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RogerRamjet

What are the odds?

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So, I'm on vacation in Rome, Italy with my wife a couple of weeks ago... We go on the Vatican tour where we find ourselves standing in a 2 hour line. We strike up a conversation with the couple who had ridden over on the bus from the hotel with us and come to find out that the husband is an x skydiver. We are on almost all the same tours the rest of the week and he and I exchange many skydiving stories.

I have attached a picture he (Bill Zuchelli) sent me from his skydiving days in the mid 60's.

It really is a small world, isn't it?

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Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

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Cool shot. I love the small camera sidemounted on his helmet.

Main ripcord on the left main lift web or is that the reserve ripcord? I've never seen a front mount reserve ripcord that wasn't on the front of the reserve itself.
--
Murray

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

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Yeah, that's his main ripcord, probably because he shoots with his right hand though maybe he's just left handed. Don't know for sure, but his reserve ripcord is the usual right-hand pull on the belly wart.

If you've packed as many belly warts as I have, you may also note that there is no pilot chute bulge (kinda hard to see at this resolution, but on the full size image I can tell). This a probably a good thing considering the (shudder) two shot capewells.

I only jumped two-shots for my static line jumps (T-10) where we were to hand deploy the reserve in case of a malfunction. I didn't like them even for that and we converted quite a number of those rigs to shot and a halfs over the couple of years I rigged there (I didn't like those much either and installed one-shots on my personal gear). This was not so the static-liners could cut away a mal, but so they could more easily cut away one side in a "being dragged" situation after landing.

In the two years I worked at Z-Hills and the next three jumping there, they never had a static line malfunction with the T-10 system.

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Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

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Here are a couple more photos...

Edit to add:

the group shot caption reads (complete with typos):

In formation (l. to r.): Bill Zuchelli, Upper Darby, a Bell Employe; Jerry Bradley, Glenolden office worker; Tim McGrath, Narberth, parachute rigger.

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Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

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The first guy who jumped a camera, in our club, hung a piece of bailing wire on the front of his motorcycle helmet (for a ring sight). He had to bend it just so, before each jump. Some of those movies had a lot of blurry blue sky and little else....Steve1

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The only thing I have ever cut away with are double shots (not shot and 1/2) with no pilot chute. Worked OK for me..! I'll bet the reserve was twill too. rrrrrip!

jon



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Yeah, that's his main ripcord, probably because he shoots with his right hand though maybe he's just left handed. Don't know for sure, but his reserve ripcord is the usual right-hand pull on the belly wart.

If you've packed as many belly warts as I have, you may also note that there is no pilot chute bulge (kinda hard to see at this resolution, but on the full size image I can tell). This a probably a good thing considering the (shudder) two shot capewells.

I only jumped two-shots for my static line jumps (T-10) where we were to hand deploy the reserve in case of a malfunction. I didn't like them even for that and we converted quite a number of those rigs to shot and a halfs over the couple of years I rigged there (I didn't like those much either and installed one-shots on my personal gear). This was not so the static-liners could cut away a mal, but so they could more easily cut away one side in a "being dragged" situation after landing.

In the two years I worked at Z-Hills and the next three jumping there, they never had a static line malfunction with the T-10 system.

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I thought I was the only one who carried a big ole butcher knife

At a demo, on viewing my knife a whuffo once asked me "Is the knife to stab yourself to death if the parachute doesnt open?"

I don't care how many skydives you've got,
until you stepped into complete darkness at
800' wearing 95 lbs of equipment and 42 lbs
of parachute, son you are still a leg!

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He is using an altimeter out of an aircraft panel.

I have received a couple of fat lips and chipped teeth from these.

I don't care how many skydives you've got,
until you stepped into complete darkness at
800' wearing 95 lbs of equipment and 42 lbs
of parachute, son you are still a leg!

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He is using an altimeter out of an aircraft panel.

I have received a couple of fat lips and chipped teeth from these.



My brother Ted had a mal on a paracommander and came down with a bloody lip. He said the capewell got him, but I always thought it was the instrument cluster (much like the one in the picture).

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Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

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He is using an altimeter out of an aircraft panel.

I have received a couple of fat lips and chipped teeth from these.



My brother Ted had a mal on a paracommander and came down with a bloody lip. He said the capewell got him, but I always thought it was the instrument cluster (much like the one in the picture).





My chest pack reserve rode a little high (back in the 70's). I remember more than once banging my face into my altimeter on openning. My altimeter was small. I'd hate to think what could have happened if it was the big version that someone robbed out of an airplane dash....Steve1

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That two needle sensitive altimeter is somewhat unusual. I jumped in the 60s with an aircraft altimeter, but it was the single needle "non sensitive" type as was everyone elses that I can recall. That second needle registering 1000 ft per per rev must have really been moving in freefall. I was always afraid of snagging my reserve on that big instrument panel. I melted plastic over all the protruding stopwatch and altimeter mounting bolts and nuts (already cut as flush as possible) hoping that the smoothed plastic surface would shed lines rather than snagging them. I never did figure out how to keep that huge altimeter from causing trouble. In my one capewell and belly mount reserve cutaway everything went fine. I still have that 26 ft Navy conical reserve. Cant bear to trash it.
2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

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When I first started jumping at YOLO DZ in California back in the early 70's, George Morar had a two needle Altimeter. He had one of those huge Security Pig Rigs. This was when nobody jumped Pig Rigs yet.

Watching that altimeter in freefall was really interesting. The hundred foot needle would make a revolution about every five seconds. It really gave you an impression of how fast you were falling.

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I still have that 26 ft Navy conical reserve. Cant bear to trash it.



Perhaps the best "sport" reserve ever made and the one I jumped (and used once) as well. They were ejection seat canopies and could take very high speed openings though I'm not too sure we would survive up to the capabilities of the canopy.

I would not hesitate to jump one today as my reserve.

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Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

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My landing under the 26 ft Navy conical reserve was way softer than my 28 Ft USAF C9 main canopy. Both had single T vent mods. Why werent the Navy conicals used as mains in the old days? Perry Stevens, my rigger in the late 60s, was a big fan of Navy conicals as reserve canopies. He talked me out of going with a 24 ft ripstop surplus canopy for my reserve. Glad he did.
2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

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I had two rides under 24 ft. rip stop reserves. The last one was a four line release that oscillated like crazy. Sprained both ankles in a rock pile that day. I always heard good things about 26 ft. connies. Wish I'd had one back in the day....Steve1

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My landing under the 26 ft Navy conical reserve was way softer than my 28 Ft USAF C9 main canopy. Both had single T vent mods. Why werent the Navy conicals used as mains in the old days? Perry Stevens, my rigger in the late 60s, was a big fan of Navy conicals as reserve canopies. He talked me out of going with a 24 ft ripstop surplus canopy for my reserve. Glad he did.



The simple answer, coming from someone who jumped everything from a C9 7TU to a 24 reserve 7TU for mains is the conical canopy would not produce as much forward speed (and I use the term loosely) as the flat rounds would. On my C9, I even had a center line I pulled down after deployment to flatten the canopy out and extract just that extra 1/2 mph from it. Never tried that trick on a conical, it might have worked well, who knows?

My ride on my 26' Navy Con after a lineover on my C9 was a standup landing. The rig was the original Wonderhog with plastic ripcords for both main and reserve (before we came out with the hand-deploy), One Shot Capewells.

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Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

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In formation (l. to r.): Bill Zuchelli, Upper Darby, a Bell Employe; Jerry Bradley, Glenolden office worker; Tim McGrath, Narberth, parachute rigger.



These guys are all from where I grew up...not more than 6 miles from me. Both the name McGrath and Zuchelli sounds familiar. I'd love to know what DZ. Did he tell you where he jumped?

I'll have to check my log book; I can't remember where I was jumping in '64.

Cool pics. Brings back lots of memories. Particularly the two-shot Capewells. I hated them.
Guru312

I am not DB Cooper

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Hey know where Tim McGrath is now? I jumped with him the early 60's while in the USMC. Lost track of him when he got out and moved back to Narbeth. He is also known as "Henry Hawk".



I haven't a clue where he is. I can't say I jumped with him but the name sure is familiar. '64 is a long time ago when you are 64 yourself, you know!

I googled 'tim mcgrath' with 'skydive' but didn't find anything familiar or helpful.
Guru312

I am not DB Cooper

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