zulu 0 #1 April 2, 2004 Who was your most memorable instructor? I would have to say mine was Jose Malave and Paul Guerra. Jose never got impatient with me even though I chose to stay on static line for dam near 40 jumps. He always said smile and everything will be fine. Paul for all the AFF he ran me through over and over and over again. Now Im a coach and will be giving back to the community that these guys gave to me. zulu Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Floats18 0 #2 April 2, 2004 My most memorable instructor is Paul Janes from Skydown Skydiving in Caldwell, ID. (then again, he's the only instructor I've learned from). I was the only one there for the first static line jump and he tought me one on one for 4 hours, I learned a ton about the sport and he was very knowledgable and very cool. Plus, he has a bad ass dog. If you ever stop by in Idaho, I'd deffinately reccomend stopping by his DZ.--- and give them wings so they may fly free forever DiverDriver in Training Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skyyhi 0 #3 April 2, 2004 What a great post. Every single one of my instructors at Elsinore left an impression in one way or another and singling one or two out is hard. Yoyo and Doug Forth - keeping me laughing so I wasn't quite so nervous on that first AFF Dan and Robert - extreme patience. And for giving me the tools I needed to continue safely. Ed (cajones) and Bryan - patience and laughter. Bryan for the great canopy control pointers. . . Tom Riddick - For absolute throughness and instruction and never making me feel rushed. Mark (Shark) Guinto - Friendship, an easy going nature and for continuing to offer advice and instruction every step of the way. Rich Fisher (rjf98) - Although I only had him review safety procedures with me on one jump, we have become fast friends. . .gonna miss you bud. Come back and visit us soon. . . All the Elsinore staff have become my family and continue to offer support and instruction even though I am now licensed. It is a great place to learn and grow. . .________________________________________ Take risks not to escape life… but to prevent life from escaping. ~ A bumper sticker at the DZ FGF #6 Darcy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CameraGeek 0 #4 April 2, 2004 "South Africa" Steve....that was a while ago... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
weegegirl 2 #5 April 2, 2004 A father/son team of static line instructors. David "Jr." Ludvik, and his father, Frank "Pops" Ludvik (blue skies, Pops). They were New Yorkers, which helped me a lot, as I was a lost EastCoaster in good ol' Michigan. They gave me the confidence and knowledge that I needed to be successful on every jump. Their instruction carried on - on the ground, in the air, teaching me how to freefly once I was a licensed "stable" skydiver . They were the most dedicated and motivating of them all. Thanks guys! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tonto 1 #6 April 2, 2004 Steve Woodford? That Steve? tIt's the year of the Pig. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dropdeded 0 #7 April 2, 2004 Definately Matt McCarter. Went through aff at the old Taft dz (aa west). The day he flew in my face and totally geeked me, skydiving has been fun. Gave me a something to smile about in freefall, when I was almost positive I was a gonna die dropdeded------------------------------------------ The Dude Abides. - Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NoShitThereIWas 0 #8 April 2, 2004 Most "memorable" instructor??? Without a doubt, and I had 4 or 5 of them, my most memorable instructor was Sammy Thistle. How could anybody forget having Sammy as an Instructor? He was my sky-idol and made every one of my skydives with him memorable in some way. He was someone who majorly influenced me to want to become an AFF-I. Sammy was a great guy, always fun and definitely insane in the membrane. I was always hoping to have the opportunity to do AFF with him but he is in Eternal Blue Skies now. Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riddler 0 #9 April 2, 2004 Definitely my tandem instructor, Mike Pintamo. Big guy with a big laugh and a good heart. The other day, I was sitting next to him on the plane as he was doing yet another tandem - he's at 7,000 jumps now - and I thought to myself "this is the same guy that I did a tandem with almost three years ago and here we are, on the same plane, still skydiving together." I guess the DZ is definitely home for me.Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yoshi 0 #10 April 2, 2004 probably Roger Humphry in Skydive Wayne County (Richmond, IN) he took me up on my first "coach dive" (I did static line so this was the first time I saw someone in freefall) ...we were supposed to just face eachother and I was to keep a heading.. we ended up doing about 4 docks!... it was the best time. He has also been very helpful when learning crew and accuracy (he is AWESOME at accuracy..jump a fury 220) it was really cool for me to see someone who had been in the sport for over 40 years and still kickin' it!_________________________________________ this space for rent. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GreenLight 5 #11 April 2, 2004 Larry Fatino....Green Light "Harry, why did you land all the way out there? Nobody else landed out there." "Your statement answered your question." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
StearmanR985 0 #12 April 2, 2004 Ed Pawlowski (Bodypilot1) He kept it real, safe and instilled confidence. Very important I think. Yep, still my favorite even if he does get mad at me for my canopy 'issues'. Jeffrey Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
smooth 0 #13 April 2, 2004 The first name that comes to mind for me is Steve "Pops" Connors (RIP). He was an inspiration for me when I first started jumping at Hinckley. Always fun to jump with and he had interesting stories to tell. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #14 April 2, 2004 Don "Doc" Stewart. This guys been jumping since Christ was a mess cook, has a great sense of humor. Nevermind he has the habit of taking students and pulling them under his wing for their first 40 jumps or so, helping them out long after they have their A license.--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nightingale 0 #15 April 2, 2004 There are three that are pretty much tied. I couldn't acknowledge one and not the others. 1. Raoul Gravell. I rode the plane down on my first attempt at level 2, on a saturday. My friends bought me a tandem to get back in the air, and I came back on monday, wanting to try level 2 again. Raoul sat me down and talked to me for over two hours, figuring out what happened on the last attempt, working on my gear-fear, and just generally going WAY out of his way to make sure I would have a good jump. He even almost completely took apart a rig to show me how it worked. Pulled the cutaway handle, showed me how the RSL worked, basically did everything he could without actually pulling a reserve. And then, he took me into the area where they had some extra rig parts and showed me a reserve pilot chute and freebag and how it worked. We went into the harness room and did emergency procedures, then went over the skydive, and got on a plane with Vinnie as reserve side JM. I had a great jump. 2. John Crowell John took me on my first tandem, and the second tandem mentioned above. I specifically requested him for the second tandem, because he's so relaxed in the plane that you feel silly being scared. I knew there was no way he was going to let me ride to altitude and then wuss again. We had a great jump! That monday, when I came back to do level 2, I still wasn't sure I wanted to jump. I sat on the bleachers near the school and watched a couple of loads land, looking up at the sky and wanting to be up there. John saw me, bounced over, and said "jumping today?" I shrugged. "I dunno. maybe. not sure yet." We made small talk for about half an hour, watching a few more loads land, and then he stood up, offered me a hand down from the bleachers, and said "ready to skydive?" I nodded and let him lead me into the school. 3. Shelly Crowell. Shelly taught my FJC. I jumped with her on several AFF levels. I was a little nervous about my first jump (well, ok, a lot nervous), so I requested her as my JM. She was main, Kai Wolf was reserve. Shelly just had this way of getting me to get my ass out of the plane when I got really scared. We set up in the door, Kai on the outside, me in the middle, and Shelly as main on the inside. I looked out the door. Shelly asked me "ready?" Me: "No." she just gave me the dirtiest look... that look said it all. that look said "do you mean to tell me I just wasted six hours of my time teaching you all this stuff and now you're not going to jump?" she just said "do you WANT to do this?" me: "oh. yeah! ok. lets go!" We had a great jump, and I had a stand-up landing. After I rode the plane down on level 2, Shelly went out of her way to come find me and introduce me to another girl student, who was a few levels ahead of me. After chatting with Shelly and Sara (the other student) for a while, I felt comfortable enough to do the tandem jump my friends had bought me. I think I can honestly say, if it weren't for these three people, there's no way I'd have ever made it through AFF. All three of them went way above what they had to do to do their jobs. They went completely out of their way to help someone who was completely terrified, yet still completely wanted to skydive. I owe them a ton of thanks...now that I think about it, I think some phone calls are in order. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites CanuckInUSA 0 #16 April 2, 2004 QuoteDefinitely my tandem instructor, Mike Pintamo. Mike and Captain Ron are definitely instructors who do make a (positive) difference. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Jen1129 0 #17 April 2, 2004 From my first jump, Greg Windmiller (DALAILAMA) and Chuck Blue (SkymonkeyOne). Trust me, it took a LOT of patience to get me through that jump! Then from Elsinore, like Darcy says everyone there is great, but Doug Forth (confidence and expertise), Mark Guinto (fun! and always patient with answering my questions), and Bryan Harrell (canopy control!) stand out the most. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites RoadRash 0 #18 April 2, 2004 Simon Powell-I don't know how the guy put up with me all the way through AFF...he deserved a metal or something extremely expensive like a car instead of beer. Hey, if you and Alex are reading this, I just want to say THANK YOU!!!!! ~R+R...He somehow graduated me off of AFF...that man is a saint...~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Fly the friendly skies...^_^...})ii({...^_~... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Vallerina 2 #19 April 2, 2004 Lieutenant Dan!!! My FJC instructor rocked! He did a great job at conveying information to us and keeping the class interesting. He would drive any of the Purdue students out to the dz. If there weren't enough jumpers to get the Cessna up, he'd pay for the extra slot so that you could get your student jumps in. He also restarted the Purdue Sport Parachute Club, so I am very thankful for that. Not only did he rock as an instructor, but he is such a great person, too. Out of all of the people I've ever met, he's definitely in the top five in the intelligence category (he supposedly invented something "neat-o" at the age of 23, and he received his PhD in physics faster than anyone else at Purdue ever has. He actually went from his undergrad straight to a PhD.) Plus, he was so funny! He is such a great person! Thanks for starting this thread! I haven't thought about him in awhile. I should write him an email or something!There's a thin line between Saturday night and Sunday morning Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites catfishhunter 1 #20 April 2, 2004 Annette at Sky Dive Ogden.... I still hear her voice in my head when I am about to or thinking about to.. do something stupid Fantastic Instructor and an Amazing woman. MAKE EVERY DAY COUNT Life is Short and we never know how long we are going to have. We must live life to the fullest EVERY DAY. Everything we do should have a greater purpose. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Skyrad 0 #21 April 2, 2004 FORREST?? that you?????? Without a doubt it would be Christine Angelo, cool on the ground amazing in the air and a Skychick of note!When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy. Lucius Annaeus Seneca Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites lawrocket 3 #22 April 2, 2004 I thik you took the words out of my mouth, with some differences. Yo Yo - simply a great dude! Doug - that guy's coolness and calm were striking. The guy is clean cut and muscular, like he could pinch my head like a zit. He did my first coach jump. I moved in for the first dock and he smiled bigtime! All was well, and debrief wonderful. Tom Riddick - I can't say anything but nice things about Tom. His instruction techniques (Socratic) are right up my alley. Seemed like his philosophy is, "You can do it, and you will do just fine." Shark - the kindest and most generous of anyone I ever jumped with. He wouldn't even accept a monetary tip from me. Jake Thompson - I've got more jumps with him than anyone. Great guy in the air, and a swell chap on the ground. Bryan - He tells you when you are doing well with his excitement in the air. Chris Gigandet - he wasn't a coach or an instructor. He was camera. I learned more on my jump with him than on any other. He explained what I needed to work on, and told me what to look for when studying my video of my first solo. Because of him, all my solos after AFF Grad were belly flights, since I really wanted to work on that stuff. My wife is hotter than your wife. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites GARYC24 3 #23 April 2, 2004 My first jump static line..June 15, 1986. "Larry Yohn" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites pajarito 0 #24 April 2, 2004 Warren "Toad" Bullen - He was my Instructor on my first AFF skydive as well as my Instructor when I got certified to do Tandems. He was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1999. Hell of a guy and a close friend of the family. He is missed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites diablopilot 2 #25 April 2, 2004 Zack Klutz - 1st Tandem. Nuff said, except that I was his 7th "real" tandem. (Found out MUCH later) Ray Ferrel - becaues after I threw the ripcord away on my second Tandem he said "OK, that'll be 12 bucks!" Mike McGrath - because on my 3rd tandem when we still had to do an unstable exit he made it fun rather than scary. Neil Wathen - 2 of my 4 AFF jumps. Calm, and collected. Never in a rush. Greg ??? - 2 of my 4 AFF jumps. Mellow and always made sure I understood what I was going to be doing.---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Prev 1 2 3 4 Next Page 1 of 4 Join the conversation You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible. Reply to this topic... × Pasted as rich text. Paste as plain text instead Only 75 emoji are allowed. × Your link has been automatically embedded. Display as a link instead × Your previous content has been restored. Clear editor × You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL. Insert image from URL × Desktop Tablet Phone Submit Reply 0
CanuckInUSA 0 #16 April 2, 2004 QuoteDefinitely my tandem instructor, Mike Pintamo. Mike and Captain Ron are definitely instructors who do make a (positive) difference. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jen1129 0 #17 April 2, 2004 From my first jump, Greg Windmiller (DALAILAMA) and Chuck Blue (SkymonkeyOne). Trust me, it took a LOT of patience to get me through that jump! Then from Elsinore, like Darcy says everyone there is great, but Doug Forth (confidence and expertise), Mark Guinto (fun! and always patient with answering my questions), and Bryan Harrell (canopy control!) stand out the most. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RoadRash 0 #18 April 2, 2004 Simon Powell-I don't know how the guy put up with me all the way through AFF...he deserved a metal or something extremely expensive like a car instead of beer. Hey, if you and Alex are reading this, I just want to say THANK YOU!!!!! ~R+R...He somehow graduated me off of AFF...that man is a saint...~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Fly the friendly skies...^_^...})ii({...^_~... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vallerina 2 #19 April 2, 2004 Lieutenant Dan!!! My FJC instructor rocked! He did a great job at conveying information to us and keeping the class interesting. He would drive any of the Purdue students out to the dz. If there weren't enough jumpers to get the Cessna up, he'd pay for the extra slot so that you could get your student jumps in. He also restarted the Purdue Sport Parachute Club, so I am very thankful for that. Not only did he rock as an instructor, but he is such a great person, too. Out of all of the people I've ever met, he's definitely in the top five in the intelligence category (he supposedly invented something "neat-o" at the age of 23, and he received his PhD in physics faster than anyone else at Purdue ever has. He actually went from his undergrad straight to a PhD.) Plus, he was so funny! He is such a great person! Thanks for starting this thread! I haven't thought about him in awhile. I should write him an email or something!There's a thin line between Saturday night and Sunday morning Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
catfishhunter 1 #20 April 2, 2004 Annette at Sky Dive Ogden.... I still hear her voice in my head when I am about to or thinking about to.. do something stupid Fantastic Instructor and an Amazing woman. MAKE EVERY DAY COUNT Life is Short and we never know how long we are going to have. We must live life to the fullest EVERY DAY. Everything we do should have a greater purpose. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skyrad 0 #21 April 2, 2004 FORREST?? that you?????? Without a doubt it would be Christine Angelo, cool on the ground amazing in the air and a Skychick of note!When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy. Lucius Annaeus Seneca Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lawrocket 3 #22 April 2, 2004 I thik you took the words out of my mouth, with some differences. Yo Yo - simply a great dude! Doug - that guy's coolness and calm were striking. The guy is clean cut and muscular, like he could pinch my head like a zit. He did my first coach jump. I moved in for the first dock and he smiled bigtime! All was well, and debrief wonderful. Tom Riddick - I can't say anything but nice things about Tom. His instruction techniques (Socratic) are right up my alley. Seemed like his philosophy is, "You can do it, and you will do just fine." Shark - the kindest and most generous of anyone I ever jumped with. He wouldn't even accept a monetary tip from me. Jake Thompson - I've got more jumps with him than anyone. Great guy in the air, and a swell chap on the ground. Bryan - He tells you when you are doing well with his excitement in the air. Chris Gigandet - he wasn't a coach or an instructor. He was camera. I learned more on my jump with him than on any other. He explained what I needed to work on, and told me what to look for when studying my video of my first solo. Because of him, all my solos after AFF Grad were belly flights, since I really wanted to work on that stuff. My wife is hotter than your wife. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GARYC24 3 #23 April 2, 2004 My first jump static line..June 15, 1986. "Larry Yohn" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pajarito 0 #24 April 2, 2004 Warren "Toad" Bullen - He was my Instructor on my first AFF skydive as well as my Instructor when I got certified to do Tandems. He was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1999. Hell of a guy and a close friend of the family. He is missed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
diablopilot 2 #25 April 2, 2004 Zack Klutz - 1st Tandem. Nuff said, except that I was his 7th "real" tandem. (Found out MUCH later) Ray Ferrel - becaues after I threw the ripcord away on my second Tandem he said "OK, that'll be 12 bucks!" Mike McGrath - because on my 3rd tandem when we still had to do an unstable exit he made it fun rather than scary. Neil Wathen - 2 of my 4 AFF jumps. Calm, and collected. Never in a rush. Greg ??? - 2 of my 4 AFF jumps. Mellow and always made sure I understood what I was going to be doing.---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
