JerryBaumchen

Hi v-b, Well, good luck. I've been in two US federal prisons numerous times for work. Those are not happy places. JerryBaumchen

Hi Wendy, Right after one of the first high-speed canopy fatalities, he commented something about Darwin's Theory still works. JerryBaumchen

Hi Michael, This question came up during the Javelin/SkyHook packing demo at the PIA in Reno 2009. Derek Thomas responded that to get a SkyHook fitted to a Javelin to send in the rig & a check for $267 and they would send you back a SkyHook equipped Jav. Edit here: OK, my screw-up: It should say ' . . . a check for $2467 and . . . ' Sorry, koppel; Derek was being facetious. Easy - peasy. JerryBaumchen

Hi linnths, I would highly recommend that you contact this guy: http://www.parapublishing.com/sites/para/ Dan Poynter started back in the early '60's and wrote many, many articlesand books on all types of rigging/products/etc. JerryBaumchen

Hi Squeak, I've been to the outback, not fair to count it into the equation. About 7-10 yrs ago they did one of those 'Best Cities to Live In' surveys and Melbourne came up #1 in the world. And then I once read that 85% of all Australian women are pregnant when they marry. No wonder my best friend (RIP) immigrated down under. JerryBaumchen

Hi tony, The Blue Skies forum in for condolences but maybe we could use this forum for 'Ted Stories.' ~ 25 yrs ago Ted helped me out with something that I really no longer remember. Anyway I wanted to do something in return; I had heard that he did not drink beer but did enjoy an evening cocktail now and then. So I went up to the local liquor store and bought a jug of my favorite booze. I packaged it up really carefully & went to the post office to mail it to him, but found that you cannot ship booze through the mail system. So I went to UPS and found out that you cannot ship booze across state lines. So I went to the store, bought some orange wrapping paper, opened up the package, wrapped the jug of booze in the orange wrapping paper, closed it all back up again & shipped him a jug of "Oregon Orange Juice.' JerryBaumchen

Hi Krip, And a number of companies are again doing freebies for vets; one being Applebee's which will be doing a free meal. JerryBaumchen

Hi Krip, It was ~1967 and I was peddling gear, some new & some used. I got a call one day from a guy who said to call himself 'Dog' and that he had 25 Navy Conicals for sale @ ~$20 each. I told him to give me 3-4 days and to call me back about them. I did not have that much money laying around so I called up Eddie Brown down in California and asked him if he wanted 25 at $25 each. He said that was a good price and he would take them but he always figured that there would be ~10% that would not be jumpable. Then about 2-3 days later Eddie called me back, all in a panic, as he had just gotten off of the phone with the FBI as they were trying to locate a bunch of Navy conicals that had been stolen from a naval base up at Bremerton, WA. I never did hear back from 'Dog' on that deal. JerryBaumchen

None of us will live forever. I have known Ted for more years than I can remember. One of the few, true Nice Guys in this world. I had called about two weeks to discuss something and we ended up having a rather long conversation about a number of things. Truely a loss. JerryBaumchen

Hi Sparky, Re: http://www.baesystems.com/...ndv_durachute_af.pdf I talked to them at a PIA Symposium a few years ago. At that time, IIRC, they said that they had developed it under a Navy contract and that was the only way to get one. Anything new that you know of? JerryBaumchen

Hi champ, I have a bias as I work with fabrics. I did some inquiring recently on what some jumpers prefer and did find that a fair amount of them simply did not know what their rig was made of. From a mfg point of view, IMO there is a fair amount of difference. Primarily in the hot-knife cutting of the fabric; the 1000d is heavier and takes more time to actually cut. Also, due to its being heavier it goes through the binding process slightly different; makes it a little more difficult to bind. But IMO these observations mean nothing to the user. The 1000d will defintely take the abuse better; and there are more colors available in 1000d. Some companies that normally build their rigs from 500d will build you their rig in 1000d if you ask. Some companies that normally build their rigs from 500d will use 1000d if a color is not available in 500d, a mix-to-match. And I once came across a rig that used cotton for the colored fan on the rig. JerryBaumchen

Hi sparky, Those instructions look like they are from an older Vector Owner's Manual. That packing method was originally developed by Troy Loney (RIP) for his Centaurus rig; the first modern 1-pin container. JerryBaumchen

Hi steve, Gordon Reid of the FAA is the guy who finally got the court order shutting down Sheridan. I knew him fairly well and thought he was a rather decent guy. He told me that, after a fatality at Sheridan, he started looking into fatalities and found that Sheridan had more fatalities than all of the other dz's in the NW combined. JerryBaumchen

Hi steve, We had a rather small girl jumping with us at Mayfield's dz in ~ 1969-70 or so. At a competition at Snohomish, on a hop-n-pop she went to pull her main ripcord (B-4/B-12) and could not get the pins to clear. So she went to her chest pack and could not pull it. She then went back to the main ripcord (very lucky to find again) and pulled with both hands. She was swinging in the saddle in the mid-100's. JerryBaumchen PS) As I remember, that was her last jump.

Hi john, It works sort of like this; a committee writes a standard, i.e., NAS 804 and submits it to the FAA. They then consider it, maybe change it, and publish it as the reference document for the TSO. The standard becomes a part of the TSO. Just my thoughts on this. If you would like a copy of TSO C23b, drop me a line with your mailing/postal address & I'll send you one. As for why the 22 lbs, way before my time. But it did get changed in C23c & d for chest packs. Hope that this helps, JerryBaumchen

Hi dan, Right here: 298 NY William Ottley Now a better question: Can someone put in for D-184? I bet they could auction that one off and solve their $$$$ problems. JerryBaumchen

Hi Ladies, You might be interested in this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEH4Yum4nN4&feature=player_embedded JerryBaumchen

Hi steve, First, I was not involved, never bought one of the logbooks and only know this from the rumor mill. Back in the late '60's, a guy by the name of Gene Hunnel brought out a magazine called 'DZ-USA' and it became very popular. He was located in Wichita or Des Moines or somewhere in the midwest. He did well with the magazine and then had this great idea for a new type of logbook. He put an ad and sample in his magazine, gots lots of orders for them ( meaning $$$$ ) and then split with the money. I have no idea where he went but I know some folks were looking for him. As for Ted Mayfield stories; good grief, I do not have that many years to live. But I can tell you this, once you get Ted going he can tell dz stories until the cows come home; and all very entertaining. I always said that he should have ran a bar, he would have made a lot more money. Dz stories/experiences is what kept most of still jumping, the jumps were probably secondary. JerryBaumchen PS) One early evening after a day of jumping we were all hanging around having a few beers on the dz and this first-timer asked about where his buddy. Well, we got to checking and these two guys had came out to make their first jump together and #1 did not know where #2 was. So we got to checking and #2 was laying a couple of fields from the dz with a broken leg. He had broken it on landing and was never accounted for. He had been told to follow the arrow but no one was manning the arrow, so he followed it to bum-f*** nowhere. He had been out there for 3-4 hours when we finally found him. I don't think either one of them came back for a 2nd jump.

Hi Mark, Thanks for the response. And thanks to all of you who have responded to Nigel's thread. If you want this changed ( and I am very open to 'what changes' ), well there is a guy who posts on here as Councilman-24; he is Terry Urban and he is the Chairman of the PIA Rigging Committee. Start sending him messages that you/we want the PIA to be proactive in getting the rules changed. We got things changed so that now we have the 180 repack cycle and we can do it on this. Don't sit back and watch if you really want something to be changed. Thank you, JerryBaumchen PS) Now please read my post on the CSPA system & riggerrob's input; I think that would be something to begin a serious discussion from. PPS) OK, who wants to be the Chair on the Rigging Committee sub-committee on this? I do not, sorry.

Hi Jim, I wonder if anyone remembers the fiasco with the DZ-USA log books? JerryBaumchen

Hi Southern, Remember, this is just my opinion. Forever in this sport parachute thingy of ours we have had 'whoever' pack mains; and without any rigger being nearby. The FAA says that it has to be a rigger or the person who will be jumping the canopy; or under 'direct' supervision of a rigger. Whatever in the actual H*** that 'direct' supervision of a rigger really means. And, please no comments about this, I've read this argument way too much. What I would propose, and I have, is that the PIA begin the process of getting a rule change so that anyone, and I mean anyone, can pack a non-certificated parachute. IMO this is what is actually going on all over the US of A. I am not talking about reserves here and I would prefer that we not get distracted into that arena; that is a different can of worms. Does this explain my thinking? JerryBaumchen

Hi Mark, This comment: I don't care how many discussions they have had with the FAA. Is for anyone who wants to say what the FAA says; only the FAA can speak for what a reg/rule means. The rest of us just give our opinion of the reg/rule; and that includes me. JerryBaumchen

Hi Mike, The women don't like us talking like this and the men are afraid to reply. JerryBaumchen

Hi pirana, How about we have the USPA BOD co-sign for the loan? JerryBaumchen

Hi nigel, IMO the system in the USA is simply not working. I, personally, consider it a failure of the PIA Rigging Committee to not have brought this issue up and then have the PIA petition the FAA to change it to what is really going on in the real world. Additionally, I have read every response here and notice that none of them are from the FAA. Everyone posting, including me, can only offer their opinions as to what the FAA regs/rules mean; I don't care how many discussions they have had with the FAA. In the USA, if you want the official word, go to the horse's mouth; that would be the FAA. And make sure that they respond in writing. Otherwise, it is just hearsay; from my experience the FAA is real good at denying that they said what they said. Again, IMO they try real hard to avoid putting things in writing. Just my thoughts, yours may vary, JerryBaumchen