lucky508

Uwe, I'm a former US Paratrooper and rigger. I do the commerative military jump thing in the US. I've static lined PC's out of C-47's many times for fun and can tell you how to do it. I sent you a PM as well. ATW, Cael

From what I can see they may have been jumping both the right and left doors of the C-130 at the same time. In the US military this is only done with T-10 or T-11 non maneuverable parachutes to prevent entanglements. Now I know a lot of you will say that sounds like most rounds but non maneuverable means they are no steering toggles to steer the parachute in different directions. The non-maneuverable parachutes can only be “slipped” slightly in one direction or another by pulling down on the risers and holding them. The advantage of this for tactical military parachuting is that troops can make a mass drop and there should be few entanglements since everyone is drifting in the same direction. If both doors are jumped at the same time the jumpers opposite each other can open at the same time and the same altitude. If they are jumping steerable canopies they may drive into each other before they can gain canopy control. In the pictures you can see how close they are to each other on opening. From the drive slots I see it looks like these are steerable rounds. Not sure as these are not the kind of military canopies I have experience with. Since they are doing a demo jump it stands to reason that they are jumping steerable rounds. While the maneuverability does not approach that of a square you can still run or hold, and crab. If you have a good spot you should be fine. If not you have enough maneuverability to make the best of it. The emergency procedure for jumper entanglement is for both jumpers to deploy their reserves and prepare to do opposite PLF’s. Cutting away is not taught due to the low altitudes and the fact that most of these systems still use the capewell type system. It looks like the lower jumper did not deploy his reserve. This would have helped stabilize them and slow their rate of decent. Just my observations. Hope these guys are going to be OK. Airborne! ATW, Cael

Airborne Systems used to offer the MC-3. I don't see it listed on their site any longer. http://www.airborne-sys.com/ I think they only sell to government buyers.

You can buy one here. http://www.omahas.com/product_info.php?products_id=8

These "spider" pilot chutes were used in military chest reserves from WWII until very recently. The T-10R reserve was replaced by the MIRPS reserve. These pilot chutes are actually very effective.

Here is an add for a GQ MK1. I bought this original add laminated a few months ago. I finally got around to scanning it. ATW, CK

I don’t know either but it’s Beautiful! I love polished aluminum. I just don’t like the polishing part.

I would always opt for the "survival kit" myself.. I think Weird Max had his own version of said kit also... Max's cost was around 10 bucks as well.. What was the "survival kit"?

Sparky, Will do. Thanks! Pete, Thanks for the work around Ideas. I did learn to pack with stow hooks in the Army. I was already a skydiver and I thought it was a crazy way of stowing lines. But the Army is the Army and doing things the common sense or easy way has never been its strong suit. For now converting the D bags to use retainer bands would be more trouble than just packing them the normal way. Thanks, Cael

That works but it gets tough on the hands pretty quick.

Does anyone have a set or two of stow hooks I can take off their hands? I put a want add in the classifieds but I don’t think there are many people on dizzy.com that even know what stow hooks are. I need to pack up some military direct bag rigs and don’t want to pay the $25 per stow hook that Paragear is asking. Thanks, Cael

Great story! Thanks for posting Van. How bout some pics? Puuleeessseee!

knife? How about a pistol, pack of cigs and a lighter? Attached is a pic i found of some Rhodesian Light Infantry troopers preparing to jump. the old guy with the pistol and cigs a newbe in front of him. hilarious.

Actually after thinking about it I remember finding these after they were used and it wasn’t a cable the “risers” were attached to. It looked like a large dog tag chain. I’m sure these are available for all mortar and artillery calibers. When the round reaches its zenith a charge goes off ejecting the flare and chute from a cylinder. The flare ignites with a pop and the cylinder continues on end over end making a woop, woop, woop, sound. One night another squad called for about 12 “lume” rounds near their position. We were on the other side of the trajectory. It’s very exciting if you happen to be in a patrol base in the jungle and these cylinders start landing in and around your position. Large tree trunks are our friend. No shit there I was…hiding behind a tree and laughing my ass off.

Mortar launched parachute flare. The links attached to the cable that suspended the flare in flight.

Ah yeeessss, the SCR “Hymn”. That brings back memories of the days when the “Austin Skydivers” would come to Skydive Temple to terrorize the place and jump the Twinbo and when it came to town. My old asshole boss Lap, John Poteet (sp?) Doug and Eddie, Big Al and several others that are burned into my memory! Gawd what a crew! Does the “Hey Asshole!” thing count as a song? Buhahahhaha!

I sing “Blood on the Risers” a couple of times a year after jumping with a bunch of knuckleheads who like to jump out of C-47’s. The WWII vets get a kick out of it. It’s best sung with a flask in your hand. It’s also fun to have a veteran come up and ask “What IS that thing?” after I jump a PC. I tell them it’s a new fangled parachute called the Paracommander. He was just a rookie trooper and he surely shook with fright, He checked off his equipment and made sure his pack was tight; He had to sit and listen to those awful engines roar, "He ain't gonna jump no more!" (CHORUS) Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die, Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die, Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die, And he ain't gonna jump no more! "Is everybody happy?" cried the Sergeant looking up, Our Hero meekly answered "Yes," and then they stood him up; He leaped right out into the blast, his static line unhooked, And he ain't gonna jump no more. (CHORUS) He counted long, he counted loud, he waited for the shock, He felt the wind, he felt the cold, he felt the awful drop, The silk from his reserve spilled out and wrapped around his legs, And he ain't gonna jump no more. (CHORUS) The risers wrapped around his neck, connectors cracked his dome, Suspension lines were tied in knots around his skinny bones; The canopy became his shroud; he hurtled to the ground. And he ain't gonna jump no more. (CHORUS) The days he'd lived and loved and laughed kept running through his mind, He thought about the girl back home, the one he'd left behind; He thought about the medics, and wondered what they'd find, And he ain't gonna jump no more. (CHORUS) The ambulance was on the spot, the jeeps were running wild, The medics jumped and screamed with glee, rolled up their sleeves and smiled, For it had been a week or more since the last a 'chute had failed, And he ain't gonna jump no more. (CHORUS) He hit the ground, the sound was "SPLAT" his blood went spurting high, His comrades were all heard to say "A hell of a way to die!" He lay there rolling round in the welter of his gore, And he ain't gonna jump no more. (CHORUS) (slowly, solemnly) There was blood upon the risers, there were brains upon the chute, Intestines were a'dangling from his Paratrooper suit, He was a mess, they picked him up and poured him from his boots, And he ain't gonna jump no more Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die, Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die, Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die, And he ain't gonna jump no more! ATW! Cael

congrats! very cool way to celebrate your milestone.

Dennis Croukamp is on Face book. I accidently found him while doing a search to see how many books he has written. I’m finishing up "The Bush War in Rhodesia: The Extraordinary Combat Memoir of a Rhodesian Reconnaissance Specialist" now and it has been a good read. He mentions his love of skydiving often and his accounts of combat HALO jumps into Mozambique are really enjoyable to read. Although not knowing me he accepted my friend request on FB. I mentioned to him my interest in Rhodesia and jumping etc but have not had any further correspondence with him. ATW, Lucky

Nice looking PC. Love to see the Red Devil canopy in the air also. I jumped a comp PC once. The lines were soo short I felt like I had an umbrella over my head. I saw stars on opening and it thumped me on landing but inbetween it flew great! HAHA! Cheers, Cael

Andrew, Thanks very much for the info. I found a comment during a Google search that these canopies tended to streamer when lightly loaded but I wasn’t sure if it was reliable info. Your info is a better explanation of the problem. I would like to hear from someone who has experience and packing and jumping these canopies successfully. It sounds to me like the problem may have been jumpers not understanding that the locking stows were the last stows to release on the sleeve and not the first as is usually the case. Hopefully someone will post up with more info and pics. Cheers, Cael

Does any one have information on this type of parachute? What I know is that it was a round designed in the 70’s(?) as a military HALO parachute for military jumpers with equiptment. Dominator, GQ Parachutes Pty Ltd (UK) I’m reading a book on the Rhodesian Bush War and several operational HALO jumps were made using this parachute. Cheers, Lucky508

I made a couple of jumps on my jumbo PC last week. Landings were great as usual but it is a jumbo! I've attached a pic of packing it in the POD, and on the DZ. good times.

I’m going to set up a day next summer when I start with a water jump on a C9 with a 4 line release and then move to the DZ and jump a T-10, MCI-1 and finally a PC. I’m not sure if I can get them all done in one day. I may have to skip the MC1-1 and got straight to the PC. I’ll call it the “evolution of the round” jump day. HAHA! And yes the only way I will jump a C9 is a water jump. ATW, Cael

I have a Jumbo PC from 72 and a MC-3 MKII PC from 71. both great canopies. I had a 67 MK1 PC that was zippy. It has some steering mods on it that made it turn shaprly with 1" of input from full toggles. I sold it after i got my jumbo. I downwinded that one on a 6mph day once. I did a PLF up one side and down the other and had the bruises to prove it. Cael