jimp

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Posts posted by jimp

  1. The club where I made my first 30 jumps had an interesting way of packing reserves. After the canopy was neatly pleated and folded and the lines stowed in the pack tray, we started at the apex and tightly rolled up the canopy right to the skirt. The rolled canopy was placed in the pack which was closed normally. Naturally enough the technique was called a "roll pack".

    I never saw one thrown, and never had to myself, so can't comment on the effectiveness of this packing method.

  5. Ed O'Brien owned a 337 (N2617F) that was used for skydiving on St. Thomas, USVI on a fairly regular basis. I have a couple of jumps from it, the aft engine was not shut down.

    I asked about this before the first jump naturally, but the boys just said "Nah, don't worry about it, we've done it lots of times".

    The dropzone was on Morningstar Beach, right in front of the bar. So we usually made only one jump per day.

  8. Does landing miles away from the DZ on a bad spot count as a different drop zone?

    Anyway, the list is long (hundreds?), in 45 or 50 different countries around the planet. Most times the spot was good enough to land on the DZ.

  10. Also known as the Reims Rocket, this aircraft is not your everyday grunty little Cessna 172. You'll know when you hear it fire up - the Rolls-Royce built fuel injected Continental IO-360D puts out 210 hp and makes a distinctive sound. With 4 old time (PCs and front mounted reserves) skydivers on board, this machine would haul ass to 13 grand in 15 minutes or so. This was at the old Grindale dropzone at Bridlington in 1973

    The skill of your pilots and your field elevation will be two important factors in your aircraft's performance. We had a superb pilot (Peter Frazer) and the field elevation was near sea level.

    Good Luck!

  14. Way back when, I shattered my tib and fib in Malawi.
    Hot and high, no windsock, and downwind under a strato-star. It was something like 10 hours before I got any kind of medical attention. I was lucky - I made it out to Johannesburg.

    If any of your participants are interested in knowing what 10 hours of unrelenting pain is like, ask them to get in touch with me. (Or failing that, I guess they could just talk to their mothers.)

  15. Yes, but it was Easter weekend 1975.

    I was working at a place called Grootfontein. Namibia was known as South West Africa then (as you probably know).

    Desert Skydivers brought their Cessna 185 ZS-DAS over from Windhoek for the weekend. A girlfriend and I drove down from Tsumeb.

    We all had a fantastic time. The views up and down the Skeleton Coast from altitude were stunning!
    (I still have my old Skeleton Skydivers t-shirt).

    Have a blast. Too bad I can't make it back for this one.

  16. Google:
    Fallhlifasamband Islands, or the English version - Icelandic Parachutist Association.

    They were quite active when I was there in '89, but haven't heard much about them for a while.

    You might try contacting the bigger DZs in Florida - Z-hills and Deland. One or the other of these has been Icelandic jumpers' traditional winter hangout, you might even be able to catch some of them there.

  17. Problems getting a look at this video, but from the description it sounds much like a jump Natalie Chudiak and I made in 1991 - same location (Volosovo), aircraft (DOSAAF An-2 tail no. 05), and altitude (100 meters or so). Canopy was a standard military D-1-5U static lined and d-bag deployed. Well, it was pretty exciting, and i thought kinda ballsy too, even though a woman had preceeded me out the door!

    But, that was nothing.

    A couple of years later. I was at an airshow at Zhukovskiy, SE of Moscow. I knew some of the guys were going to make a low static line jump, but was startled when the An-2 came roaring full bore down airshow centre under 200 feet. A stick of 8 jumpers popped out in quick succession, the first on the ground before the last had cleared the aircraft. Canopies were the same standard D-1-5U, everybody had front mounted reserves - what the hell for I don't know. They did another later that afternoon - I had thought of asking to get on the load - something held me back!! so I had to be content with 10 ways out of the Mi-8. One of the guys later said they jump even lower "for practice".

    Yeah, crazy Russians allright.

  18. Hi, Jerry,

    My old log books from that "era" bring back a lot of memories.

    I got hold of a Irvin Eagle wing early in '71 - maybe that's what "qualified" me to jump the ram airs. Once I landed it on one of Bill Hardman's outside packing tables. He wasn't amused at the time, but mentions it with a smile whenever I see him these days.

    Some of the signatures in these old books are interesting and no doubt you'd recognize them: Ski, Lenny Aikins, Jessie Aikins, Jack Massey, Charles Bunch, Ron Dixon, Nick Wilson, Andrew Ramage, Ron Hermann, Ken Gorman.

    On a trip to Antioch and Perris I see Rick Robbins, Rick Canham, Mike Dodson, Ron Tavalero, Paul Sitter, Brent McLarty, Bob Thompson, Bill Smith, jeanni McCombs, Russ Gunby, Frank Venegas, Lyle Cameron, and Tony Lemus (at Tequesquitengo Mexico). I don't see yours there, but maybe we can fix that one of these days.

    It was about then the first Clouds were making an appearance - called the "Silver Cloud" I think. Skip Stevenson had one at Antioch in Nov. 71.

    It's all getting to be ancient history now, though!

    Jim

  19. There will be a skydiving competition in Jeddah 22 to 30 March this year, consisting of classic accuracy and 4 way formation. DZ is at Durat Al-Arus.

    You might be able to find out more about the local scene in Jeddah from this little bit of information. Good luck!

  20. Ski Shipuleski brought one up to Bill Hardman's Abbotsford dropzone in April 1971. Somehow I talked him into letting me jump it.

    Logbook entry 231, exit height 9500 ft, wind speed 0, "Link with Svend (Hougard). Bit slow, but we made it. Hurt wrist landing. Wow!!"

    Ski also had a Notre Dame foil which I got to jump a month later.

    Logbook entry 243, exit height 5400, wind speed 0, "Not quite as spooky this time flared just nicely in the plowed field." Jump signed by R. Vest, D1434

    Oh, the memories.

  23. We jump this amazing (slow) bird...

    An interesting note from the pilot's handbook:

    "If the engine quits in instrument conditions or at night, the pilot should pull the control column full aft and keep the wings level. The leading edge slats will
    snap out at about 64km/h (40 mph), and when the airplane slows to a forward speed of about 40km/h (25 mph), the airplane will sink at a parachute descent rate until it hits the ground"

  24. Andras Arady in Budapest flies an An-2 - HA-ABP.

    I've done a bunch of jumps from it, and from other An-2s in Russia, Poland and Cuba.

    Good old Anushka, how I love her, she's got to be my favorite airplane!