Cliff Schmucker

[councilman24 37]

I opened this thread and realized that I'm still speechless and I don't know what to say.

Blue skies Cliff

Thank you for all you have done for parachuting.

See incident forum for other information.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[RiggerPJ 0]

I just heard and am heartbroken.

Prayers to Cliff's family...

Patrick Sims

[peek 20]

Once again I hardly know what to think or say, except "Thanks, Cliff, for your work for skydiving and the parachute industry".

[sangiro 4]

Very sad news indeed. He will be missed.

Safe swoops
Sangiro

[DSE 3]

A gentleman, one who dedicated so much of his life to this sport at many levels.
http://youtu.be/nPvBEoXCEZ8?t=16s Many are likely unaware that he has long served as president of PIA, the industry association that represents parachuting around the world.

[flailchick 0]

Wow. Heartbreaking. Cliff is one of the first equipment mfgs that I knew in the sport. I won a Sweethog at Freeport and jumped them for many years. A true loss to our sport. My thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones. What a horrible black weekend...

[MakeItHappen 15]

Cliff will be greatly missed.

I've known Cliff since the rigger meeting back in Muskogee days.

One recent story was at the last PIA meeting in Daytona Beach.
After arranging to get to Daytona from Deland on Thursday and then delivering a presentation to the new BOD members, I wanted to get something to eat.
I didn't want a huge meal because it was already about 9pm.
I walked down to the BK a block away from the Hilton.
I stood in line and decided what to get.
Then I looked at the people in front of me.
It was Cliff, Karen and Adam (Cliff's son).
I said 'Cliff, I see you are doing the fine dining like I am.'
He laughed.
The 4 of us had dinner together and talked about a number of issues facing skydiving today.
It was nice because the long week of events that would keep both of us busy were not imposing any pressure on the length of time we spent there.
Then just before we departed, Cliff said 'If you see anyone- don't tell them I'm here'
I asked him why.
He had just rolled in and said they still had to go to Walmart.
'What do you need to go to Walmart for?'
They wanted to go get snacks and sammich fixin's because the cost at the hotel was too much.
I laughed and said 'At least I'm not the only one that does that'

Cliff & I have talked so much about so many fatalities over the years.
What the jumpers did or didn't do, how the equipment worked (or didn't)
It just seems so unreal now.

Cliff and Ted Strong were two of the people I talked to A LOT about equipment issues.

There is another huge void in the skydiving industry.
Cliff you will be missed.

My condolences to Karen and Adam.


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Make It Happen
Parachute History
DiveMaker

[justgeorge 0]

I live in the Cincinnati area and happened to see the headline about a skydiving death in Warren County. Clicked the link and saw it was Cliff. He put me out on my first student static line jump back in the early 80s. So bummed.

[stratostar 5]

Blue Skies my friend, thanks for all the fun, help, teachings. You leave a huge void in our world. Go west.

you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

[TsunamiGilligan 0]

I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to jump with Cliff many times in my less than two years in the sport. He was my instructor on several student jumps, and continued to offer help and guidance after I earned my A license. I even jumped with Cliff just a few hours before the incident. I landed next to him, and he offered a thorough critique of the jump with several pointers to improve my technique. That was the last time I talked with Cliff.

Cliff was so humble, friendly, and approachable, that it was hard to imagine what a big deal he was in the skydiving industry. The more I learned about him, the more I was impressed and honored to have had the opportunity to jump with him. His loss will be felt far and wide, and it hits especially hard for those of us who jumped with him in Waynesville both recently and in years past.

Blue Skies, Cliff.

[councilman24 37]

Cliff shepherded the Parachute Industry Association from a group of skydiver/gear manufacturers trying to educate riggers and get information out before the internet into the go to organization for parachute expertise for the FAA, military, and everyone involved in the industry from raw nylon to integrated systems. During his tenure, and with the help of many, many volunteers, PIA took over specifications for parachute materials and hardware from the military to make Mil Spec for parachutes obsolete and PIA SPEC the new norm. PIA became the organization to write or help write both the new TSO standard for parachutes and new FAR's and their interpretation under AC-105.

Cliff lived to see the National Skydiving Museum (Cliff was a director) go from a dream to owning land and having over $3 million in funds (much from PIA) to make the dream come true.

Of course Cliff is much more than PIA President but that’s how I knew him best.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[EatSleepFly 0]

TsunamiGilligan

I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to jump with Cliff many times in my less than two years in the sport. He was my instructor on several student jumps, and continued to offer help and guidance after I earned my A license. I even jumped with Cliff just a few hours before the incident. I landed next to him, and he offered a thorough critique of the jump with several pointers to improve my technique. That was the last time I talked with Cliff.

Cliff was so humble, friendly, and approachable, that it was hard to imagine what a big deal he was in the skydiving industry. The more I learned about him, the more I was impressed and honored to have had the opportunity to jump with him. His loss will be felt far and wide, and it hits especially hard for those of us who jumped with him in Waynesville both recently and in years past.

Blue Skies, Cliff.

Very well said, Dave. I, too, feel very honored and privileged to have known/jumped with Cliff for the short couple of years that I did. I was on his last load, but got out lower. He was sitting by the door, so my last memory of him was his big grin as I left and watched them fly away.

Cliff was a class act and will be greatly missed. What a sad and humbling weekend.

BSBD

[Greene 0]

For Karen, and all the Schmucker family, and to the Stewart family, Jim and I would like to say how heartbroken we are for your loss.

We will pray for him and you and send all our love and condolences.

May you find peace in the happiness you shared with him for so many years.

Rest in peace Cliff. God bless

Jim & Lee West

[jammindave 0]

'79 @ WSPC
I was under a Pap and this blue guy comes up behind me and tells me to hold course. He walks across the top of my canopy and just misses hooking into my lines. If you only knew my low jump numbers. I don't recall his name, but I thought I would mention this.

[buckwheatzulu 0]

Cliff was truly a man of honour..
I had a 'negotiation' with Cliff back in the late 80s that involved a Sweet Hog rig and the fatality of someone very close to me.
Most people would have gone in to CYA mode, but Cliff rose to the occasion and instituted a safety notification AND shortly after that became the North American distributor of Cypress products.
I like to think that he did so as a result of the situation.
Cliff....Thanks

[3331 127]

When and where is the Memorial Service for Cliff ?

Will we be scattering his ashes in Freefall ?

I Jumped with the guys who invented Skydiving.

[councilman24 37]

No memorial details released yet.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[rocketdog 0]

Hi, i realize this is very delayed, but Cliff was buried... Not cremated. So no ash dive but that was sweet of you to inquire.

He was an organ donor and gave others another chance at life... Just like a Cypres...

And just to clarify another, previous post Cliff had two sons: Nathan (~30) & Adam (26). This is a very touching thread and I'd like to print everything one day to give to the boys.

see the world! http://gorocketdog.blogspot.com

[377 21]

I met Cliff at WFFC and got to do some test jumping (from the C 130 Herc) with an instrument pack that recorded high speed exit pressure fluctuations so that they could make the Cypres software even more immune to misfires.

Cliff was a great guy and extremely knowledgeable about older rigs. We talked for a long time about some of the early rigs and vintage AADs such as the Sentinel. We also talked about early Vectors (eg V8) and their incompatibility with Cypres AADs due to a very narrow reserve pack tray. Seemed like he knew the details of every rig ever made.

What says so much about Cliff was that he was the US service center for Cypres for many years and had NO written contract with Airtec, just an handshake and his word. If there were more guys like Cliff a lot of lawyers would be out of business.

Our sport has lost an exceptional man. May he rest in peace.

377

2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.