Thursday, November 25th 2002
Ezekiel Airship Dispute/Cluster Ballooning

As we near the 99-year anniversary of the Wright brothers’ historic first flight, a story about a pre-Wright flight is getting press in the major media. Rev. Burrell Cannon was the inventor of the Ezekiel Airship built between August 1901 and October 1902. Five eyewitness accounts are recorded at the Northeast Texas Rural Heritage Center and Museum in Pittsburg. “The airship rolled on its wheels and then became airborne,” according to the eyewitness accounts reported in a recent Wall Street Journal article. “It floated toward some boys who were sitting on a fence row, causing them to scramble to get out of the way. The pilot, a man by the name of Stamps, later said he shut the engine down because the old sawmill chain that turned the wheels caused such violent vibrations that he feared the aircraft would come apart.” The Ezekiel Airship is believed to have flown “one Sunday morning in late 1902,” the Wall Street Journal reported. Wilbur and Orville Wright made their first flight on Dec. 17, 1903. A new pilot facility is under construction in North Carolina to commemorate the Wright Brothers flight. Yet Ezekiel Airship believers dispute popular history and want the aircraft and inventor to get more credit as a flight pioneer. Pittsburg, Texas resident Jean Locke told the Wall Street Journal that her mother, one of the five witnesses, saw “the airship come up over the fence row high enough that the girls could see it was definitely in the air.” Cannon was apparently inspired to build the airship from the Bible’s first and 10th chapters of Ezekiel, which speak of a flying machine powered by “a wheel within a wheel.” The original Ezekiel Airship that allegedly flew was destroyed when it was blown off a train on its way to St. Louis where Cannon intended to fly it at the World’s Fair. Only one photo remains of the aircraft. A book and video about the aircraft are available from the museum web site at www.pittsburgtxmuseum.com.

Is the aircraft entry in your logbook always the same? Have you jumped all the planes and balloons at the World Freefall Convention and are in search of something a little more out of the ordinary? Try harnessing yourself to a cluster of helium balloons and then cutting loose to parachute back down. Ian Ashpole holds the Guinness World Record for climbing to 11,000 feet while attached to a cluster of 600 helium balloons and then parachuting back to earth. While Ian holds the official record that requires use of commercially available balloons, John Ninomiya has hit 21,400 feet and then descended with the balloons by popping some to lose altitude. According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, these aren’t the only people making repeated jumps with a bouquet of balloons. Others cluster balloonists include Norwegian skydiver Trond Solli, Dutch-Indonesian artist Fiona Tan, hot-air balloon pioneer Don Piccard and balloonists Mike Howard and Steve Davis. Larry Walters was responsible for making the childhood daydream a reality when he soared 16,000 feet after attaching 45 helium weather balloons to his lawn chair. Walters used a BB gun to pop some of the balloons and eventually landed in power lines. Cluster balloonists are loosely regulated under Federal Aviation Regulation Part 103, which also applies to hang gliding and skydiving. Ninomiya seems to have the most thorough web site at www.clusterballoon.org. “Cluster balloons, for all of their whimsical appearance, also require real ballooning skills,” Ninomiya states. “Before I began flying cluster balloons, I was an FAA-licensed hot-air balloon pilot and had over 400 hours of pilot time in conventional hot-air balloons and Cloudhoppers. On each of my cluster balloon flights, I needed my skills as a balloon pilot to stay out of airspace where I wasn't supposed to be and to maneuver to a safe landing.” So when can I go?

Mike on 11.25.02 @ 04:00 PM EST

Thursday, November 18th 2002
One-Round NSL Championship/Extending Repack Cycle

The National Skydiving League Championship, the end-of-the-year meet for 4-way formation teams, was nearly weathered-out last weekend. The 10-round event was reduced to one round thanks to clouds, rain and wind over Lakeland, Fla., which didn’t dissipate until late Sunday afternoon. DeLand Majik, Air Force Blue and GT Inviscid posted the high scores in their individual classes earning each team a NSL 2002 Championship title, trophy and medals. DeLand Majik topped the U.S. National Champion Golden Knights team 28 to 21 in the AAA class, while Air Force Blue took first place over Sebastion 7L in the AA class by a score of 19 to 17. And in the A class, first-year team GT Inviscid earned the gold with an 11 over its competition, Booty Surf, which scored a 0 for the round. A total of 16 teams entered the NSL Championship event, which was the result of a qualification process throughout the year in an attempt to bring the nation’s best teams to this meet. This year was an improvement for participation from last year’s 12 teams. Still, a number of the top teams were missing from the event possibly due to the timing of this meet being after the U.S. Nationals and the accumulated expenses of a long skydiving season. Not helping this year’s championship was a steady diet of wind, clouds and rain over the 2-day event. Five teams threw in the towel and headed home before the single competition round made it off the ground at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday. This essentially brought the attendance below last year’s showing of 12 teams, as only 11 competed this year. The NSL is the brainchild of competitor Kurt Gaebel who is continually tweaking the formula for his skydiving league in an effort to make it the premier event in 4-way formation skydiving. Moving the championship event before the U.S. Nationals as well as extending the number of days of this meet may help bring Kurt closer to his goal. Go Compete!

An article in this month’s Parachutist magazine on extending the reserve repack cycle surely drew much interest from all skydivers. Parachuting organizations and companies have tried to extend the cycle in the past, but have been denied. The requirements for our reserve parachutes fall under Federal Aviation Regulations Part 91, subpart D, and states, “Sec. 91.307 Parachutes and parachuting. (a) No pilot of a civil aircraft may allow a parachute that is available for emergency use to be carried in that aircraft unless it is an approved type and--(2) ...has been packed by a certificated and appropriately rated parachute rigger-- (i) Within the preceding 120 days…” According to Parachutist, the United States Parachute Association and the Parachute Industry Association have “agreed to cooperate on research to extend the reserve repack cycle.” The PIA and USPA will conduct 24 drop tests with different containers and reserves to time openings. In the meantime, a petition to the FAA is underway for a 180-day reserve repack cycle exemption for USPA members. According to Parachutist, “A similar exemption was granted before the repack cycle was extended from 60 to 120 days in 1974, which soon led to the acceptance of the longer repack cycle.” Many riggers and parachute manufacturers don’t expect a 180-day cycle to affect reserve opening times. Previous tests by the Navy showed no dramatic difference in opening times after 30 days. Where riggers raise questions is on wear and tear issues. The container is part of the reserve inspection/repack process and takes a lot of beating from hard landings as well as incorrect storage and high use. Extending the repack cycle will necessitate routine inspections by individual jumpers to spot wear, tear and safety issues on containers. As for the reserve, if packed correctly, I don’t see any problem with keeping it packed an extra two months.

Mike on 11.18.02 @ 04:00 PM EST

Thursday, November 11th 2002
Cowboy’s Caravan/ASC AFF Instructor Course

Georgia’s worst skydiving accident occurred Sept. 29, 1985, and many of us in the sport today know little about what occurred and what skydiving was like back in the 80s. But I recently was given the book “Cowboy’s Caravan” to read, which is an account of the accident and investigation as well as a window into Georgia skydiving in the 1980s. The book was written by Robert L. Williams, the father of one of the skydivers killed in the crash. His son, David “Cowboy” Williams, a skydiver and pilot, was also the owner of the Cessna Caravan that crashed not far off the end of the runway at the Westwind drop zone, near Jenkinsburg, killing all 17 aboard. Having not been a part of skydiving during this time, I can not verify or substantiate the facts and story presented in “Cowboy’s Caravan,” but the author does bring up several interesting points about certain friends of “Cowboy” who were involved in drug operations as well as problems with the aircraft itself and the fuel barrels at the drop zone. The official cause of the crash released by the National Transportation Safety Board was water in the fuel; 34 percent water to fuel in the tank. The official report is available on the AOPA web site at www.aopa.org/asf/ntsb/index.html. Part of the report states, “Fuel in the tanks was contaminated with water and foreign material with the appearance of brown algae…(This aircraft) had a history of fuel contamination…(the) aircraft was estimated to be 370 pounds over its maximum weight limit.” In addition to the author’s other theories on the reason for the crash, one of the most interesting parts of the book is the general history of jumpers who are still in the sport today, including Dolphin manufacturer Mike Furry, Georgia jumper Louis Bottoms and instructors Bill Scott and Billy Rhodes. “I still believe the crash was not an accident,” the author concludes. “I have hope that someday there will be evidence to prove what actually happened.” To order this book, see this link: http://gemspec.com/_wsn/page3.html

Many “firsts” occurred last week at Atlanta Skydiving Center as the drop zone hosted an Accelerated Freefall Instructor Course. All four candidates passed the ground preparation evaluations and three candidates passed the air evaluations in three straight jumps. It was the first-ever AFF Instructor Course held at ASC and went off without a hitch thanks to an organized course director, helpful evaluators, great facilities and aircraft. AFF Instructor graduate Mark Shimell was ASC’s first AFF student graduate. Mark made his first AFF jump at ASC a few weeks after the drop zone opened on Sept. 6, 1997. Five years later, he has become the first “home-grown” AFF Instructor as ASC’s first-ever student graduate is now instructing AFF students himself. Victor Soukup, a citizen of the Czech Republic, has worked and jumped at ASC for his college internship over the last year. Victor claims to be the first-ever Czech with a United States Parachute Association AFF rating. Victor says there are Czechs who hold the country’s version of the AFF rating, but the course isn’t nearly as tough to pass. Also passing the course was rigger and 4-way competitor Mike Gruwell. Kerry Walker, aka “Super Whuffo,” passed the ground evaluations and will take the air evaluations at a later date. Kerry learned about the importance of belly skills as most of his 700 jumps over the past year were freefly jumps. Beer is also due from AFF Instructors Jack Sheehy and Fast Eddie Grantland, acting as evaluators for the first time. On a side note, Chuting Star Rigging Loft now has the template for making practice ripcords for AFF Instructor jumps. The course director, Glenn Bangs, uses a Velcro pouch wrapped around a leg strap, which contains a ripcord handle attached to trim tape. Velcro at both ends of the tape allow for full stowage as well as simulation of a floating ripcord in freefall. We can build these for interested candidates.

Mike on 11.11.02 @ 03:59 PM EST

Thursday, November 4th 2002
2003 Parachute Industry Association Symposium /2002 Fall Season Swoop Competition

The 2003 Parachute Industry Association Symposium set for Jan. 26-31 in Jacksonville, Florida, is quickly approaching as the organization’s $100 “price break” date passed Friday. The symposium will surely be packed with the latest innovations and developments from within the parachute, rigging and skydiving industries. Despite the exorbitant registration fees and hotel rates of this event, most skydivers, riggers, drop zone owners and manufacturers agree the information provided is well worth the cost. PIA membership dues range from $150-$500 a year. If you are a PIA member, you receive a $20 discount on the $295 registration fee, which was $195 before November 1. The 5-day event with a definite lean toward riggers is also a FAA-sanctioned Rigger Continuing Education Program. The 2003 PIA Symposium will be held at Adam’s Mark hotel in Jacksonville. Room rates are $109 a night. Two riggers sharing a room for the 5-day conference could pay as much as $800 each for travel, food, lodging and registration fees. For those riggers unable to spend that much money or time for the whole symposium, PIA offers a one-day pass for $95. A schedule of seminars and speakers is available at the PIA web site. I’m not sure at this point if I’ll be able to afford the entire event, but there are several seminars I’m interested in. These include the packing/rigging seminars for Javelin, Racer, Relative Workshop and Softie as well as the “Square Repairs” seminar by “Rags” and “Rigging Tips” by Dave DeWolf. Riggers have raved about past symposiums due to the wealth of rigging information, tips and tricks. For those unable to attend, I would like to see the PIA put together a set of video tapes of all the rigging seminars. While it may be dry to watch for your average skydiver, I believe there would be a lot of interest from the rigging industry. It would also expand the reach of the FAA’s Rigger Continuing Education Program.

Atlanta Skydiving Center held its 2002 Fall Season Swoop Competition this past weekend on its 230-foot swoop pond. The meet dished out $1,000 in cash and prizes, which served as the final warm-up meet for the end-of-the-year swoop competition at Fantasy of Flight. Hans Paulsen as well as two members of Mr. Pink placed high in the pro and intermediate events. Team Method served as meet management, coordinating the loads and swoop order as well as putting together the actual course itself. The pro division of the meet consisted of two rounds of three events. The pro event included distance, water targets and zone accuracy. Hans Paulsen, sponsored by Chuting Star Rigging Loft, placed first overall by finishing first in distance and second in water targets and zone accuracy. It was Paulsen’s first overall win at a swoop meet. Paulsen jumps a 98 Icarus VX and has participated in swoop meets the last three years. In the intermediate division, local skydivers Jesse Watson and Chuck Owen took first and second place, respectively. Mr. Pink member Adam Wheeler finished third, followed by teammate Mike Gruwell in fourth. The intermediate division consisted of three rounds of distance. Two 10-foot wind blades were set 42 feet apart at one end of the pond. The swoopers had to fly between the wind blades and the distance was marked from the first point of contact, be it water or land. While many got wet, the meet finished with no injuries as Team Method required helmets on all competitors and the freefly team also held a swooping seminar a few weeks earlier on swoop safety and techniques. For more information on Chuting Star Rigging Loft’s sponsored athletes, click on this link. Chuting Star provides free or discounted rigging work to its competitors as well as swoop support in the form of manufacturing slider keepers and riser tabs and washing containers. Go Compete!

Mike on 11.04.02 @ 03:57 PM EST