Thanks, Snow.

I sent photographs of Hayden's parachute that is in the WSHM to the folks that run theriggerdepot.com. They specialize in creating reproductions of parachuting and aviation equipment for movies and TV, etc. They have a great write-up on the "B-8" chute. This is what he said after I asked him to identify exactly the type of chute displayed at the WSHM:

"Yes, the chute looks to be assembled for civilian use. It looks like a Navy NB-6 series harness, with a civilian Pioneer pack tray. This general style of pack started its life as a civilian design, was adopted by the military, and both civilian and military versions were produced for decades after the war. The 26' conical canopy was strictly a postwar design. It bears a resemblance to a wartime B-8, but is not."

Chaucer, send these people a copy of the picture of Hayden wearing the chute and that fully pictures the front of the harness.  Bruce Smith has posted those pictures.  Also, there is a picture of the front and back of an NB-6 parachute with the harness and container fully visible on Sluggo's site and I think those pictures are also posted here on Shutter's site.

I have both an NB-6 harness and container (the NB-6 information is plainly stenciled on them) and neither the Hayden harness or container is an NB-6.

This is the follow up from them:

“The harness itself could be from an NB-8 assembly, but a proper NB-8 would have a 28' flat circular canopy and nylon pack tray. If the 26 conical canopy is original to the harness, then more likely an NB-6. Without knowing more it's hard to tell.”

Basically, it depends on the canopy. Of the canopy is 26”, then it’s an NB-6. If the canopy is 28”, then it’s an NB-8.

377 & Dudeman, would you care to comment on the above exchange?

The June 12, 2008 post from Ckret at DZ.com

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June 12, 2008
Sluggo,

The NB6 and the Pioneer were Cossey's chutes, he had them at his house, they weren't at Seattle Skysports. I asked Cossey why he packed a 28 foot canopy in the NB6 and he just shrugged. Kind of like, "it was my chute, I did it because I can." I like that guy, I could have talked to him all day but he grew tired of me in about an hour.

...........

And the Carr post claiming that Cossey described a weird pull

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June 13, 2008
Question about the NB6, now that we have an NB6 expert here. When I talked with Cossey he explained how he configured the chute but did so as if I knew what he was talking about. (you ever talk to someone with so much expertise they don't have the time or desire to take it down a notch)

He talked about a two phase pull because of where he placed the handle. (it would have been under the right armpit) He said Cooper would have had to pull fully out and then up to deploy the chute. If he only pulled the handle out the chute would not have delopyed.

Can someone tell me if this is normal? Why would there have been a two directional pull?

------------------

And just a reminder about how off-base Carr was about where the chutes came from. He suggests here that Cossey might have been involved in the instruction page give to Cooper, which makes no sense.

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June 14, 2008
I want to make sure everyone understands that the instruction sheet offered to Cooper may or may not have come from Cossey.

I think it was a bit odd to offer instructions to Cooper when he made no request for them. And from what we now know the NB6 was altered to the point that even an experienced skydiver may have had difficulty with it. From this, I think that maybe Cossey knew this and wanted to warn anyone who my try to use it.

Total guess on my part, but the two backpacks came from Cossey, from Cossey's house. i don't think he had a manufactures instruction sheet laying around that he sent with them.[\font]

I'm not familiar with the intricate details and differences of those rigs. I think 377 is more so. But in general, any compatibility issues (canopy to container) or modifications would depend on what the manufacturer allows, and what level of rating the rigger has. There is a senior and a master reape... er, rigger's rating.

I don't remember where I read this, but I think the nature of that ripcord modification that Cossey made to his rig...  I think the idea was that he wore a bailout rig for putting out static-line students (which I have confirmed was a common practice in those days for an instructor who was not planning to jump himself - gutter gear/front mount reserve would be too bulky/cumbersome while doing that). I think he moved the handle to make it less accessible to potentially panicked students who might be trying to grab at things on their way out the door. He might have moved the handle from inboard to outboard, tightened the ripcord handle pocket and maybe re-routed the ripcord housing. An over-the-shoulder routing would want more of a downward pull, where re-routing it under the arm (and probably changing the direction) sounds more like the upward pull he described. And a tighter pack (bigger canopy without modifying the container) would make for a bit harder pull. So the 'dual pull' thing sounds like get the handle out of the pocket, then a stiff upward pull. There are standards for the minimum and maximum allowable pull force required. Anything falling within these standards should be easy enough to pull without needing to overly define it. My guess is that Cossey was over-selling the difficulty, as he was wont to do. But all this again begs the question of which rigs Cooper was given. If he was given both of Hayden's rigs, then none of this likely applies.

I sent photographs of Hayden's parachute that is in the WSHM to the folks that run theriggerdepot.com. They specialize in creating reproductions of parachuting and aviation equipment for movies and TV, etc. They have a great write-up on the "B-8" chute. This is what he said after I asked him to identify exactly the type of chute displayed at the WSHM:

"Yes, the chute looks to be assembled for civilian use. It looks like a Navy NB-6 series harness, with a civilian Pioneer pack tray. This general style of pack started its life as a civilian design, was adopted by the military, and both civilian and military versions were produced for decades after the war. The 26' conical canopy was strictly a postwar design. It bears a resemblance to a wartime B-8, but is not."

good job. That's the first ID I've heard of that sounds reasonable. and that it's a NB-6 harness, but a civilian container.
Be interesting to hear dudeman's thoughts on this.
So maybe Cossey's random thoughts were somehow right, but somehow very wrong.

So weird that as far as Hayden remembered, he had two identical rigs. Cossey, if parts of his testimony are accurate, seems to differ?

As a layperson, the "stuffing" of a 28' and the modification of a ripcord to make it more difficult to pull sounds scary and reckless. Doesn't seem that Cossey was a "by the book" kind of guy.

Well, not so fast on that one. Again, the purpose of that mod would not simply be to make it more difficult to use. It would be to prevent a student from inadvertently deploying Cossey's rig. And that is a very real concern. If his chute were to be deployed in the plane, get out the door and go over the tail, that could kill everybody in the plane and possibly people on the ground where the plane crashes. So that isn't reckless, it's prudent. It should still be within regs, but for his own use Cossey's gonna do what he's gonna do. However, he shouldn't sell or give that rig to anyone else without re-configuring it.