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scs317

Let's Bring Back the THUNDER BOW!

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Oh, come on. Mine got me to the ground every time. It was the first canopy I owned. I loved it, I could jump out of an airplane and live. Plus I always had an arrow to show me which direction I was going. Although I did cut the lines on it a few years back to make sure I didn't have any stupid ideas about jumping it again. Lots and lots of pull up cords in that pile of multi-colored lines.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Lord, let me be the person my dog thinks I am.

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Oh, come on. Mine got me to the ground every time. It was the first canopy I owned. I loved it, I could jump out of an airplane and live. Plus I always had an arrow to show me which direction I was going. Although I did cut the lines on it a few years back to make sure I didn't have any stupid ideas about jumping it again. Lots and lots of pull up cords in that pile of multi-colored lines.




Mine was Black & Red. B|



...for the longest time I thought the guys were making fun of my ethnic roots callin' it a Polish Parachute. >:(




Turns out they WERE making fun of me, though not because I'm a Pollack ~ :$



...but because I jumped a THUNDERBOW! >:(:ph34r:










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

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Oh, come on.... Lots and lots of pull up cords in that pile of multi-colored lines.



I have about 20 jumps on a TBow. I never learned how to pack it without considerable help. Since it wasn't mine, I never considered it worth the effort to learn. Weird packing and very weird openings.

People did talk about them.
Guru312

I am not DB Cooper

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If we bring back the Thunderbow someone has to find Bill T-Bow Smith.

Last seen in North Carolina. B|



Don't forget Tom T-Bow in Kalispell. And then there is Karna T-bow Sunby. I think she is in Seattle....I wonder if they are all related???:S

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Seems like I saw Hooper do a ton of standups on his. Couple of cutaways too though...




A buddy of mine got one just to be different from all the rest of us with PCx. He figured out that it wasn't for him and sold it to Billy Rivas. I think Billy bought it just because he didn't have one and it was mostly black (with a yellow arrow).
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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I had about 300 jumps on mine. Bought it from one of Carl D's friend from S. FL. It was red with gold arrow. I shortened the lines about 3 feet (advice from Billy Revis) then the cutaways started. Should not take advice from a guy that liked to cutway!!
Mike Branch
NSCSA #7

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Seems like I saw Hooper do a ton of standups on his. Couple of cutaways too though...



Good memory, Rog--
I'd guess 95% of my T-bow landings were standups, and a fair few demos into tight DZs. And yeah, a couple of malfunctions I decided to leave behind. If I'm not mistaken, they were your reserve pack jobs I rode down.
Hoop

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Seems like I saw Hooper do a ton of standups on his. Couple of cutaways too though...



Good memory, Rog--
I'd guess 95% of my T-bow landings were standups, and a fair few demos into tight DZs. And yeah, a couple of malfunctions I decided to leave behind. If I'm not mistaken, they were your reserve pack jobs I rode down.
Hoop



Hoop,

Yeah, I know for sure one of them was my save.
I remember you saying the mal was low speed and the pilot chute went to the end of the bridle and didn't extract the reserve until you fell another hundred feet or so. Those pop-top containers were pretty tight with a 26 Navy in them...
You and I looked everything over and decided the 36" bridle was long enough (didn't want too long) and left it as is.

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

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Just got my hands on one a few weeks ago, plan on jumping it this summer. Just need to remember how to pack it, last time I packed one was when I was a kid in the 70's I believe.
Will probably chop it with a cutaway harness, not sue if my ankle can handle the landing, either that or put it in the pond at the DZ.

good times!



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If my memory is right the packing instructions for the T-Bow. said "Pack in the usual manner". I started to flake it and it had steering lines or whatever pulling panels in and gores that were short and long. Gave up and just shoved it in the bag. {Russian guy taught me that method. He never flaked or checked anything "I not own it." was his motto). Thing worked fine.
U only make 2 jumps: the first one for some weird reason and the last one that you lived through. The rest are just filler.
scr 316

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I had about 300 jumps on mine. Bought it from one of Carl D's friend from S. FL. It was red with gold arrow. I shortened the lines about 3 feet (advice from Billy Revis) then the cutaways started. Should not take advice from a guy that liked to cutway!!



Finally found a photo of my T-Bow, thanks to Cheryl Brown and her Kodak 110
Mike Branch
NSCSA #7

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I remember seeing my first TBow at Livermore CA, jumped by Roy Starbird who was on the factory Thunderbow team.

It just looked cool as hell, with that distinctive delta shape that brought to mind the B 58 bomber and F 106 fighter. It didn't take very long to figure out that what was supposed to be the PC killer was actually an inferior canopy.

When squares started getting popular, PC prices just plummeted, even for low time canopies. At the time I was buying my used PC (Mk 1 shortlined) with a Top Secret rig and a round reserve for $125, I was offered a like new TBow for canopy $50. I was tempted but wisely declined.

If the Tbows only flew as good as they looked...

377
2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

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I had about 300 jumps on mine. Bought it from one of Carl D's friend from S. FL. It was red with gold arrow. I shortened the lines about 3 feet (advice from Billy Revis) then the cutaways started. Should not take advice from a guy that liked to cutway!!



Billy used to pull the center lines down on his until it streamered and then let go at a pretty low altitude. I think he got Hoop's attention once or twice that way (among others).

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

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