WGore

I was in the Army when Ken first showed up. When I first met him he was jumping a PC. I think the Navy also had a 30ft flat circular as well. I can remember when you were the hot kid on the block with a 4 color surplus. They were $10 down at the quartermasters store at Knox. They were a real good deal till the military started cutting the lines off at the skirt instead of the connector links. Ross Turpin would reattach the lines and his wife would modify them for $5. I think she made sleeves as well. Fun times for sure. GUNFIRE, The sound of Freedom!

A little nostalgia. http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=yF7mle0ZD70 GUNFIRE, The sound of Freedom!

There are 4 colors there George. I beleave that the 4 color T-10s were made for the Navy Seals or UDT. GUNFIRE, The sound of Freedom!

ATC can also set there screens to only pick up aircraft using a transponder if they are busy and the primary targets are cluttering the screen. Their primary responsibility is to aircraft on flight plans headed into their airspace. Some controllers are very good at giving aircraft that could be a factor. Other controllers give every aircraft within 10 miles. All of this has to be sorted out by the pilot. Add to that the fact that the average controller doesn't have a clue what 105 says about jump aircraft notifying ATC or their responsibility. GUNFIRE, The sound of Freedom!

Technically that was an inversion although they both kind of look the same. It would be called one though. Most Mae Wests were created by line overs. I imagine that did spin quite well with the modifications on opposite sides like that. GUNFIRE, The sound of Freedom!

Personally I like a sleeve better and thought it was faster than I could pack a POD. They did pack smaller though. They were definately faster than a regular bag. GUNFIRE, The sound of Freedom!

No it's not Gary, he wasn't that heavy set. You know that might be Gary lower right though. The years have overloaded the hard drive not to mention one or two beers. GUNFIRE, The sound of Freedom!

GCS is the Greene County tent, that is Jim West in the center with his back to camera. The group shot in front of the Beech is a Greene County team. I recognize all the faces but can't put names with all of them. Back row 1st Steve Adams 2nd Allen Godfry of Greene Star, then Mike Howard, Jim West, and can't remember the next, last guy went to school with my brother but don't remember his name. Front row 1st Ed Mosher of Brand X jumpsuits second might be Dave Briar, and 3rd is Dennis Downey. GUNFIRE, The sound of Freedom!

I never measured the lift, but I've never found anything I couldn't get in or through with it. As far as reverse I'm not doing production work and when I did I didn't find that to be a problem. One or 2 extra minutes per harnes weren't goin to make me or break me. I went through several worn out machines before finding this one and they sure could be frustrating at times. I can't remember ever having the first problem with this one. I'd sell this one in a heartbeat for 5K. One site I looked at was getting 8K for a new Consew although there were some other machines down around 6K. When I do need one though it's nice to have this one and not worry about it screwing up. GUNFIRE, The sound of Freedom!

It has a table. I gave $1400 back in the early 80s for this when I was building gear. It was pretty hard to find a good one back then. This was from an estate and was practically brand new then. The guy died shortly after buying it. I'll hang on to it for that kind of money. I don't use it much anymore but it is handy every once in awhile. Thanks guys. GUNFIRE, The sound of Freedom!

Anybody have an idea what a pristine 7-33 Grey Head is worth? There is no reverse. GUNFIRE, The sound of Freedom!

Bummer, that was a classic! GUNFIRE, The sound of Freedom!

Now that you point it out that does look like the back of Bob's head. The other thing I remember about Pop's meet was if one person in a round jumped in high winds everybody jumped in the winds. What ever happened to that Lockheed 10E you guys had at Barnwell? GUNFIRE, The sound of Freedom!

What year was that taken? I think I went to Pop's Christmas meet the first time in 70 and he had gray hair then. Sure had a lot of fun times at that meet. Got my SCR that year and won the meet in 73. Beat out all the squares that year with a French Pap. Still sends chills down my spine thinking about those down winders in that FL wind. Sure glad I was bullet proof back then. GUNFIRE, The sound of Freedom!

I don't remember the exact circumstances anymore but it was common to install the high reserve d-rings for conventional reserves above the capewells. Of course the d-ring was still behind the main lift web. When they went to piggybacks they installed the reserve riser the same way. The stiching was a standard double W stitch above the capewell and then they also attached the comfort pad to the reser and capewell turnback with a box stitch that helped reinforce the whole thing. The fix was to put a confluence wrap around the whole thing directly behind the capewell. If there was more than 1 fatality I never heard of it. This is probably hard to visualize without seeing one or knowing the construction of the era. GUNFIRE, The sound of Freedom!

At the DZ I flew for, for years it was usually the pilots that shut things down. All of our pilots had more jumps than most of the up jumpers and when they were scared the rest listened. What some of those folks would jump in I didn't want to land an airplane in. On the other hand if the wind was straight down the runway, you are an adult, name your own poison. Obviously experienced jumpers. I have jumped in some questionable conditions doing demos, but for fun jumps there is always tomorrow or next weekend, why push it. I've said it more than once, I don't need one more jump that bad. Once I did and got a rather intimate introduction to a woven wire fence and then the emergency room. The DZ shut down for the rest of the day. BTW this was on a round, they really suck in 30mph winds. GUNFIRE, The sound of Freedom!

A friend of mine from Rhodesia told me of watching a 3 way go in, but not sure where. He said that he was watching through binoculars when they went behind a hangar. Like Hoop it has been a long time ago. But watching through binos would indicate daytime and I thought that it was a meet of some kind. I heard the story in 82 or 83 when I was working in SA so it was sometime before that. Sandy Reid might have a clue on this one if he monitors this site. GUNFIRE, The sound of Freedom!

Mid 60s and yes she did. GUNFIRE, The sound of Freedom!

I haven't seen the investigative story that you reference but I think a lot of what they came up with was conjecture. As far as I know, no one was ever arrested and or convicted in this particular instance. And the 2 people that you mention are dead. Does someone know something, probably, are they talking, not so far! I do agree that it is more interesting than the DB Cooper mystery, but then it happened on my side of the country. And I knew a few of the principles through skydiving and lost way too many friends on the Caravan, one very close friend. GUNFIRE, The sound of Freedom!

If you don't have the rivets, I think I have some floating around the basement, probably have the tool as well, haven't looked in years, not a big call for that stuff anymore. GUNFIRE, The sound of Freedom!

Do you mean the apex lines? I can't figure out how the crown lines would affect the opening. The apex lines on the other hand would have a big affect on the fill time. You got that right! When you tighten the apex lines it leaves a little slack in the suspension lines and allows them to spread quicker taking air. Sort of like the old T-7 and T-10 reserves. Clear the container and take air, meanwhile the lines are still unstowing. Not exactly the same but damned close. GUNFIRE, The sound of Freedom!

48", at our DZ we started at 54" and the serious guys were taking 60" out. Probably why I had so many functions come to think about it. GUNFIRE, The sound of Freedom!

My wife used to jump an RWPC before she quit and it really landed nice. Most of the PCs that I had were chopped up so much that you BETTER hit the pea gravel or do a PLF. As far as the best accuracy round, I liked the real UT-15 best followed by a French Pap. They were also the most reliable canopies that I jumped. Never had a single funtion on either one. Had a pile of them on PCs. GUNFIRE, The sound of Freedom!

On 2 seperate occasions I caught guys that had forged my signature because they were at a boogy and out of date. I charged them double because obviously I had forgotten to charge them for the last pack job. Never saw them again. We used to do the same thing if they jumped the rig out of date and we caught them. GUNFIRE, The sound of Freedom!

I sgree with you on the investment by the rigger trainee. I've tried doing stuff for free and they don't show up when you have the time or do show up when you don't. The shake and bake courses get things done in a timely manner and you have their undivided attenion. Will you learn more over a longer period of time, absolutely, but you can also lose interest or forget things. The senior riggers ticket is a license to learn and the condensed course gets you there quick. When I started it was necessary to know about your equipment for survival and basicly I was self taught by trial and error and reading what was available. Back then that meant the military manuals which were relavent since most of the equipment was Mil Surp. I am amazed at how many young jumpers have no idea why or how their equipment works and don't care. Canopy tangled call a rigger, 3 ring pulled call a rigger. I don't mind checking stuff if someone asks but they should learn for themselves. After all it is their ass. GUNFIRE, The sound of Freedom!