Odd parachuting activites...

[Glitch 0]

This linked story of parachuting beavers (not a SIS event ) got me to wondering if 1) anyone here know anything more about the story? Who was the rigger, how'd they come up with the idea, etc... and 2) what are some of the other 'odd' stuff that's been done in the past with parachutes.

Anyone?

Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...

[darkwing 4]

Pretty much any whacky thing you can imagine has been done.

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

[skypuppy 1]

RobertMBlevins

I would want to know how they ditched the container and harness.

as in the attached quote, they went in boxes designed to break apart on landing...

Fish and Game officials first experimented with willow boxes, but that effort was abandoned because of fears the beavers would eat their way out of their airborne box at the most inopportune time.

Heter’s crew eventually made a box that broke apart when it hit the ground.

But would the beaver die in the process? That was an interesting question for sure.

Enter Geronimo.

To test proper drop heights and box designs, Fish and Game officials dropped Geronimo “again and again.”

“Each time he scrambled out of the box, someone was on hand to pick him up,” Heter wrote. “Poor fellow! He finally became resigned, and as soon as we approached him, would crawl back into his box ready to go aloft again.”

With Geronimo’s help, Fish and Game learned that the best launch height was between 500 and 800 feet because it allowed the chute to open properly and still maintain some accuracy in placement of the bewildered beavers in the selected meadow.

In 1948, Fish and Game dropped 76 beavers in the backcountry. There was only one fatality, a beaver that “jumped or fell” from his box at about 75 feet.

A year later, observations showed that all airborne transplants were successful. “Beavers had built dams, constructed houses, stored up food, and were well on their way to producing colonies,” Heter wrote.

Heter said the transplanting effort showed a marked savings over mules, claiming that the expense of moving four beavers was $30.

Although Heter’s article makes no mention of how many beavers were ultimately transplanted via parachute — or why and when the program was stopped — he did say that Geronimo was treated well for his efforts.

He didn’t die and get 40 virgins for his suicidal sacrifice. Instead he “had a priority reservation on the first ship into the hinterland, and that three young females went with him,” Heter wrote.

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