chuteless

in response to "Strangely Interesting" by DYEVOUT, and his item which indeed is interesting, look at the following: Using the numbers from 1 to 16 inclusive, and laying them out in the following order, you can combine a total of twenty-nine different was to get the sum of any four numbers to be 34. You can go side to side, corner to cerneo, 4 corner numbers any way you wish as long as it is symetrical. See if you can find more than 29 ways. 8 11 14 1 13 2 7 12 3 16 9 6 10 5 4 15 twenty-nine combinations of 4 numbers each totalling 34

41 yrs....but only one every couple of years now

back in the 1970s, a guy from Ohio and myself were going to do something like that, both exiting together on a 45 ft round cargo canopy. We had decided to do it at an air show, he wearing the harness, and me attached to him with long risers.hanging about 10 feet below his boots. We would have landed in a lake, so that wouldnt have hurt. Anyhow someone got wind of it, CSPA screamed and had all their puppets call the air show people, and they made us cancel that type of jump. Oh well, it was a good idea anyhow.

We used to jump carrying a small bag of baking flour, and with a gentle shake, it would leave a nice white trail through the blue sky. I always thought it should be possible to make a small cylinder that could be strapped to the leg with an opening in one end, to allow the freefall speed to vacuum the flour out during the jump, leaving the hands free. 1 1/2 pounds of flour is enough for a 50 second freefall.

what does it cost for M-18 smoke in the USA now?

Thats a very good joke....I wish I could print it out and send it to the White House.very good

see Safety and Training Thread...swim goggles etc

I have used swimming goggles, but I take a small "ticket" punch, and put a hole at several places around the edge of the rubber/plastic seal. This lets the air in and they dont get stuck to your face as described. They also dont fog up

Its the same rule that applies to flying hot air balloons...the ballon highest is responsible to keep out of the way of the one below, in case he should start to gain altitude. The lowest cannot see through his ballon to the guy above, but the top guy can always look over the side his basket and see the lower one. Tell the guy to go take a jump....in the lake

check out the thread for "General Skydiving Discussions" and click on "How Did They Do That". What a great photograph....someone should send a copy to CSPA. Maybe they will finally catch up with the times. Bill Cole D-41

that is what makes skydiving the most fasinating sport ever...there are so many wild and unusual things one can do, which simply dazzle the minds of those who dont participate...and the minds of many who do. I think that pictures speaks volumes about the sport. Who would have thouht of it 35 years ago...or skysurfing, or base jumping etc etc etc. I applaud guys that do the unusual....and nowadays...you dont get suspended for life for doing them. Good stuff. GREAT PICTURE BILL COLE D-41 Canada

what ever happened to that guy. There must be some records of his jumping activities in the Cleveland area. Has anyone ever heard of him and how he finished up both his project, and his life?

The RSL is not new. It is taken from what was known back in the 1970s as the Stevens Cutaway System. There was an attachment between the two risers, and then a nylon line from one riser down to clip onto the reserve handle. When a person cutaway the main, it pulled the reserve handle before a person could even think about reaching for it. I have seen a jumper in a wild spin use the system, and it worked perfectly. There are modifications of course, to apply to a reserve on the back instead of the belly wart, but its the same principal. Its a great idea.

You obviously dont know much about aircraft crash investigations. This one was carried out by a high ranking officer of the RAF, and the facts were the pilot could not go around or through the passenger. The conversation can only be surmised, but I sure the pilot wanted to get out...he had a chute. I am equally sure that the passenger did not want to jump without a chute in order that the pilot could jump with his. There had been quite a few ungluing crashes, but the ungluing was not determined until this crash. Put yourself in the pilot's place...and what would you do? put yourself in the passenger's place....and what would you do? remember, this war in 1943 in Burma (Myanmar) and things were quite different than as we know crashes and parachuting today.

when the main spar becomes unglued, the wings fall apart and come off. there is no way anyone can control an aircraft that is breaking up and has no wings...There had been numerous such breakups with Mossys, and a special investigator finally found the solution of the glue. It was corrected, and the qwar carried on with the DH Mosquito being one of he best planes ever built. Those mosquitos carried death.....and it wasnt from West Nile Virus

$75.00 to 31571 feet at night over Canada's largest airport.

The interior of the DH Mosquito is well known. Its designers are aware that the only way for the pilot to get out would be blocked by a passenger who would have sat closest to that exit. It would have been impossible for the pilot to get past the passenger. If the passenger didnt have a chute, and the pilot did, it would have been absolutely necessary for the passenger to get out of the aircraft before the pilot could leave. Since the wings were broken off because of the main spar coming unglued, the aircraft could not have been directed by a pilot. The pilot's only chance to save himself, would be to jump, however he was unable to do so, because the passenger blocked the small channel/crawlspace that led to the door. However, as I said earlier, the plane would likely have been flopping around wildly, an that alone would hav made things difficult. The location of the passenger would have made it relatively easy to get out of the door buy he had no parachute.By not leaving without one to a sure death, he blocked the one man who could have saved himself..the pilot.

my blowing things up ( with dynamite etc) days are over. I have a hard time blowing up a balloon now. Bill

In the Mossy, the door is quite small, and the pilot could not have reached the handle if the passenger was blocking the way. Its too bad they didnt open the door, and do a Mr Bill type exit....It probably would have worked. he planes were often coming unglued, so it may have been tumbling which would have complicated the situation at best.

Put yourself in this position> Its a true story, and in 1943, they didnt know the thibngs about parachuting that are known now. A pilot of a DH Mosquito bomber was going for a test flight. A friend wanted to go along for the ride, but didnt have a chute. The pilot said, Okay. lets go. They climbed to altitude ( perhaps 15000 or more) and the plane started to come apart. They had serious gluing problems with the main spar. The Pilot couldnt get past the passenger to jump, as the way was narrow, and the passenger was blocking the door and wouldnt let the pilot out.. The passenger wasnt about to leave without a chute, and there was no other exit for the pilot . Both died in the crash. Imagine what was going through their minds....and what was being said. The conversation wouldnt have lasted too long, but I'll bet there was some choice words.

To ALL you Americans, have a safe and jump filled weekend this 4th of July celebration. Bill Cole D-41 Canada

years ago, we were jumping from a Britan Islander at 12,500 ft. It was just getting dark. There were about 10 jumpers, and no serious RW was planned. Two guys hooked up, and one took the other guys arms, and dislocated one of his shoulders. He indicated he was having pain problems, and when he opened his chute it REALLY hurt. On the same jump,my feet had just glanced of the very top branches of a 60 ft pine tree, and that was enough to get my canopy to collapse. I fell the last 60 feet, bouncing from branch to branch through the closely packed pines. I landed flat on my back, and my front mount reserve wanted to go right throughme, and the combination broke a vertabrae, almost to the spinal cord. The guy who had his shoulder dislocated, managed to have a guy pull on his arm, and release it back into the socket. They told me they had called an ambulance for me. That word triggered a reaction ( I dont like ambulances) and I told a jumper stnding nearby to take my right hand and pull me up. First he refused, and I bellowed at him to just doit. He did, and I canme up like a stiff board. I told the guys, "lets get out of here" and walked out to the car. My face was gouged up b the branches with blood flowing. I got to the car, and carefull slipped behind the wheel, and drove home. It was painful, but it healed. Later (about 2 months) I had an xray, and the doctor examined the photos, and asked an intern what he would recommend. The intern sugested this and that, and the Specialist said WHY?, he stands like a pine tree, just tell him to take things easy, an he'll be okay. I never had a problem with that vertebrae after that. Apparently, there are quite a few jumpers who dislocate elbows, shoulders etc very easily. It can be extremely painful, and if you know you have that possibility, rest assured, it will likely happen when you least expect it. Good luck anyhow. Bill Cole

he told me he had the wire running through his sleeve to the saddle. In order to put it on ( my guess) is that he has a quick release to disconnect the wire once he has his arm through the harness..from there is the ususal procedure...but he is never "unattached" from the harness, either by wire or holding it. We didnt actually dicuss the finer details, but he admitted he has it on a wire..at least at the start. When I proposed doing one totally without...his comment was " Boy I would REALLY have to get some BIG bucks for doing that".

yeah LOL LOL LOL LOL

no, he hasnt...thats what he told me on the phone.