BRITISH PARACHUTE ASSOCIATION LTD

BRITISH PARACHUTE ASSOCIATION LTD
FULL TIM E CLUBS
Peterborough Parachute Centre
Sibson A irfield, Peterborough
Eagle Sport Para Centre
Ashford A irport, Lympne,
Kent. (Hythe 60816)
The Sport Parachute Centre
Grindale Field, B ridlington,
Yorkshire.
R.S.A. Parachute Club
Thruxton Aerodrom e, Andover,
Hants.
Tel: W eyhill 2124
W. J. Meacock,
(at club address), Sibson A irfield,
Tel: Elton 490
A. Black,
(at club address)
R. O'Brien,
(at clu b address).
Tel: 0262-77367
R A Acraman,
(at clu b address).
WEEK-END CLUBS
Mrs. L. Bennett,
Anglia Skydiving Club
92b B radford Street,
Andrews Field. Great Sailing,
B ocking End, Braintree, Essex.
Nr. Braintree. Essex.
Tel: Braintree 26185
British Parachute Club
Headcorn A irfield, Headcorn,
Kent.
The Secretary,
(at club address).
Brunei University Skydiving Club
c/o Students Union,
Brunei University, U xbridge,
Middx. (Brunei Students only).
The Secretary,
(at club address).
Dunkeswell International
Skydiving Centre,
Dunkeswell A irfield,
Nr. H oniton, Devon
(Tel: Luppitt 643)
I. L o utitt
(at club address)
Hereford Parachute Club Ltd
Shobdon Aerodrom e,
Shobdon, Leominster, Hereford
Tel: Kingsland 551
P. Holman,
9 Blenheim Close,
Tupsley, Hereford HR1 2TY
Black Knights Skydiving Centre
Weeton, Nr. Blackpool, Lancs.
R. Parry,
13 Fern Hey, Thornton,
Liverpool 23.
Leeds/Bradford Free Fall Club
P. Cross,
210 Kent Mere Avenue,
Seacroft, Leeds LS14 1BL
Leeds University Free Fall Club
(Leeds Students Only)
The Secretary,
c/o The U niversity Union,
Leeds.
Lincoln Pathfinders Free Fall Club
C. Binks,
63 Weakland Close,
Sheffield S12 4PB
Tel: Sheffield 390649
J. Law,
148 Heaton M oor Road,
Heaton Moor, S tockport,
Cheshire
Manchester Free Fall Club
Tilstock D.Z.,
Twenlows Hall Farm,
W hitchurch, Shropshire.
G. Webster,
Brake Lane, West Hagley,
S tourbridge, W orcs.
Tel: Hagley 3993
Northumbria Parachute Club
Sunderland Airport,
W ashington Road. Sunderland,
Co. Durham.
C hief Instructor,
(at club address),
Tel: B oldon 7530
Queen Mary College Skydiving
Club
61 W ynndale Road,
South W oodford,
London E.18
Vauxhall Skydiving Club
Halfpenny Green Aerodrom e,
Bobbington, Worcs.
(Vauxhall M otors only).
R. Parry,
7 B errylands Road, Moreton,
W irral, Cheshire, L46 7TU.
Wessex Parachute Club
Swallow Cliff,
Nr. Shaftesbury,
Dorset.
J. C. Donovan,
The Castle,
Donhead St. Andrew,
Shaftesbury, Dorset.
Yorkshire F/F Club
E. Vine,
21 W ellington Road,
B rid lin g to n , Yorks.
SERVICE ASSOCIATIONS, CLUBS AND TEAMS
Army Parachute Association
Manchester Parachute Club
T. Bailey,
157 Keynon Lane, Moston,
M anchester 10
Metropolitan Police Parachute
Club
Nuthampstead A irfield, Herts.
M. Bengali,
175 S unningvale Ave.,
B iggin Hill, Kent
Midland Parachute Centre
The A irfield, Bickmarsh,
Worcs.
P. A. Howell,
331 S tratford Road,
Shirley, S olihull,
Warks.
North West Para Centre
Cark A irfield, Flookburgh,
Nr. Grange over Sands, Lancs.
J. D. Prince,
21 The Coppice, Ingol, Preston,
Lancs., PR2 30 L.
Tel: Preston 720848
Old Warden Flying and Parachute
Group
Paraclan Parachute Club
Charter Hall, Nr. Berwick.
D. I. Waugh,
27 D ury Road, Barnet, Herts.
Peak District Parachute Club
D. J. Schofield,
522, D uffield Road,
Allstree, Derby.
Scottish Parachute Club
Strathalan Castle, Auchterarder,
Perthshire
Scottish Sport Parachute
Association
Staffordshire Sport Skydivers
c/o London Road Tavern,
London Road,
Newcastle-under-Lym e, Staffs.
Tel: 0782-614386
South Staffordshire Skydiving
Club
Halfpenny Green Aerodrom e,
Bobbington, Worcs.
C hief Instructor,
J.S.P.C., A irfie ld Camp,
Netheravon, W iltshire,
Rhine Army Parachute Association Captain T E. Oxley, R E.M E.
R.A.P.A. Centre, S.T.C. Sennelager,
B.F.P.O. 16.
Joint Services Sport Para
Association
C. Herbert,
GPO Box 2285, Singapore.
R.A.F. Sport Parachute
Association
Hon. Sec., Fit. Lt. P. F. Smout,
R.A.F. A bingdon, Berks.
Tel: A bingd on 288 Ext 485
Parachute Regiment Free Fall
Club
M ajor B. S. Schofield,
Para Regt. Free Fall Team,
Brow ning Bks., A ldershot, Hants.
Tel: A ldershot 24431 Ext 2446.
Royal Marines Sport Parachute
Club
The Secretary,
R.M.S.P.C., Royal Marines,
Lym pstone, Exmouth,
Devon.
Tel: Topsham 3781
Chief Instructor,
CJSATC,
Sim Barracks, BFPO 53.
S. Sgt. R. G. W right, Int. Corps.,
The Intelligence Corps Depot,
Tem plar Barracks,
A shford. Kent TN23 3HH.
Tel: A shford 25251, Ext. 320.
Cyprus Joint Service Adventurous
Training Centre (CJSATC)
Intelligence Corps Depot
Sport Para Club
7 Parachute Regiment R.H.A.
(The Black Knights)
Lt. D. R. A rthur,
7 Parachute Regim ent R.H.A.,
Lille Bks., A ldershot, Hants.
Tel: A ldershot 24431 Ext 3509
R.E.M.E. Free Fall Team
Lt. A. C. Dixon,
7 M ount View, C hurch Lane W.,
Aldershot, Hants.
Royal Green Jackets Parachute
Club
W /O E. W. Strawson,
R.I.T. R.G. Jackets,
Rifle Depot, W inchester,
Hants.
22 Special Air Service Parachute
Club
D. C. Payne,
13 Boswell Drive, K inghorn, Fife.
Golden Lions Parachute Club
CpI. C. Cameron,
G lencorse Barracks,
M ilton Bridge, Penicuik,
M idlothian, Scotland.
W. Allen,
86 G lencroft Road, Glasgow,
G44 5RD.
Royal Corps of Transport
Parachute Club
D. C. Payne,
13 B oswell Drive, Kinghorn,
Fife.
The Secretary,
(at club address)
95 Cdo FOU
(The Buccaneers F/F Team)
Royal A rtillery,
A.T.U R.M.,
Poole, Dorset.
Lt. T. M. Macartney,
70 Lakeside Road, Ash Vale,
Nr. A ldershot, Hants.
Capt. J. M. Patrick, RA,
(at club address)
Tel: Poole 77311 Ext. 274.
Hong Kong Parachute Club
2
M ajor T. H. Ridgway,
HQ31 Regt. R.C.T.,
B.F.P.O. 1.
THE JOURNAL OF THE
BRITISH PARACHUTE
ASSOCIATION
(A c o m p a n y lim ite d b y g u a ra n te e )
Vol. 12 No. 1
B RITISH PAR A C H U TE A S S O C IA T IO N LTD,
KIM BERLEY HOUSE,
47 V A U G H A N W AY, LE IC ES TE R , LE1 4SG
FEBRUARY 1975
Phone 0533-59778/59635
BPA COUNCIL
EDITORIAL
L. N. E. St. John Chairman
W e n o w h a v e a n e le c te d 1 8 -m a n C o u n c il. A fte r
som e
e x tr a o r d in a r y
e le c tio n
m a n ife s to s
and
p ro m is e s c o n ta in e d th e r e in , it w ill b e in te r e s tin g to
s e e h o w th is C o u n c il s e rv e s us, th e m e m b e rs h ip o f
th e B P A . If y o u h a v e a n y g o o d id e a s , o r p ro b le m s ,
p le a s e c o n ta c t y o u r n e a re s t C o u n c il m e m b e r s o th a t
th e m a tte r c a n b e d is c u s s e d a t th e n e x t m e e tin g fo r
th e b e n e fit o f us a ll. T h e B P A is a s tr o n g o rg a n is a tio n
a n d th e m e m b e rs h ip h a v e m a d e it s o — le t’s k e e p
it th a t w a y .
P. J. Prior Vice-Chairman
M. Batchelor Treasurer
J. T. Crocker Chairman Safety and Training Committee
Other Members:
R. S. Acraman
R. Card
W. Elliott
D. Hogg
E. Lewington
K. Mapplebeck
W. J. Meacock
T. J. Morgan
M. J. O ’Brien
J. Petherbridge
C. Shea-Simonds
G. B. Shone
J. L. Thomas
D. Waterman
A p p lic a tio n fo r m s fo r m e m b e rs h ip re n e w a l a re
s e n t w ith th is is s u e . P le a s e le t th e B P A o ff ic e h a ve
y o u r re n e w a l as s o o n as p o s s ib le — e s p e c ia lly if
y o u d o n ’t w a n t to m is s th e A p r il is s u e o f S P !
Co-opted Members:
Chairmans APA and RAFSPA
Sir Godfrey Nicholson, Bart.
I. W right
R e g r e tta b ly th e r e a re fe w re g u la r c o n tr ib u t o r s
to S P — th e y k n o w w h o th e y a re , a n d th e y h a ve m y
w a rm e s t th a n k s fo r t h e ir c o n tin u e d s u p p o r t. C o n ­
tr ib u t io n s a re a lw a y s w e lc o m e , e s p e c ia lly p h o to ­
g ra p h s , s o p le a s e le t m e k n o w w h a t's g o in g o n a t
y o u r c lu b . L ittle g e m s fo r ‘A t th e D ro p In n ’ c a n be
'p h o n e d to m e a t 0 5 3 2 -5 0 3 8 4 0 .
BPA JOURNAL
Charles Shea-Simonds Editor
60 Easterly Crescent, Leeds LS8 2SG
BPA STAFF
A n ic e th o u g h t fo r 1975 h a s b e e n s u p p lie d b y
C a ro l W a te r m a n : “ ’tis b u t a b a s e ig n o b le m in d
th a t m o u n ts n o h ig h e r th a n a b ird c a n s o a r ” .
H e n ry VI p t 11.11.1
Sqn. Ldr. W. Paul, BEM, RAF (Ret'd) Secretary General
Mrs. Dorothy Paul Assistant Secretary
E ditor's N o te —
The vie w s o f c o n trib u to rs to " S p o r t P a ra c h u tis t" are n o t necessarily those of the
E ditor, or o f th e B ritish P ara ch ute A s s o cia tio n , and no lia b ility is a c c ep ted fo r sam e.
B lu e S k ie s ,
C h a rlie .
Cover — Rapide Exit (G -A G S H )
Dave W aterm an
Printed by G. H Fisher & Sons (P rinters) Ltd., Peterborough, PE1 3A U
3
AT THE DROP INN
FAREW ELL T O FREDDIE
F reddie B rem er arrived in th is c o u n try as an A m erican
airm an in Janu ary 1970 w ith a g rand to ta l o f 34 ju m p s to
his credit. N ow 5 years later, w ith a to ta l o f 1600 jum ps, a
w ife and an in cre d ib le hou n d he has re tu rn e d hom e to the
U nited States. D urin g th a t tim e he has c e rta in ly left his
mark on the B ritish s p o rt p a ra c h u tin g scene. He was on
the firs t lift ever at S ibson in e a rly 1971, the firs t R apide
8-M an, the firs t S ibson 8-M an, G old medal w in n e r at the
D uck End M eet 1973 and second place overall in the 1974
N ational C h a m p ion sh ip s. He becam e an e xp e rt at c u t­
aways when ju m p in g a D elta II P araw ing, and on being
asked w hat he th o u g h t to the ca n o p y by a gen tle m a n from
Irvins, cam e up w ith the cla ssic re p ly: “ It's gre a t w hen it's
open — the tro u b le is th a t I’m w e a rin ’ o u t m y f * * * in ’
C ap e w e lls!" S ince e a rly 1973 w hen he left the USAF, he
has been John M e a co ck’s rig h t hand man at S ibson and it
was ju s t over a year ago th a t he m arried an E nglish g irl,
V icky Brice.
Freddie, we all w ish you, V ic k y and S p ro g g y Dog a fond
farew ell and all happiness in th e fu tu re .
“When I say GO I mean G O ! ! ” Terry ‘The G eneral’ Patton
about to dispatch a student from the Air Nav. C herokee 6.
p h o to — c o u rte s y ‘H u d d e rs fie ld E x a m in e r’
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O u r hero, overheard in th e bar, having m ade his second
and th ird s ta tic line d e sce n t th a t d a y: “ B efore m y firs t
ju m p to d a y I had co n s id e ra b le ‘b u tte rflie s ’, b u t I was OK
before the second o n e .”
Irish g irlfrie n d : “ In th a t case w h y d id n ’t you do the
second o n e firs t? !”
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D id yo u hear a b o u t the new ju m p p ilo t w h o th o u g h t
th a t a p ilo t 'chute was a s a d is tic p astim e in w h ic h ju m p e rs
p a rticip a te d on p o o r w e a th e r d a ys?
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Freddie at the 1974 Nationals,
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An in s tru c to r at S ibson re c a llin g a s tu d e n t’s firs t
d esce n t: "He clim b e d o u t o n to th e step. I gave him the GO.
S till perched there he sh o u te d o u t an im m a cu la te co u n t,
and on “ c h e c k ” , he looked in at me as if to say: ‘W hat the
hell do I do n o w !? ’ ”
p h o to — Dave W aterm an
im m V E T D J E R C H IN A
IOISED JOaiEOiq IN 2HE
LINE UP... READY PCR
JUSH.T!!
4
1975 CALENDAR OF EVENTS
A rm y C h a m p io n sh ip s
N ational R elative C h a m p io n sh ip s
T h ru x to n R e l/A cc Meet
H ereford A c c u ra c y Meet
S co ttish C h a m p io n sh ip s
R hine A rm y C h a m p io n sh ip s
N a tio n al S ty le /A c c u ra c y
C h a m p io n s h ip s
W o rld R elative C h a m p io n sh ip s
4 — 15 S eptem ber
(W asendorf, W. G erm any)
D uck End Meet
20/21 S eptem ber
U.S. N a tio n al C h a m p io n sh ip s
1 2 — 27 Ju ly
1 4 — 21 May
24 May — 1 June
14/15 June
19/20 July
1/3 and 8/10 A ug ust
2 — 8 A ugust
1 6 — 25 A ugust
The Red Fred’s Jump Ship ground-bound?
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A fte r having given the Irish a fa ir a m o u n t o f ‘s tic k ’ in this
co lu m n in the past, it's o n ly rig h t th a t m ention sh ould be
made of the Irish P arachute C lu b N ew sletter. T his
e xce lle n t little piece of p a ra c h u tin g news is available
m o n th ly from Noel Larragy, 25 M cKee Road, Finglas,
D u b lin 11. No d o u b t a nyone c o n te m p la tin g ju m p in g in
Eire w o u ld do w ell to co n ta c t Noel.
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The stu d e n t had
been lis te n in g to som e experienced
ju m p e rs w h ils t w a itin g to go up fo r his firs t d escent: “ Look
at th a t free fall d rift, there m ust be som e stro n g upper
w in d s ” .
H aving made his firs t ju m p m in u te s later, o u r luckless
hero approached the same g ro u p , "Y ou w ere rig h t” , he
said, “ when I c lim b e d o u t o n to the s tru t the u p p e r w inds
w ere h o w lin g !!”
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J a n u a ry 2nd saw
the start of anew B BC 1TV series
T a s te fo r A dve n tu re '. The firs t p ro g ra m m e featured Pete
l’ll-g iv e -u p -p a ra c h u tin g -w h e n -l-g iv e -u p -s e x
Sherm an.
It was a w ell p ro d u ce d d o c u m e n ta ry , w ith som e nice
a ir-to -a ir p h o to g ra p h y by Bob S outer, of the ‘T e e th 's’ jo b
as a test ju m p e r fo r one o f the c o u n try ’s p a ra ch u te m a nu­
fa ctu re rs. It’s sad th a t the co m p a n y co n ce rn e d gave Pete
th e e lb o w soon a fte r th is film was made, esp e cially in the
lig h t o f the e x c e lle n t p u b lic ity th e y received from it. The
film o f the cu ta w a y sh o t from a ch e st m ounted cam era
was firs t rate, but Kenny M a p p le b e c k ’s p e rfo rm a n ce w ith
the ‘S le d ’ . . . Oh d e a r!!
Glimpse into the past — Bernie Green briefs two students
at Shoreham circa 1959 — note dated equipment and
Tri-Pacer as jump ship.
HOVERING CONTROLLED APPRQCH.
GLIDE FQ R TH E WRISTS
...DOCKING SQFI AND
...POSITIVE SHAKE 1H.
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.THEN ILY IT.’
H Y I I NICE
AND LEVEL
•••LIKE A BIRD.
!!? # !
5
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U n fo rg e tta b le J u m p s ’ is a m ust to p ro vid e h o u rs o f a rm ­
c h a ir enterta in m e n t. ‘P a ra ch u tin g 's U n fo rg e tta b le Jum p s'
is available from S p o d e m o o r A via tio n , 48 O ak Lane,
B ra d fo rd BD9 4QH, p rice £5.60 (in cl. V A T and postage).
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“ U n d o u b te d ly the m ost fa s c in a tin g bo o k ever c o m p ile d on
stunt, s p o rt and m ilita ry p a ra c h u tin g . . . su p e rb p h o to ­
g ra p h y .”
Los A n g e le s H e ra ld E xa m in e r
“ H ig h ly recom m ended to all a viation e n th u sia sts w h o
w ish to view the e n tire s p e ctru m o f th is e x c itin g a c tiv ity o f
p a ra c h u tin g .”
U.S. P a rachute A s s o c ia tio n
“ T he m ost c o m p re h en sive and e n te rta in in g b o o k ever
w ritte n on the h is to ry o f stu n t, sp o rt and m ilita ry para­
c h u tin g ."
S ky D iv e r M agazine
. . B o o k -o f-th e -C e n tu ry , sh o u ld be re q u ire d re ading fo r
a nyone w ho pu ts a rig on his b a ck."
P a ra -P rin t M agazine
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The BPA has an e x c e lle n t p o rta b le e x h ib itio n w h ic h is
available to a ffilia te d clu b s. If you w ish to m ake use o f the
firs t class pre se n ta tio n o f o u r sp o rt, please c o n ta c t B ill
Paul at the BPA o ffic e .
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C o n g ra tu la tio n s to Dave W aterm an on being aw arded
the title “ S ports P h o to g ra p h e r of the Year 1974” . In an
open c o m p e titio n by the S p o rts C o u n c il and th e Royal
P h o to g ra p h ic S ociety, Dave’s p o rtfo lio o f ten c o lo u r
p rin ts w on fo r him a cash prize o f £250 and a lu x u ry cru ise
fo rtw o . H is p h o to g ra p h s are w e ll k n o w n to readers o f th is
m agazine and we all k n o w th a t to be g o o d at ta kin g para­
c h u tin g photos, yo u also have to be a p re tty fa ir
p a ra ch u tist yo u rse lf. W ell d one in d e ed !
BOOK REVIEW
‘P a ra ch u tin g ’s U n fo rg e tta b le J u m p s ’ by H o w a rd G re g o ry
‘P a ra ch u tin g ’s U n fo rg e tta b le Ju m p s' is an u pdated e d itio n
of H ow ard G re g o ry's o rig in a l book, T h e F a lc o n ’s D is­
ciples'. 400 odd pages and over 200 p h o to s add up to a
bundle of para ch u tin g fun. It's a c o lle c tio n of all the best
ju m p stories to g e th e r w ith a g o o d few m ore besides.
M ilita ry ju m p storie s fo rm the firs t part o f th e book b u t the
m a jo rity of it is c o n c e rn e d w ith s p o rt p a ra c h u tin g . If
you w ant to read a b o u t L in d b e rg h 's p a ra c h u tin g , Rod
Pack's chuteless ju m p , the p a ra c h u tin g h ija c k e r w ho g o t
away, the film in g of the G yp sy M oths, and a m u ltitu d e of
tales o f ba rn sto rm in g , te stin g , ju m p s th a t d id n ’t go rig h t,
plus a few th a t d id ; then you w o n ’t be d is a p p o in te d w ith
this book. For the average ju m p e r in th is c o u n try of
n o to rio u s ly p o o r p a ra c h u tin g w eather, ‘P a ra c h u tin g ’s
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C o n g ra tu la tio n s also to B e rnie D ie rke r (late D u ck End
Farm Parachute G ro u p )
on w in n in g
th e title : “ U.S.
N ational C o lle g ia te P a ra ch u tin g
C h a m p io n ” w on
at
Deland, Florida o v e rth e U.S. T h a n k s g iv in g h o lid a y. T here
w ere 140 c o m p e tito rs.
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Overheard at an Irish 10-m an b rie fin g : “ A t th re e -five
w e’ll break — everyone to tu rn 360 and tra ck a w ay! !”
6
CORRESPONDENCE
If anyone else has had s im ila r to ta ls w ith a G rabber, I
shall be glad to hear a b o u t them , to g e th e r w ith possible
exp la na tio n s and rem edies, and perhaps the Safety and
T ra in in g C o m m itte e c o u ld c o n d u c t e xp e rim e n ts and let
us have th e ir co n c lu s io n s .
D AV ID ROW ELL, In s tru c to r 5647.
Newcastle.
Dear Charles,
I am prom pted to w rite to you by tw o recent in cid e n ts
involving ‘G ra b b e r’ d ro g u e s and feel th a t the general
m em bership should be aware o f the p o s s ib ility o f a total
m a lfu n ctio n p o ssibly caused by the ‘G ra b b e r’.
Incident number one. I b o u g h t a C loud to w h ich I fitte d
the G rabber and put in a c u sto m pack s im ila r in
c o n s tru c tio n to the o ld e r S tyle m a ste r co n ta in e r. The
canop y w a s a fa irly tig h tfit, but n o t in my, o r anyone e lse’s
o p in io n excessive and when p u lle d on the g ro u n d several
tim es there was no suggestion of a pack clo su re . On the
th ird ju m p how ever, a five second delay, I pulled the
rip co rd w hich cam e sm o o th ly o u t, b u t the pack rem ained
firm ly C LO SED and even three sh a rp p u lls on the risers
faile d to d islo dge the cones. M y P ro te c to r gave me a
c o m fo rta b le ride dow n, b u t on o p e n in g d islo d g e d the
closed main pack so I w a sn ’t able to exam ine the reason
fo r the closure. S ubsequent a tte m p ts to repeat the clo su re
on the g roun d again fa ile d to p ro d u c e even the sm allest
suggestion of a clo su re and th e G ra b b e r leapt out
instantly.
Incident number two. A n o th e r c lu b m em ber b o u g h t an
A m erican P apillon to w h ich he fitte d a G ra b b e r and put
the canopy in a POD. The c o n ta in e r th is tim e was a
S ecurity C rossbow p ig g yb a ck, the m ain pack o f w h ich
had been shortened. The ‘P o d d e d ’ ca n o p y and G rabber
w ent very easily in to the pack, how ever again on a hop
and pop from 2800 the rip c o rd cam e out, but the pack
rem ained firm ly closed and the p a ra ch u tist had to use his
reserve. I have used the c o n ta in e r fo r m any ju m p s w ith a
sleeved PC and tw in M A ’s and have had no suggestion
of a pack closure, but again u n fo rtu n a te ly , we w ere not
able to exam ine the jam m ed pack as the reserve o p e n in g
dislodged the main pack closure.
The sim ila ritie s in these cases are th a t we were both
using bagged or podded ca n o p ie s and both using
G rabbers. P ersonally. I c a n n o t see how the bag w o u ld
cause any problem s e xce p t p erhaps to act as a m ore
firm base fo r the G ra b b e r than a sleeve m ight, and th u s
causing a little m ore pressure. In m y o p in io n the G ra b b e r
seems to be the cu lp rit. It is a very stro n g e x tra c to r and my
ow n explanation is th a t it was fo rc in g a co n e so firm ly up
in to a g ro m m e t that the co n e was unable to tip and release
th e g ro m m e t. A fte r each in c id e n t the cones and g ro m m e ts
of the tw o packs were e xam ined and fo u n d to be in A1
co n d itio n .
A fte r these incide n ts, I p e rs o n a lly w o u ld not a llo w a
student to ju m p a rig w ith a G ra b b e r e x tra c to r as I c a n n o t
see any im m ediate so lu tio n to the p o s s ib ility of a closure.
N orm an W aterhouse (S ecretary)
B irm in g h a m U n iv e rs ity Free Fall
A sso cia tio n ,
49 T w yin g Road, S tirch le y,
B irm in g h a m B30 2XY.
Dear C harlie,
We w o u ld be g ra te fu l fo r space in the mag to a nno unce
the b irth o f o u r C lub. A rm ed w ith the p rin c e ly sum o f £10
(donated by o u r S tudents U n io n ) the B irm ing ham
U n ive rsity Free Fall C lu b has becom e o p e ra tio n a l.
The o ffic e rs of the c lu b are all m edical students. O ur
p re sid e n t (and Big Jake) is John C arter w ho possesses a
GP and a p re tty c o lo u re d T h u n d e rb o w . C o n se quen tly,
he rarely talks to us except to beg d rin k s at the end of the
day.
N orm an (the S ecretary) is w ell know n, o n ly fo r the
length o f his hair. W hen he’s ju m p in g the plane takes tw ice
as long to get to a ltitu d e because o f the extra w e igh t, and
when he jum ps, he is so to p heavy th a t he is dragged in to a
C annarozzo p o sitio n and plu n ge s ea rth w a rds like a bullet.
O ur treasurer, Steve, had a g reat fu tu re in the sport
until an u n fo rtu n a te leg strap in ju ry , in c u rre d on his firs t
free fall, put him o u t of actio n . He can now be fo u n d in high
heels and tig h t tro u se rs a ro u n d any o f the dives and
c lip -jo in ts in Brum .
We su c c e s s fu lly ran o u r firs t co u rse a few weeks ago
(thanks fo r the reduced p rice s Pat!) and hope to run
an o th e r very soon.
We are very w ell looked a fte r by the lovely Iris H ow ell
and the Red Baron (Lennie the L ion) and we w o u ld like to
take th is o p p o rtu n ity to th a n k them , and every one else at
M idland Parachute C entre fo r th e ir kindness and e n c o u r­
agem ent in sta rtin g the club.
Finally, we w o u ld like to try and put U n ive rsity Para­
c h u tin g on the m ap and w e ’re very interested in o rg a n isin g
an In te r-U n iv e rs ity (o r P o ly te c h n ic ’s) a c c u ra c y m eet early
next year. A s lig h t m o d ific a tio n o f the usual rules may be
required (i.e. a p it 3 0 0 yd s w ide).
C ould any clu b s interested c o n ta c t us at the above
address?
B.U.F.F.A.
WEST MERCIA INSURANCE BROKERS
HIGH STREET, WOMBOURNE, Nr. WOLVERHAMPTON, WV5 9DN
Tel: Wombourne 2661/4705
PERSONAL AC CIDENT LIFE INSURANCE
EQUIPMENT
Usually at standard
Expensive, but
Insurance for
rates for parachuting —
comprehensive. A must
equipment only £1 per
why pay extra?
if you need weekly
annum per £ 100 worth.
income
Accidental damage
when in use included.
•
I N S U R A N C E B R O K E R S FOR ALL T Y P E S OF I N S U R A N C E
7
HOLIDAY
Parachuting on the
continent? We can
offer holiday insurance.
u
i
W E S T MERCIA
INSURANCE
BROKERS
THE PARACLAN MEET-1 9 7 4
"It was a real fun w e e k e n d ” , w o u ld be a fa ir ep ita p h fo r the
Meet at S trathallan o rg anised by Davy Payne o ver 16th
and 17th of Novem ber. An e n try o f 13 team s, som e having
travelled over 400 m iles to get there, pro m ise d an
in te resting event. First item on the agenda was the very
com prehensive b rie fin g given by the Meet D ire c to r in the
C row n H otel, A u ch te ra rd e r, late on the F riday evening;
the o n ly in fo rm a tio n gleaned was th a t c o m p e tito rs had to
be at the a irfie ld at e ig h t the fo llo w in g m o rn in g !
The fo llo w in g m o rn in g p ro d u ce d cle a r skies but
m arginal w inds, and the m a jo rity o f team s had m anaged
to m ake it to the D ro p Zone by the a p p o in te d tim e. The tw o
207s of C irru s A via tio n had been w arm ed up and were
ready to go. U n fo rtu n a te ly it was then d iscovered th a t the
A ssistant Meet D ire c to r had gon e back to E d in b u rg h at
fo u r in the m orn ing , d is tin c tly the w orse fo r wear, having
taken w ith him the list o f team s and the ju m p o rd e r w h ic h
had been draw n the p revious e ve n ing !
Cirrus Aviation 207 ready to go.
The S cottish P arachute C lu b 's 'F lyin g Pigs' w ere the
firs t team to take to the a ir and th e y put to g e th e r a tw o
man; th e ir a ccu ra c y a tte m p t th a t fo llo w e d , how ever, was
of such a su icidal nature th a t the ju d g es w ere re lu c ta n tly
fo rce d to re strict the firs t ro und to relative w o rk only.
T h e fa c t th a t the w in d had been b lo w in g c o n s is te n tly over
nine m etres a second seemed to have little bearing on
th e ir d e cisio n ! T h is was ju s t as w ell fo r J im ’s team , ‘UK
Flying C irc u s ’, w h o having put to g e th e r a nice fo u r-m a n ,
sailed backw ards o ver the p it at a th o u sa n d feet. B iff’s
team , ‘Paraclean C o n fe d e ra te A irb o rn e ', w ere th e o n ly
oth e r team to b uild a fo u r-m a n in th is ro und and th e ir tim e
was a co u p le of seconds fa ste r than ‘UK F lyin g C irc u s ’.
The 2 Para team ‘U F O ’ and the Scouse ‘B lack K n ig h ts ’
both scored three mans, w h ile three o f the re m a in in g
team s had executed fast p re cisio n one m ans to c o m p le te
the ro u n d ! A fte r a long break because o f the w in d , S a tu r­
day drew to a close w ith the notable e xc e p tio n o f the
festivities in the C ro w n th a t evening — som e th in g s are
better left u n s a id !
On S unday the w in d s w ere kind enough to a llo w
a ccura cy to be in clu d e d , and th is tim e ‘UK F lying C irc u s ’
show ed th e ir fla ir fo r pea gravel w hen, having b u ilt a 13second fou r-m a n , th e y all stom ped in fo r u n der a tw o
m etre total — a ctu a lly it was m easured in inches so m aybe
a bit was lost in the c o n ve rsio n . T h is ju m p was enough
to give Brian J a c k e l’s team the firs t place — a successful
co u p by team m em bers had ousted Jim fro m the jo b of
team leader. C on fe d e ra te A irb o rn e and UFO b oth b u ilt
fo u r m ans to give them second and th ird places
respectively.
BJ with his very short lined PC.
Exit practice.
Competitors, pilots, etc.
It w o u ld have been a fittin g c lim a x to the day if B obby
F ra n cis’ 10-man team had p u t to g e th e r a 10-m an fro m the
tw o 207s, but w ith o n ly one a tte m p t it w a sn ’t a lto g e th e r
s u rp risin g th a t o n ly a 6-m an was made. C lim a x o f the day
fo r little M ary Keith was to be in her firs t fo u r-m a n w ith
‘UK F lying C irc u s ’ ; her sole c o m m e n t a fte rw a rds was:
“ G rrrre a t!”
T h e e n d o f the m eet was m arked by the prize g ivin g. The
scores th a t w ere fin a lly c o m p u te d by the M eet D ire c to r
and the Judges were u n d e rsta n d a b le o n ly to them ; the
low er o n e ’s score, the h ig h e r th e fin a l p la c in g ! T he prizes
w ere presented by Mr. J. A itke n h e a d , the H otels C o n ­
tro lle r o f T e n n e n t C a le d o n ia n B rew eries Ltd., w ho had so
g e n e ro u sly p rovided the prize m oney and sponsored
m uch o f the fly in g tim e ; o u r sin ce re th a n ks to them .
T h u s ended a m em orable w eekend and on b ehalf o f all
th e co m p e tito rs , o u r th a n ks to to all at S tra th allan fo r
m aking it all so th o ro u g h ly e n jo y a b le — see yo u all again
next year!
P hotos and a rtic le — C. S-S.
The winning UK Flying Circus — Alan Skennerton, Brian
Jackel, ‘Meatball’ and Mike Chapman.
RESULTS
1st
Round
1st
2nd
3rd
4
5
6=
8
9
10
11
12
13
UK Flying Circus
(Crocker, Chapman,
Skennerton, Jackel)
C onfederate A irborne
(Burn, Payne, H oughton,
Gillies)
UFO (2 Para)
Black Knights (Lancs)
Flying Pigs (SPC)
W hite Rose (Yorks)
Strathspey (Francis)
N ickity Splits (Vauxhall)
Shanks' All Stars
Golden Lions (Scotland)
M uffdivers (RSA)
Paraclan Odds & Ends
Parafernalia
2nd
Round
46
Total
46
394
394
250
250
500
500
425
1250
1233
1250
675
1500
1733
1750
1000
500
500
500
1000
1000
1100
1624
1630
1854
1660
1851
2100
2124
2130
2354
2660
2851
Tailpiece!
9
The Strathallan 'Hurtle-in' or 'A Whuffo’s View of Strathallan’
W hat a w e e k e n d ! I w e n t up as keeper to the “ W h ite R ose”
team and to keep an eye on C h a rlie S hea-S im onds.
The firs t im pression o f th e place was u n fo rtu n a te in th a t
the a irfie ld m anager to o k e xce p tio n to hou n d B oom erang
and threatened to s h o o t him . T o give him his due, he
pro b a b ly d id n ’t realise he was a dog and th o u g h t he was a
polecat com e to w o rry his pheasants. T here c a n ’t be m any
D Z ’s in as lovely a se ttin g as S tra th a lla n .
S a tu rd a y’s ju m p in g was b a d ly h it by th e w in d . The
accu ra cy was scru b b e d and th e o n ly im p re ssio n o f
S a turd ay’s ju m p in g was Jim C ro c k e r’s team s a ilin g over­
head on th e ir w ay to an u n tid y arrival on th e o u ts k irts of
Perth. P ro b a b ly his new ju m p in g hat g o t him confused.
S un d a y m o rn in g was one o f th o se b rillia n t su n n y
au tu m n days, but w ith a c h a ra c te r b u ild in g w in d . T he
a c cu ra cy bit was re -in sta te d w h ic h in th a t w in d c o u ld w ell
have been a m istake. As it was n o b o d y g o t h u rt. Perhaps
the local ju m p e rs are a h a rd ie r race, b u t th e p it lo oke d like
a Roman arena w ith th e C h ris tia n s be in g flu n g in. B odies
hu rtle d in d o w n w in d like “ K irb y ’s F lying B a lle t” gon e mad.
V ic to ry w ent to Jim C ro c k e r’s lads, so his new
M o n g o lia n tank drive r's hat m ust have w o rke d a fte r all.
W hat w ere m y im p re s s io n s ? First o f all a fa n ta s tic
w eekend w h ich I w o u ld n ’t have m issed fo r a n yth in g .
A m o n g st o th e rs: D avid Payne try in g to c o n v in c e people
th a t th e food, w h ic h was due at 9.00, was on its w ay — it
a rrived at 11.15; Ned L u ke r w ith a pained e xp ression
try in g to d e c ip h e r S a tu rd a y n ig h t’s co m e d ia n ; Jackie
S m ith w o rk in g like a dem on to g e t in to th e p it on S atu rda y
— and she did. C o u n tle ss o th e r m e m o rie s w h ic h all m ade
up a g re a t w eekend.
Roll on the next m eet at S tra th a lla n .
J. H. FENTON
(P resident D anny H illa s ’ B ird ’s S u p p o rte r’s C lub).
S aturday n ig h t’s p ro c e e d in g s w e n t like any o th e r w ell
organised rio t co m p o se d o f h e a lth y in d iv id u a ls w ith one
th in g in m ind — w ell tw o , if yo u in c lu d e p a ra ch u tin g .
I’ve p e rso n a lly never seen “ M asters o f the S k y ” w h ic h is
a m a g n ifice n t film , m e m o ra b le fo r its b a c k g ro u n d m usic.
A great evening fo llo w e d in c lu d in g a fu ll-fro n ta l fro m an
ine briated native. “ He sh o u ld be b lo o d y w ell h u n g ” som e­
bod y said. He w a sn ’t p a rtic u la rly .
BUZZ’S CANADIAN COLUMN
A fter som e o f the rem arks in m y last co lu m n , I am a little
red in the face. S h o rtly a fte r I w ro te th a t the St. A n d re ten
man team were n o t livin g up to th e ir n a tio n a ls fo rm , th e y
gave lie to m y w o rd s w ith a vengeance. T h e y to o k th e ir
Beech to St. A nto in e , a d ro p zone near M o n tre a l, and w ith
a new team from there, put tw o Beeches and tw e n ty one
people in the air. T h e y m ade th re e jum ps, b u ild in g the
fo llo w in g size stars .fo u rte e n , eighteen and then a sixteen.
The eighteen man was, by C a lifo rn ia rules, a c tu a lly n in e ­
teen, as the cam era show s a nineteen man star. The
jum pe rs how ever feel th a t a g rip was lo st ju s t a fte r n u m b e r
nineteen cam e in, and as I unde rsta n d it, th e y are c la im in g
cre d it fo r an eighteen.
T his is p ro b a b ly the best th in g to happen to C anadian
relative w o rk in m any years. The w estern ju m p e rs at
A b b o tsfo rd have long been co m p la c e n t a b o u t th e ir a b ility ,
and the drive to b u ild large stars had stagnated som ew hat.
The a ctiv ity in the east has k in d le d som e h e a lth y rivalry,
and a few weeks later the A b b o ts fo rd ju m p e rs pu t to g e th e r
a sixteen and seventeen man.
To m y m ind it is ju s t a m a tte r o f tim e b e fore C a nada’s
firs t tw e n ty man is b u ilt. I m ake no p re d ic tio n s as to w here
it w ill be.
The firs t w eekend in O c to b e r, the O n ta rio p ro v in c ia l
ten man star meet was held in G ananoque, O n ta rio . Five
team s w ere entered. T h is again is an in d ic a tio n o f th e u p ­
surge in relative w o rk th a t is h a p p e n in g across the
c o u n try . This bodes w ell fo r the fu tu re and also fo r the firs t
w o rld c h a m p io n s h ip in 1975.
The O n ta rio p ro v in c ia l m eet was w on by the St. A n d re
team , w h ich w ere the o n ly team to m ake a ten man. T he
largest star by any o th e r team was an e ig h t man.
The second m eet of the 1975 B ritis h C o lu m b ia c o m p e ti­
tio n c irc u it was held at C anadian Forces Base C o m o x on
V ancouver Island, over the w eekend o f O c to b e r 12/13.
P arachuting at CFB C o m o x is an in te re s tin g e xercise in
c iv ilia n m ilita ry c o -o p e ra tio n , and it is re fre sh in g to para­
c h u te along w ith the T -3 3 ’s, V oodoos, and A rgosies,
w h ich re g u la rly go th ro u g h th e ir paces. In a d d itio n there
are several re g u la rly s c h e d u le d co m m e rc ia l flig h ts w h ich
use the a irfie ld . O ne w ishes th a t th is c o -o p e ra tio n co u ld
be extended to o th e r parts o f th e c o u n try .
Have a good 1975.
BUZZ
THOMAS SPORTS EQUIPMENT
Directors: J. L. Thomas & C. Thomas
F A.A. LICENSED RIGGER No. 4085459
"LOFTY S ” LOFT, THE SPORT PARACHUTE CENTRE, GRINDALE FIELD.
BRIDLINGTON, YORKS. TEL: 0 2 6 2 - 7 7 3 6 7
ALL SPORT PARACHUTE REQUIREMENTS
REPAIRS AND MODIFICATIONS, CUSTOM MADE PACKS AND HARNESS, FRENCH PARABOOTS
SOLE U.K. AGENT FOR IRVING SPORT PARACHUTES
JUMP SUITS (Small, Medium and Large Sizes) in Blue, W hite, Red and Yellow
PARAWINGS
BLACK DIAMOND RIGS
N ew Stock o f FRENCH PARABOOTS
10
OUR A.G.M. 1975
M ike B a tc h e lo r’s T re a s u re r’s re p o rt was s tra ig h t­
fo rw a rd but, as his annual event, M ike O ’B rien raised a
co u p le o f q u e stio n s w h ic h w ere answ ered to his apparent
s a tis fa c tio n ! It was then a n n o u n ce d that, w h ils t everything
else in the c o u n try was s u b je c t to gross in fla tio n , the
annual s u b s c rip tio n to the BPA was to rem ain u nchanged
fo r 1975 — a w e lco m e piece o f news to a ll!
Peter P rio r then addressed the m eeting on his proposal
that the nu m b e r o f C o u n c il M em bers sh o u ld be raised
fro m 14 to 18 — a fte r som e d iscu ssio n th is was carried
un a n im o u sly, (o r as near as m akes no o d d s!)
On the stre n g th o f th is it was then B ill’s tu rn to an noun ce
the results o f the v o tin g fo r the new C o u n c il. These were
a s fo llo w s :
521
P rio r
303
S hea-S im onds
284
502
P e th e rb rid g e
M eacock
277
W aterm an
488
C ard
247
442
C ro cke r
S hone
419
O ’B rien, M
229
St. John
244
395
M organ, T.
B a tch e lo r
367
Hogg
240
A cram an
348
L e w in g to n
232
Thom as
224
343
E llio t
M applebeck
W ith a new venue o f N o ttin g h a m U n ive rsity, the 1975 BPA
A G M g o t aw ay to a goo d start at 11 a.m. on S aturday, 4th
January w ith the In s tru c to rs ’ C o n ve n tio n u n d e r the able
C h airm anship o f Jim C ro cke r. S e ve n ty-th re e In s tru c to rs
gathered to discuss the u p d a tin g o f the BPA S afety
R egulations; it was a sham e th a t one p a rtic u la r c lu b , w ho
had provided m uch c ritic is m o f th e S T C re ce n tly am ended
rules, w ere not represented u n til a fte r m idday. T he C h a ir­
man g o t the ball ro llin g w ith the fo llo w in g letter:
Dear Mr. C orker,
Revision o f Bee P e e A e Safety R eg u la tio n s
Yore categry system is up th e pipe. It sh o u ld n o t sto p
short at Cat 10 w h ich is very a rb ite rry . It sh o u ld go up to
Cat 94 at least and have special C ats fo r g u ys like
J. M ycock w ho can tu rn style so fa st th a t th e y so m e ­
tim es have to stand the sh o c k o f seeing up th e ir ow n
assholes, briefly. He w o u ld rate C at 304. V & T w o u ld
rate a Cat o f her ow n ty p e w h ic h w o u ld be o b lig a try
fo r fem ales w ith bazoom s over 45 inch to w ear hogbacks
as they are im peded fro m seeing th e re fro n t m ounted
reserves. And there sh o u ld be a special one fo r c o u p les
w ho have knocked it o ff in fre e fa ll m ore than once. It
could be C at 69.
I hope you fo llo w m y d rift and g it y o u r co n v e n tio n o ff
to a good start w ith these su g g e stio n s.
Big Jake.
O u t o f 632 v o tin g papers received.
These 18 make up the 1975 BPA C o u n c il w ho gathered
a fte r th e A G M to e le ct th e ir o ffice rs. Law rie St. Jo hn was
once again voted C hairm an w ith Peter P rio r as Vice C h a ir­
man and M ike B a tc h e lo r as Treasurer. C harles
S hea-S im onds was elected delegate fo r the FAI M eeting
to be held in February.
T h u s ended the 1975 A G M a p a rt fro m Dave W aterm an ’s
film and slid e show , the free b u ffe t and the c o n s u m p tio n
of co n sid e ra b le q u a n titie s of a lc o h o l. It was g o o d to see so
m any m em bers present and, fro m a p u re ly personal p o in t
of view, it was a th o ro u g h ly e n jo y a b le and w o rth w h ile get
to g e th e r — See you all again next year!
G.C.P. S-S.
To say that th is le tte r set th e to n e o f the m eeting w o u ld
be u tte rly w rong as in fa c t a very g reat deal o f useful d is ­
cussion to o k place; th is resulted in a n u m b e r o f changes
to the regulations. T h e re was a fa ir a m o u n t o f d ivided
th in k in g on the c a te g o ry at w h ic h a s tu d e n t m ay be
allow ed to ju m p a ‘T U ’, but the fin a l ru lin g was th a t a ‘T U ’
may o n ly be ju m p e d by c a te g o ry V stu d e n ts and above
(to be effective from th e 1st Ju n e 1975). T w o m atters th a t
were deferred to the firs t STC m eeting o f the N ew Year
w ere the Bag D e p lo ym e n t S ystem and the fu tu re o f the
G eneral Permit. A fte r a b o u t fo u r and a h a lf hours o f d is­
cussion the m eeting fin a lly ended at a b o u t 3.30 p.m .; the
principal result of it all being th a t we sh o u ld have o u r new
and updated S afety R e g u la tio n s in use by m id 1975.
D oughie Peacock then p ro p o se d a w ell earned vote of
thanks to Jim fo r all th e hard w o rk he has done on o u r
behalf — m uch app lau se ! !
Half a hour later the A G M its e lf fin a lly g o t u n d e r way
w ith ou r C hairm an, L aw rie St. Jo h n , g o in g th ro u g h his
annual report w ith the 260 odd m em bers present. T h is
report was p ublished in the last e d itio n o f the m agazine
but Law rie enlarged on one o r tw o item s. The M e m bership
has now risen to 5742 and is lik e ly to reach over 6000 by
the end o f the BPA year — an increase on 1973/4. The
raffle raised som e £1500 fo r th e B ritis h Team fu n d , and
thanks m ust go to Jo h n P a rtin g to n S m ith, G eorge Shone,
Lofty Thom as and S p o d e m o o r A v ia tio n fo r k in d ly
d o nating prizes. (A separate ra ffle run fo r all those present
at the AGM raised a fu rth e r £40.) T he m ove to L eicester of
the BPA O ffice was then a n n o u n ce d and Law rie said th a t
th is should be co m p le te by the end o f Ja n u a ry — the new
prem ises giving o u r S e cre ta ry-G e n e ra l and his S ta ff som e
1180 square feet, a w e lco m e increase to the cram ped
c o n d itio n s at A rtille ry M ansions w here th e rent was to
have been increased th re e fo ld in the near fu tu re . Law rie
then asked Tom D ickso n to give his re p o rt on the S co ttish
S p ort P arachute A sso cia tio n . T o m ’s e lo q u e n t address,
albeit in a fu n n y language, show ed th a t th a t there is p le n ty
of sp o rt para ch u tin g a c tiv ity N o rth o f the border, and the
m any S cottish m em bers w h o had tra ve lle d all th e w ay to
N ottin g h a m was in d ic a tiv e o f this.
— C H A N G E OF A DD RESS —
GS CUSTOM PARACHUTES
(George Shone and Susan Lear)
are n o w at
THE CHAPEL — T ID W O R T H ROAD
ID M IS T O N — SALISBURY — W ILTSHIRE
Ansaphone service — Weyhill 2716
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11
PARACHUTE
A S S O C IA T IO N
M o n te re y , C a lifo rn ia 9 3 9 4 0
BIG JAKE PARA SKI CHAMPION
skis to cross and B.J. to do a fo rw a rd lo o p o ff his
shoulders, g iv in g rise to a later cla im by B.J. th a t he
tra cke d cle a r o f Eric d u rin g th e in cid e n t.
O ld Grizz the p ilo t is fly in g the m eet w ith his th re e m o to r biplane. It is d o u b tfu l w h e th e r it can get to 6000
feet em pty, m uch less h a u lin g th re e team s o f fo u r so
no m ore than a hop and pop can be b u ilt in to th e co m ­
p e titio n w ith c o n fid e n ce . T he plane leaks o il so badly
th a t re ce n tly w hen a n o th e r a irc ra ft had to b e lly land in the
o g g in, O ld Grizz was called in to lay an o il s lic k to subdue
th e waves and achieved th is s im p ly by d o in g a low pass
over the area at fu ll revs.
B .J’s team are the o n ly B rits, at th e m eet. T he rest have
the d e e p ly tanned look o f g u ys w h o spend th e ir lives on
the ski slopes strip p e d to th e ir jo c k stra p s and p ro b a b ly
have a co u p le of th o u sa n d ju m p s apiece to boast of, n o t to
m ention a fa ir a m o u n t of p a ra c h u tin g e xp e rie n ce as w ell.
B.J. has been able to tap the E.E.C. S p o rts and Gam es
fu n d fo r s p o n so rsh ip to th e m eet. V & T ’s lo w e st cu t dress
and q u ive rin g kn o cke rs w ere e n liste d to bedazzle and
u n h ing e the m ind o f the p re s id in g o ffic ia l w h o shelled
o u t five hundred sm ackers on the sp o t u n d e r the im ­
pression due to lan g ua g e d iffic u ltie s th a t he was
p u rch a sin g V & T ’s personal a tte n tio n s fo r a w eek. W ith
th is lo o t the skis, ski bo o ts and s tic k s are pu rch a se d plus
a n ifty ski suit ta ilo re d to the e xa ct d im e n s io n s o f V & T ’s
e xu b e ra n t protuberances.
The a irp o rt fo rth e m eet is do w n in the valley. We d e p o sit
the team there then take the ca b le ca r up to th e plateau
w h ic h is the dee-zed. We lay th e skis o u t in pairs, b o o ts
a lre a d y fitte d and ski s tic k s p la n te d in th e snow on e ith e r
side.
D own at the a irp o rt a w ra n g le ensues o ver o u r te a m ’s
p o sitio n in the a irc ra ft. A c c o rd in g to the d ra w Big J a k e ’s
team should be firs t out, but O ld G rizz fla tly refuses to take
o ff w ith Q u a ffe r Jim do w n in th e tail. A t th is a ltitu d e in
atten u a te d air G rizz w ants all th e fa c to rs w o rk in g fo r him
to prevent an ig n o m in io u s m ush o ff the edge o f the a irfie ld
and in to the river. Q u a ffe r can n e ith e r ride in the ta il on
take off, nor can he m ove do w n th e fuselage on th e c lim b
because the cee o f gee w ill s h ift in a m a n n e r so ra dical
as to cause the w h o le c o n tra p tio n to b a c k lo o p and cream
in; so states p ilo t G rizz. The o th e r team s a fte r som e
a rg u m e n t bow to the in e vita ble and agree th a t B .J ’s team
goes last. First o u t are the N orw egians, se co n d th e Swiss.
F ollow th a t in a para ski m eet!
Big Jake w hose lust fo r n o ve lty can exceed his lu st fo r
w om en, except when the tw o m ay be c o m b in e d , takes it
in to his head th a t the big th in g th is w in te r is to be para ski
cha m pion. The fa c t th a t snow is as in fre q u e n t on o r near
o u r dee-zed as m aiden ladies is o f no a c c o u n t to B.J. w ho
is prepared to travel to S co tla n d o r even S w itze rla n d to
fu lfil his b u rn in g need. The o th e r fa c t th a t B.J. sca rce ly
can te ll one end o f a ski fro m the o th e r is not held to be
relevant as a g u y w ith B J's lig h tn in g re a ctio n s and se m i­
perm anent state o f in e b ria tio n exp e cts to m aster an y th in g
from w ate r do u sin g to b o n g o d ru m m in g in a trice .
The plan is th a t B.J., H arry the S lim e, Q u a ffe r Jim and
Eric B olsover w ill co m p e te in the Para Ski W in te r S ports
Meet w ith V oice and T its and yo u rs tru ly p ro v id in g the
g round party and the skis. T he c o m p e titio n involves an
a ccu ra cy landing on a fo u r-th o u s a n d -fo o t m o u n ta in
plateau fo llo w e d by a ski race dow n in to the valley.
Q u a ffe r J im ’s request to use a sledge is tu rn e d dow n o u t o f
hand despite his assertion th a t skis w h ic h can bear his
eno rm ous w e ig h t w ith o u t sn a p p in g in the m id d le have not
yet been invented. The o rg a n ise rs are a b ru sq u e lo t w ho
tell Jim to com p ete on th e ir te rm s o r ----- o ff and cease to
b o th e r them . T hey even su g g e st th a t fo r all th e y care he
can cu rl up in to a ball and ro ll do w n in to the valley if the
skis d o n ’t w ork, but no sledge. The s ig h t o f tw e n ty -fiv e
stones o f Jim co m in g d o w n the slopes at fu ll bore, in a
great fla ilin g ball, o ff course and o u t o f c o n tro l w ill be
enough to unnerve even the m ost re solute ju d g e s as B.J.
is q u ick to perceive, so he gets Q u a ffe r to sta rt p ra ctisin g .
The p ractice involves Q u a ffe r la n d in g on a h illto p near the
dee-zed, ca p e w ellin g d u rin g his la n d in g ro ll and b o w lin g
dow n the h ill in the approved m anner. A ll goes w ell e xce p t
fo r a cow th a t gets in the w ay and fin ish e s up in Q u a ffe r’s
deep freeze, horns and all.
H arry the Slim e is not the w o rld ’s fo re m o s t skie r either.
W ith his natural bent fo r ch e a tin g H a rry is busy fig u rin g
o u t how he can beat the system so as to to s to p his skis
fly in g apart as th ey are w o n t to do and th re a te n in g to s p lit
him up the m iddle. He settles on having tw o little brackets
across the ski to p s fo re and a ft so th a t th e y are fixe d to ­
gethe r and behave as one ski, w h ic h w ill be fin e p rovided
he is p o in tin g in the rig h t d ire c tio n w hen he takes o ff
dow n hill.
Eric Bolsover, w ho has to put up w ith m uch ba n te r over
his name (w ho ever heard o f a sk y d iv e r called E ric? ) is the
o n ly p ro fic ie n t skie r in th e g ro u p . He is also the least p ro ­
fic ie n t p a ra ch u tist being even less stable than y o u rs tru ly,
no m atter how m uch he kicks. E ric spends several hours
coa ch ing B.J. on a m ud slope w ith im p ro vise d skis made
o u t o f planks, on to w h ic h B J ’s p a raboots are fitte d w ith
bungees. Th ey em erge fro m th is session e n cru ste d in m ud
like tro g lo d yte s, w h ic h th e y th in k is fu n n y u n til it hardens
like cem ent leaving them rig id and has to be ch ip p e d o ff
w ith chisels, w h ich V & T th in k s is d e c id e d ly u n fu n n y
having seen w hat a s lip o f the chisel has don e to som e
of those Greek statues.
By the tim e the c o m p e titio n date arrives th e team has
had enough p ra ctice o f both a c tiv itie s to realise th a t th e y
better n o t d ro p m any p o in ts on th e p a ra c h u tin g . A litte r
o f broken and tw iste d skis te s tifie s to th e ir in e p t b u t h e ro ic
persistence to becom e d o w n h ill racers. E ric B o lso ve r hits
upon the no tion of ta kin g B.J. dow n p ig g y b a c k . T here is
n o thin g in the rules to stop th is feat and p ra ctice reveals its
fe a sib ility. B.J. fancies h im se lf as a cross betw een the Old
Man of the Sea and Easy R ider, w h o o p in g and y e llin g and
sp u rrin g E ric on to g re a te r e ffo rts w ith the heels o f his
paraboots, u n til a p a rtic u la rly vig o ro u s b o o t causes Eric's
T he o n ly advantage B.J. has is his pre vio u s e xp e rie n ce
o f O ld G rizz and his plane. T he o th e r tw o team s are
already unnerved by th e s p lu tte rin g , b a c k firin g ta k e -o ff
w ith the w heels b ru s h in g the surface o f the river. T h e y
have no co n c e p tio n o f th e gee th a t G rizz w ill p u ll in his
tu rn s on to finals. W hen the firs t g u y s ’ gloves get tu g g e d
o ff and th e ir g o g g le s get p u lle d do w n and w h ap back
against th e ir ch in s th e ir d e m o ra lis a tio n is c o m p le te . B oth
team s zap badly on the ac c u ra c y and have to tru d g e a long
w ay th ro u g h the snow back to w here th e ir skis are w a itin g .
W ith th e ir edge taken o ff th e y lose p o in ts on the skiin g
and are glad to get stu c k in to th e s ch n a p p s at th e fin is h in g
line.
Then it is the tu rn o f Big Jake's team . T h e re are gasps
of su rp rise at the size o f Q u a ffe r J im ’s m ain ch u te w h ic h is
adapted from a ca rg o ch u te , n o t th a t it slow s him dow n
m uch below 24 f.p.s. The o rg a n ise rs are o p e n ly s c o rn fu l
o f the B ritish team and ba n d y a b o u t b ro ke n E nglish c o m ­
m ents interspersed w ith a fe w fo re ig n sw earw ords
d esigned to reach o u r ears as we aw ait o u r te a m ’s a rriv a l:
12
c ro w d — firs t an avalanche then a ye ti bent on th e ir
d e s tru c tio n .
"B eega Jake, oo the g ru n tfu tto c k ee th eenka ee e e s ? O ura
boys beat ees B ritish ass in to the snow an a fte rw a rd s we
show the v o lu p tu a o u s V o ice n Teets w o t oura boys ees
made o f.”
Q u a ffe r Jim is low man in th e stack. He runs in d o w n ­
w ind on finals, h its the d isc on th e b u tto n and capew ells
instantaneously, co n v e rtin g his m o m e n tu m in to a ro llin g
m otio n and bow ls o ff d o w n h ill in an in cre a sin g flu rry of
snow. The cro w d fin d it hard to believe it has happened
and m u ltilin g u a l e q u ivale n ts o f “ W hat t h e ----- was th a t? ”
flo a t up in to the fo s ty air. H a rry the S lim e ’s dead ce n tre
and subsequent ca re fu l a lig n m e n t o f his c o u p le d -u p skis
go u nnoticed as the c ro w d , all eyes and stun n e d , w atches
in d isb e lie f as B.J. and E ric B o lso ve r also hit th e d isc in
q u ic k succession, then B.J. c lim b s on E ric ’s back, yells
“ Gee u p ” and th ey are o ff d o w n in to th e valley clo se ly
fo llo w e d by H arry the Slime.
Down at the fin is h in g lin e all eyes are d ire cte d u p h ill at
the a ccu m u la tin g ball o f sn o w c o u rs in g do w n the
m ountainside. Its size and v e lo c ity rouse fo lk m em ories o f
avalanches and disasters in the breasts o f c ro w d and
judges alike. The c ro w d takes o ff in one d ire c tio n , the
judges in anothe r and Q u a ffe r Jim h u rtle s over the fin is h ­
ing line p ickin g up several b ysta n d e rs in to his snow ball.
He rolls up the ski ju m p u n til he reaches the stall then
revolves dow n again and across the fin is h in g lin e the
oth e r way, once m ore s c a tte rin g th e ju d g e s w h o have ju s t
begun to reform . Into th is m elee a rrive E ric B olsover and
Big Jake. From a d ista n ce it lo o ks like one g ig a n tic fig u re
on skis and sends a fresh w ave o f panic th ro u g h the
N a rro w ly m issing Q u a ffe r J im ’s sn o w b all w h ich is
tru n d lin g b a c k o v e rth e lin e fo rth e th ird tim e, Eric and B.J.
flash th ro u g h in record tim e and skid to a ha lt ju s t in tim e
to see H arry the S lim e all a -g o g g le in the in sta n t before his
fixe d skis tra n s p o rt him at g reat speed in to the m id d le of
Q u a ffe r’s sn o w b all, w h e re in he leaves a pretty, basic
stable silh o u e tte .
N o d o u b t a b o u t it, the B ritis h are the w in n e rs. Q u a ffe r
and H a rry are dug o u t fro m th e sn o w b all. Big Jake is
persuaded w ith d iffic u lty to d is m o u n t fro m E ric B o lso ve r’s
s h o u lde rs as he is e n jo y in g the s u p e rio r view it gives him
dow n the cleavages of the m o u n ta in g irls w ho are
c lu s te rin g ro und w aving a u to g ra p h b o o ks and in vita tio ns
to ig lo o parties.
By the tim e V & T and I descend the slope the tro p h y has
a lready been presented and B.J. is on to its second refill
w ith schnapps. It all becom es hazy a fte r that. Even O ld
G rizz w h o is a g ly c o l d rin k e r fin d s th e local hooch to his
taste and the flig h t hom e next day is so m e th in g best left
undescribed.
“ Beega Jake ain ta so d a ft," it is agreed am ong the locals
and w h ile next y e a r’s event is m e n tio n e d n o b o d y seems
to o keen to get us as a fo rw a rd b o o k in g , a lth o u g h the
m em ory o f V oice & T its n u b ile s p le n d o u r m ay in a tw e lve­
m onth erase the oth e r m em ories s u ffic ie n tly fo r an encore
to be requested. T im e w ill tell.
LOWE PULLER
I LEARNT ABOUT PARACHUTING FROM THAT
One fine but s lig h tly w in d y a fte rn o o n last A u tu m n , I to o k
o ff (in the car) fo r S w a llo w c liffe DZ w ith tw o frie n d s w ho I
had been try in g to persuade to take up the ge n tle s p o rt of
parachuting.
On arrival at the DZ we w ere w e lco m e d by th e usual
obscene rem arks o f m y in s tru c to r M ike A s h fo rd D.1083.
A fte r checking the w in d sp e e d w ith th e c lu b anem om eter
he decided it was ju s t ju m p a b le fo r T .U ’s and o f course
quite suitable fo r the fa m o u s P.C's.
So stra ig h t away I d o n n e d o ld tru s ty X typ e T.U. and
clam bered aboard the e q u a lly old and tru s ty 180.
T h ro ttle w ide w ith p itc h fin e and flaps 10 deg. said old
jum pship rum bles its w ay do w n the not so sm ooth cow
field DZ, to slo w ly c lim b to the dizzy h e ig h t of 4,200 ft.
The run -in starts w ith the usual b o ttle tro u b le sta rtin g .
5 left, 5 left, 5 right, 5 rig h t, 5 left, 5 le ft (th in k s — w h a t a
spotte r this A shfo rd fe llo w is) and then com es the b o ttle
breaking w ord "C U T ". O u t cla m b e rs the in tre p id 121/2
stone lum p co m p le te w ith c la n k in g b o ttle s o n to the step,
takes up the usual p re g n a n t spread p o s itio n and casts off.
O nce in free fall fo r a b o u t 5 se co n d s b o ttle s cease to
clank and the free fall is re a lly en jo yed . For once a steady
heading is achieved instead o f th e c u sto m a ry spin w h ich
usually starts a fter a b o u t 7 seconds.
A fte r a tim e I look at m y m uch c ritic is e d “ M icke y M o u se ”
Japanese a ltim e te r w h ic h in d ica tes 2,800 ft., so I leave
it fo r a few seconds, look again see 2,400 ft. and p ull the
m agic handle. T h is m agic handle p u llin g results in a very
sa tisfyin g teeth ra ttlin g jo lt, I look up, do a ca n o p y check
and then turn to face the w in d to see w h a t the d rift is like.
I then fin d I am go in g backw ards at w hat appears to be a
high rate of knots so I d e cid e to “ h o ld ” fo r a bit, before
d rivin g tow ards the cross.
It soon daw ns on me th a t if I ca rry on h o ld in g I am not
going to reach the DZ, let alone the cross. So I do q u ic k
180 and go like hell w ith the w in d . I then realise th a t w ith
the present rate of desce n t and g ro u n d speed th a t I w ill
m ake the DZ but not the cross w here I was h o p in g to do a
b it o f posing fo r m y tw o frie n d s ’ benefit.
T ra v e llin g at a p p ro x im a te ly 20 m .p.h. I decide th a t this
co u ld give me q u ite a headache and c o u ld b rin g w ater to
the eyes if I d o n ’t tu rn to face th e w in d soon. A t the s tu p id ly
low a ltitu d e of 50 odd feet I yank hard dow n on one to g g le
to a b o u t b e e r-g u t level, the ca n o p y oscilla te s, I sw ing o u t
a n d o n ly g e ta b o u t9 0 ° instead o f th e in tended 180° before
I h itth e deck w ith one h e llo fa b a n g .
T h is bang is a c co m p a n ie d by a h o rrib le c ru n c h in g
sound as rig h t s h o u ld e r is d islo ca ted , a c ra c k in g sound
as the rig h t c o lla r-b o n e breaks and a loud ‘o o m p h ” from
said p a ra c h u tis t as 124 and c ru tc h bu ckle s im bed th e m ­
selves in to a fo re m e n tio n e d be e r-g ut.
N ot being c o n te n t w ith the dam age old not so tru s ty T.U.
had done, the dam n th in g starts to drag me across the field
on m y a lready m uch dam aged rig h t arm, w h ic h d e fin ite ly
made the eyes w ater even more. I then th in k, capew ell
the L.H. Risers and d eflate the can o p y. O ff com es the L.H.
capew ell co ve r but the b lo o d y tits w o n ’t squeeze in
p ro p e rly (2 s h o t capew ell c o n tra p tio n s ). So there I am
sh o u tin g and h o w lin g help u n til th a n k fu lly big John
com es and deflates the canopy.
A b o u t 30 m in u te s later the in tre p id a c cu ra cy e xp e rt is
carted o ff in the S a lis b u ry b lo o d w agon am id ho ots o f
la u g h te r fro m the sa d istic a u d ien ce and the w ords o f “ I
to ld you a b o u t h o o k in g in lo w ” fro m c h ie f sadist D.1083.
M ay th is unnecessary a c c id e n t be a w a rn in g to o th e r
s tu d e n ts w h o p ra c tic e the very d o d g y m anouvre o f "h o o k ­
ing in lo w ” to land on target.
I learnt the hard w ay a b o u t p a ra c h u tin g fro m that.
M IKE RUTTY, B P A .15347
13
TRIBUTE TO THE RAPIDE
T o som e readers a trib u te to an a e ro p la n e in th e pages of
a p a ra ch u tin g m agazine m ay seem a little o u t o f place,
but no aeroplane has given such service to o u r s p o rt and in
do ing so created such a ffe c tio n . B etw een 1934 and 1946
som e 727 de H avilland R apides w ere p ro d u ce d . In 1958
there w ere 75 on th e B ritis h R egister, b u t now th e re are
o n ly half a dozen s till a irw o rth y . Had it n o t been fo r its
invo lvem ent w ith o u r s p o rt it is very lik e ly th a t the
R apide’s active life w o u ld have been s h o rte r s till; w h a t
executive w ants to fly a ro u n d in a fa b ric covered a e ro ­
plane w ith a speed o f a Cessna 172, pow ered by o u td a te d
eng ines th a t are a lm o st im p o ssib le to re p la ce ? A b o u t
20 d iffe re n t R apides have been re g u la rly used fo r sp o rt
para ch u tin g apart fro m tw o D ragons (the R apide’s p re ­
decessor). W hy th e R a pide’s s u ita b ility fo r p a ra c h u tin g ?
Can you fin d an a lte rn a tiv e th a t can lift 9 ju m p e rs to 12,000
feet fo r a fuel c o n s u m p tio n o f a b o u t 20 g a llo n s per h o u r—
esp e cially w hen the c a p ita l o u tla y involved in the early
60's w o u ld be a b o u t £2,000 fo r a respectable e xa m p le ?
She had an easy e x it fo r students. As a relative w o rk p la t­
fo rm fo u r ju m p e rs h a n g in g on o u ts id e the d o o r fo r a fast
e x it is not an u n co m m o n s ig h t! Yet it was a role th a t the
designers had p ro b a b ly never even co n s id e re d !
The firs t R apide th a t appears to have been used
re g u la rly fo r p a ra ch u tin g was G -A JH P , w h ic h belo ng e d
to G.Q. P arachute C o m p a n y. In 1954 she was loaned by
S ir R aym ond Q u ilte r fo r the tra in in g o f the B ritis h
Parachute Team led by D u m b o W illans. T h is m ust have
been the o n ly R apide ever e q u ip p e d w ith D ecca, and a
num b e r o f dro p s w ere c a rrie d o u t b lin d , w ith s p o ttin g
done by the p ilo t using th is n a vig atio n a l s y s te m ! The a ir­
c ra ft w e n t o u t to St. Yan, France and was used d u rin g the
2nd W orld P a ra ch u tin g C h a m p io n sh ip s, w h e re G reat
B rita in fin ish e d 5th o u t o f six n a tio n s co m p e tin g .
The DH D ragon was a sm a lle r a irc ra ft and pow ered by
tw o G ipsy M ajors rated at 130 h.p. H er all up w e ig h t was
4,200 lb co m pared to th e R a p id e ’s 5,500 lb, the la tte r
being dragged alon g by tw o 204h.p. G ip sy Queen III
engines. O ne su rvivo r o f the breed rem ains in th e c o u n try
— G -A C IT (b u ilt in 1933). T h is h is to ric a irc ra ft was
o rig in a lly purchased by C a ptain E. Fresson fo r H ig h la n d
A ir Services, (later S co ttis h A irw a ys), and was used in the
early 30’s fo r m uch o f the p io n e e rin g fly in g involved in his
op enin g o f routes in S co tla n d , the O rkn e ys and the
Shetlands. She was used fre q u e n tly fo r p a ra c h u tin g and
the D ragon so we c o u ld use it fo r a d is p la y a t th e D erby
S how the fo llo w in g day is w ell rem em bered! G -A D D I was
sold in an a irw o rth y c o n d itio n to the U.S.A. o n ly a co u p le
o f years ago.
Sean Friel exits G -A E M L 1966. p h o to — Dave W aterm an
T he o ldest R apide re g u la rly used fo r p a ra c h u tin g was
G -A E M L b u ilt at H a tfie ld in 1936. Based at C o ve n try, Pansh a n g a ra n d Denham , she was used fre q u e n tly fo r disp la ys
and it is at C o ve n try th a t she no w rests, in a p a rt re -b u ilt
state. I^ is hoped th a t she w ill stre tc h her w in g s again in
1975.
G -A G JG is a ty p ic a l e xa m p le o f a R apide b u ilt as a
D o m in ie by the B rush C o a c h w o rk s C o m p a n y in L o u g h ­
b o ro u g h in early 1941. She served as X 7344 u n til 1943
w hen she o b tained a C o f A w ith S c o ttis h A irw a ys. A fte r
w o rk in g su b se q u e n tly fo r B.E.A., A d ie A v ia tio n , M e d i­
terranean A ir S ervices, Island A ir S ervices and Swansea
A irw a ys Ltd, she fin a lly cam e to T h ru x to n in 1962 having
been b o u g h t by G e rry D om m e tt. From then on she has
been alm ost c o n s ta n tly used as a p a ra ch u te p la tfo rm . She
ended her days at H a lfp e n n y G reen in N ovem ber, 1974
w hen the C o f A e xpired, and the c u rre n t ow n e rs, A eria l
E nterprises Ltd, de cid ed a fu rth e r C o f A to o expensive.
S till a irw o rth y at tim e o f w ritin g her fu tu re lo o ks g rim ;
th irty year old w o o d and fa b ric a irc ra ft left o u t in th e open
Dragon G -A C IT (Note square wing tips).
is now kept in fly in g c o n d itio n at S outhend. B u ilt a year
later was G -A D D I, a n o th e r D ragon and op e ra te d in the
60’s fo r pleasure fly in g and p a ra c h u tin g by C h risa ir, a
splendid op e ra tio n , c o n s is tin g o f C h ris R oberts and his
gla m o ro u s w ife C la ir, w h o is also a firs t class p ilo t. C h ris
R oberts w o rk in g all one Friday n ig h t at S yw ell in 1966
rem oving a G ipsy M a jo r fro m an A u ste r and in s ta llin g it in
G -AG JG at Thruxton 1963 — The nervous looking guy
in the white jum p suit is John Meacock before his first
descent!
14
d o n ’t last long. Yet here is an a e ro p la n e th a t at th e 1974
B ritish RW N ation als was o u tc lim b in g th e Red D e vil’s
Islander to 8,500 feet, b o th a irc ra ft w ith e ig h t ju m p e rs
a b o a rd ! T he fo llo w in g s to ry m ay illu s tra te w h y R a pide’s
p rovoke such a ffe c tio n . “ It w as th e last lift o f the day. I had
ju s t refuelled 'JG ' w ith p ro b a b ly m ore fu e l than usual as
w e w ere plan nin g an e a rly sta rt th e fo llo w in g m o rn in g .
Red Devils exit G -A G T M on a display in 1964.
p h o to — c o u rte s y 'D aily M a il’
The cockpit of G -A G JG
p h o to — CS-S.
On run n in g up th e en g ine s, I g o t 2100 rpm on th e p o rt
engine, b u t o n ly a b o u t 1950 on th e starboard. I p u t th is
dow n to a fra n tic a lly p o p p in g e xh a u st gasket and started
the take off. A q u ic k ch e c k o f th e ele va to r trim . OK. T he tail
rose slu g g ish ly and th e airspeed w ith it. I passed th e p o in t
of no return. The trees at the end o f tw o -e ig h t w ere g e ttin g
c lo s e r— a la rm in g ly ! I eased back on the yo ke and fra n tic ­
a lly hauled her in to the air. W e skim m e d over th e trees. I
stole a glance over m y s h o u ld e r: ten b lis s fu lly unaw are
ju m pe rs! S u bse qu e n t in v e s tig a tio n revealed a cra cke d
c y lin d e r he a d !”
G -AG SH , a fte r service w ith B.E.A. and a years so ju rn in
Ireland as E I-A JO , becam e, in 1965, R AFS PA ’s ju m p ship
at W e sto n -o n -th e -G re e n . She replaced G -AS FG , an exRoyal Navy D o m in ie w hose h u ll is now used fo r g ro u n d
tra in in g at W eston. ‘S H ’ has alw ays been im m a cu la te ly
m aintained by th e RAF at A b in g d o n and is c u rre n tly up fo r
sale after 9 years o f c o n tin u o u s s p o rt para ch u te fly in g ,
usually w ith the s k ilfu l hands o f G e rry C h a llo n g at the
helm.
G -A G T M flew in the M id d le East as O D -A B P and
JY -A C L from 1945 to 1964 w hen she was purchased by the
P arachute R egim ent to b ecom e the firs t Red D evil's a ir­
c ra ft. She was p ainted in R o th m a n ’s c o lo u rs and nam ed
“ V a lkyrie ” , a fte rth e P arachute R egim ent m arch “ T he Ride
o f the V alkyries". In 1966 she fle w to Pau, France, fo r team
tra in in g , p ilo te d by B arry T e m p e st (m asq u e ra d in g at Lt.
Exit from G -A G TM — Reading Army Show 1966, photo­
graphed from G -AEM L by G.C.P. S-S.
15
recent snow , and in an e ffo rt to sto p s h o rt o f a snow bank,
o u r novice R apide p ilo t gra b b e d at the hand brake. In an
unladen R apide th is a fatal m ove, and SL gave a flaw less
p e rfo rm a n ce o f the sp e cie s’ o n ly vice — she tip p e d
fo rw a rd o n to her nose. B o th p ro p s w ere b ent back and the
nose severely dam aged. It’s in th is state th a t she still
stands in the hangar at S u n d e rla n d .
T em pest, A rm y A ir C o rp s in o rd e r to gain access to the
O ffic e rs ’ M ess!). B arry recalls the return jo u rn e y . “ It was a
b e a u tifu l day and S herdy V atnsdal had asked if he co u ld
have a ‘c a b b y ’. A fte r a s h o rt lesson on e ffe cts o f co n tro ls ,
I trim m e d ‘T M ’ c a re fu lly and we sw o p p ed places. S herdy
was m anaging very w ell so I w andered back d o w n the
fuselage and sat in the o n ly va ca n t seat at the back beside
Ernie R ow berry, w h o was engrossed in a m u c k y book.
E rnie hated fly in g at the best o f tim es. I tapped him on the
sh o u lde r: “ L e t’s have a lo o k at y o u r bo o k E rn ie .” He
gla nced up. T he loo k on his face w hen he saw the p ilo t
s ittin g in the back w ith him was an a b so lute p ic tu re !”
Late r th a t year she was severely dam aged at N e th e ravon. Brian David tells the tale. “ G raem e C a th ro and I had
d isp atch ed a load of stu d e n ts and we elected to land w ith
the a ircra ft. It m ay have been th a t th e p ilo t trie d to 3 p o in t
it on, but w hatever the cause, one w in g d ro p p e d ju s t
before to u ch d o w n . She then ro lle d o n to the o th e r w in g tip
and the situ a tio n was b e co m in g very ala rm in g . G raem e
and I made a p a n ic -s trik e n e x it — she was s till ca re e rin g
across the grass! Just b e fore she ran in to the fu e l bow ser
the p ilo t y e lle d : “ G et o u t you tw o !” — we h a d n 't been
w ith him fo r the pre vio u s 400 y a rd s !”
As a re sult o f th is m ishap, she was sold to the APA, w ho
g ra d u a lly re b u ilt her. She is s till fly in g fo r p a ra c h u tin g at
N etheravon and is in fin e c o n d itio n .
Captain Curly at the helm of G -AK IF.
G -A JS L was p urchased by th e P arachute R egim ent in
1966 as T M ’s replace m e n t, and nam ed Pegasus. A fte r
tw o years of display w o rk she was sold to B ill D ow nes and
Dave M o o re ’s o rg a n is a tio n , T re n t V alley A via tio n . She
becam e a fre q u e n t v is ito r to S u n d e rla n d fo r use by the
N orthern P arachute C e n tre and it was here th a t she met
her tra g ic end. A p ilo t was being ch e cke d o u t in her and
was ta xyin g round to the h o ld in g p o in t. T h e re had been
G -A K IF was the th ird P arachute R egim ent Rapide, and
served the team fro m 1968 to 1971 w hen she was replaced
by an Islander. In 1959 she had m ade her p a ra c h u tin g
deb u t w hen used at S andow n fo r the N a tio n al C h a m p io n ­
ships, in c o m p a n y w ith a n o th e r R apide G -A L B A . In 1968
India Fox also jo u rn e y e d to Pau fo r team tra in in g , th is
tim e flo w n by C a ptain ‘C u rly W ee’ W atts. It w as here usin g
Static line exit from G-AJSL over Sunderland 1968.
16
Red Devils Tony Jones and Graeme Cathro exit G -AK IF over Newcastle 1970.
p h o to — Dave W aterman
an A u s te r and a V anguard c o u ld co p e w ith a R apide. . .
As we tu rn e d in fo r B la ckb u sh e , Paddy re m inded us th a t
he’s o n ly landed a R apide th re e tim e s before, and never
w ith a load. T here was also a c ro s s -w in d . He said he was
frig h te n e d . I said th a t m ade n ine o f us and w o u ld he please
get it over q u ic k ly . We p u t on o u r he lm e ts. . .” T h a t firs t
year she operated at £7 per h our, and fin is h e d the year
having made a p ro fit! In 1967 she was co nverted to Q ueen
II en g ine s (w ith co n s ta n t speed p ro p e lle rs) — th is gave
her a s lig h tly gre a te r payload and b e tte r rate o f clim b . A t
th e tim e itw a s a ls o th o u g h tth a tQ u e e n II engines (as used
in the Percival P ro cto r) w ere m ore re a d ily a v a ila b le — th is
proved not to be the case. The fo llo w in g year she was c o n ­
verted back to Q ueen III en g ine s and no w seven years
later she is still fly in g at N etheravon fo r p a ra ch u tin g .
IF th a t Jo h n N oakes, o f B BC T V ’s B lue Peter, was firs t
film e d in free fall. In 1971 she was sold to N o rw a y as
LN -B E Z . T h is near A rc tic fly in g was to o m uch fo r her
and she returned hom e in 1973. She is now ow ned by
A d rian S w ire and kept in b e a u tifu l c o n d itio n at B ooker.
G -A JH O was the A rm y P arachute A s s o c ia tio n ’s firs t
Rapide, and was pu rch a se d in 1963 fro m B ro o k la n d s
A via tio n at S yw ell w ith fin a n c ia l b a ckin g fro m R othm ans.
The sto ry o f her p u rchase and firs t ye a r’s o p e ra tio n
w as recalled in an h ila rio u s a rtic le , T h e Khaki A irlin e ’,
w ritte n by John W eeks, w h ic h appeared in S p o rt
P arachutist Vol. 1 No. 1. “ . . . B ut Paddy had been o u r No. 1
p ilo t from the start. He was e x -A rm y A ir C orps, and was
now ea rning his d a ily bread as second D ickie on a
V anguard. I recko n e d th a t any m an w h o co u ld fly both
G -AK NN , G -A S FC and G -A JH O at Netheravon 1966.
p h o to — Dave W aterman
17
r
A beautiful shot of G -A JH O , G-ASRJ and G -A G TM over Netheravon 1964.
G-ASR J was th e last R apide to be placed on the C ivil
R egister w hen she was pu rch a se d in 1964 w ith R othm ans
help fo r use in G e rm a n y at the R hine A rm y Parachute
C entre at Bad L ip p sp rin g e . She was hangared at D etm old
w ith the A rm y A ir C o rp s and fle w back th e re a fte r each
days ju m p in g . O c c a s io n a lly the m ore e xp e rie n ce d
jum pe rs w e nt w ith h e r — she s im p ly c lim b e d overhead
D etm old and o u t everyone w ent, p ic k in g th e ir ow n D Z ’s
w here the y co u ld fin d them . Peter S herm an recalls one
p a rtic u la r e vening: “ W e’d had a rather c o c k y C anadian
o ffic e r ju m p in g w ith us all day. He asked if he c o u ld com e
along on the evening ju m p -in to D etm old. We to o k o ff fro m
Bad L ip p sp rin g e and c lim b e d overhead D etm old.
“ W here’s the D Z ? ” he said. “ T he c ro q u e t lawn in fro n t of
the O ffic e r’s M ess” , said M ick T u rn e r, p o in tin g it out.
“ C u t!” And aw ay we w ent, all h a p p ily g o in g fo r o u r ow n
selected pieces o f open g ro u n d . T he g u llib le C anadian
O ffice r, how ever, w o rke d like a th in g possessed to h it the
c ro q u e t law n. . . He o n ly ju s t missed, and w e n t clean
th ro u g h the (closed) French w in d o w s in to th e A n te R o o m !
Soon a fterw a rd s the a u th o ritie s p u t a sto p to it all — very
sa d !" ‘R h in e g o ld ’, or ‘R in g o ’ as she was m ore usu a lly
called, fin a lly ended her days at L ip p s p rin g e w hen
exp osure to the elem ents caused a d e te rio ra tio n th a t was
to o expensive to rectify.
T he o th e r A rm y R apide is G -A ID L (one tim e m o u n t o f
F ox’s G la cie r M ints). O ne h ila rio u s in c id e n t w ith DL c o n ­
cerned R obert A cram an. T he load w ere s ittin g p a tie n tly
in the a irc ra ft w a itin g fo r ju m p m a s te r R obert. N ext m in u te
he’s by the d o o r stru g g lin g to get a b ic y c le on board — he
G -A ID L at Sibson 1971.
had been se cre tly p la n n in g to ride it o ff the w in g and see
how long he co u ld rem ain w ith it in free fall. U n fo rtu n a te ly
th e tears o f m irth fro m the o n lo o k e rs a ttra c te d th e p ilo t’s
a tte n tio n w ho fo rb a d e th e a tte m p t! DL is s till at N e th e r­
avon, th o u g h c u rre n tly up fo r sale.
G -A K N N , 'the B row n B o m b e r’, was firs t used fo r para­
c h u tin g w hen she b e lo ng e d to B ill T o m kin s. B arry
T em pest was a re g u la r p ilo t o f NN betw een 66-67, fly in g
18
Kid’s Christmas nightm are — a multitude of Santas board
G -AK NN at Thruxton 1967.
p h o to Dave W aterm an
her fo r p a ra ch u tin g at P o d in g to n , and fo r a v a rie ty o f
roles at B a rn sto rm e r fly in g d is p la y s , In 1967 she was
b o u g h t by B ernie G reen, fo r use by the B ritis h S kyd ivin g
C entre at T h ru x to n . T h e fo llo w in g ye a r she w e n t to
D unkesw ell and was used fo r ju m p in g both th e re and at
C o m p to n A bbas u n til she w e n t fo r a C o f A at C astle
D o n in g to n in late 1969. T h is was g o in g to prove to o ex­
pensive, so she was b ro ke n fo r spares.
G -A H A G was a late c o m e r to the role of p a ra c h u tin g
when she was purch a se d by M o n ty de C a rtie r fo r use at
C o m p to n A bbas. She was in use at H a lfp e n n y Green on
15th Ju ly, 1972 w hen she was be in g used fo r a big star RW
atte m p t fro m 10,500 feet in fo rm a tio n w ith the T h u rs to n
A viation Islander. A t e x it tim e th e R apide slid u n d e r the
Islander. M ike T a y lo r, having e xite d the Islander, h it the
rear o f the fuselage o f AG and bro ke his fe m u r. M ike
Barry Tempest showing off the elegant lines of the
‘Brown Bom ber’.
B o lto n crashed th ro u g h her roof, sm ashed b oth his w rists
and rem ained in AG u n til a fte r she’d landed safely. A
u n iq ue a c cid e n t w h ic h again show ed the ruggedness of
the a irc ra ft. AG then w e n t to L ym p n e fo r use by A lex
B la c k’s C lub. She is n ow being re b u ilt in a garage in
B la n d fo rd , D orset, u sin g m any spares p ro vid ed by the
b re a kin g o f NN.
G -A H JA was firs t used fo r p a ra c h u tin g w hen operated
by C harles B o d d in g to n and B a rry T em pest in the m id
sixties. Later she was based at C astle D o n in g to n w ith
T re n t V alley A via tio n . She w as w ritte n o ff w hen a
G -A G TM and G -AKRS at Sibson 1971.
19
fu tu re she’ll provide c iv ilia n s w ith th e ir last o p p o rtu n ity to
ju m p fro m a R a p id e .
Every g ood s to ry has an e le m e n t o f m yste ry and in this
case it’s provided by G -A H J S — an o b s c u re p h o to g ra p h
show s her being used fo r ju m p in g , b u t it seem s to be an
isolated o ccasion. H er last re gistered o w n e rs w ere the
T hree C o u n ties A ero C lu b at B la ckb u sh e , b u t h e r u ltim a te
fate is u nknow n.
A p a rt fro m the tw e n ty odd R apides re co rd e d here, a
nu m b e r were also used fo r p a ra c h u tin g in France. T hey
have ce rta in ly been operated at C h a lo n , B ergerac, L ille
and B iscarosse, a lth o u g h th e y w ere n o rm a lly, but
in c o rre c tly , called D ragons. F -B H C D is such an exam ple,
used at C halon.
co m m e rcia l p ilo t on a ch e ck rid e tip p e d her on her nose
after a p o o r lan ding d u rin g w h ic h he braked to o co a rse ly
— he failed the c h e c k ! She was so ld to RAFSPA fo r spares
fo r SH.
A n o th e r T re n t V alley A v ia tio n R apide was G -AK R S
w h ich was su b se q u e n tly based at S hipdham . W hen Jo h n
M eacock started the P e te rb o ro u g h P arachute C entre, she
was a fre q u e n t v is ito r to S ibson. She is now in the A rro w
A ir Services hangar at S hipdham , w here once again s h o rt­
age o f fu n d s prevents her being m ade a irw o rth y again.
G -A JG S was used a fte r the w a r by A llie d A irw a ys in
S cotland. From 1950 to 1966 she rem ained in store at
A berdeen. W hen she was re -d isco ve re d by B o o ke r R apide
e n th usiasts in 1966, she had o n ly 47 ho u rs fly in g since
new. She was then re-assem bled by D oug B ia n ch i. From
1968 to 1970 she was operated by A erial E nterprises, and
used p rin c ip a lly fo r p a ra ch u te d isp la ys. O ne such d isp la y
was in N orthe rn Ireland at an A rm y S how at E nniskellen.
“ B ill D ow nes was fly in g and we put in to N e w to w n a rd s
to re-fuel. GS was p ro b a b ly o ve rla d e n ; a p a rt fro m the
team, we also had the DZ p a rty plus all o u r o v e rn ig h t bags.
We then flew to St. A n g e lo , a sm all disused a irfie ld w h ic h
was also the show site. B ill m ade an a p p ro a ch , b u t the ru n ­
w ay was very short. “ She’s to o h e a vy— I d o n ’t reckon I can
get her in w ith th is lo a d ." “ No p ro b le m B ill, give us one run
at 3,000 fe e t!” T hus we lig h te n e d the load, and B ill landed
GS s a fe ly !” In 1970 GS was b o u g h t by an A m e rica n , Fred
L u d ing to n , and B ill D ow nes fle w her on an e p ic flig h t to
Florida via G lasgow , Iceland, G reenland, G oose Bay and
the Eastern U S . T h is m a g n ific e n t flig h t was rep o rte d fu lly
in “ F light In te rn a tio n a l” soon afterw ards.
T w o m ore p a ra ch u tin g R apides are now preserved in
museum s. G -A LA X sp e n t 1960-1967 in S co tla n d , ow ned
and operated by a d o u r S cot by the name o f K eith T u llo c h .
She was often used by the S co ttish P arachute C lub, and
was a re gular a tte n d e r at the S co ttish C h a m p io n sh ip s. In
1966 she m ade her film d e b u t w hen she w e n t to Spain
and was used fo r the p a ra c h u tin g sequences in one o f
Racquel W elch's early p ic tu re s "F a th o m ". She is now at
B igglesw ade as pa rt o f th e D urney A e ro n a u tic a l
C o lle ctio n . G -A IU L had her in itia tio n to p a rachute
d ro p p in g w h ilst in the service o f Jo h n C o llin s at T h ru x to n .
Jo hn n o rm a lly used UL fo r fe rry in g flo w e rs fro m the
C hannel Islands from 1964 to 1967. "J o h n was th e p ilo t on
a m em orable flig h t w hen we w ere d o in g som e w o rk fo r a
film com pany. The w e a th e r was no g o o d fo r ju m p in g ,
w ith a 8/8 clo u d cove r at a b o u t 1200 feet. A fte r c o n s u lta ­
tio n w ith B oscom be D ow n, we le a rn t th a t the to p s
w ere a b o u t 2500 feet w ith cle a r blue skies above. A t the
film c o m p a n y ’s request, we to o k o ff to clim b in to the b rig h t
su n lig h t, and sh o o t som e fo o ta g e o f the tw o o f us m oving
around inside the a irc ra ft and c lim b in g o u t o n to the w ing
w ith o u r rigs on. A fte r the usual m essing a b o u t by the
film crew , w hich w e n t on fo r over an ho u r, B oscom be
advised us to let dow n as the w e a th e r was d e te rio ra tin g .
D u rin g th e d e sce n t, we lost c o n ta c t w ith B osco m b e radar.
On e m erging from the c lo u d at a b o u t 300 feet it was
o bvio us that Joh n d id n 't kn o w w here we were. W ith e ve ry­
one in the back o ffe rin g u n w a nte d advice, it was one o f the
film cre w w ho — c o rre c tly — re co g n ise d G u ild fo rd
C a th e d ra l! H aving fo llo w e d the ra ilw a y line dow n past
B asingstoke and A ndover, we fin a lly landed in a to rre n tia l
d o w n p o u r at T h ru x to n w ith both ta n ks reading em pty.
The bar ran o u t o f b ra n d y !" UL then had th re e years w ith
A erial E nterprises and in 1970 she w e n t to S ou th e n d
w here she now resides in the A irc ra ft M useum .
In 1971 Viv B ellam y, w ho has had long a sso cia tio n w ith
Rapides, purchased G -AIY R fro m H u n tin g S urveys. YR is
based at La n d ’s End, St. Just, w here she is used p rin c ip a lly
fo r pleasure flyin g . She has, how ever, re c e n tly been used
at St. Ju st fo r sp o rt p a ra c h u tin g , and it m ay be th a t in the
Claude Bernard, Chief Instructor at Chalon, exits Rapide
F-B HC D circa 1965.
It w o u ld be im p o ssib le to try and c a lcu la te the num be r
o f ho u rs th a t R apides have flo w n fo r p a ra c h u tin g , o r the
nu m b e r o f descents m ade fro m them . E veryone has his
ow n very personal m em ories o f th e aeroplane, w h e th e r he
be ju m p e r o r p ilo t, and no d o u b t th is a rtic le w ill b rin g to
m ind a host o f d iffe re n t in cid e n ts. M y ow n p a ra ch u tin g
h ig h lig h t w ith a R apide was a ju m p fro m G -A G S H at
W e sto n -o n -th e -G re e n , and c lo s in g 5th on an 8-m an; I
w o n d e r how m any ju m p e rs q u a lify fo r a R apide S C R ?
My fly in g experience in the R apide is a m eagre tw e n ty
hours, but all o f it u tte rly m em orable. She is such a fo r­
givin g aeroplane, w h ic h fo r me is ju s t as w e ll! T he fla p
lim itin g speed alw ays p rovides a m u s e m e n t— 78 kn o ts —
try lo w e rin g the fla p s at 79, it is a p h ysica l im p o s s ib ility !
The fo llo w in g legend a b o u t the R apides seem s par­
tic u la rly in character. The s to ry goes th a t w hen th e p ro to ­
typ e was built, a fitte r was b o ltin g th e trip le x w in d scre e n s
to the tu b u la r c o c k p it fram e. H aving used a fa ir q u a n tity
o f steel BA nuts and b olts, he fo u n d at the end he was one
short. The stores had run o u t of steel BA nuts and bolts, so
one brass set was fitte d instead. The d ra u g h ts m e n then
descended on the a e ro p la n e to fin is h o ff the p ro d u c tio n
draw ings. Result every R apide has one brass BA n u t and
b o lt in the w in d s c re e n !
I hope th a t th is a rtic le w ill e xp la in to those u n fa m ilia r
w ith the Rapide, w h y such n o sta lg ia is w o rth re co rd in g . It
is b u t a sm all trib u te to an aero p la n e th a t has p ro vided a
great deal of e n jo y m e n t to a g reat m any p ilo ts and para­
c h u tis ts alike. The m em ories are a s u ffic ie n t salute.
G.C.P. S-S.
20
Z’HILLS -1974
dow n the m acadam runw ays and in to the air. It was the
ab solute m odel o f an e ffic ie n tly run meet. E veryone knew
th a t w ith over fifty team s involved it was g o in g to take
unco m m o n c o -o p e ra tio n to run the m e e t. . . w h ich was
ex a c tly w h a t each team , aircre w , ju d g e and g round
su p p o rt m em ber gave. The team s w o u ld be w a itin g as the
em p ty a irc ra ft w o u ld a rrive to sw a llo w a n o th e r th irty
jum pers. A q u ick few m in u te s to get everyone on board, a
sh o rt ta xi to p o sitio n w ith th e last team on p ra c tic in g one
m ore e x it lin e -u p and then d o w n the ru n w a y en route to
ten-five. C o n sta n t c o m m u n ic a tio n betw een th e judges
and the m anifest, betw een the m a n ife st and the a ircraft,
betw een the a irc ra ft and ju d g es, c h e c k in g and d o u b le
c h e ckin g to m ake sure th a t was z e ro -fo x tro t-a lp h a ju st
tu rn in g on ju m p ru n w ith team s th irte e n fo u rte e n and fif­
teen, and, uh, Z e p h y rh ills G ro u n d C o n tro l, th is is w h iske yta n g o ; ro g e r w h is k e y -ta n g o , Z e p h y rh ills G ro u n d , go
ahead; uh, Z e p h y rh ills G ro u n d , I’ve g o t fuel fo r one m ore
load a fte r th is one; ro g e r w h is k e y -ta n g o ; uh, tw o -n in e rhotel, th is is Z e p h y rh ills G ro u n d , w h a t is y o u r a ltitu d e ;
Z e p h y rh ills G ro u n d , th is is tw o -n in e r hotel, w e’re ju st
passing th ro u g h e ig h t-T h o u s a n d feet; seven-five-six, this
is Z e p h y rh ills G ro u n d ; Z e p h y rh ills G ro u n d , seven-fivesix, go ahead; roger, seven-five-six, th is is Z e p h y rh ills
G round, please o rb it so u th e a st o f the d ro p zone, zerofo x tro t-a lp h a w ill be d ro p p in g his last load in a b o u t tw o
m inutes; roger, Z e p h y rh ills G ro u n d , th is is seven-five-six,
sta n d in g by southeast o f the d ro p zone. A nd so on and on.
Judges h o ld in g h u rrie d co n fe re n ce s betw een exits,
c o lla tin g scores, using b o ttle s o f eye d ro p s to soothe th a t
b u rn e d -o u t fe e lin g a fte r w a tc h in g and tim in g team a fte r
team . Team ca p ta in s co m in g to th e m a n ife st w ith , could
yo u tell us when w e’ll be g o in g up; d o n ’t w o rry, w e ’ll call
you in p le n ty of tim e ; w o u ld you please page team num ber
fifte e n , the G O D FR O G S, and ask them to m eet in th e ir
area; say, w h a t team is up now ; do yo u know w hat kind of
tim e the H U M B O L D T H U M M ER S g o t on th e ir last ju m p ?
And so on and on and on.
It ran the w ay a g ood star goes to g e th e r: sm o o th ly. By
the end o f the day, 130 team ju m p s had been m a d e . . . over
tw o -a n d -a -h a lf ro u n d s c o m p le te d . In the m id st o f w hat, to
a w h u ffo , m ust have lo o ke d like mass co n fu s io n , th irte e n h undred ju m p s w ere m ade in the space o f less than nine a n d -a -h a lf hours, w ith over e ig h te e n h o u rs o f individ u a l
fre e fa ll tim e logged. In c re d ib ly e nough, there was a 10man team u n lo a d in g at 10,500 feet every 4.3 m inutes. It
was s im p ly m ind b o g g lin g .
W h ile the e ffic ie n c y o f the m eet was im pressive, the
tim es being tu rn e d by the b e tte r team s w ere not. A t the
end o f the day the SLO TS ARE FOR TO T S team o f Deland,
Florida, was in firs t place w ith tw o stars tim e d at 20.0 and
16.6 respectively. M y ow n team , u nbelievably, stoo d in
second w ith a 24.2 and a 22.7. C o m p rise d o f m o stly young,
b rig h t and eager lads w h o have m ade the m a jo rity o f th e ir
stars w h ile ju m p in g on the (new ) TEN H IG H B U N C H , we
were agog at o u r p o s itio n on the score board. E specially
since we have o n ly been in e xiste n ce a little over tw o
m onths, and had less than fo rty p ra ctice ju m p s b ehind us.
As m ig h t be expected, how ever, we w ere not to m aintain
th is p o s itio n fo r very long. The th ird place team was an old
and co m p e titio n -e x p e rie n c e d o n e . . . the B E E C H N U T S . . .
w ith a 28.0 and a 19.3. T he DEL RAY A E R IA L C IR C U S was
close b ehind in fo u rth w ith a 22.8 and a 26.0. W ith the
c o m in g of darkness, a ro ck band appeared on the pa cking
area and poured o u t th e ir souls to a g re a tly a ppreciative,
but m otley, m ob o f ju m p e rs u n til the wee ho urs o f the
m o rn in g . W hile som e team s s lip p e d q u ie tly aw ay to rest
As if in celebratio n o f th a t q u a in t c o lo n ia l h o lid a y of
T hanksgiving, a n o th e r m o n ste r o f a p a rachute meet has
com e to pass. A new re cord o f fifty -tw o (c o u n t ’em, 52)
team s gathered at th e Z ’h ills P arachute C enter, Z e p h y rhills, Florida, To relax, party, m eet new frie n d s, g re e t old
ones, tell lies and ju m p s to rie s and on o cca sio n flin g
th e ir c o lle ctive bodies fro m a m elange o f tw in -e n g in e d
aeroplanes. ‘T w as a g lo rio u s event. 'T w o u ld have been
g lo rio u se r had o n ly th e w e a th e r co -o p e rate d a b it more.
As in the past, team s and parts o f team s, as w ell as those
un a ffiliate d w ith any team , began s tra g g lin g in the w eek­
end before the meet. M any a rrive d a fte r tw e n ty to th irty
hours of hard d riv in g , p o sin g as escapees from the harsh
enviro ns o f the fro ze n n o rth la n d s . S tepping in to seventy
degree w e a th e ra fte rs lo g g in g th ro u g h feet of th a t strange
s tu ff know n as “ s n o w ” , w arm ed th e very co ckle s o f th e ir
hearts, and sm iles and g o o d vibes a bounded. And,
indeed, there was a ce rta in a ir o f plain e n jo y m e n t at ju s t
being there. T h e y had all co m e fo r th a t annual g a th e rin g
o f relative w o rk e n th u sia sts th a t has becom e s o m e th in g
o fa le g e n d . . . th e Z ’h ills T u rk e y M e e t(in d e ference to th a t
great bird th a t is tra d itio n a lly eaten at T h a n ksg ivin g
tim e ) . . . and to ju s t have fun. W h ich is w hat s k y d iv in g is
really all about.
Largely la ckin g w ere th e hushed q u e stio n s and raised
eyebrow s rega rd in g the tim e s being tu rn e d by the b etter
know n team s. In fa ct, an a ttitu d e o f hard core c o m p e titio n
was, fo r the m ost part, absent. W h ich w o u ld be reflected in
th e tim es tu rn e d d u rin g the meet.
Due to the Ja cq u e s Istel, and o th e r p ro b le m s o f the
recent past, we w ere u n ce rta in as to how the meet w o u ld
be attended, or how the to w n s fo lk w o u ld respond to such
an overw h e lm in g in flu x o f p a ra ch u tists. We nee d n ’t have
w o rrie d . Si Fraser, new o p e ra to r o f th e center, and m y w ife
Jan, c h ie f m anifestress, m et w ith th e fire and p o lic e ch ie fs
fo r the firs t tim e in th e h is to ry of th e center. T h is s o rt o f c o ­
operative e ffo rt was m u ch a p p re cia te d , and as a result
m any o f the c ity o ffic ia ls w ere draw n in to o u r corner,
and nu m erous sm all p ro b le m s th a t had plagued both
sides in the past w ere e asily resolved.
A lth o u g h the c ity s till refused to rescind its o rd in a n c e
p ro h ib itin g ca m p in g on th e a irp o rt, tw e n ty acres o f
w ood ed land was leased ju s t o ff th e a irp o rt fo r those w ho
w ished to p itch te n ts o r park m o b ile road hom es. They
w ere a five m in u te s ’ w alk fro m th e d ro p zone.
Those team s th a t landed o u t d u rin g p ra ctice o r the meet
were, if not picked up by one o f five tru c k s we had ru n n in g ,
co lle cte d by e n th u s ia s tic to w n s fo lk o r a s h e riff’s patrol
car and tra n sp o rte d back. Even the fire d e p a rtm e n t v o lu n ­
teered to have a fire tru c k and fu ll crew s ta n d in g -b y on the
a irp o rt fo r the d u ra tio n o f th e meet. T he fresh in vo lve m e n t
of such a large p o rtio n o f the C ity o f Z e p y rh ills was m ost
e n courag in g.
T h a n ksg ivin g day, th e tw e n ty -e ig h th o f N ovem ber,
started the m eet w ith a new event at Z ’h i ll s . .. 20-m an star
c o m p e titio n . M uch to o u r su rp rise , a fu ll th irte e n team s
registered fo r the event. In the co u rse o f tw o ro u n d s three
20-m ans w ere a ctu a lly made. First place w ent to the B AC K
TO BAC K O Z O N E FLIERS, w it a 16-man and a 20-m an.
T h e ir 20-m an q u a lifie d fo u rte e n o f them fo r th e ir XX
patches.
The firs t day o f the 10-m an c o m p e titio n e xp lo d e d at
7.30 a.m. as e ig h t e n gines b e lo n g in g to three D ouglas
D akotas and one Lockh e e d L oadstar shattered the c ris p
m o rn in g stilln e ss and began c a rry in g team a fte r team
21
fo r those o f us w ho do n o t w ish to go the S TR A TO S TA R
route. In equal abun d a n ce w ere che a p o s w ith p u lle d dow n apexes, and P IG LE T Is and Ms.
I n the harness and c o n ta in e r c o rn e r, th e re w e re tw o new
p ig g yb a ck system s very m uch in e vid e nce . . . the SST
designed by Jo h n Sherm an, and th e “ W O N D E R H O G ” ,
designed and b u ilt by B ill B o o th o f M iam i, F lo rid a , A fa irly
radical design, it is e xtre m e ly lo w -p ro file and uses p la stic
rip c o rd s and p u ll-u p c o rd s ra th e r than steel p in s and
cones. The rip c o rd s co st s o m e th in g lik e s ix ty cents
apiece. The “ W ONDER H O G ” is seeing ra th e r w id espread
use here in the southeast.
The th o u g h t and design w o rk g o in g in to p a ra ch u tin g
e q u ip m e n t is e x c itin g . H o p e fu lly it is o n ly th e b e g inn in g .
T he old and tra d itio n a l c o n c e p ts re g a rd in g s p o rt para­
c h u tin g g ear are fin a lly being clo s e ly exa m in e d by a few
g ifte d and im a g in a tive in d iv id u a ls w h o are already
re v o lu tio n iz in g th is p a rtic u la r aspect of o u r sp o rt.
A ll o f w h ich p re tty m uch w ra p s it up, C h a rlie . Had the
w eather held ou t fo r ju s t one m ore day we m ig h t have seen
som e b eter tim es w ith th e to p th re e team s b a ttlin g it out.
Bad w eather alw ays leaves so m any “ w h a t ifs ” hanging
abo u t afterw ards. T ra d itio n a lly , how ever, o n ly a few team s
com e to Z ’h ills to w in. The rest are there fo r the good
tim es. An attitude, I’m sure, th a t even a ffe cts the b e tte r
team s. W hich sh o u ld m ake it an ideal m eet fo r E uropean
team s. N ot o n ly have th e y an e x c e lle n t ch a n ce o f do in g
w ell (provided th e y can m ake c o n s is te n tly q u ic k stars),
but the newest in ideas and e q u ip m e n t is th e re fro m w hich
th e y can draw.
H ope th is is m ore o r less w h a t you w anted, C harles, old
chum . Do hope to see you lads here ne xt year. O u r best
to a ll. . .
H O O P & JA N .
fo r the fo llo w in g day, m ost b o o g ie d u n til th e y co u ld
boo gie no m ore. T h is was, a fte r all, th e G reat Z ’h ills
B oogie M e e t.. .as som e have been apt to ca ll it.
T he second day daw ned as the firs t, w ith c o o l te m p e ra ­
tures and a 25,000 fo o t o ve rca st. . . ideal c o n d itio n s fo r
ju d g in g . The w ea ther report, how ever, gave o m in o us, p re ­
d ic tio n s o f rain later in the day. By late m o rn in g low,
scattered rain c lo u d s began m oving in, h in d e rin g ju d g in g
and causing num e ro us go.a ro u n d s. We, th e (new ) TEN
H IG H B U N C H , kno cke d ourselves o u t o f the im m ediate
ru n n in g w ith a second star, w h ic h m oved us to fo u rth , and
the DEL RAY A E R IA L C IR C U S to th ird . O n ly th e overall
slow tim es being tu rn e d by o th e r team s prevented us from
being pushed even fu rth e r d o w n the line. S h o rtly a fte r
this, the w e ather c o n d itio n s becam e unacce p ta b le , and a
te m p o ra ry hold was placed on the meet. D u rin g the
ensuing lu ll a p o litic a l m eeting o f so rts was organized.
Those candidates fo r USPA N a tio n al D ire c to r p o sitio n s
w ho happened to be present (B ill O ttley, Jo h n S herm an
and Jim H ooper) w ere in tro d u c e d , and the ju m p e rs urged
to vote in the u p co m in g e le c tio n s . (A m e rica n s are tra d i­
tio n a lly apathe tic in th is regard).
A ro und 2.00 p.m. it was n o tic e d th a t the low c lo u d s
seemed to be breaking up som ew hat. The c o n d itio n s were
still unaccepta ble fro m a ju d g in g sta n d p o in t, however.
U sing last years c o n tin g e n c y plan fo r ju s t such a situ a tio n ,
tho se team s th a t w ere n o t in c o n te n tio n w ere o ffe re d the
o p p o rtu n ity to go ahead and ju m p , w ith the s tip u la tio n
that shou ld the ju m p go unobserved the team w o u ld have
no g ro u n d s fo r a rejum p. M any team s to o k advantage o f
this, and once again a irc ra ft loaded w ith ju m p e rs began
ro llin g , the ju m p e rs ta kin g holes in th e c lo u d s w h e re th e y
co u ld fin d them . As a result, by th e end o f the day we were
sh o rt bu t a few team s o f having a co m p le te d fo u rth round.
U n fo rtu n a te ly, the w e a th e r never im proved, b u t ra th e r
de teriorated even fu rth e r fo r the next day and e ffe c tiv e ly
ended the meet. W ith the c o m p le tio n o f th e th ird round,
however, it was ju d g e d a valid meet and tro p h ie s w ere
awarded on the basis o f those three rounds.
W hile this ye a r’s m eet did n o t d ra w a fu ll European team
(as it did the E ndrust Team last year), we d id have repre­
sentatives from Finland, Sweden, France, G e rm a n y and,
of course, C anada, plus a s p rin k lin g fro m C entral and
S outh A m erica. B ritis h e r Ian M e rrick was on hand,
observing the h a p p e n in g s and keeping a c ritic a l eye on
the new relative w o rk ca n o p ie s being displayed.
A ustralia n s u p e r-p h o to g ra p h e r A n d y Keech was there,
c lic k in g away m adly and o ffe rin g u p fo rs a le his new book,
Skies Cali, w h ich is u n d o u b te d ly the fin e s t and m ost
bea utiful piece o f p h o to jo u rn a lis m ever d one on para­
ch u tin g . And, o f course, there w as th a t p e rennial p ira te of
an A ustralian, T re vo r Busst, w h o w alked a b o u t the e n tire
tim e, m u m b lin g, “ A rrg h , it’s a scu rvy sh ip and a scurvy
crew , to o ." But, then, th a t’s T revor, and we here in the
States have m ore o r less a d justed to him . P ity th e p o o r
A ussies sho uld he ever decide to go home.
PARAQUIP
A p o lo g ie s to cu sto m e rs in c o n v e n ie n c e d d u rin g th e la s t fe w m o n th s
due to our m o vin g prem ise s, h o w e v e r fa c ilitie s are n o w b e tte r th a n
ever a n d stocks have b een in c re a s e d so a n e ven b e tte r se rvice
is n o w a vailable.
We offer the widest range of Sport Parachuting equipment
and rigging services to customers at the most competitive
prices. All equipment is checked by a B P A. approved
Chief Rigger.
* Student Assemblies
* Emergency Pilot Parachutes and repacking
service
* Pioneer, Strong, Security, North American,
Snyder and PA equipment available
* Mk 1 and Competition P.C’s
* American Papillons
* St. Christopher Helmets
* Surplus & Pioneer reserve canopies
* All types of personal equipment, accessories
and rigging supplies
* Used equipment
New e q u ipm e n t was c e rta in ly one o f the m a jo r them es
of this year's meet. Steve S nyder was present to answ er
q u estion s on his S TR A TO S TA R RW ram air, m any of
w h ich w ere in use d u rin g the meet. T h o se w h o were
ju m p in g them sw ore by them . The o p e n in g s are frig h te n ­
ing to w atch, but the sam e used to be said o f ParaC om m anders.
Ted S trong and N orm Fraser o f S tro n g E nterprises
cam e dow n to p a rtic ip a te in the meet, and to loan o u t
exam ples of th e ir new S T A R LIT E RW c a n o p y . . . a P.C.
type, w ith half the w e ig h t and b u lk o f a P.C. B u ilt o f near­
zero p o ro s ity 1.5 oun ce m a te ria l, it is designed p rim a rily
fo r the w e ig h t and size c o n s c io u s relative w o rke r. It w ill
o u td rive a P ara-C om m ander by a su b sta n tia l m argin,
and land one o n ly a b it m ore so lid ly . An im pressive c a n o p y
N OW IN STOCK
S e n d larg e S.A.E. fo r N E W ca ta lo g u e to :
STEVE TALBOT
4 2 T e n n y s o n R o a d , R e d d itc h , W o rc e s te rs h ire ,
E n g la n d , B 9 7 5 B J
Phone: Redditch 6 4 3 0 2 (evenings)
22
5 0 JUMP RECORD AT THE GREEN
On S unday S eptem ber 22, 1974 I was a pproached by a
fly in g clu b frie n d o f m ine w ith the o ffe r o f a ju m p from
one o f his new ly a cq u ire d h e lic o p te rs a Bell 47. T h is I
th o u g h t w ould be ju s t th e o p p o rtu n ity to have a go at the
B ritish record o f 50 ju m p s in 7 ho u rs held by B ill
M cLennon.
As it w o u ld take a few w eeks to o rganise th is attem pt,
and w in te r o n ly ju s t a ro u n d the co rn e r, I set the w heels in
m otion w ith in ten m in u te s o f m y h e lic o p te r frie n d leaving
m y o ffice , by breaking in to a tra in in g session and asking
w h o w o u ld like to do 50 ju m p s fro m a ch o p p e r. 'Me please!'
shouted G erry Jo n e s; no so o n e r the w o rd than the blow ,
his name was dow n, and p o o r old G e rry did n o t know
w ha t he had let h im s e lf in for.
The firs t step was to m ake sure th a t G e rry was 100%
fit fo r N ovem ber 24, the date set fo r the attem pt. A few
w ords w ith the G o ve rn o rs o f a large s ch o o l next d o o r to
me, and we had the use o f a su p e r gym n a siu m , plus a
c irc u it tra in in g co u rse set o u t by the sch o o l P.T.
In stru cto r.
G erry, Pat H anson, and m yse lf m et at the gym tw ic e a
week, Pat to tra in w ith him , and me to cra ck the w hip. We
fo rbade him all sex, booze, and even cu t his sm o kin g in
half. A fte r each tra in in g session, we called at the local fo r
a beer each fo r Pat and m yself, and an orange d rin k fo r
G erry (this was part o f th e to rtu re ).
O u r firs t d is a p p o in tm e n t was on W ednesday, N ovem ber
20 w hen m y h e lic o p te r frie n d B arry Freeman rang me
w ith the news th a t the C .A.A. had decided th a t to ju m p
from the Bell 47 w o u ld not be safe o w in g to the sm all door.
O nly three days to d e cid e w h a t a irc ra ft to use fo r the
attem pt. T o n y U nw in was fly in g us on S aturday,
N ovem ber 23 w ith his Cessna 182, and was agreeable to
try 50 trip s w ith G e rry next day, but alas, o u r next dis­
a p p o in tm e n t, bad fore ca st, lo w c lo u d , high w inds.
G erry was being s p o n so re d by a large n u m b e r of
people, the proceeds to be used fo r c lu b fu n d s and the
Leukaem ia Fund fo r C h ild re n , so the show m ust go on at
the firs t o p p o rtu n ity . S aturday, N ovem ber 30 T o n y co u ld
not fly in o w ing to w o rk c o m m itm e n ts but was w illin g to
be w ith us at firs t lig h t S unday m o rn in g . W eather forecast,
1 2 -1 6 kn o t w ind s, clo u d base 3000 feet; we decided it was
on.
Sunday, D ecem ber 1, 7.00 a.m. G e rry beat me to the
Green by 10 m inutes, th a t being his firs t record o f the day.
By 7.15 a.m. m ost o f the packers and runners had arrived,
th e clu b van was loaded w ith packed P.C ’s ready fo r the
w ord go. O ur o n ly w o rry now was, as T o n y was fly in g in
from Sibson, w o u ld he a rrive in tim e fo r us to make it.
7.30
a.m. on the dot, tw o lig h ts w ere visib le at 200 feet
m aking fo r runw ay 22, s till n o t q u ite lig h t, it was T ony.
Five m inutes later he was on his w ay to 2000 feet w ith M ike
B olton to d ro p the stream er.
8.15 a.m., after a s h o rt b rie fin g , the 182 was a irb o rn e
w ith G erry fo r his firs t o f fifty w ith M ike a ctin g as spotter,
and ch e ckin g o u t G e rry ’s e q u ip m e n t on the w ay up to 2200
feet. A fte r the firs t few ju m p s G e rry settled dow n to
lan ding in o r near to the c o m p e titio n p it (thanks to M ike ’s
s p o ttin g ) and T o n y had w o rke d o u t his plan of landing on
29 runw ay, tu rn in g o ff at 29-34 in te rse ctio n , and w a itin g
ab o u t tw o m inutes fo r G e rry to d ro p his kit, and put on
an o th e r rig.
The w in d was a ro u n d 16 k n o ts all day, and the sp o t was
qu ite deep, b u t on every la n d in g , som e of the team were
alw ays there to c o lla p s e the ca n o p y when needed.
23
A t 2.43 p.m. G erry landed on his 50th ju m p , kn o ckin g o ff
17 m inutes from the 7 h o u r record. The 50 ju m p s w ere
uneventful. No mals, thanks to the packers, w ho w orked
n o n-stop. The A ir T ra ffic C o n tro lle r, Fire Crew, and
Flying S chool helped us in every w ay possible.
The success o f th is record was due to the superb flyin g
by T o n y U nw in, the p e rfe ct s p o ttin g by M ike B olton, the
physical fitn e ss of G erry, and a g reat team o f w orkers.
I w o u ld like to th a n k som e o f o u r main sp o n so rs th ro u g h
the M agazine ‘A n c h o r Fast F ix in g s ’, T h e R ound T a b le ’,
T h e H a lfp e nn y Green A irp o rt C lu b ' and all the individ u a l
sponsors.
T he m em bers of the w o rk in g team I feel sh o u ld also be
m entioned in the Mag, as these are the kind o f p eople that
make th is s p o rt the great s p o rt th a t it is.
Pete Hayes
Iris H ow ell
S am m y H o llow head
Brenda C a rro ll Keith Jo h n so n
E ddie R obertson
Pat Hanson
A nne Jones
Roy S keldon
B arry French
Ron M illard
M artin Sm ith
Paul H ibbard
D ick S cott
Bet H am m ond
Phil H arland
Steve Hayes
M ike H am m ond
Dave M arvin
Fred K ir k — S tandby P ilot and Engineer.
GEOFF W EBSTER
DON’T FORGET YOUR
BPA MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL
JUMPSUITS
D ire c t fro m B rita in ’s la rg e st m a n u fa c tu re r
RED
O R A NG E
W H ITE
BLACK
BLUE
YELLOW
(o r tw o tone suits to a lm o st any c o m b in a tio n
in c lu d in g ‘fla re d ’)
B.P.V. suits are m a n u fa ctu re d in 100% in d u stria l
8 1/2 oz P olyester d rill fa b ric. In a d d itio n to the
m aterial having high flam e re sista n t p ro p e rties, it
is also in te rn a tio n a lly a ckn o w le d g e d as the hardest
w e aring m aterial c u rre n tly available.
B.P.V. Jumpsuits . . . for longer lasting protection
Send o r te lephone fo r b ro c h u re and o rd e r fo rm to :
B ritish P ara-V entures
8 B ro a d fie ld C rescent
F ernhill Heath
Nr. W orcester
Tel. W o rce ste r 51690
BRITISH PARACHUTE ASSOCIATION COUNCIL MEETING
held at The Post House Hotel, Leicester, on Wednesday, 30th October, 1974
PRESENT
L. N. E. St. John (Chairm an)
M. J. Batchelor
G. C. P. Shea-Simonds
K. Mapplebeck
D. Waterman
W. J. Meacock
N. J. Forster
J. T. Crocker
P. J. Prior (C o-opted Member)
I. B. W right (C o-opted Member)
Deployment Bag
a. It was reported that Irvin GB Ltd. w ould have a new light weight
deploym ent bag ready in tw o to three weeks and this w ould be
passed on to Mr. Meacock fo r trials. There was agreem ent that the
supply of a suitable bag was urgent and that the requirem ent
would be in the order of 200 bags. The cost per bag would be £12
to £15, depending on the num ber ordered. Mr. Mapplebeck stated
that his requirement would be two fold, static-line and freefall use.
Mr. Eastley pointed out that the bag produced by Irvin would be
intended fo r static-line use and any other form of use w ould have
to be a m atter for the user and the BPA.
IN ATTENDANCE
Sqn. Ldr. W. Paul (Secretary-G eneral BPA)
D. T. H ickling (Peak D istrict Para Club)
D. Orton (Peak D istrict Para Club)
G. Eastley (Irvin GB Ltd.)
Item 63
PREVIOUS MINUTES & MATTERS ARISING
Proposed: J. T. Crocker. Seconded: W. J. Meacock.
Minutes of 25th September be accepted. Carried.
Matters Arising
a. National Coach/Safety Officer. The Sec-Gen reported that
he had been informed verbally by Mr. R. Hiatt that because of
changes in his personal circum stances he was not now in a
position to accept the post of National Coach/Safety O fficer. It
was agreed that the vacant post be advertised again but in the
meantime the Sec-Gen w ould investigate the salary structure
with the Sports Council.
b. Use of Service Airfields. A list of Services A irfields put fo r­
ward as being of interest to clubs would shortly be forwarded to
the MOD for consideration.
c. National Championships— Relative. The Sec-Gen reported
that the National Cham pionships — Relative had been held at
Halfpenny Green over the tw o week-ends 28/29 Septem ber and
5/6 October. Because of adverse weather, a result had been
possible only in the 4-Man Sequential Event and the Bulmer
Strongbow Salver had been presented to the w inning team —
the RAFSPA. It was confirm ed that the Salver was fo r presenta­
tion annually and be held by the w inning team fo r one year. In the
case of the 10-Man Star Event, Mr. C rocker had been able to
purchase a trophy (£46.44) in tim e fo r presentation but as the
event did not take place, the troph y was presented to the
Managing Director of ‘Endrust’ to hold till the 1975
Championships.
Mr. Batchelor, on a point of order, referred to the fact that he and
Mr. Crocker had been asked to look into the provision and cost
of a suitable trophy for the 10-Man Event with a view to presenta­
tion at the AGM. Such a trophy had in fact been purchased and
presented at the Nationals w ith ou t any furthe r reference to him ­
self. Mr. Crocker apologised fo r what seems to have been a
misunderstanding — it was his im pression that only in the event
of not being able to purchase a troph y in tim e for presentation at
the Cham pionships would the alternative of presenting it at the
AGM be adopted. He had in all good faith gone ahead and found a
suitable trophy and arranged the purchase through the BPA
office. The Chairman acknowledged Mr. Batchelor’s point of
order and apologised fo r the m isunderstanding.
d. Safety and Training Committee Report. Mr. Crocker
reported that at the last meeting of the S & TC, the review o f tw othirds of the Regulations had been com pleted. The rem aining
one-third would be reviewed at the next meeting on 13 November
at Birmingham. The full review should be available for the next
Council Meeting when a decision would be required on the
method of com pilation and distribu tion. On the question of a
Hand-out to clubs concerning em ergency action in event o f an
incident involving Power Cables Mr. C rocker reported that this
had not as yet gone out to clubs but was basically as had been
discussed in S&TC, namely that clubs should be aware of the
emergency number of the local E le ctricity Board and in event of
an incident no equipm ent should be touched until the arrival of
the E lectricity Emergency Service. In the case of displays, the
DZ C ontroller and one or more of the jum pers should be aware
of the emergency telephone of the electricity board in the area.
The Chairman in referring to Electrified Railway Lines, pointed
out that his club was affected by such lines in that exits were
from tim e to tim e made over the lines. Mr. C rocker stated that
APOLOGIES
T. Frieberg (M anaging D irector Irvin GB Ltd)
P. W. Sherman
It was agreed to depart from the scheduled sequence of the
Agenda to perm it the early departure of Mr. Eastley and the
members representing the Peak D istrict Para Club.
Item 61
PEAK DISTRICT PARACHUTE CLUB
Mr. H ickling outlined the present position of the Peak District
Para Club concerning its pending appeal against a decision
which had refused the club the use of Ashbourne Aerodrom e for
take-offs and landings of light aircraft engaged in sport para­
ch u tin g — the appeal is due to be heard in February 1975. He also
outlined the position as related to the serving on the club of a
Notice requiring Abatem ent o f Nuisance under the Public Health
Act, 1963, Sec. 93 (Copies of related correspondence had
previously been distributed to all members of C ouncil). There
was general agreement as to how the club now act in
response to the Notice and it was suggested that the
club seek further advice on the po ssibility of subm itting a new
Application for Planning Permission. Mr. Crocker would write
inform ally to Mr. H ickling on the matter. The club representatives
were assured that the BPA would help in any way possible and on
a proposal by Mr. Shea-Simonds seconded by Mr. Waterman,
the meeting unanim ously agreed that financial support towards
legal costs would be forthcom ing in the form o f a grant and/or
loan — the amounts involved would be decided when the club
made application.
It was also agreed that the guidance of the Sports C ouncil would
be sought.
Item 62
STUDENT CANOPIES & BAG DEPLOYMENT
The Chairman thanked Mr. G ordon Eastley of Irvin GB Ltd. for
attending the Council Meeting and the preceding discussions
with Council Members. The Chairman outlined the discussions
as follows
Student Canopies
a. To design, research and develop a new hem -rigged canopy
as had been specified was not considered to be a viable pro­
position.
b. Irvin GB Ltd could provide the Skyranger in LL configuration
at a cost of £100 each fo r the first 30 and £112 each for the
remainder in any order over 30. These prices would remain for
the next three m onths and took into account the fact that the
Approved Agent had agreed to a direct supply to the BPA.
It was agreed that clubs be asked to subm it to BPA their require­
ments for ‘student’ canopies in order that the total requirements
can be assessed. In view of the seriousness of the present supply
situation, and the inflated costs, it was agreed that some form of
subsidy may be necessary and that an approach be made to the
Sports Council to ascertain if grant aid assistance could be avail­
able.
24
itw a s his view that the scheme to take the 1,179 sq. ft. was a good
one. The other costs necessary to becom e installed would be for
partitioning at about £9 per foot run, plus electrical fitting s and
cleaning costs. Mr. Crocker agreed that it seemed acceptable but
felt there was perhaps a case fo r going back to the Sports Council
to see if they would grant 75% of the rent fo r the total area of 1,179.
The Sec-Gen had reservations about such a move since the
Sports Council was applying a firm policy and form at which
would be applied not only to BPA but to any other Body in sim ilar
circumstances. A common ‘yard stick’ was being applied based on
an area per employee and the usual storage requirements.
It was the view of the meeting that the Sec-Gen make another
approach to the Sports Council as indicated by Mr. Crocker but
that this should not hold up progress in accepting the 1,179 sq. ft.
area as recommended. Mr. C rocker advised that nothing should
be signed until the confirm ation has been received in w riting
from the Sports C o u n c il— the Sec-Gen expected this to arrive
soon.
It was proposed by Mr. St. John and seconded by Mr. SheaSimonds that the BPA offices be moved into the 1,179 sq. ft. area
at Kim berley House, Leicester, at a rent of £1.45 per sq. ft. plus
rates and services and that the necessary contract be signed, sub­
ject to receipt of the letter of confirm ation from the Sports
Council. The proposal was unanim ously approved.
Mr. Crocker referred to the fact that during the original dis­
cussions with the owners of Kim berley House we had been
successful in obtaining a rent-free period up till 24th December;
in view of the delay which been unavoidable the rent free period
had of course reduced and there may now be a case to go back
and see if the period could be extended.
The Sec-Gen reported that he now had a buyer for his present
house and that he had entered into negotiations to purchase
another house in the Leicester area. He reminded the meeting
that it had been agreed that in event of the two transactions not
being com pleted sim ultaneously, the BPA would assist with
finance to perm it his move to Leicester; it now seemed that such
assistance would not be required but asked that the option be left
open. This was agreed.
j. Riggers Products Liability Insurance. The Sec-Gen reported
that a furthe r two riggers had now taken advantage of the policy
and the premium cost per rigger would be reduced accordingly.
the reason fo r not pursuing the m atter w ith British Rail was that it
may in fact create a ‘storm ’ w ith disasterous results which were
not warranted by the lim ited risk.
Mr. Crocker reported on correspondence to date on the question
of the GQ Protector Reserve P arachute— he had received what
he considered to be ineffective and evasive answers to his
enquiriesfrom the M anufacturer and Boscombe Down. It was his
view that every possible pressure must be brought to bear on
whatever sources necessary fo r relevant inform ation to be
released to the BPA. If there exists any inform ation w hich reveals
any form of deficiency in the GQ Protector then there is a moral
obligation for it to be made known to other users. The Sec-Gen
reported that he was aware from telephone calls that the matter
was being dealt w ith at the MOD. It was agreed that Mr. Prior
would again take the matter up w ith the VAG.
e. Annual General Meeting. The Sec-Gen reported that all rele­
vant papers had gone out to members in the last issue of ‘Sport
Parachutist’ and form s indicating attendance, accom m odation
and meal requirem ents had started to come in. The Chairman
asked if the new Carl Boenish film would be shown at the AGM
but the Sec-Gen indicated that it was not yet available from USA
— an order had been placed fo r early delivery of the film .
f. Public Relations. Mr. W aterman reported on his meeting
with Mr. Regan, The Sports C ouncil PRO. From the broad outline
discussions, it was felt assistance could possibly be available
for printing a BPA P ublicity Poster and a New Brochure, and in
arranging fo r the BPA P ublicity Exhibition to be displayed at
Crystal Palace National Centre. In answer to the Chairm an, Mr.
Waterman stated he had not raised the m atter of possible assist­
ance with the printing of BPA Regulations but would raise this at
the next opportunity. Mr. Waterman would be m aintaining
personal contact with the PRO and had arranged fo r interested
persons at the Sports C ouncil to see film s about parachuting in
order to give them a w ider insight of what is involved in the sport.
Mr. Waterman also reported that he was about to start w ork fo r a
Daily Telegraph ‘How T o’ feature on parachuting w hich should
be published in about tw o m o n th s— Mr. Shea-Simonds asked if
there was any possibility of publication being delayed till the
spring when it would be of more value to the sport. Mr. Waterman
pointed out that he had no control over the date of publication
but he would certainly make the point w ith the publishers.
Mr. Waterman stated that he was currently talking w ith various
Television A uthorities concerning the possibility of producing a
docum entary film of the British Teams involvement in the W orld
C ham pionships (Relative) to be held in West Germany in 1975.
Item 64
CALENDAR OF EVENTS— 1975
The meeting considered a Calendar of Events fo r 1975. It was
agreed that it was im practicable at this stage to include Instructor
Potential and Examination Courses but every effort would be
made to encourage clubs to give as much advance inform ation
as possible to the Sec-Gen.
g. World Championships — Hungary 1974. The Sec-Gen
reported that he had not yet received a report from Wg. Cdr.
Johnson as the Head of Delegation — another letter had been
sent. The Team Coach, W /O. Peacock had stated that a report
would be subm itted — this was still awaited. The Sec-Gen
w ould produce a Balance Sheet on the Cham pionships fo r the
next Council Meeting.
Mr. Batchelor referred to the article by Dave Waugh on the
W orld Cham pionships which had appeared in ‘Sport Parachutist’
— he understood that the ‘Editorial Pen' had been exercised on
the article. Mr. Shea-Simonds, as Editor of ‘Sport Parachutist’
agreed that he had cut out certain stories in the article which had
no direct relevance to the W orld Cham pionships and felt that the
publication of some five and a half pages of print, which incidently
had to be in smaller than normal print to get it all into the issue.
Mr. Shea-Simonds fu lly appreciated Mr. Waugh's efforts in pro­
viding the article but there were tim es as Editor when he had to
exercise his Editorial right and cut some articles.
h. BPA Offices. The Sec-Gen reported that subsequent to the
last meeting Mr. Crocker, Mr. Meacock and him self had visited
Kimberley House and viewed the office areas available. As a-result
of the visit and discussions with the representative of the owners,
it had been agreed to follow up the po ssibility of renting an area
of some 1,500 sq. feet. Subsequent approach to the Sports
Council fo r a ruling produced an estimate of an allowance of
1,000 sq. ft. against which 75% of the rent would be paid. This
would have left BPA with a rent bill of some £1,535 per annum.
In view of the estimate from the Sports Council, Mr. SheaSimonds, Mr. Batchelor and the Chairman of BPA visited
Kim berley House to review the situation and decided to recom­
mend to C ouncil that a sm aller area of 1,179 sq. ft. would be
suitable fo r ou r needs. On the estimated sq. footage from the
Sports Council the cost to BPA would be £966 per annum. The
Chairman inform ed the m eeting of his visit to Kim berley H ouse—
it was agreed that the Calendar include the follow ing events
plus any other main events which the Sec-Gen can in c lu d e :
Arm y Championships
National Relative Cham pionships
Scottish Championships
Rhine Arm y Cham pionships
National S tyle/Accuracy Cham pionships
W orld Relative Cham pionships
French National Cham pionships
Austrian Relative International Meet
A driatic Cup
Halfpenny Green Meet
Thruxton Meet
Duck End Meet
It was agreed that the National Cham pionships Relative and
Style/A ccuracy would be run as separate meets, each over a ten
day p e rio d — the suggested dates being, Relative 1 7 — 26 May
and Style/A ccuracy 16— 25 August. The Sec-Gen would check
the dates of the listed events and draw up the 1975 Calendar.
In discussing the National Cham pionships, itw a s agreed to set
up a Com petition Sub-Com m ittee and, subject to their accepting,
the follow ing members were suggested:
M. J. O ’Brien — Chairman, D. Waterman, D. I. Waugh,
W. J. Meacock, K. Mapplebeck.
Sgt. Mapplebeck offered to make a prelim inary approach to the
RAF concerning the possibility of using W eston-on-the-Green
for phases of the National Cham pionships.
25
next meeting would be in London and the fo llow ing meeting
would be in Leicester.
OTHER BUSINESS
Item 65
PURCHASE OF AN AIRCRAFT
The meeting discussed a paper presented by Mr. Waterman and
previously distributed to Council Members. There was general
agreement that there was a need for an aircraft and that a sub­
com m ittee should be set up and tasked with producing a case for
submission in support of grant aid toward the purchase of an
aircraft and to conduct a feasibility study of how the aircraft
would be utilised, financed and controlled. The follow ing, subject
to their acceptance, were suggested as members of the sub­
com m ittee:
G. C. P. Shea-Simonds, D. Waterman, W. J. Meacock,
A. J. Unwin.
Item 67
FATAL ACCIDENTS
It was reported that Boards of Inquiry had been set up to investi­
gate the two recent fatal accidents, one at Halfpenny Green and
one at Thruxton. The findings of the Boards were not yet to hand
but should be with the Sec-Gen and Chairman of the STC w ithin
the next week.
WANTED
A vacancy exists fo ra
Item 66
VENUES FOR CO UNCIL MEETINGS
The Chairman noted that despite the previous agreement to
alternate the venue fo r Council Meetings, the present meeting
which under this arrangem ent should have been in London was
scheduled for Leicester. It was his view that despite the plan to
move the BPA HQ's to Leicester, we should continue to alternate
the venue between London and Leicester. The original agree­
ment was based on fairness to those members in the Midlands
and the North — we must now apply the same reasoning fo r the
benefit of those members from the South. It was agreed that the
Chief Parachute Instructor/Manager
at a fu ll tim e centre.
G ood salary and p ro sp e cts fo r an e n e rg e tic and
e n th u s ia s tic in s tru c to r.
W rite: Box 1, S p o rt P arachutist, 60 E asterly C rescent,
Leeds LS8 2SG
Farkle Family 11-man
p h o to — C arl B oenish
26
A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY
TO THE ACROPOLIS...
It was one o f those days w hen life, it seems, is really
w o rth livin g ; a day w h ic h w o u ld m ake o th e r days seem
dull. The sun was q u ite hot a lth o u g h it was s till o n ly
early. I reflected th a t, a c o u p le o f w eeks earlier, we had
left a drab, c lo u d y E ngland, held up tw o fin g e rs to o ver­
drafts, gas bills, etc., and d rive n so u th in search o f sand,
sea and a decent clim a te .
So this p a rtic u la r day had seen us up at dawn u n d e r a
blue G reek sky. W e’d cam ped o v e rn ig h t in the m o u n ta in s
but a hot cup o f P.G. (the tea yo u can really taste!) soon
took the ch ill away. It was d o w n h ill to A th e n s and we were
soon heading along the m o to rw a y th ro u g h th e suburbs
o f that city.
He looked astonished and then sm iled a to o th y sm ile.
S till lo o k in g as th o u g h he c o u ld n ’t believe it, he made
m o tio n s o f fo lk leaping g a ily o u t o f aeroplanes, canopies
b illo w in g open, etc., we fre n z ie d ly a nsw ering ‘yes’ to
eve ryth in g and, w hen he was at last co n vin ced , sign alled
us to wait.
“ T e le p h o n e ” he said.
I
was q u ite relieved to have g o t th ro u g h to him and m y
m ind was w a n d erin g , m u llin g over the p o s s ib ilitie s . . .
W ell I w o n ’t bore you w ith the trivia . A few m inutes later,
an ‘o ffic e r’, fo r w ant o f m ore a ccurate in fo rm a tio n ,
appeared, a n n o u n ce d th a t he c o u ld speak a little E nglish,
and co u ld he see m y log bo o k?
M odest th o u g h I am, lads, I m ust say th a t he seemed
m ig h ty im pressed, n o d d in g his head w isely, w h ile m ine
was sw e llin g to tw ic e its n o rm a l size. It s u d d e n ly struck
me th a t perhaps he was th in k in g the a ltitu d e co lu m n was
in metres, in w h ich case 7 0 0 0 ft w o u ld take on grandiose,
Jo h n N oakes p ro p o rtio n s . . . O ops! I e xp la in e d and he
looked relieved.
N evertheless, he was q u ite frie n d ly and said that this
was an A rm y P arachute S ch o o l, th e y d id n 't ju m p here
and, no, there w e re n ’t any c iv ilia n c lu b s in Greece.
Ju lie and I had been lis te n in g e xp e c ta n tly and it was
at th is p o in t that so m e th in g seemed to go w ro n g ; I m ust
confess to a little d isa p p o in tm e n t.
Now G reek drive rs are p re tty w ild at the best o f tim es;
so you can im a gin e th a t it takes a deal o f c o n c e n tra tio n
to steer cle a r o f buses, taxis, ox carts, donkeys, etc., w h ile
Ju lie was try in g hard to in te rp re t the various road signs.
Also, y o u ’ll ap p re cia te that, in the m idst o f th is p ro fu s io n
o f noise and co lo u r, a sm all blu e sig n stu ck on a post at the
side o f the road sh o u ld , o rd in a rily , a ttra c t little a tte n tio n .
Indeed, it is d o u b tfu l w h e th e r one p e rce n t o f the h u ndreds
of com m ute rs, w h o m ust pass here daily, had ever
realised its e xiste n ce , let alo n e pondered upon its
sig n ifica n ce .
But, lads, as we all know , a p a ra c h u tis t is a p a ra ch u tist,
is a ......; and when I e xp la in th a t th e sym bol on th a t sm all
blue sign in the du st by the side o f the main road into
A thens, was a sm all w h ite ca n o p y w ith an e q u a lly sm all
arrow p o in tin g over to the rig h t, a lig h t o f u n d e rsta n d in g
w ill, I'm sure, begin to g lo w in y o u r eyes.
“ N ow w h a t,” I began, “ is that d o in g here . . .”
Julie, w ho had been busy tra n s fo rm in g alphas and
thetas in to A th im a i lo o ke d up:
"P ardon?”
But I was som ew here else. O ne's in s tin c tiv e re a ctio n is
to slam on the a n ch o rs but, be in g p ursued by a fo rty -to n
T.I.R. w agon, it w a s n ’t such a goo d idea after all. A nyw ay,
m anaged to pull over and reverse to w a rd s th is c u rio u s
m otif, ig n o rin g d is a p p ro v in g ca r horns and mad G reeks
shaking th e ir fists.
A gla nce at the sce n e ry in th e d ire c tio n in d ica ted by the
arrow , w asn't to o e n c o u ra g in g ; the sea, skyscrapers, oil
refineries, etc., d id n 't seem to leave m uch room fo r this
im ag inary D.Z. H ow ever, we reached the sign and, sure
enough, there it was, a ca n o p y, c o m p le te w ith a rro w
p o in tin g dow n a ro ugh tra ck. No d o u b t abo u t it. D e fin ite ly
a parachute.
The track led fo r q u a rte r o f a m ile past a few ram shackle
houses and then opened o u t to reveal a high, w h ite w all,
topp ed w ith barbed w ire. T h e re was an o p e n in g in it, by
way of an entran ce to w h a t lay beyond, guarded by a
so ld ie r and a lift-u p typ e barrier.
He looked w ary as we a pproached.
“ P arachute c lu b ? ” I asked te n ta tive ly.
He spread his hands o u t and shook his head
q u e stio n in g ly.
“ Speak E n g lish ? ”
“ N o .”
Then I rem em bered m y log bo o k in the van.
“ A h ” he said, as he realised w hat it was, and said
so m ething that seem ed to mean ‘yo u are p a ra c h u tis ts ? ’
You see, folks, as fa ith fu l S.P. readers, we had been
b ro u g h t up on the n o tio n th a t B ritis h para ch u tists, w hen
vis itin g overseas, w ere tre a te d w ith som e reverence.
W hen one arrives at a fo re ig n D.Z. cold and h u n g ry at
m id n ig h t, a w arm g re e tin g aw aits one; the w h isky is
b ro u g h t out, steaks slu n g over the s till-g lo w in g em bers,
tales are to ld and new frie n d s are made. S im ila rly, when
one arrives at a Greek A rm y p a rachute sch o ol, one is
invited to ju m p at th e ir D.Z., o r at least asked into the
mess fo r a d rin k !
So it cam e as som ew hat of a b lo w w hen he shook hands,
bid us farew ell and the little c ro w d o f soldiers, w ho had
gathered round, disappeared.
H owever, as I said, the sun was s h in in g , A th e n s aw aited
and we had o th e r th in g s to th in k a bout. A fte r all, lad, I
kept saying to m yself, th is isn't a p a ra c h u tin g holiday,
yer know !
T o o late, th o u g h . The seed had been sown.
We had a good tim e on C rete a lth o u g h it was about
th is tim e that a n a g ging ru m b le fro m the back axle decided
to m anifest itself. T hree oil changes had failed to cure it
in its early stages on the trip fro m E ngland, and the Greek
roads had co m p o u n d e d the in ju ry , w ith the result that
we w ere reduced to 20 m .p.h. w ith o u t the van shaking
itse lf to bits. T im e to th in k a b o u t the trip back th ro u g h
Yugoslavia
Hang on th o u g h , lads, me brain, also, had had a nagging
ru m b le fo r som e tim e now (yes, yes, we know ...) w h ich , at
the th o u g h t o f Y ugoslavia, tw ig g e d, flip p e d , tw itch e d or
w hatever the e xpression is. W asn't th a t w here the W orld
C h a m p io n sh ip s were held som e years back? Was it B led?
O ut w ith the m aps and, indeed, it was Bled, or, rather,
there was a place called Bled not to o fa r o u t o f the way.
T h is was it The last few w eeks had had a sort o f aim less,
w a n d erin g air abo u t them , but, now , all was changed. We,
o r rather, I, had a purpose, a goal to go for.
27
H ot fo o t up the Y ugoslavian coast at a sedate 20 m.p.h.
and a fter six days the end was in sig h t! F riday evening
and tw o kilom etres to go.
“ T h e re ’s a plane up th e re ’’.
“ Uh h u h ” , says I.
“ It’s tw itc h in g its ta il” , and before you co u ld say ‘G et
us on the next lift’ we w ere out o f the car ju s t in tim e to see
tw o b rig h tly co lo u re d P C -type th in g u m y jig s , cra ck open.
A sig h t to behold. B ut not fo r to o long, th o u g h !
“ You speak E n g lis h ? ” Here we go again. O u t w ith the
log book. A bit su rly th is lot. N o t im pressed — th e y co u ld
o b vio u sly tell a fo o t fro m a m etre, p ro b a b ly d ivid e d by
five, to boot!
Found som eone to ask the in s tru c to r if it was possible
fo r me to jum p. He w e n t aw ay to ask his boss w ho, like ly
as not, g o t on the ’phone to local Party headquarters,
D isp a tch in g o f F oreigners fro m the P eoples’ A irc ra ft
D epartm ent.
Had a look round. G rand D.Z. A ll local gear, m in i­
system s, the lot. Q u ite im pressive.
“It is not possible fo r fo re ig n e rs to p a rachute in
Y ugoslavia.”
Oh well. One be tte r than G reece — at least th e y have
clubs here.
You m ay th in k that, a fte r all th is e ffo rt, o u r tw o w o rth y
heroes w ou ld call it a day, th ro w in the stream er, and
speed o ff hom e (at a steady 20 m .p.h. o f co u rse !).
Not so! You see, fo lks, one of them had let slip a vital
clue as to the w h e re a b o u ts of a n o th e r clu b , not to o far
away, in Italy. O ut w ith the m aps again. R onci, a sm all
ae rodrom e som ew hat akin to H eathrow .
S aturday d in n e r tim e (oh, a lrig h t then, ‘lu n c h ’ if you
m ust!) and, sure enough, there was a ju m p c lu b (R.W.
o n ly); we w ere given a w arm w e lco m e from , as fo rtu n e
w ould have it, an A m e rica n servicem an s ta tio n e d in
Italy.
Log book, lice nce O.K.
"In su ra n ce ? " he enquired.
“ C ertainly. B.P.A. V alid w o rld -w id e .” T h is was better!
B u tte rflie s (nay, p a p illo n s !) in the turn. It was all co m in g
back.
It was C aesar (so rry to get in te rle k c h o o l, lads, grade
seven Latin ‘O' level!) that said it: ‘W hen the G ods w ish to
bring the d o w n fa ll o f a man, th e y firs t b u ild him up; th u s
he has fu rth e r to fa ll! L o g ica l really. C ru n c h !
‘‘W here does it say th a t? "
“ W h a t? ”
“ V alid w o rld -w id e "
T he lads w ere very sym p a th e tic. N ot fo r us, they
insisted, but the A irp o rt A u th o rity was m e tic u lo u s a b o u t
m atters of insurance. A lesson to be learnt, so be w arned!
T hey were frie n d ly fo lk and assured me th a t I w o u ld
have no tro u b le ju m p in g at an o rd in a ry F.A.I. licensed
clu b (w hich they w e re n 't at R onci). ‘G o riz ia ’ was the cry,
several m iles away. So, in o rd e r to get there fo r an early
start on Sunday, we bid them farew ell and eased o ff up
the road.
C o n tra ry to w ha t you w o u ld th in k, the fa ct th a t no one
had m en tion ed th a t th e y o n ly jum ped at G o rizia on a
S aturday did not deter us (sorry, ‘m e’ !) in the least. A fte r
all, I now had a long list o f ‘p o te n tia l’ clu b s and I m eant
iO b l— y w ell ju m p at one . . .
And so, fo r one reason o r another, next w eekend fo u n d
us in Florence w h ich , you guessed it, lads, was high on the
list o f ‘p o ssib les’. S a tu rd a y daw ned b rig h t and clear; we
were at the a irp o rt at nine o ’clo ck. N ot a P.C. to be seen.
“ I d o n 't like it, S lim , it's to o q u ie t!”
Found R eception and d e cided on a d ire c t a p p roach.
“ You speaka-da-E nglish, g rin g o ? Est-ce q u 'il y a ein
c lu b p a ra ca d u tissm o ? ” q u ic k flash o f the log b o o k to rub
it in. He pondered aw hile.
“ P aracadutissm o? S i”
B ut he was n o t to be draw n and it to o k som e m inu tes
of c a jo lin g before he w o u ld te ll us th a t th e y d id n ’t start
u n til one o ’clo c k ! O ne o ’c lo c k ! Im agine it!
Back again at the a p p o in te d hour, the a irp o rt b u ild in g
seemed even m ore deserted than before. No one about
so we stro lle d o ver to one o f the hangars. A ha! T here
th e y were, lu rkin g behind som e p a ckin g tables!
However, we w ere w ell received and, a fte r loo king
th ro u g h log books, etc., (J u lie d id n ’t have hers so
c o u ld n ’t ju m p ) I was given a g re a t big w h ite (w ait fo r it, no,
not a Leeds Uni 32 fo o te r!) e x -M ilita ry rig, m ade in Italy,
to pack. W hat a size! I sh o u ld c e rta in ly get m y m o neys’
w o rth since it m ust have been m ade to c a rry th re e o r fo u r
tim es my w e ig h t! B u ilt so m e w h a t on the lines o f an o ve r­
grow n P apillon but s lig h tly m ore m essy to pack. S om eone
came over every so often to see th a t I was g e ttin g on OK
but, all the same, it makes you w a n t to go o u t w ith the
capew ell covers already do w n in o rd e r to save tim e!
H alf past three and all was ready. I’d been given the
d u b io u s h o n o u r o f being on the firs t lift alo n g w ith
an o th e r fe llo w (112 jum ps) w h o was d is p a tc h in g a girl
static line stu d e n t on her th ird ju m p !
W ent on the scro u n g e and was loaned an altim e ter,
graduated in m etres (did yo u m u ltip ly by three, o r was it
fiv e ? !!), a stopw atch, g raduated in h u n d re d th s o f a
m in u te (?!), an oversize helm et and the in s tru c to r’s
paraboots! W hat a grand chap!
O ff we went, then. 800m , a nod from the ju m p m a ste r
and th e g irl, w h o co u ld o n ly have been a b o u t fifte en,
tried to haul herself o u t of the 172. H owever, the p ilo t d id n ’t
seem to believe in th ro ttlin g -b a c k the e n g ine , w ith the
result that she fell o ff backw ards.
T h is fe lla ’s s p o ttin g te c h n iq u e was re a lly c o o l! No
s ittin g w ith stream ing eyes in a d ra u g h ty d o o rw a y. Oh no!
A nice w arm seat up the fro n t (the plane was c alle d an
Oscar, m ig h ty s im ila r to a 172, but an e x it d o o r b e h ind the
p ilo t) and an odd glance o u t o f the w in d o w was all he
needed! Oh well, p le n ty o f open space. 1500m . O u t yer
go, son, n o th in g d ra m a tic now. S u rp rise d m yse lf w ith a
nice clean ba cklo op and, zot, the T h in g opened. First
tim e, to o ! Looked up to check it o u t but, w h ile m y head
rotated backw ards O.K., the a fo re m e n tio n e d helm et
d id n ’t, th u s g ivin g me a g o o d view o f the in sid e o f same!
And so, folks, once again we had survived a fa ll fro m a
fu lly serviceable a irc ra ft, in flig h t, w ith o u t the aid o f a
safety-net.
S eriously, th o u g h , if y o u 're in Italy, ru m o u r has it th a t
there are a s u rp ris in g n u m b e r o f clu b s in m ost o f the
n o rth e rn tow ns, at least. It is also said th a t there is even
one on the Lido at Venice, S a tu rd a y a fte rn o o n s th a t is . . .
JO H N BREWER, C 1290
SEASONAL IN S TR U C T O R W ANTED
at the P e te rb o ro u g h P arachute C entre.
T ele p h o n e Elton 490 o r P ete rb o ro u g h 240159
(B efore 22.00 hrs.)
28
LATER THOUGHTS ON THE PARACHUTISTS’ ALPHABET
A d re n a lin , A d re n a lin goes p u m p in g th ro u g h y o u r body,
W hen y o u r ca n o p y d o n ’t o pen o r it stream s o r lo o ks m ost
odd.
It’s a w o n d ro u s useful substance.
F or it q u icke n s up y o u r nerve.
F or the q u ic k re a ctio n cutaw ay.
A nd dive fo r the reserve.
B o ttle, b o ttle , b o ttle sm all. D.O .Es all sh o u ld save,
’Cos the w ild ly fearless ju m p e r is a m enace and a knave.
H e’ll ju m p fro m to o lo w a height.
In w in d speeds fa r to o high.
D.Z. c o n tro lle rs nig h tm a re.
A m ick e y m ouse ty p e guy.
Yes, a sm all a m o u n t o f b ottle.
Keeps yo u steady on the clim b .
It’s a h e a lth y ap prehension.
In the b a ckg ro u n d , all th e tim e.
C is th e c a n o p y — u s u a lly it’s ro u n d .
The square ones are fla sh ie r. B u t n o t h a lf so sound.
M a lfu n c tio n rates h ig h e r p e rce n ta g e o f leaps,
Than in all y o u r c o n ic a l ragged o ld heaps.
D w as fo r D e lta — I’m bored w ith th is to p ic ,
L e t’s talk a b o u t e ffo rt— le t’s hope th a t y o u ’ve g o t it.
E was fo r E ffort, it s till stands fo r that,
W he ther p ra ctisin g g o o d P.L.F’s on the mat
O r d o in g a series. P ra ctisin g style.
It’s a sine qua non* and it com es by the mile.
(*D o n o t fear, g e n tle reader, w h a t th is is about,
It’s a Latin tag m eaning “ W ith o u t w h ic h th e re ’s n o w t” ).
W hen rh ym in g F one w o nders
In th is sexy ridden age
W h e th e r A n g lo -S a x o n usage
S h o uld invade th is v irg in page.
It w as fin a lly decided
T h a t th o u g h lu ck is easy scanned.
T h a t F m u ch b e tte r s to o d fo r
Free fa ll ju m p in g n ic e ly planned.
Oh, the G ra b b in g and c o m ic a l g ra p p le o f pin man
rig h t at th e start.
It’s a base m an’s penn a n ce su ffe re d
F or the sake o f th e s ta r b u ild e rs art
W ith co n seq uetive re p e titio n .
Even up to a big sized star.
The a lte rn a tive m iss we w o n ’t m e n tio n
The g ra p p le is be tte r by far.
H e ig h t is a s u b je c t on w h ic h m u ch is said
It’s rig h t and it’s p ro p e r to d in in to y o u r head.
T h a t w ith o u t th is requisite,
Y o u’ll su re ly be dead.
I was the idea o f m iles per hour.
A t one h u n d re d and tw e n ty, rem em ber, you show er.
T h is s ta tis tic o f fu ll spread at te rm in a l V.
(It’s faster in o th e r p o s itio n s , y o u ’ll see)
Fifteen seco nds o r less th o u g h now it is reckoned
As so m any m etres o f free fa ll per second.
I is also in s tru c to r— a jo b he does fine
D espatchin g his stu d e n ts by s tro n g s ta tic line.
He d o e sn ’t preside at a s tu d e n ts ’ co n ve n tio n ,
He w o rks like a b lack and he m erits a m ention.
J is the ju m p s h ip — it’s also fo r je rk,
As y o u r ca n o p y blossom s above, and a s p u rt o f
A d re n a lin — H ey! W e’ve rh ym e d th is already,
Let’s go on to K w h ic h is keenness all steady.
W hen c lo u d s are lo w w ith o cta s e ig h t
A nd w in d speeds all th e day to o great.
It's n igh im p o ssib le upo n th is scene
To stay, appear to be, and be, q u ite keen.
Repack, do m in o r mods.
A nd w ait, and chat, and lie to bods
O f h a iry jum ps. You w a it in vain u n til n ig h t com es.
And now it’s booze tim e — d ru n k e n bum s!
L is fo r L o fty the rig g e r m ark one.
W ho can b u ild you up a n y th in g u n d e r the sun,
I suppose fo r such rig g e rs th is isn ’t s u rp ris in g ,
(W ho cares if I’m g u ilty o f free a d ve rtisin g ).
Oh dreaded M a lfu n c tio n w h o n o b o d y loves
W e’ll h andle th is s u b je c t w ith w h ite kid gloves
You s h o u ld n ’t be ha p p e n in g at all any day,
M a lfu n c tio n — k in d ly go away.
N is fo r noose, th e ju m p e rs best mate
If you have it, do use it, b efore it’s to o late
If you lack it, ju s t pack it
In, s k y ’s n o t fo r you
G et on w ith y o u r k n ittin g , p la in one and pearl tw o.
0 I said was 'o rrib le , pray d o n ’t m y s p e llin g m ock
It co u ld e q u a lly be sta n d in g fo r th e T.V. o p e n in g shock
’O w ever if y o u r e d d ic a tio n is p o sh e r m uch than m ine
Ju st keep y o u r b lo o d y tra p s h u t— to me it’s all the
sime.
P was the pa cke r a -p a tie n tly p a ckin g
It's a p ity it c o u ld n ’t be Z fo r a -za p p in g
H ow ever the rules are w e ll k n o w n — th e y ’re o ld hat
Z ’s the last letter, you c a n ’t a lte r that.
1 do not th in k we w ish to hear
A ny m ore a b o u t the Q ueer
From him D .Z ’s q u ite w ell preserved
H is bum s rush o ff it w ell deserved.
R stands fo r re g im e n tal co c k -u p .
O f k it m ixed up in the D.Z. lo c k -u p .
Som e o f y o u rs and som e o f m ine.
Som e p a ra c lu b s — here’s s ta tic line.
W rapped ro und a rig th a t's le ft to pack.
O dd b o o ts and helm ets in the stack
O f s u n d rie s — o rder, please descend.
G od h elp us all com e n e xt w eek e n d !
R’s also re lly — th is dear to m y heart
I c o u ld w ax q u ite lo c q u a c io u s c o n c e rn in g th is art
Space is lim ite d lu c k ily , so as y o u w ill guess
I’ll a d m it it’s m y fa v o u rite and pass on to ‘S’.
S is fo r stu d e n ts all tro u se rs and b o o ts
Pink w ith em barrassm ent sta n d in g in g ro u p s.
C h a ttin g to o casually, la u g h in g to o loud.
T ry in g to lose them selves in th e loose crow d.
D o n ’t fo rg e t— but re m em ber in s p ite o f th is verse
In o u r tim e w hen w e started,
We w ere several tim e s worse.
So d o not despise them , c o n tra ry w is e prize them
C osset and co m fo rt, e n co u ra g e them all
T h e y ’ll p ro g re ss th a t m uch fa ste r
In sp le n d id free fall.
T stood fo r te rro r, p u t th a t in to y o u r pipe
S m oke it and co n sid er, w h a te ve r be y o u r typ e
Ponder d e e p ly and refer to B. Perhaps its re a lly n o t all.
T h a t p e rtin e n t ju st n o w -a-days, let call th e su b je ct
“ B o tta l” !
U n d e rg ro u n d , u n d e rg ro u n d , V. & T ’s u n s m ilin g face
A t Big J a ke ’s m on u m e nt, at Low P ullers resting place
A ltim e te rs enem y. M ental c o u n tin g s foe.
It’s alw ays there a w a itin g you
Sky d ivers woe.
29
The G reater B oobed b ird, Big J a ke ’s A m o ra ta
Is V oice and T its — S h e — the g o rg e o u s to m a to (A)
A m azonian fig u re u n fo rg e tta b le she.
H urrah fo r the g la m o ro u s b ird V. & T.
W was w hen, w ell I’ve n e a rly fin is h e d all
M y verses a lph abetica l on the s u b je c t o f free fall,
I’ve often changed th e m etre, som etim es the
sca n sio n ’s weak.
T he rh ym in g isn’t s tric t at all, and fre q u e n tly it's freak.
H ow ever as m y ro ya ltie s d o n ’t b rin g me any pelf.
If you w o u ld care to ch a lle n g e me, ju s t w rite som e
fo r yourse lf.
A t X, Y and Z I was very s h o rt o f tim e
And farce and arse to g e th e r was m y last d e sp a irin g
rhym e.
My m use had alm ost had it, b u t th a t was h o u rs ago.
Let’s c o n s id e r som e a lte ra tio n s, and have a n o th e r go.
X could be X type, w h ic h is an a n c ie n t breed.
O f serviceable can op y, ra th e r g o in g now to seed.
Y could be yo u n g ste r in c a te g o ry one
A pprehensive in the a irc ra ft as d e sp a tch in g is begun.
It’s now his tu rn to c lim b outsid e , b u t how c o u ld he
know .
T h a t fo r him his life ’s b e g in n in g and then s u d d e n ly
it's “ G O ” .
Z ’s not erro genous, b u t fo r d ro p p in g zone,
Full blooded pleasure here, it goes rig h t to the bone.
The g a n g ’s all here, th e fu n ’s begun, the bug you've
tru ly caught.
Y o ur nam e is on the m a n ife s t— a m arvellous sport.
N.W.S.Y.
BINDERS
in h a n d s o m e le a th e r
c lo th w ith gold blocked
na m e p la te on spine , to
ta ke cop ie s o f you r SPORT
PARAC HUTIST and USPA
PARAC HUTIST m agazines.
Copies open fla t and can
be rem oved unm arked
as required.
£ 1.63 incl. p/p & VAT
Also available
DAN POYNTERS fa b u lo u s
THE PARACHUTE M ANUAL
A com plete encyclopaedia
and Technical M a n u a l
invaluable to a ll Riggers
Clubs and advanced
te ch n ica l pa ra ch u tist
in general.
SPORT PARA SERVICES
25 CROOKHAM ROAD FLEET HANTS Tel: Fleet 3793
PARAPOL PARABOOTS
P A R A -C O M M A N D E R MK 1,
"Competition" & "Russian"
PIONEER VOLPLANE
and w ide range of free-fall
equipment in stock
Fully Illustrated PARACHUTES
INC CATALOGUE (send 70p)
PARA GLIDE LTD.
In S to ck —
C O M P E T IT IO N BOOTS
STYLE BOOTS
B la ck o n ly Sizes 5 -1 1
W ith Black, B lu e * or
R ed* T rim S izes 5 -1 1
Also made to order in wide or narrow fittings and other
colours.
Price £ 1 6 .4 0 in cl. V A T and postage
* Colour trim £1 extra
2, Churwell Avenue, Heaton Mersey
Stockport, Cheshire SK4 3QE
0 6 1 -4 3 2 -7 3 1 5
Send for details or cash w ith order to
Sole U.K. agents fo r P IO N E E R and
P A R A C H U T E S IN C .
POLLARD & SO N
St. M ic h a e ls Road N o rth a m p to n
P hone 0 6 0 4 3912 1
30
CROSSWORD by R. Timms
1
2
3
4
ill
7
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5
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u
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im ill B
B
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B
BB
B
B
m
it n
B
U HR n Id §j ID
B
BB B
B
■ nm m ■ ■ H ■
s§ it
■
ill
■ mm ■ ■ lH
■
B
i§ ■
■■ R ■ H
iHlUn
HI
■
Ws
11
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14
13
15
16
18
17
19
21
20
25
26
29
24
23
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28
27
31
30
32
34
33
37
36
35
38
39
41
40
42
44
45
46
48
47
AN
43
INTERNATIONAL PARACHUTING NEWSMAGAZINE
ORIGINATING IN THE NORTHEAST USA
S U B S C R IB E N O W !
$12 — AIR M AIL
1 0 9 PARK STR EET, D O R C H E S T E R ,
M A S S A C H U S E T T S 0 2 1 2 2 U .S .A .
ACROSS
1 Sally, Teresa, Diana &
whose
spon­
sor give a health
warning (4).
5 It’s those glassy eyes
that find the faults (10).
11 Barom etric line on a
map (6).
12 Warmth (4).
13 1st man for a link up
(4).
14 Phonetically ‘D’ (5).
15 Did Tell jum p his I
wonder (8).
20 Basic essential fo r a
NOTAM (8).
22 To fall behind (3).
23 Not out (2).
24 Do it before ‘dum ping’
(4).
25 Beginners mod. (2).
26 They lead the world in
our sport (5).
28 One who tells un­
truths (4).
29 18 down has suffered
a reversal (2).
32 Sorrowful (3).
33 It would be rough if
you were on your
back at the tim e (7).
34 Digested (3).
35 Is this the way the
do ctor works? (2).
39 Cut away (8).
41 Negative (2).
42 Suitable (3).
44 Canopies have been
known to refuse to do
this (4).
46 Like a bank account,
when it’s in the red,
you can expect harsh
words (9).
47 W ith 29 Down, the
home of ‘Boots by
Cookey’ (7-5).
48 With 30 Down, a strong
2nd at the British 10
man star team meet
(3-4).
DOWN
1 M eacock’s stomping
ground (6).
2 The States (3).
3 ‘Mayday’ or a call from
the Sibson Star Team
(3-4).
4 Spain & Portugal (6).
5 W ill keep your hernia
under control (5).
6 Leaves wing tips in the
ground (3-4).
7 They can tem porarily
stopyou com ing down
( 8 ).
8 Fish (3).
9 Vermin (3).
10 R.W. tries to add yet
another to the ‘m ilky
way’ (4).
16 Wild revelry (4).
17 Throw your reserve
into it (4).
18 I'm in charge says the
soldier (2).
19 Us (2).
21 Is not a Detective
Constable (10).
27 Beard of com. (3).
29 See 47 Across.
30 See 48 Across.
31 Slang W.D.I. Not to be
confused w ith a partial
( 8 ).
36 Used
in
mastication
(5).
37 Eating utensils (6).
38 Female deer (3).
40 To collect (5).
43 Physical exercise (2).
45 The refuse container
has suffered a reversal
(3).
LOST OR STOLEN
It is sad to have to re p o rt the fo llo w in g k it lost,
p re su m e d s to le n :
FOR SALE
Mk. I PC, C9 complete, Boots, etc.
T o n y H ines — C h e ste r 21889
From Bickmarsh (late 1974) — 26ft LO-PO RESERVE
(b lu e /w h ite ) — serial 4535 dated Nov. 72.
C9 Complete
D ick F a rre r— B e d fo rd 853636, Ext. 9
From Sibson (early 1975) — 26ft LO-PO RESERVE
(red and g o ld ) in S u p e r-P ro C ontainer.
B4 Pack and Harness — Reserve container
Jane C ain — 01-445 2538
In tra n s it at Netheravon — late sum m er — Protector
reserve canopy — Serial 528767
All Black Mini-System Pack and Harness
P. C o n n o lly , 43 Paget Road, W o lverham pton
A n y in fo rm a tio n on this e q u ip m e n t please c o n ta c t:
T he E ditor — T el: R awdon 503840
31
MEANWHILE
NOW THAT I NEED HELP
TO FLY AROUND... I HAVE
INVESTED IN A NEW,
RAM AIR STRATOSTAR
INA THUNPERBOW RIG
fro m SECURITY.
THE CHOICE WAS NOT SO
EASY WITH C LO U D ’ S ,,
PAPILLONS/IW/SYSmA
AVAILABLE TOO !
SFDRT R E S E R V ES , AND
OF COURSE COMPLETE
C 3 /B 4 - STUDENT R IG S
IN STOCK.
BY THE WAY ONLY
FRENCH PARABOOrs
ARE GOOD ENOUGH R3R
ME AND THE OTHER
SUPERHEROES !
i>Aih\ s in 'JlvZz
2S,(2w044a*tt/Raad,^feet,‘y%a*t&.
'pizet3793
Fisherprint
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