murrays 0
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skr 1
>My guess is he meant to say "Goldmine"
:-)
That was my guess too but I didn't feel right
saying it outright when English is like his 3rd
or 4th language, so I just spun off into other
possibilities.
Skr
:-)
That was my guess too but I didn't feel right
saying it outright when English is like his 3rd
or 4th language, so I just spun off into other
possibilities.
Skr
Hmmm, do you want stories from Bill or about him...? I'm sure I could provide a little input since I was his first employee and built the first 100 or so Wonderhogs...
BTW, he had no beard when I met him or while I worked for him, that came much later. He was renting a room and a shop from Pam Tayon in Miami when I went to work for him.
I met him during a weekend in Deland, he was up from Miami showing his new rig. I was stunned when I saw it. I was jumping a Strong Piggyback which weighed 53lbs, his new rig was 22lbs! It was wedge shaped and had plastic rip cords and the pilot chute wrapped around the outside of the main container. We talked for a few minutes and I moved to Pam's house the following weekend.
If you start a stories thread for Bill, let me know and I will participate (if it's ok with Bill).
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Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519
BTW, he had no beard when I met him or while I worked for him, that came much later. He was renting a room and a shop from Pam Tayon in Miami when I went to work for him.
I met him during a weekend in Deland, he was up from Miami showing his new rig. I was stunned when I saw it. I was jumping a Strong Piggyback which weighed 53lbs, his new rig was 22lbs! It was wedge shaped and had plastic rip cords and the pilot chute wrapped around the outside of the main container. We talked for a few minutes and I moved to Pam's house the following weekend.
If you start a stories thread for Bill, let me know and I will participate (if it's ok with Bill).
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Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519
QuoteIf you start a stories thread for Bill, let me know and I will participate (if it's ok with Bill)
Why dont' you start one, it'd probably be pretty good.
--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."
QuoteIt was wedge shaped and had plastic rip cords and the pilot chute wrapped around the outside of the main container.
There aren't many people around who remember that wrap around PC. It would freak people out today. But at least the pin was protected.
Sparky
My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals
i think too, now. those nylon ripcords would freak people out
It was actually a very nice setup, it's just that when we invented the hand deploy setup, it rendered it an antique instantly :)
The "Pin" was protected as you say, but the pin was just the end of the plastic ripcord, not a pin in the traditional swedged on type of thing...
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Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519
The "Pin" was protected as you say, but the pin was just the end of the plastic ripcord, not a pin in the traditional swedged on type of thing...
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Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519
Actually, those plactic ripcords freaked people out even then. Some would not buy the rig because of them. After a fatality at Casa Grande that was blamed on the plastic ripcord breaking, Bill changed over to traditional metal cable/pins for the reserve ripcord (we had already gone to the hand deploy for the main by then). I never got to see the official report or the rig from the accident, so I never was able to determine what really happened. I never believed that the ripcord broke on its own. You would not believe the torture tests Bill put that ripcord material through and it never broke in testing (ovens, freezers, constant bending back and forth, etc.). But, the fatality really had an effect on Bill and he didn't hesitate to make the change. I'm sure a fatality on one of his rigs was going to happen eventually, but I think the rig being blamed really hurt Bill. I know how he felt as I had a friend go in on one of my rigs a couple of years later...
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Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519
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Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519
QuoteIt was actually a very nice setup, it's just that when we invented the hand deploy setup, it rendered it an antique instantly :)
The "Pin" was protected as you say, but the pin was just the end of the plastic ripcord, not a pin in the traditional swedged on type of thing...
Many years ago, on a Round Robin, a jumper had a cutaway and lost the reserve ripcord. He had a spare cutaway handle but not a ripcord. I packed his reserve, a 2 pin Wonderhog, using the cutaway handle/cables and it worked just great. And there wasn't any worry about the pin being faulty.
(you do remember round robins?)
Sparky
My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals
slug 1
Hi Ramjet
Got and pictures of "Baby Face" Mr Booth from "back in the day".
R.i.P.
Got and pictures of "Baby Face" Mr Booth from "back in the day".
R.i.P.
QuoteHi Ramjet
Got and pictures of "Baby Face" Mr Booth from "back in the day".
R.i.P.
Sorry, I have very few pictures from my skydiving days at all and Bill isn't in any of them. Pam may have some. I don't think she has jumped in many years either, but she still lives in Tampa. Doubt if she has ever been on this forum, but if I can find her number, I'll give her a call.
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Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519
jbrasher 1
What I remember about a fatality on a Wonderhog around that time (there were so many at C.G.) was that the reserve ripcord had been lost and replaced with a metal (regular) ripcord. A fray in the metal cable caught in the fabric channel preventing the handle from being pulled. :-(
Red, White and Blue Skies,
John T. Brasher D-5166
Red, White and Blue Skies,
John T. Brasher D-5166
QuoteWhat I remember about a fatality on a Wonderhog around that time (there were so many at C.G.) was that the reserve ripcord had been lost and replaced with a metal (regular) ripcord. A fray in the metal cable caught in the fabric channel preventing the handle from being pulled. :-(
Well, the report we got was "broken plastic ripcord causing a reserve total." If the reserve ripcord was lost and a traditional metal cable with pins ripcord was substituted as you describe, it would be problematic at best (frayed cable notwithstanding).
At least the following would have to be dealt with:
1) Some place to stow the handle (pocket sewn on, blast handle used, whatever).
2) If no housing is installed, you have issues with fraying as stated, but also with kinking or binding of the fabric housing, non-stable minimum length between the end of the fabric housing and the pins (plastic rod can go around corners, pins cannot), and probably other things I'm not thinking of right now.
3) If a housing is installed, at a minimum you would have to remove the reserve and secure the end of the housing the proper distance from the first pin and also ensure a straight extraction route of the first pin.
These were some of the things we dealt with for the conversion of the Wonderhog system. Someone just swapping the ripcord type out in the field is just asking for trouble.
I examined another manufacturers rig at Z-Hills in 1975 after a fatality (reserve total). The housing had been secured with one loop right at the point where the first pin's swedge ended. The jumper was a very short female and when she put the rig on, the housing would kink almost 90 degress to the pin. Since the pin could not make the corner, she could not pull the ripcord. We put the rig on a short person in the loft and fish scaled it, the scale only went to 90 lbs, but no amount of pressure would release the reserve. We contacted the manufacturer with the information and they altered the housing to pin distance and method of securing the housing so it could not kink in that fashion again.
Perhaps Bill will see this thread and contribute what he remembers about all this...
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Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519
dbclark 0
Roger,
I knew Pam Tayon when she had that house in Miami with that english sheep dog who couldn't swim. She had to watch the dog when ever anyone was in the pool so it wouldn't drown. She was jumping at Kendall gliderport at the time.
I knew Pam Tayon when she had that house in Miami with that english sheep dog who couldn't swim. She had to watch the dog when ever anyone was in the pool so it wouldn't drown. She was jumping at Kendall gliderport at the time.
QuoteRoger,
I knew Pam Tayon when she had that house in Miami with that english sheep dog who couldn't swim. She had to watch the dog when ever anyone was in the pool so it wouldn't drown. She was jumping at Kendall gliderport at the time.
Yup, you know "Stash" the sheep dog. He could swim fine for about 3 minutes, then his fur would start dragging him down...
She also had a cat named "Streamer." Not hard to figure out where the names came from, hey?
I jumped out at the glider port with Pam too, do I know you? Were you around when the guy got hit in the knees with the prop while proping an aerobatics bi-plane? Pam did the first aid until the ambulance arrived and went with him to the hospital. She had just completed here EMT training...
Is there still jumping there?
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Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519
FlaBluIz 1
Hello Gentlemen,
I am alive and well in Tampa and have many stories about William Ross when he was just a starving teacher in Homestead Florida.
And yes, I still have Old English Sheep dogs.
Pam
I am alive and well in Tampa and have many stories about William Ross when he was just a starving teacher in Homestead Florida.
And yes, I still have Old English Sheep dogs.
Pam
-
1
QuoteHello Gentlemen,
I am alive and well in Tampa and have many stories about William Ross when he was just a starving teacher in Homestead Florida.
And yes, I still have Old English Sheep dogs.
Pam
Hey sweet lady! Since I didn't make that call to you (couldn't find your number though I talked to you a couple of years ago), how did you know to come on here and post?
Do you hear from any of the guys/girls from those days anymore?
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Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519
My guess is he meant to say "Goldmine"
Murray
"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey
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