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Somebody dropped off a Handbury ultralight parachute at the airfield I fly out of - the packing slip has only one entry stating that it was packed on 7/28/1983 by Jim Handbury. It says Make UC 28 HPC serial # 7/83. It has a carabiner attached to a steel cable and we were wondering if that would be attached to the airframe and how it would be deployed - presumably by feeding the material into the airstream ? In pristine condition - I seem to recall that Handbury made a sport rig too ?

Great story - got more than a little misty there myself ! My grandfather was one of the oldest Chevy dealers in South Africa back in the day, so I am a little biased to the brand too.

Can't believe it is already four years since Martin's untimely passing - miss you, my friend !

My first rig in 1980 was a Strato Star with a 26' reserve in a PA [ Parachutes Australia] container. Put 28 jumps on the Strat, landings were okay here and there but I guess better than the old surplus C -9 's and T-10's ! Switched to a GQ Security Unit with far better results. I seem to recall that the Strato had hard toggles, big old things that looked like they were made out of perspex. Anybody remember those ? My Dad gave me money for college and I used most of it to buy the Strat - boy, was he mad at me ...

Just finished watching the first season of " Ice Pilots ", the story of Buffalo Airways operating in the Canadian North. They operate DC 3's, DC 4's , C46 's , Electras and CL 125's. Fantastic footage of these planes in action and the pilots and mechanics who keep them flying. Highly recommended, check out www.buffaloairways.com.

Welcome back ! Bloemfontein was my home DZ for many years , very fond memories of the place. Say " Hi " to Chris de Jager and Johan Laubscher for me .Take care !

A friend from South Africa ordered a camera helmet, Go-Pro and some other stuff from ChutingStar - I did all the enquiries etc. from my side and peppered Mike with all kinds of questions. Each question was responded to almost within the half hour, the order completed and shipped as promised and he did a great job with assembling the camera and video mounts. All we had to do was mount the sight and the helmet was perfect when my friend arrived here after Oshkosh. This was the second time I did business with Mike, and I can highly recommend his services.

Thanks - appreciate the advice !

A good friend of mine is coming to the States for Oshkosh and Summerfest at Skydive Chicago and he wants to purchase a Bonehead Optic illusion helmet. He wants to mount a CX 115 video camera and a GoPro camera and Hypeye D pro. Could anybody please advise exactly what kind of mounts / box etc. would be required and would work best for the equipment mentioned? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Peter .

" You have to seduce it into starting " - pure poetry right there ! I remember my first jump from a Turbine DC-3 - nice, but just not the same as the old radial ones....

I remember Mike very well from PASA meetings in South Africa - a colourful man indeed ! May he rest in peace ...

Excellent book, worth every cent - VERY brave men and their flying machines ...

I remember a container called the "Springhog" manufactured by PISA in South Africa that looked very similar to the Wonderhog - does anybody know if that was a copy of the latter ? I also jumped a Coe-D 210 for a long time which was a PD 210 made under license by PISA , named after the designer I believe .

Two years went by in a flash ... still think of you every single day, my friend ! Pete .

" We just want to live , dream, love and fly " .... Beautiful lyrics , great song !