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is this what a Mae West looks like ?

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Yes, that's what they look like . . .

I had a student in the early 80s that had one, except he got a little confused and was telling everyone he had a Dolly Parton . . .

NickD :)



Dolly Parton, that's classic!;)

In my military Daze, I had a water landing in Bermuda where my damn Mae West flotation device had a pinhole leak in it! You can give'm a blow job through the little tube, but it wasn't worth the effort.

I somehow pulled my reserve getting out of my harness only to discover that I had a wimpy version of Dolly & Mae to hang on to. Then the damn reserve inflated in the water as I towed us back to the beach! I had to hold my harness by the collar and swim around to the reserve apex and snatch up the reserve bridle before it could sink (about the 3rd try) again. The longest 500 yards I ever swam.

The bitch was, I landed closest to shore. That meant I was the last one to be picked up by the recovey boat. Hell, I was damn near dry by the time they pulled the boat up onto the beach!:P

I tried to find a picture, but no luck. It's the basic OD Green rectangular package most of us used for water jumps. It's about 4"x8" and uses a lanyard with a CO2 cartridge to activate it. It inflates to 2 tits that you can put under your arm pit.:S
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I'm back in the USA!!

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Yes, that's what they look like . . .

I had a student in the early 80s that had one, except he got a little confused and was telling everyone he had a Dolly Parton . . .

NickD :)



I suppose if we were still jumping rounds we might even call it an Anna Nicole Smith these days.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

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Yes, that's what they look like . . .

I had a student in the early 80s that had one, except he got a little confused and was telling everyone he had a Dolly Parton . . .

NickD :)




A Mae West would be a line over on a 28 foot canopy. A Dolly Parton would be a line over on a T-10.:)
Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done.
Louis D Brandeis

Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

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In my military Daze, I had a water landing in Bermuda where my damn Mae West flotation device had a pinhole leak in it! ...
I tried to find a picture, but no luck. It's the basic OD Green rectangular package most of us used for water jumps. It's about 4"x8" and uses a lanyard with a CO2 cartridge to activate it. It inflates to 2 tits that you can put under your arm pit.:S



Like this one? (See attached photos)

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Hi likes,
Most cool photo!! Good ground shot too. Mae West? A classic Mae West Mal is when you end up with a canopy resembling the Bra of the lady it was named after!! Yup, that's what the photo looks like!! One note or two.. notice how one vent is at the 2 o'clock position on the right side and the vent on the other side is about the 8 o'clock position!! The canopy is twisted in half in the middle thus the mal could also be called a "Bow tie!!" Who really cares as long as there is no altitude between your feet and the ground!!!!
SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out

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Hi likes,
Most cool photo!! Good ground shot too. Mae West? A classic Mae West Mal is when you end up with a canopy resembling the Bra of the lady it was named after!! Yup, that's what the photo looks like!! One note or two.. notice how one vent is at the 2 o'clock position on the right side and the vent on the other side is about the 8 o'clock position!! The canopy is twisted in half in the middle thus the mal could also be called a "Bow tie!!" Who really cares as long as there is no altitude between your feet and the ground!!!!



Ground shot my ass :) I rode this to about 1200 ft and then chopped. this was hooked up on tersh risers and my 2nd was packed slider down.

this is a 22ft Pioneer K that lit up on a pH test. I was trying to :

a) see if it will blow up since I poked a hole in it with my thumb
b) if I could get line burns y just throwing them on top of a barely flaked canopy in a trashbag
c) how it would fly if I hooked up it wrong

the result was alot better than what I expected. It did oscillate pretty bad and also spun we quite well.

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Technically that was an inversion although they both kind of look the same. It would be called one though. Most Mae Wests were created by line overs.
I imagine that did spin quite well with the modifications on opposite sides like that.
GUNFIRE, The sound of Freedom!

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Hi likes!!
Photo looked like the camera was offset from the risers hence the "ground" shot, the fish eye?? Anyway, glad you had a spare!! That Pio K 22 really "Twisted!!" That "Tri-conical" profile was a bit rad!! Some people swore by em', some people swore at em!!
SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out

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>>Technically that was an inversion although they both kind of look the same. It would be called one though. Most Mae Wests were created by line overs.
Technically all line overs (on rounds) are "partial" inversions. A true inversion is just that. The canopy turns completely inside out. And the way you knew you have one of those is because your sleeve and pilot chute are hanging right over your head and inside the canopy . . .

NickD :)

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Zoombrothertom,
Those are close but I'll bet you when you see a pic of the B7 live preserver system I have it will ring a bell. It's the PFD system the Army uses (or used to at least) for paratroopers. I jumed them in Panama a lot because every DZ we jumped had a water hazard. I'll post a pic when I get them out next time.

but for now here's a pretty good pic of a Mae West. Look at the lowest jumper on the left.


ATW,
CK

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And this is what they looked like before skydivers got a hold of them.:)Attachments: DSCN0713.JPG (150 KB)



Hell, we HAD to chop 'em up. Nobody could figure out how to wear that contraption you showed us.


Thats because you are from Texas.:P

Sparky
My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

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that just what i was thinking when I saw the one pouch. hummm. those things came in pairs with a shoulder holster like harness thing and you had one under each armpit. I have a few water jumps where I used them. when you popped them they were HUGE! you couldn't see anything unless you spread them apartt to look between them like the tits on a fat chick. I was allways worried one would fire in freefall and send me into some wild spin.
i have on occasion been accused of pulling low . My response. Naw I wasn't low I'm just such a big guy I look closer than I really am .


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the result was alot better than what I expected. It did oscillate pretty bad and also spun we quite well.



Yup that is a good one.. and yes they can get spinning pretty good. That is why I opted to chop it .. and go to the belly wart in contravention of regulation. No way was I putting a good reserve into that spinning POS.................friggin Air Farce Rigger......>:(

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