1S1CK

Here's a view of our favorite weekend drop zone (at 7500 ft. jump altitude for a 30 sec. free-fall) in the Philippines.

Welcome RamJet! Please do tell me if you ever jump again... We are 59 yrs. old here, and 60, come November. I will do the same, if you take your friend's offer. :-))) Just read on Bill Booth. although, i never lost a ripcord. Didn't realize Bill was the one who invented the throw-away pilot chute. GREAT! We owe a lot to him. Great invention. Pls., thank him for me. Well, golf keeps me busy, of late. I walk no less than 12 miles a week, and that should keep our legs strong for awhile, till our next jump. hehehehe... But water-skiing should keep you in shape, too! Do tell me if you ever jump. I always loved suiting up, hear the hum of the engines to full-throttle, the exit, free-fall, and all that, till our next jump. :-)

RamJet, BTW, I like your story about the various squares you flew. I was also, sort of the test pilot of different system during my time. hehehehe... it did keep my adrenalin up all the time. I guess i became addicted to that... ...and during landings, one has to be in control; don't let the canopy speed control you... you have to take control of your descent and forward speeds to have a great landing. I was going to say, ...during landings... I always wanted to land close to a friend standing near the "target." They didn't realize until after that i was always using them as reference for my altitude and speed. They found out my secret, eventually... hehehehehe... Soon, after, a lot of us were doing stand-up landings. :-)

Yup! You had a very good feel of your descent and forward speeds to do that stand-up flared landing. Some don't have that because of poor speeds and too much target fixation. I remember the old cheapo saying, "eyes at the horizon." :-))) I had an air force pilot friend who jumped the squares, too. Red flew both the rotary and fixed wings by profession, but never had a good flared stand-up landing. He always was coming in too fast, and more often than not, landed, (i approximate, with 25% brakes) on his butt, like he was seated on his a/c pilot seat. I guess he was too conscious w/ his stall speed. Yes, I saw his stalls too before impact in some of his landings. Anyways, it has finally taken its toll. Today at 64 yrs old, he feels a lot of pain around his pelvis area, he says. BTW, I like this quote: "Today, it's not so much getting the canopy to open as it is getting to the ground and landing it in one piece." Standing-up! Right you are... Good Job, RamJet! :-)

Hi Roger, Thanks for the very technical narrative of the square chute deployment system. As I was reading your description, it was like traveling back in time. Every step I could visualize with ease, including that of the old para-plane. My para-plane had lots of line burns compared to that of the *Star. What a great improvement in technology for a new era. Thank you again for the fond memories... We did not have the luxury to get back to the factory at that time. I guess we were half a world away; so we had to rely on gut-feel. We did not have the internet then. GREAT! By the way, I saw your stand-up landing. I can still remember doing some of those, too! :-))) I always loved playing around the toggle lines (brakes) between 33% to 50% and the final flair at 75% to 85%; till a feather type touchdown. Controls were not too heavy. Back then, I didn't realize that the steering lines could break. Glad that it never did...OK! I'm attaching pictures of your nice landing... I hope you like them. Regards, Chito P.S. when I get back to So. Pasadena, Ca. this September 2011, I will go to some nearby drop zone and see for myself how they do it nowadays... Who knows... I might do a jump or two? :-)))

here's the picture of the "(rings not seen) & ropes" and the old ripcord system on a low altitude, jump and pull from a UH-H. The old ropes did show attached to the old spring type pilot chute. :-)

You are right, Roger. The rings and ropes came with the new *Star, which I mistook for the old ripcord, slider and pilot chute system modifications that came later. I was looking at my old picture during deployment. Come to think about it, yes, the *Star did open smoothly, but there was a very "slight" uncomfortable delay (about 2 seconds) from the Para-Plane that always gave me a big thud and stiff neck. The *Cloud opened so smoothly, too. Thanks for the reminder, Roger... Chito

You are right, Roger. The rings and ropes came with the new *Star which I mistook it for the ripcord, slider and pilot chute system modifications that came later. I was looking at my old picture during deployment. Come to think about it, yes, the *Star did open smoothly, but there was a very "slight" uncomfortable delay (about 2 seconds) from the Para-Plane that always gave me a stiff neck. The *Cloud opened so smoothly, too. Thanks for the reminder, Roger... Chito

Hi Roger, Let me qualify these three malfunctions. The first was my fault. Rigging error. I had the bad habit to detaching the capewells after each and every jump, so i could fold the *Star faster for the next jump; aircraft fuel was so expensive back then. :-( The left capewell was not seated well; yet the cover closed somehow; and popped out during deployment; ...streamer; cutaway; and the reserve. The 2nd was when a friend and i were still learning RW on our own. Rene hit the right corner of the *Star canopy and collapsed it by 50% on a low-opening. Right toggle popped out, and got entangled with the right riser; difficult to untangle; violent downward spiral; too low to recover; so decided to cutaway and use the reserve. All these under 20 jumps of the new *Star. The 3rd was the same as the 1st, haste on the capewell again, but this time still young and foolhardy, i did not rig my own, but by our designated rigger during a demo jump. The new *Star rings, ropes, and new slider system came much later; after a hundred jumps with the unmodified- long lines. We shortened the lines, installed the new pilot chute pocket on the harness; all these by our rigger, at a much later date. After the latest modifications, we did not have any problems ever since. Logged 900+ jumps thereafter. I was also able to jump the seven-cell *Cloud for about 100+ jumps; but felt it was too big and turned too flat for me. The *Star was more agile, fast and highly maneuverable. Somehow, I got attached to the *Star, a lot, till I was reassigned, stopped jumping and got married. But I think I can still jump, and absorb the opening shock given a chance again. Who knows, one of these days, again. Thanks for the inquiry and comments, Roger. Chito Kintanar Philippine Islands

Hi Peter! ...for a long while i thought it was Russian, i guess it was; but now, i know the origin was Greek. Did some research. We got our T-shirt then from the Para~Commander manufacturer. Thanks for noticing it. Chito Kintanar DU1CK / 1S1CK ~Spratly Islands