, you’ll get top dollar for a new one on eBay even if it is a MK 3. Buy a big Triathlon with the proceeds and save those knees. I daydream about jumping my old rounds and then good judgement kicks in. Old bones break easy and heal slowly.

377

2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

[cnsky54 0]

I haven't graduated to zero P. I just put a nice new unused 1985 Fury in my rig. Should last me awhile. Flares nicely, and I'm the last one on the ground from any load.

[377 21]

Fury is a fine conservative canopy. That’s what I jumped before I bought my Triathlon. They handle very similarly. Fury is built like a brick. Look at the line attachment structure. Have fun.

377

2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

[Bob_Church 7]

377

Fortunately, I missed the first gen marginal square canopies. I was still jumping a surplus Cheapo at Pope Valley well into the 1970s. I was always years behind the latest gear due to financial constraints arising from college and grad school. When I finally started making decent money in the 90s, the gear had matured and you could buy a conservative square canopy that would deliver creampuff landings reliably. Sometimes being late to the party has advantages.

377

A couple of the jumper/riggers at Bidwell built their own Strato Flyers by looking at other people's. I ended up jumping one of those for my first two square jumps, which was almost my last jump. But it wasn't the canopies fault, I stalled it then just let go of the wooden toggles. Blammmm.
A couple of years later Neil Drain bought a brand new Strato Cloud and it came with a manual and everything. He read the disclaimer and said "according to this, I could cut this canopy into 12" squares and they don't guarantee I could wipe my ass with it."