chuteless

does anyone know what happened to George Bosworth, a member of the USA parachute team in the 1950s?? He lived in Buffalo NY during the 60s, but I lost track of him. He is a great guy, and was a big help in the beginnibng of my jumping career. If you know if he's still alive and well, could you advise me. Thanks much, BILL COLE D41 Canada

Jason::::Voodoo1 : If you look at the actual recording unit on Swain's website, you will see it is extremely small. Hardly requires a "BIG" bag around your gut. Be realistic. As for "LOTS" of wires....hardly. You are right on though for great quality.

the kind of camera mount you need can be seen if you check www.endlessfall.net. Real professional well made equipment. B COLE Canada

Andy: I looked in one of my 2 three inch thick albums, and located the clips from the 16mm film. I dont think they would reproduce very well, as they are now prints about 35mm in size from the original 16mm negativ roll of film. With a magifying glass, I can read them, but it wouldnt be possible to do so through scanning them. The newspaper photo of the helmet etc, can be seen on the web site that Rop Price established, just by going on web and punching up "Bill Cole Skydiver" and follow the links. The photo is about half way through the site on the right side. You can see the pitot tube hanging off the right side of my helmet, but its hard to make out the camera and instruments. I sent some of the original negative roll to USPA with the article, and in the past 32 years, the rest have gone the way of the passenger pigeon...extinct. I would like to do another one from high up, and have police radar try to pick up the speed as I come to earth.I figure I had a certain amount of drag with the front mount treserve and the thicker back pack too. I correct my quote of the top speed...itwas 222 MPH, and is written beside the print photos in my album. Sorry I cant get them on the site for ya.....Bill Cole D 41 Canada

Andy 2 : I have one photo that was actually a newspaper shot, and I have three rows of the frames from the 16mm film showing the instruments. I'll get Skypuppy to send it in so you see it, as I have a scanner, but its not hooked up yet. I really wish USPA hadnt lost it because I considered it very informative, but it may have been "lost" because of who sent it it .....if ya know what I mean.

I know that some libraries had a copy of Masters of the Sky by Boenish. You just might get lucky by asking the library in your hometown, and if you can borrow, make a copy onto VHS. Bill Cole D41 Canada

a friend of mine ince stuffed a canopy into a brown paper bag and held it in his arms. He just let go of it and it opened. B Cole D41 Canada

On October 16 1971, I installed a directional pitot tube on the topside of my helmet, so the front of the tube would penetrate the air clear of any turbulence caused by my head or body. The tube ran through a hose inside a metal flex ripcord housing so it couldnt be crushed by the harness or my front mount reserve. Across the top of my reserve, was a 3/8" thick strap of aluminum about 24 inches long. On one end, was mounted a stop watch, a sensitive altimeter, and an air spedd indicator. On the other end of the aluminum was a 16mm GSAP camera with a 50 magazine of film. I also had a jet pilot's helmet on, and in the oxygen mask, a microphone plugged into a small tape recorder., the mask preventing air flow from dirrupting the comments made during the jump. I left the Cessna l80 at 8200 ft AGL, and recorded " Leaving aircraft now" and in the film you can see me start the stopwatch. I went into the basic stable spread and quickly was recording on film, a speed of 150 MPH. I then said " High Speed Dive Now" and went head first straight down, with my arms alongside my body. The speed can be seen climbing quickly to 225 MPH. After some time, I said "stable position" and flared out, again at a speed of 150 MPH. Later I wrote a lengthy article and covered all aspects of the jump, drew a graph showing altitude, speed, and time. I sent it to PARACHUTIST (USPA). About a month or so later, I phones USPA and asked them if they got it, and they acknowledged they did, but they said they had lost it. It was an interesting experiment, and I think with enough altitude, I could break 300 MPH. I would like to do it again from about 30,000 or so. Who knows...maybe one of these days. I still have positive photos taken from strips of the negative roll of film, showing the speed etc. It was a unique jump fo sure. Bill Cole D 41 Canada

The Canadian High Altitude records is actually 36,916 ft which is 11,252.019 meters sett on April 7th 1973 over Baldwin Ontario. After CSPA kicked me out for going on television and saying things they didnt like, Buzz Bennett (CSPA Director) and his colleahues decided to devise a second set of records so they wouldnt have to recognize mine. Its what is know as the ENRON sundrome. Buss has also E-Mailed other jumpers ( I have a copy) that I dropped a woman student and as a result she is a paraplegic. NOT TRUE. Another CSPA current female director has also E-Mailed ( I have a copy) that I broke the woman's back. NOT TRUE. The woman landed incorrectly and broke her tailbone. Although it is a painful injury (I've broken mine twice) it means little more than "no tail" for a few weeks.CSPA never gets their facts straight, and when it refers to me, they do so intentionally. Oh Well...HO HUM. B.Cole D41

In 1975, my wife's mother died of cancer, and with my wife in the jump plane, I opened the door and scattered her mother's ashes across the farms between Coldwater Ontario and Orillia. I didnt ask for permission...I just did it. My wife thought it was a nice idea as she read a poem about her mother, and how her ashes were part of the sky. I'm sure "motyher" would have landed by the time the next load of jumpers made their exit...so there wouldnt have been a mid air collision. B . Cole D41

does low chuteless jumps apply here? The German paratroops used to jump from the back of a moving truck to practice their hard landings....does that count?

shortly after D.B.Cooper made his getaway, several guys accused me (at an Ohio DZ) of being Cooper. They even held a sketch of Cooper beside my head and thought that confirmed their suspiciaons. Not long after a reporter from Toronto wrote a lengthy article about "How I Would Hijack An Airline For $200,000 Dollars ASnd Get Away With IT" . We went tto the American Airlines counter at Pearson Intnl Airport, and I had a parachute on my back and held an empty ticket holder while the guy took photos. We then went to the Insurance Purchase machine, and took some more photos. He couldnt get any publisher to print his story...and it died. It was fun anyhow to see the faces of the other passengers looking at me carrying a chute....like I knew something they didnt. Bill Cole D-41 Canada

Mike: I last jumped on June 10th 2000, but am installing new connector links on the risors of my Strato-Cloud, and repacking my reserve. I hope to get a few this year, but living on Government pension doesnt make it easy to come up with the money for travel AND the jump(s). Bill Cole b81, C76,D41

the Para-Commander was a great chute. I have 2 or 3 of them, and although they were described as a "malfunction lookinmg for a place to happen" they usually worked very well. I had packed a 16mm movie camera inside mine, so when it opened there was the camera looking down at me from the apex. The 1st time, something got mixed up, I cutaway, and the PC drapped itself over the high tension wires. My 24 ft twill reserve got me down OK. Another malfunction in Ohio, dropped my PC into a swamp area. I offered $50.00 to anyone who culd find it, and the next time I went looking, I walked straight up to it. We were doing a demo at a Fair using the 28ft Lo-Po rounds. I had a PC but the two guys with the lo-pos left the aircraft on the spot and I styed in for a few seconds longer. The lo-pos dropped stright down, and I flew past them and landed right on target. They had a long walk back, and after getting home, they both ordered Para-Commanders before the day was over. One DZ " Safety Officer " recently tiold me that he wouldnt allow anyone to use a PC on that DZ. He didnt like the teffeta material. I explained it was only teffeta stablilzerpanels on the sides, and there was no reason to prohibit the use of a PC. Millions of jumps were put on PCs and I always used one for low opening jumps. I would field pack it for 24 hours before the jump, and just flake it out and pack it. I had two pilot chutes spring loaded, and would stand up when I dumped it. The rush of air over my back always took the 2 pilot chutes away and I opened with a thunderclap that always shocked the crowd. Lots of fun, I'll tell ya. Bill Cole D41 Canada

You mean you cant find something in the great realm of CSPA to argue about? Anyhow, HEMP seems like a good idea. I dont know if or when I could ever get to Nova Scotia. The last time I was there was to fly a hot air balloon on Common Green, and I had a radio announcer doing a traffic report from the basket on a tethered flight. If you ever get to the Toronto area, call me.

Yeah, I remember Para-Planes. My buddy had oneand he asked me if I wanted to try it. He said something about "opening" but I wasnt paying too much attention. I got the rig on and was soon at altitude. Terminal velocity and I pop the ripcord ( thats a thing that activates the canopy for all you new fangled riggers) and the opening shock was so hard it ripped the helmet right off my head. After the stars cleared and the sun came out again. I thought the "shock" was what my buddy was referring to. I landed and had a 1/2 mile walk to get my helmet back. I told him to keep his damn Para-Plane. regerds indigosky

Thats a great story, you sure know how to recruit base jumpers who havent had that thrill yet. You should work for the recruiting office of the US Army. GREAT STORY. Keep em coming. those are what I call stories to charge your battery.

Hi Mike: I'd love to do a hook up with you...hi or low. As for the hemp??????

Hi Riggerrob: I have no intentions of forming any new "group", however, I suggest the Canadian Stupid Parachute Ass'n (CSPA) get their act together. I've watched them grow from nothing to nothing in the past 41 years. Of course its a personality clash...but mostly with Buzz Bonnett who has no personality. He is the instigator, following in the twisted footsteps of others long ago. Anyhow Riggerrob, have agreat summer and no mals.Quote

the user name "blister" has stiolen my e mail address while visiting..please remove his user name from my e-mail address IMMEDIATELY...THANKS

I would say that is a very accurate description. It appears some people are able to see through the cspa directors.