lucky508

Nigel, Wow! I would love to talk to a Rhodesian PJI or jumper. At the bottom of this page there is info about the book I mentioned. I'm really looking foreword to it. http://www.rhodesianmilitaria.com/ ATW, Cael

Nigel, Here is a link to Rhodesian AF web page featuring Trojans. http://www.rhodesianforces.org/No4SqnGallery.htm Here is the link to the Rhodeisan Light Infantry assn page. The RLI made the vast majority of the jumps. http://www.therli.com/default.asp There is also a book coming out next year (hopefully) about the Rhodesian parachute school. Many of the PI's were also skydivers. enjoy, Cael

Here are some reasons I’ve been given “a talking to” or grounded for the rest of the day. For going low………..haven’t we all gotten that talk in the first 100 jumps? For jumping a 6 pack of beer on the last load of the day and handing it out in the landing area. For jumping a beer and drinking it in the landing area. Ok it was three jumps in a row. Hey, they were Coors lights and it was a hot day. For smelling like I had been drinking before the first load of the day at 6:30 in the morning. Come on. I was drinking last night. I was sweating it out . Wadda ya expect at 6:30am and it’s already almost 90 degrees? For jacking with a new guy on the plane. “Man you’ve got that look. Last time I saw that look on a guy he died.” When I was flying jumpers often on the last load of the day everyone would take a beer. After we had taken off and gotten over 600ft I would tell everyone (except me) that it was OK to pop them open and drink them. The only rule was that they had to take the can or bottle with them. I did get a guy into trouble once with the DZO when the left his bottle in the plane and it got lodged under a rudder pedal for a while. ATW, CK

mccurley, I can see how by quoting you this can look like my comments about the divisions and ego in the sport were directed at you. They are not. Those are just some thoughts I’ve had for a while about the sport. It’s small rant that work its way into my post. My bad. Blue skies to you. ATW, Cael

Really? Does is matter what kind of jumping a 70+ year old guy is doing? Does it matter if they are swooping, jumping a static line round or off a bride once a year? I think it’s great that they are doing any kind of jumping. What about 80+ year old WWII Veterans doing tandem jumps into Normandy? I hope that when I get to that stage of my life that I am still able to do any kind of jumping. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I have never understood the divisions in jumping. I guess it’s a ego thing. Mine is bigger than yours because I do this and you do that. That kind of attitude is pathetic and sad. But what the fuck do I know? I like to jump rounds. All the way, Cael

I know someone who is 78 that has made 4 C-47 static line jumps under MC1-1C rounds in the last month! I also jump PC's with D # 269 and he is over 70. Anyone jumping at these ages is my hero. They have my total respect!!! ATW, Cael

I’ve talked with a great many US WWII veterans about their training and combat jump experiences. T-5 WWII parachutes were not bag deployed. They were S folded in the container like a chest reserve is packed. They opened very quickly and with a terrific opening shock. Normal drop altitude for a combat jump was usually 500-600 feet. Very often in the confusion and stress of combat they were dropped at lower altitudes. They always wore reserves in training and the majority of jumpers wore reserves during their combat jumps but some chose not to. However, The Brit X harness parachute system was bag deployed and the Brits did not jump with reserves in WWII. The article in parachutist is about Ralph Manley. I’ve been friends with Ralph for about 4 years and gave him my copy of Parachutist with the article in it when I found our he did not have a copy. There is nothing quite as motivating as having a WWII veteran on board the plane before a jump. Ralph is quite a character. ATW, Cael

Any idea the date by which the first 174,220 military jumps had been made? Just curious because on Feb 16 1944 on one jump alone 9 troopers were killed at Camp Mackall. This was the jump when the 551st PIB was dropped into a lake on a night jump. This tragedy prompted the change to the quick release harness commonly called the "Dial of death" by military jumpers for years to come. I spoke with Dick Fields of the 551st who was on that jump about it a few weeks ago. The 551st also made the test jumps out of Waco CG-4A gliders. In case anyone is interested here is a good link about the 551st. http://www.insigne.org/551-history.htm sorry to kind of derail the thread. ATW, Cael

Pics from a jump on 7-21-09. ATW, Cael

I'm looking forword to the articles. I jumped my PC last week. big fun. Cael

Howard, That is certainly one of the coolest canopies I’ve ever seen. I love how the colors are changed in the different sections of the gores making the radical color changes. It’s great that you guys got it back in the air. Thanks, Cael

Rapter, Thanks for the additional info. I recently watched the movie again and wondered how the "Phoenix" was really made and flown. Unfortunately it's a tragic story. ATW, Cael

We didn't have luxuries like "tables" - we packed out in the grass. Preferably with a girl in cutoffs and a bikini top holding tension. Hmmmm? OK. I'll trade you one packing table for a girl in cuttoffs and a bikini top. Although in the long run a packing table would be less trouble. Hopefully I'll get a jump in on my jumbo PC this weekend. Cael

I was taught a the “side pack” by my PC mentor a couple of years ago. Flake the canopy, clear the steering lines, center lines and then slide it on the table. Do not split the canopy. Clear the “dog ears” up by the crown lines. Clear the stabilizers and fold the corners in and then fold in half. (kind of looks like an envelope). Pull down the sleeve. Double stow the crown lines (two wraps of the retainer band) to prevent bag slump. Don’t double stow the crown lines if you have a POD. Stow the suspension lines normally. Go jump. Repeat.

Been there. Done that. Last time it was a student saved by an FXC 1200 and a 26' lopo. CK

LMFAO!!! I'll see a couple of WWII paratroopers this weekend. I'll ask them about it. I'll bet they still won't admit it or have been branwashed by those "motion sickness" pills they took before D-Day! (wink, wink) ATW, CK

If you have a hard time finding a complete set up or container you can always go with a T-10 chest container. You can get a 26’er in them. Just add a belly band and your good to go. ATW, CK

Bigun, I heard it through the grapevine from some guys I’ll call Captain Morgan and Yardbird that your are conspiring to make my T-10 jump a reality. I’ll have you know that I already have more T-10 jumps than I ever wanted. Nice try though. As a consolation prize I’ll relate this story and photo. I have accidently jumped a -1Bravo that was marked as t a-1Charlie. I’m sure glad it was winter time with cold dense air and not July in Oklahoma when I did that. Attached is a pic of one of my boot prints from the landing. Remember that stinging sensation in your feet from a landing like that? I’ll bet you do! ATW, Cael

I still do it about 10 times a year with the WWII Airborne Demonstration team. I’ll put out a stick of jumpers in the C-47 jumping -1B’s or -1C’s, clear the tail and then follow them out. I either have the PC in the sleeve S folded in a military container set up with a SL pilot chute assist or in the original container with the SL installed using 3 strands of the inner cords from 550 tied off at each cone and the SL pilot chute assist . This way I get to jump a PC and not a -1. It helps make the DZ sometimes since I’m tail end Charlie getting out of the bird. It’s also fun to fly buy all the guys in military canopies in my “high performance” parachute! HAHA! ATW, Cael

Thanks for all the great comments and advise. That’s exactly what I was looking for. I’ve ditched the two pilot chute idea. I looked around and found a big “hot dog” pilot chute. I will be putting that on my rig this weekend. ATW! Cael

I have a couple of other MA-1’s in good shape and I’d rather not lay out the $ for the grabber if I don’t have to. If I add another pilot chute should it have a separate bridle line or be attached to the single bridle line that already has a pilot chute on it? Thanks, Cael

I am having a longer delay than I would like when jumping my Jumbo PC. It is set up in its original configuration. 3 pin container, POD and MA1 pilot chute. I’m doing low altitude hop n pops. Originally I was experiencing a six second plus delay from pilot chute launch to opening. I attribute this to three factors. Low speed pilot chute launch (not terminal) on exit, wimpy MA1 pilot chute spring and size, and double stowing of the crown lines. I double stowed the crown lines as was my habit from jumping PCs in sleeves. Since this PC is in a POD and cannot experience “bag slump” I don’t think double stowing is needed and will not do it again. I’m going to continue to do hop n pops and am thinking that adding another pilot chute will help. I know that back in the day this was done and would like to hear how effective it was/is. I’m also concerned about over stressing the crown lines. Two of my crown lines were already repaired when I bought this PC and I don’t want to cause any further damage. Thanks, Cael

Jerry, I think youre right. The lines on it are shorter than a T-10 reserve. It knocked my socs off on opening. It flew great and then thumped me on landing. ATW, Cael

man! I don't look a the forum for a while and I miss this great PC thread! A friend of mine has a HALO PC that he jumps a few times a year. It's a 28' jumbo model and OD. Im not sure but the jumbo would probably have a different nomenclature thatn the 24' HALO PC. Here's a pic of me jumping another HALO PC he has last year. It's dark camo and the only markings on it are 1 and 24 on the respective gores. ATW, Cael

The guy in the red jumpsuit is named Eddie. I can't remember his last name but he always hung out with a guy named Doug. They were part of the "Austin skydivers" crew that used to come out to the old skydive Temple (at the temple airport) whenever the twinbo was there for the weekend. I walked out of the hanger one evening to find them all pissing on the empanage of the twinbo. good times. Cael