0
drenaline

The truth of the Paracommander

Recommended Posts

close to trailers, aircraft, trees, powerlines,
lawn chars, toys, etc. not to mention that
it looks rock hard

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quote
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


...And THAT was the open area!!!

With the "Get it or Go in" attitude of the day,
we took those things into places
a wiser person surely wouldn't!

But then again we were pretty good on them too!
__________________________________________________

Funny, that reminds me of my first trip to Fla in '79. Was jumping a Sierra, a lightweight copy of a PC. Headed over from z-hills to Jimmy Godwin's Eustis, planning to go on to Deland the next day. I had, let's see, about 25 jumps (I think I had 19 before we went down). My first jump in Eustis I'm coming in, see the bowl, head for and land right by it, so close my canopy dropped down pretty much into the packing area. I was feeling pretty good to myself, took off the harness and was thinking about packing up when I hear "How many jumps do you have!?! What the hell are you doing landing here!?!" Jimmy Godwin is roaring at me.

"Well, this is the bowl isn't it?" I said, pointing to it. "That's the EXPERIENCED JUMPERS' BOWL!" he says. "STUDENTS are supposed to be landing at the STUDENT TARGET over there! You need at least a hundred jumps to land here!!!" He was pointing towards the horizon where I could see, if I just lifted myself up onto my toes, the glint of the Florida sun shining off a small hill of peas over on the horizon.

Never landed at the experienced landing area at Eustis again...

The guy scared the crap out of me at the time. But I was still pretty proud of myself.
If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead.
Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

change the air in
my tires and shave the cat's ass...



***

I jumped it a few years ago out at Elsinore,
should have done MY tires instead!;)

I was sore for a week!!:|


I got out solo on a low pass to have
the peas to myself and not create any
traffic problems...:)

Three comments were made to me:

Looks like you need some windsock instruction...:o
(got 2 meters on the disk, downwind)

Is that thing SUPPOSED to have
all those holes in it???B|

And,
Geeze...ya would think something that
weighs that much, would come down
SLOWER!!!:S

Maybe I'll take it out again next year when
I'm ready to make # 3000.....:$

Then again....
Maybe NOT!:ph34r:










~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Hi Airtwardo

The last time we jumped a PC was about 10 years ago:S. For some reason I didn't recall the landiings "back in the day' to be so abrupt:(

I don't think as we get older that we can't handle the landings we were making "way back when" but over the years our (mine) waist size has been increasing so the suspended weight under the canopy is increasing. (W/L ??)

Us little boy's are now big boy's and the big boy's are "filling out".:(

I don't mind putting on the years it's the lb's the lb's:( we're doomed we're all doomed:P

R.I.P.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Maybe I'll take it out again next year when
I'm ready to make # 3000.....:$

Then again....
Maybe NOT!:ph34r:



Me, me, me. Can I watch, please, please..........?:P
Sparky (I used to be a Para Medic)

PS: I'll bring the Ice Cream!B|
My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Me, me, me. Can I watch, please, please..........?
Sparky (I used to be a Para Medic)

PS: I'll bring the Ice Cream!



Hey I will jump ANYTHING into the water... I LOVE water jumps. I have a StratoStar and a Strato Cloud I plan on taking into the water at Lost PRairie...IF I can find a PC or a PAP I would do one of those as well.
I did a T-10 jump last May and.. yeah.. I dont remember a 35' round as coming down THAT FAST in the 70's:S

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Quote

Me, me, me. Can I watch, please, please..........?
Sparky (I used to be a Para Medic)

PS: I'll bring the Ice Cream!



Hey I will jump ANYTHING into the water... I LOVE water jumps. I have a StratoStar and a Strato Cloud I plan on taking into the water at Lost PRairie...IF I can find a PC or a PAP I would do one of those as well.
I did a T-10 jump last May and.. yeah.. I dont remember a 35' round as coming down THAT FAST in the 70's:S



Hi Amazon

Uh Uh......70's-2000's. Thats 30 years @ 2 lbs/yr That's a lot of extra "suspended weight". Or it might be that those rounds always landed like that and we just forgot:S. Or the rigs are just old:)
"Back in the day"[:/] There were 2 diferent kind of frenchie's (boots). Maybe it's time for someone to design a senior citizen model to help us older folks land those old tired canopies.:P

R.I.P.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I only picked up 1 pound per year over the last 30years. Now I"m a whopping 150lbs.

I jumped my wife's old short-lined Pap last month and did kinda wonder how it would be in tennis shoes instead of "Frenchies."

Stood it up in the peas though.( just like riding a bike)
GW685,D3888,C5052,SCS843

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Good God Airtwardo, maybe it's just the
angle of the picture but that landing
area in the second picture looks awfully
close to trailers, aircraft, trees, powerlines,
lawn chars, toys, etc. not to mention that
it looks rock hard.



***

Couple more pics of 'ye old landing area' ;)

Note the slung reserve and open chest strap...

Remember when you needed a 'Packing Stake'?










~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Remember when you needed a 'Packing Stake'?



And someone to give you tension! Yes, I do.

The first thing you could show a student was how to give tension. It was a good way to get them involved and explain the process of doing the four line check, flaking, etc. Boy, it's been a long time since I packed a round. I don't know if I could do it properly anymore.
--
Murray

"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Us little boy's are now big boy's and the big boy's are "filling out".

I don't mind putting on the years it's the lb's the lb's we're doomed we're all doomed



***


Hey Slug...speak for yourself!:P

I was 225 in college and I'm still 225!:$

Of course the C. G. has changed quite a bit!:o










~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
***


Hey Slug...speak for yourself!:P

I was 225 in college and I'm still 225!:$

Of course the C. G. has changed quite a bit!:o



225# Damn that was hardcore. Small airplane big body, but who's going to tell you no. Let me guess you were first out:P

I think the change in C.G. is called middle age "shift".

Arch? I've got a built in air deflector:)
R.I.P.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Quote

And someone to give you tension!



***

Hummmm...

Never heard it call THAT before! :ph34r:


Ohhhh!
You mean PACKING tension!!!;)



You're thinking of "relieving your tension"....;)
--
Murray

"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Quote

Me, me, me. Can I watch, please, I have a StratoStar and a Strato Cloud I plan on taking into the water at Lost PRairie...IF I can find a PC or a PAP I would do one of those as well.



Hey Jeane,....I bought that boat I was talking about. In fact I just pulled it out of the river a few hours ago and love it. I'll bring it to Lost Prairie if you need a pick-up crew. If you talk to Fred, ask him if he still has his old Red Devil P.C. Back in the 70's he and I had the only two solid-red para-commanders in the state.

Now that I'm forty lbs. heavier than I was back then, a water jump does make since. (And yes it is all muscle!)...Steve1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Hi Dude,
To start with, I really like the skull with the "twisted" cig!! About the P.C. Read all the posts and everyone has a lot of good info. Big thing was that when it came out, we had a 24' dia. canopy that came down "slower" than a 28' dia. canopy!! Stand up landings were the rule and sure beat the hell out of crashes!!!! Through this whole thread though, of all the mods and hybrid configs. (MK-II, Comp. P.C., Russian P.C., etc.) nobody mentioned the MK-69 MOD-O Command-O-Flex-Cross-Wing!!!!!!!!!! Now that was the ultimate High performance "round" canopy!!! There was an article or two about it in Scare-a-chutist mag. and I believe Gene Hunnel's " DZ-USA rag. Anyway, I believe it would have gone into production and run circles around everything in the air at "that" time but the project engineer blew all his R&D $$ at the DZ. BTW, without looking in my archives, I believe that article was in the April(Fool) issue of Scare-a-chutist!!!! It was still fun though, just like reading this thread!!
After being around this great sport for 40 years now, it's fun to see how everyday dropzone events that we used to take for granted in the old daze have evolved into "bonfire legends!!" I love this sport!!!!
SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
10-4 Sparky!!
Yes Ed Vickry did develope the Para-Commander as you say and the part about Jerry B. bringing back the "ascending -Lemoigne or what-ever canopy" is correct. When Ed left Pioneer and came to work at Irvin Aerospace in N.C. as the VP of Engineering I was the Lead Rigger in the loft. We got to talking and of course we got int the development of the P.C. He told how they took this french ascending canopy and configured crown lines on it to be able to pack and deploy it. Then he said that he still had that original canopy in his archives!!! Well, we got him to bring it to the loft and we got a good look at it! Too much fun. When he moved out to Ca. to be the head honcho of Irvin's Engineering dept., I boxed the P.C. back up and gave it to him. He's retired now but lives somewhere near "yall." give him a ring and maybe you can get him to drag it out again. That canopy is a treasure!!
SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Pioneer, Pioneer come and tell me.
How can I get a special color P.C.
Without buying a twenty-five canopy lot.

I want my design so badly.
But my bank account looks sadly.
Won't you please put something in the pot.

So I'm taking up a collection.
Buying my P.C. section by section.
So far I've bought a connector link.

If things keep going at this rate.
Date of completion should not be too great.
Twenty years should do it, I should think.

P.I., P.I. come to save me.
Sold me a special color P.C.
Its a beautiful black and blue.

Made a down wind crash and burn.
Guess that I will never learn.
Now, my body's black and blue too.


-------------------------------------
My Dad is sending me his old Paracomander.
It's black and blue! I can't wait.
I'm behind the bar at Sloppy Joe's....See ya in the Keys!

Muff 4313

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

0