JDutton 0 #1 April 19, 2009 I've been reminiscing about my youth and thought I'd say 'Hi'. I did my jumping between 1973-1976, mostly at Littleton, Colorado, though I did make a few dozen jumps out of the Loadstar at Canon City (Fremont County). It would be fun to reconnect and share some memories. I've enjoyed reading stories in the "history" and "scary stories" forums. Interestingly, I experienced a few of them first-hand. Jeff Dutton C-10094 SCR-4927 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skymama 35 #2 April 20, 2009 Welcome to the forums! She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man, because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JDutton 0 #3 April 20, 2009 Thanks, Skymama! Well, the interesting thing is that they didn't always seem very scary at the time... well, most of the time. This wasn't as scary as some of the stories I've read, but it was scary enough for me. My home dropzone was the Littleton Airport, which was actually several miles south of Littleton, Colorado. One day, we were invited to jump into a party at nearby Castle Rock, in somebody's backyard. Because we were "responsible skydivers", a couple of us drove to the site of the party beforehand, to make sure the area was safe. We had a couple of acres to land in, so no problem. We decided that it was safe. Chuck had just bought a "Clown" Mk 1 Para Commander, and I was jumping a 28' 5TU cheapo. Well, my best friend, Chuck, and I were the jumpers. It was my 74th jump & Chuck had about the same number. The jump plane was a Cessna 180. We were jumping from 3500, so Chuck and I decided to just track apart for 10 seconds or so & open. The freefall went pretty well, except that after I'd been tracking for awhile, I looked up (down) and Chuck and I were both tracking straight down about 50' apart. I decided to open early, so I flared and opened. Chuck opened about 500' below me. My altimeter showed 1700', so I was looking forward to razzing Chuck for opening so low - 1200'. Naturally, I reached the ground first. As Chuck got ready to land he yelled "gobble, gobble!". And of course he sprained his ankle on landing, which was actually good news for me because I got to use his PC for about 6 weeks. Oh yeah, the scary part. Well, when we checked out the site beforehand, it didn't occur to us to take an altimeter along. After we got down I noticed that my altimeter was still showing 500' because I had zeroed it out just before we took off - as usual. So, I was actually open at 1200' and Chuck was open at 700'... and we didn't have a clue. Sometime I'll tell the story about the time Chuck opened REALLY low. Jeff Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lenzo 0 #4 April 20, 2009 Any more!!!!!Smile,pull,land Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Usetawuz 1 #5 April 20, 2009 Hi Jeff - I frequently jumped at Bob Clark's Littleton Airport operation and also jumped the Lodestar at Canon City quite often during that time frame. Bob and Diane made the Littleton DZ a fun place to jump and 'hang out'. Welcome to the forums. _________________________________________ The older I get, the better I was! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JDutton 0 #6 April 21, 2009 Hi Frank, Thanks for the welcome. Littleton was a fun DZ. I used to drive there after work on Friday and stay until Sunday night. Jeff Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Usetawuz 1 #7 April 21, 2009 I'll bet you 'camped' in the office. _________________________________________ The older I get, the better I was! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JDutton 0 #8 April 21, 2009 Well, yes, but I wasn't "camper", if that is what you are referring to. That was Bob Anderson. However, I was called "camper2" at times. I was really sorry to learn that the airport is gone. Do you have any idea what Bob & Diane are up to these days? How about Stan McGrew? According to another thread here, Scott Brady went to work for NASA . Have you heard from anyone else that was there in those days? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Usetawuz 1 #9 April 22, 2009 Bob and Diane split. Last time I saw her was at Pope Valley CA in '78. Bob operated a couple of DZs near Colo Spgs for a lot of years, the last being Calhan. He gave up that DZ and I don't know where he is now. I think he quit the jump business. Stan McGrew retired from the AF and then flew for the Forest Service. I think he's in Utah or Idaho. Last I heard Scottie Hamilton was in Florida. _________________________________________ The older I get, the better I was! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
