chuteless

I made my first jump at the Baldwin Dropzone on Sunday August 5th 1962, and I will make my final / last jump on Sunday August 5th 2012, 50 years later, to the very day. At the same time, my two daughters Donna and Crystal will be making their first jump, a tandem. I expect to fly alongside either or both of them for a few seconds. It should be a real fun day. Bill Cole D-41

Have you never heard of a speed bump. Its obvious that one broke free from some road near the airport and gravitated upward. Don't let it bother you none. Bill Cole D-41

I thought that having 25 ft risors would slow the opening down. How wrong I was. The chute came off my back and was instantly inflated,and its inflation didnt slow me down in freefall. I still had 25 ft to drop in terminal, and it was like smacking into a brick wall. My head bent forward with such force, i thought I might have broken my neck. My upper lip was sliced open by the smoke bomb I had stuck into the top of my jumpsuit, and that was about ten inches from smoke bomb to my chin. I've had some hard openings, one even tore my helmet off, but none as hard as the 25 ft risors jump.

How about 25 ft risors.....Just brace your neck for the hardest opening ever.

Airtwardo: Do you know how I can send this list of poems to someone by email without having to write them all over again ?? I do not know how to do much with a computer except send emails, but to take something like this list and send it, I don't even know if its possible. Thganks for whatever you can do to assist me in this. Bill Cole D-41

I just found out Gary Freeze passed away. He often came to Toronto and jumped wuith my team at the CNE Air Show, as well as other events around our neighbourhood. Gary was a most likeable guy with a great sense of humour. I had talked with him for a few minutes a couple of days before he passed away, and he was losing his voice. Losing Gary is a real loss to the world....and to me. Bill Cole aka Chuteless 2 and 3

When I first started jumping, I did a lot of dyeing of canopies. I used commercial dyes at a temperature of minimum 172 degrees. This worked well, but eventually the porosity came back. I never had an extremely hard landing, on dyed mains or reserves. Bill Cole D-41

Don passed away this morning. He was 79 years old, and had a great life . I recall Don when it was still Parachute Club of Canada. God be with him as he travels on. Bill Cole

I have done quite a few stadium jumps and there are some things you should keep in mind. There are sometimes very low winds that hit the stadium walls, and become a funnel that can throw you and your canopy back up in the air, and you'll hit the ground totally out of control. The winds could be very low, but when they hit the wall they become a small hurricane. Its best to come in a bit higher than you would on a normal jump, and then make ready for a landing in the center of the stadium field where the winds will have disipated....... fly high along the stadium perimeter and then cut off into center field. A stadium jump can be rewarding, but it can also give you unexpected hurts. Bill Cole D-41

Canadians have been a wild bunch since 1917. Before that year, we were just finding our way around these forests , fightin off Injuns, and waiting for someone to invent a good airplane and a parachute.

I wish I had a dollar for every standup landing I either had, or witnessed on both cheapos and lopos. The Lopo was the most common main chute in the early 1960s, and just as I was about to order one, they brought out the Para Commander, so I got that instead. I always had a cheapo packed and ready to use in case someone had a plane and my P.C. was still unpacked. Bill Cole D-41

I used to pay a kid 25 cents to pack my Para Commander in 1964. I then discovered a way to quick pack ( 5 minutes) . It was certainly not the money but I didnt like those fancy pleat and fold pack jobs,. My quick packs opened fast and hard, good for opening less than 500 feet.

Well, Ive been away for a few days, still mending the heart and all its bypasses. I also use the Library'c computers, and they have been closed for a holiday. Nevertheless, I think Israel should push the Arabs very hard, until they stop moving at the door to Saudi Arabia. Then we could see just how much the Saudis want the Palestinians for their neighbours. Give the palestinians to Jordan...maybe Syria or Libya. They all have lots of empty land....let the Palestinians build their settlements in those countries, and then give them a new name andmaybe they'll leave Israel alone in the land that has been their for thousands of years. The Palestinian Charter actually reads they would like to push all Israelis into the Mediterranean Sea, so that doesnt leave the PLO and its terrorist organizations much room to move in a legitimate manner. There will be absolutely NO peace in the middle east, because the Palestinians will only take what land Israel would give up for peace, and then want more....MORE....MORE Its too bad Israel Sharon is in a coma, because it would take a lion hearted man like him to resolve , and I believe that Netanyahu is weak, and being weakened more by the United States and Britain. Whether any of you know it or not, Israel's lost tribes are in truth, America ( Manasseh ), and Britain ( Ephriam ), and other tribes of Israelis live throughout Europe.

You are wrong about the UN creating Israel. God gave that land () and much more ) to Abraham and said it would be theirs forever, and so it shall be. The Israelis marched into those lands and seized them as their own in May 1948. The United Nations voted and accepted Israel as a member nation on May 11th 1949. The Palestinians dwelt on much of the land, and it was barren sand dunes as far as the eye could see. Israel took over that land which is rightfully theirs, and made it ito a lush green country, capable of growing crops. The only crops the Arabs had was camels. They will never divide the land as the United States has suggested, for it is Israel's land. The ten "lost "tribes of Israel for the most part, left those lands to emmigrate to the northern coats of France, Germany, Belgium and the Nordic regions. They then travelled to Ireland, Scotland and England, where they set up shop, but lost their connection to Israel in name only. The throne used by England has been used for centuries, and Christ will sit on that very same throne whyen he returns. Eventually they ( Manasseh ) sailed the Atlantic Ocean to America,after they fought with their brothers ( Ephriam) and Mannaseh became the United States of America while Ephriam expandded into, and became Canada. Have you never wondered why the USA and Great Britain give total support for Israel? It is becaue they are brothers. The only people to be known as the JEWS are the tribes of Benjamin and Judah. The nations that once made up the British Empire are of the tribe of Ephriam and they emmigrated to Canada, India, New Zealand, Australia, and others, but the fact that the British Empire no longer rules them, doesnt hinder them as Israelis....which they all are, although mixed with other races in the 21st century.

Calvin: I did in fact cutaway the reserve. See posting above this one. Bill Cole

My reserve was on a second harness, the oneI actually used for the chuteless jump, while my PC was on itys own harness with a Pioneer 3 pin.

No injuries from that opening. It was just like any other reserve opening at "terminal". I have had many bone crushing openings in which I think my skeletal frame was tortured beyond one's wildest nightmares,......... like when I used 25 ft risors on a Para Commander. I can still feel the hurt from that one.......or when I accidentally landed on a downwinder, and it knocked my lights out for some time. I could hear people talking but all I saw was a black type of sky with a million stars. I was wearing a 35mm movie camera which gave me a concussion, and I was bruised from center front right around my right side to center back, and from neck to waist. Ouch !!!!!

STRONG was the name of the manufacturer ( Strong Enterprises ) owned and operated by Ted Strong......1969 ....likely before your time. I sent the reserve back to Ted Strong, and he refused to do anything about it. Some manufacturers only think of taking money from the public and won't guarantee their equipment.

When practicing for my 1st chuteless jump, I thought after receiving the reserve in freefall, that I would open it, and check out its performance. It was a brand new "Strong reserve" and on pulling the ripcord, it exploded like a bomb. It had about 2000 holes in it, the largest was about 12 inches, the smallest like a pin prick. It was the only jump in which that canopy had ever been used....1 jump...1 canopy destroyed. I cutaway and used my Para Commander, for a good safe landing. My main had become my reserve for that jump. I bought an orange and white C-9 and used that canopy for both chuteless jumps.(1969 and 1972 ) I sent the Strong reserve to Ted Strong, who incorrectly told me I had used a smoke bomb, and that accounted fr many of the holes. He was out to lunch, and wouldnt make good on the canopy. Bill Cole D-41

It has also been said, and I believe it to be the truth, that the U>S>A> wanted to test their atomic bombs on human targets so they could develop safegauards in the event that Russia or someone else would drop atomic weapons on the USA.

I did have a cross connector on the 25 foot risors with a Para Commander....and after the bone crushing opening and the risor twists that followed, I wish I had left the cross connector off. Live and learn. Bill Cole D-41

How do you think history would have been altered if the earthquake and Tsunami of last week had taken place in the same area of Japan in the summer of 1945? Obviously there would not have been the nuclear reactor problems, but many other problems would have rendered Japan fairly impotent through the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami. Would the USA still have dropped two atomic bombs on Japan if they knew such a disaster had already struck them? One Governor stated that the problems of the past week were Divine retribution.....but he later apologized. Do you think he was correct ? Considering what the Japanese did in " The Rape of Nanking, China, and other brutality against American and Canadian soldiers " might give reason to think that, but the Japanese people are certainly very kind and warm people in 2011. Just wondering !!!!

I spent two periods of time jumping in Ecuador. The first time the DZ was 9500 above sea level, so we had to climb to over 16000 ft for a 30 sec delay. It was extremely hard on breathing, as we had no supplementary oxygen. I would put my rig on my back and gasp for air for about three minutes, and then I could do up the snap hooks. Once out of the aircraft everything was just like back home, flying was not noticably different, nor was canopy flying. Once on the ground is was gasp fr air again, and you learned quickly to move slowly and breathe steady . The 2nd time I went there, we were jumping at sea level, and no problems except putting chunks of ice in your cold drink, bacteria and all. That was cause for terrible sickness and dehydration, and a four day stay in hospital when I got home. Bill Cole D 41 , aka chuteless

As some of the other replies: The Stevens cutaway system required a cross connector on the main, and I used that system without any negative effects. I also had two reserve openings on which one of the snap hooks came off the D Ring on the harness. Without the cross connector, I would have been killed on both of these Jumps. ( Can you really die twice?????? ) One other reserve opening after a cutaway, the reserve didnt want to come out of the pack so I thumped it with my fist and there it was, a beautiful white blossom above my head. Bill Cole D-41

I used to own a Stevens rig that had a velcro chest strap, and it cam apart on every opening. I found it no bother, and rather liked having the harness opened before landing. It finally went the way of the do-do bird. Bill Cole