Zing

It's going to be hilariously tragic after a bunch of skydivers go out and buy their own canula or mask ... only to find out that the FAA has decided that previously approved portable O2 systems are now deemed illegal for use in skydiving aircraft ... dropping the jumpers with their spiffy helmets and new canulas from lower altitudes because there is nothing to plug them into. It is my understanding that the grounded O2 system is an approved portable type used in 100s of general aviation aircraft, but one FSDO has now decided that an approved, portable O2 system is illegal in a jump plane. Does anyone else believe that this is an issue the USPA should be on top of? Zing Lurks

Ah ... the Rogallo parawing minus the OSI. I'd guess that one is vintage late 60s/early 70s. Zing Lurks

That does happen sometimes, but not always and not with all species of spiders. For tarantulas, the males become dinner more often when they approach a female who is not amenable to breeding, perhaps because she is already gravid or is not in reproduction mode. I tried mating the two tarantulas a total of five times. The last time I put him in the females terrarium, she tried to pounce on him instead of mating and would have eaten him if not for the male's fleet feet and my intervention. The male has now been shipped to another tarantula hobbyist in North carolina where he will have the opportunity to mate with a few more females. Female tarantulas, though it varies from species to species, can live as long 40 years and mature withing 3 to 10 years, however the males tend to mature within 1 to 4 years of birth and rarely survive much longer than year after their ultimate molt to maturity. The first tarantula I owned was an adult female when i got it and I had it for 19 years before she died, apparently of old age. At the moment, I have immature tarantulas in my colection that could easily out live me. I was morbidly scared of spiders when i was a kid and bought my first tarantula to learn to get over that fear. While they are fuzzy little critters, I don't play with them, but I know other tarantula enthusiasts who think nothing of allowing their big hairy spiders to crawl around on their hands and arms and I've heard plenty of stories from folks who have had tarantulas run up a pant leg or shirt sleeve. A few of the tarantula species are reknowned for their ability to move at incredible speeds for short distances. So much so that new owners are often warned about some tarantulas' abilities to teleport themselves ... usually from the spider's tank to the top of the owner's head. Jtval, the tarantula in your photo is an adult male Aphonopelma species. In your neck of the woods, the tarantula breeding season is nearing its end and the males are out and about, desperately seeking females to mate with. Tarantulas have been found in fossil records dating back about 200 million years, but, surprisingly, or maybe not, there has been little research to identify just how many seperate kinds there are. In the past two years, the identified species and sub-types has grown from about 750 to 800 different kinds of tarantulas known to live around the world. Europe, one of the few continents that has no native tarantulas, is actually the hotbed of tarantula keepers and breeders for the hobby trade. Zing Lurks

After looking at that photo, I'd say that bug is called a solifuge, or commonly called a sunspider or a camel spider. In reality, it isn't a spider at all. They grow to about 3 inches in length around here (Arizona) and are fearsome predators of insects, small lizards, snakes and mammals. I have a collection of tarantulas from around the world and they range in size from a few 3/4-inch babies to adults that have a legspan approaching 9 inches. Here's an Aphonopelma chalcodes (desert blond tarantula) male mating with a female. He has an 8-inch legspan and her's is about 6 inches, but she outweighs the male considerably. I'm hoping for an eggsac of baby tarantulas come spring time. Zing Lurks

The hangar at Ghoulidge we operated out of in the 70s and 80s was identical to the one at the airport where Fandango was filmed. Over the years, there were dozens of people who were convinced that the movie was shot at Ghoulidge and that I had a part in it. More than one jumper has climbed on board the airplane I was flying and inquired, "What was it like when you flew for Fandango?" I was never involved in it at all. Zing Lurks

It's not easy being green! Zing Lurks

Its a nice little plinker, for close range. Mine's a .380 caliber. Takes me a few rounds to get proficient again at anything over 20 feet if I haven't been plinking regularly. Did you know that in Ian Flemings' books, Bond carried a .25 caliber Berretta, later changing to a 9 mm, but I don't think it was a Walther. James Bond carried a Walther only in the movies. M forced Bond to switch weapons after his Berretta snagged in the home made chamois shoulder holster Bond used and was nearly killed by a kick to the shin from a poisoned spike concealed in the shoe of Blofeld's girlfriend. Zing Lurks

But, that sign only applies to tandem hooking. Zing Lurks

I'm guessing wildly, but that airplane looks like something like an Aeronca, later Bellanca, Scout. A second guess would be that its a jump for the tv show Ripcord. Seems I recall reading somewhere about an airplane modified for camera work used around Hollywierd ... might have belonged to TallMantz Aviation. Frank Tallman and Paul Mantz had a hand in a lot of film/television stuff utilizing a number of airplanes. Mantz was killed flying the homebuilt that appears in the end of the original "Flight of the Phoenix" starring Jimmy Stewart. Tallman was in his 80s when his airplane flew into the side of a mountain in California some years ago. Zing Lurks

I thought this was beginning to sound suspiciously like random-babble-theory-of-flight. Zing Lurks

Naw ... I heard he went in over in Florida a long time ago. Zing Lurks

Its simple ... all your money and the rest of your life. Zing Lurks

Well, some can argue semantics of whether a portable system in use for quite sometime at a lot of dropzones, including the one who's system got grounded, was previously okay to use, but the exact same system became unapproved overnight is an arbitrary decision or not ... and you all can discuss until you're blue in the face whether a canula or a tube works best in your spiffy helmets ... but it isn't going to matter a whit if this one FSDO's decision becomes the precedent used for prohibiting the use of portable O2 systems on jump planes in the U.S. Don't lose sight of the forest just because there's a few trees in your view. A bunch of people ask for more details. Sorry, all the details I know about this instance are contained in the original post. Zing Lurks

"... when I hear about a diesel engine in an airplane it makes me picture a guy unshaven, beer gut, a cigar clenched in his teeth, a couple of control levers sticking out of the floor, big twin stacks sticking above the wings and as they roll down the runway plumes of black smoke and each gear ..." Pretty well describes some of the Twin Beechs and DC-3s I've flown. Zing Lurks

Naw ... the important ones didn't miss you at all. Zing Lurks

Nope, my lifetime membership to USPA expired 33 years ago and I don't fly airplanes anymore. The ball's in your court ... tag, you're it! Zing Lurks

My rant for the day. Well boys and girls, it appears the repercussions from a recent bounce in the Southwest may have begun. A lot of us have sucked on a tube hooked to a portable oxygen bottle, temporarily installed in a jump plane for high-altitude loads. As of today, one dropzone in the southwestern United States will no longer be able to fly their airplanes with the exact same O2 rigs in use throughout the US, and I’d guess, a number of foreign dropzones too. The dropzone owner was informed by an FAA representative that oxygen tanks used for supplemental O2 for the pilot and/or jumpers must be installed in the airframe behind a rear bulkhead along with approved plumbing for air lines to the passengers and pilot terminating in a canula or mask. This particular FSDO’s arbitrary ruling on one dropzone’s O2 system sets a precedent for grounding the systems currently in use for skydiving. In effect, one FSDO is now interpreting the regulations to say that a portable O2 system is not legal for use in flight when supplemental oxygen is required. The O2 systems used by the dropzones I’ve flown at are nothing more than a scaled up version of the portable systems sold to General Aviation pilots by a dozen, or so, manufacturers. This FSDO’s ruling implies these systems are illegal. As a pilot and a jumper, I’ve been present when FAA reps looked over the aircraft and pilots at several dropzones and boogies. This is the first time I’m aware of that the feds took a close look at a skydiving operation’s O2 systems, other than to confirm that oxygen was provided for pilots and passengers. I flew in a formation load once with an FAA rep in the right seat, sucking on the end of a tube at 20,000 feet, just like the 21 jumpers in the back. No problem with it then, so why is there a problem now? One part of the rational for this FSDO’s arbitrary ruling is attributed to a statement made following a recent bounce which implied that at 17,000 feet msl, skydivers have only 30 seconds before they become incapacitated. I don’t need to identify the dropzone this happened at, it’s irrelevant, unless they want to comment. What is relevant is that years of cooperation between the FAA, DZOs and USPA to provide supplemental oxygen for skydiving utilizing practical systems has just taken a major hit that could reverberate through the jumping industry. Might not be a bad time for the USPA and Group Member Dropzones, and the General membership to circle the wagons and head this one off at the pass. If the oversight of skydiving operations is going to be under the auspices of a federal authority, then the same rules should apply uniformly across the geographic area being regulated under that authority. The FAA should be required to present the regulation this FSDO is citing to ground an O2 system that is of a type that will be in, if not in use, in skydiving airplanes across the United States this weekend. Zing Lurks

I know ... I know ... I've got the book those photos are in sitting on the bookshelf. Zing Lurks

I don't remember the exact year, but Gary "Elevator" Olsen and I were at Lost Prairie flying Twin Beechs at the annual boogie. Come Saturday night, the Crack Choir seriously roasted the two of us after we'd happily accepted the "thanks" of several women for extra altitude, scenic tours, aerobatic flights and flybys. On Sunday, I convinced Elevator to offer a free Beech load jump for women only ... if they'd go naked. Soon, there were 10 or 11 women on their way to the Beech, but because of all the cameras, the girls insisted on retaining their bras and panties until they were in the airplane. The lingerie came off once they were on board and were tossed out the window of the Beech during the take off. Elevator headed down the valley a few miles and at about 9 grand, an "engine problem" occured. Out the door goes the load of naked women into the wheat fields miles away from the drop zone, but after all the girls landed, Elevator made a few low passes by the group to let the girls know they'd been had. The whole thing was a setup. After he got back and landed, Elevator said it looked like there were some very upset girls in that field wearing only their birthday suits. One of the first cars the naked women flagged down belonged to a country preacher, who, with his wife and daughter, were on their way to church services. Elevator spent most of the rest of the day in hiding after the load got back to the dropzone. Those girls were a PISSED OFF bunch. What they didn't know, was that Elevator had let them off easy ... the original plan had called for Elevator to feign an engine problem over the lumberjack contest that was going on over near Lake MacGregor. I figured those logging boys fresh in from a long spell in the backwoods would have showed special appreciation for an impromptu demo by a bunch of naked female skydivers. Zing Lurks

There wasn't much freestyle going on yet when a large number of Japanese jumpers came to Ghoulidge for three months in the mid-eighties. Pre seatbelts requirements then, when the skydivers were considered cargo instead of passengers. One DC-3 load had 16 gaijins and 45 Nippons on board ... and the load was lighter than the usual loads carrying 40-45 US, Canadian and European jumpers. Personally, I really enjoyed flying Pilatus Porters, but I ALWAYS had the emergency rig on and strapped down tight. I figured it was only a matter of time before a skydiver took the tail plane off the plane. There isn't much holding it on the airplane to begin with. Jay Stokes used Porters on his last two 24-hour jump marathons. I'd bet money that a Porter with a strong dash 27 or dash 34 PT6 on it would have matched and possibly beat the turn times of the PAC 750s used the last time. Compared with other Porters I've flown, the WonderBread Porter was a tired old airplane, seriously in need of some rigging work on the engine, prop and controls. It was still fun to fly, though ... there are few airplanes that compare. Zing Lurks

Joke??? ... hell boy, that's the voice of experience! Zing Lurks

That is a Douglas R4-D Super3, a variant of the DC-3 with Pratt&Whitney R-2000 engines and a squared off vertical fin and landing gear doors, among other mods. I have no idea who or where, but I'll hazard a guess that it is a military airplane and the jumpers' gear screams early-mid 60s Zing Lurks

See ... it says right here. It goes blue, green, blue, green, blue, green, ... and you pull on green. Zing Lurks

I found a hunting dog's collar and tags on the canal bank on my property last week and mailed it to the address listed on the back of one of the tags. Today there was an envelope in my mailbox with a $20 bill inside and nice thanks note that I wasn't expecting. Easy money and a nice return on a $0.41 cent investment. Zing Lurks

Yep, USPA certainly is "timely." I've only been waiting 33 years for the lifetime membership I paid for in 1974 to show up, then they lost my D-license number and managed to spell my name wrong the last time I was mentioned in Parachutist ... guess its what you get for being notorious rather than reknowned. Really doesn't matter anymore because as of about two weeks ago I became one of them ustawas types and for the first time in 36 years, I no longer own a rig, parachutes, jumpsuits and all that other jumper stuff ... and I won't jump borrowed gear. But, WHEW, what a ride that was! Zing Lurks