Zing 2
If I was to tell the truth, no one would believe it ... and there is that thing about the statute on limitations and ... uh ... protecting the not-so-innocent.
Zing Lurks
longtall 0
And speaking of scary stories;
Remember Greg Robinson chasing the unconcious jumper out of the DC-4 and catching her over Coolidge. We heard of the save after we landed. It took a while before he could let go of her ripcord.
Man that DC-4 was cool; got my SCS out of the 4.
Remember Greg Robinson chasing the unconcious jumper out of the DC-4 and catching her over Coolidge. We heard of the save after we landed. It took a while before he could let go of her ripcord.
Man that DC-4 was cool; got my SCS out of the 4.
" 90 right, five miles then cut."---Pukin Buzzards
longtall 0
Thom
Man I love that site of yours and the stories from back in the day. Ive been jumping in Albuquerque for years now and had the pleasure of jumping with Frank Halcrom among others. Thanks for the inspiration................................J..........................
Man I love that site of yours and the stories from back in the day. Ive been jumping in Albuquerque for years now and had the pleasure of jumping with Frank Halcrom among others. Thanks for the inspiration................................J..........................
" 90 right, five miles then cut."---Pukin Buzzards
bozo 0
QuoteAnd speaking of scary stories;
Remember Greg Robinson chasing the unconcious jumper out of the DC-4 and catching her over Coolidge. We heard of the save after we landed. It took a while before he could let go of her ripcord.
Man that DC-4 was cool; got my SCS out of the 4.
I was walking back down the tarmac, with my gear.....when that girl landed in a bush. She was unconcious and everybody was running out to see what had happened. That was quite a boogie.
bozo
Pain is fleeting. Glory lasts forever. Chicks dig scars.
Guru312 0
QuoteI was just wondering if anyone had a scary jump story from way back when? Steve1
Does 'scary jump' cover reactions among the spectators?
In 1963 I was jumping in Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, at a place called the Troop Farm which wasn't a DZ, just a huge pasture the owner allowed us to use. The location had no airstrip and we had to drive 10 miles to the airport.
At the time, I owned a business doing R&D in the pyrotechnic and munitions field and was working on smoke grenade delivery systems for jumping. We were working on devices to replace the military surplus M-18.
I had an old smoke bracket I made from bending and banging on a metal strap from an Army bunk which allowed my boot heel to fit inside the U and the grenade to be held without touching the boot. Because some grenades got VERY hot we didn't want them to burn our boots. More than one jumper learned that jumping with HC white smoke was a bad idea. I was experimenting with a bracket and ignition system during a planned 4-man exit out of a Cessna 182. [In the early 60s, RW hadn't evolved to the point our group understood body flying. We were still trying to pass a baton (an old broom stick with tire tape) and thought it was a real thrill to see anyone else in freefall.]
This particular Sunday my mother, my sister and some neighbors came out to watch. I told my mom that I'd be jumping with the red smoke and the other guys were jumping green or blue. [Remember how lousy some M-18 colors were for jumping?! My company, PyroDynamics, Inc. was working with Steve Snyder Enterprises to develop ignition systems and color/burn mixtures that didn't burn too hot or too long...specifically for jumping.]
When we got to the airport the pilot said he had overfilled his plane and he could take only three of us to 12,500. Since cellphones didn't exist we had no way to communicate back to the DZ that only three guys would be jumping instead of the planned four.
On jump run I put my right foot out on the step and pulled the pin on the grenade. Apparently, I hadn't flattened the pin well enough for it to extract easily. I had to hank and pull very hard which loosened and twisted the bracket so the grenade slipped to under my foot. Plus, the grenade didn't light because something was hung up and keeping the handle from disengaging.
As I was screwing around with the grenade the other guys were yelling, "The spot...the spot...where's the friggin' spot?!" I grabbed the non-burning grenade and bracket assembly from under my foot and flipped it into the plane as I moved out over the wheel. When the grenade landed inside the plane, something--the jarring or banging--caused the grenade to finally ignite and the cockpit filled with thick oily red smoke. The pilot was screaming "Get that fucking thing out of here I can't see!"
As I fell away from the plane looking up I saw the other two guys and my smoking grenade leave the plane. All three grenades were burning with mine not attached to me.
Because of the 'situation' with my grenade on jump run we weren't even close to the spot. Maybe a mile or two off...way off!. Remember: 7-TU main...not a PC or a square!
Why is this a scary story? Because my mother and my relatives--expecting four jumpers--saw me fall to my death beyond a distant hill while trailing red smoke. For at least an hour my mom thought I was dead. She became hysterical because the other guys got back to the packing area well before I did.
Strangely, no family member ever came out to watch me jump after that.
Guru312
I am not DB Cooper
I am not DB Cooper
steve1 5
Great story Guru 312! Brought back a lot of memories. Tell us another one....
heres one for ya. at a dz in new jersey (circa 1972). first jump student(static line) made a lousy exit and caused a bag lock.this guys body position was basically the fetal position with his hands covering the front mounted reserve. at 1000 ft the sentinal fired but reserve did not deploy immediately because student was holding it closed.around 3-400 feet somehow the reserve pilotchute got out and deployed the reserve,which then opened ..exit point was just off the western end of the runway and this guy went screaming by some poor old student pilot at around 300 feet.! the pilot radioed back to the airport that some guy had just bounced as he had no open parachute as he zipped past the left wing 100 feet or so.
tbrown 26
Not anything dramatic, but what often passed for canopy condition and repair. For a year or so, 1976 - '77 I owned a 1964 RW&B Paracommander, one of the first ever made, it still had a 1.1 oz. apex (later models almost immediately were entirely 2.2 oz. taffeta). Anyway, taffeta or not, the thing was a real beater, but I loved it desperately.
It was so shot that one time while I was packing it, one of our pilots accidently stepped on a panel as I was flaking the panels and it tore. The pilot even said "Eeeeee". I told him not to worry and just slapped some silver duct tape on it. We had ripstop tape, but I considered the stuff a waste of good money because it wouldn't adhere worth a shit. You'd go to all this trouble cutting out a piece and putting it on, when you knew it would just blow off on your next opening anyway. So I said fuck it and switched to duct tape. That stuff really worked. It held up, didn't blow off, and gradually seemed to kind of merge into the canopy fabric. The 2.2 oz. fabric was so heavy anyway it didn't make any difference. I never had a problem with it and swore by it. The next year I bought an almost new Sparrow canopy (think 21 ft mini PC clone made of lightweight ripstop) with a brand new hand deploy Hanbury system. Thankfully, I don't think anyone ever jumped my PC again, but I never felt the least doubt or hesitation about jumping that thing. I wasn't alone either, there were plenty of people jumping horrific old piles of crap that didn't let them down either. I guess that's some kind of testament to how well they are/were built - even when they go to shit they're still good.
Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !
It was so shot that one time while I was packing it, one of our pilots accidently stepped on a panel as I was flaking the panels and it tore. The pilot even said "Eeeeee". I told him not to worry and just slapped some silver duct tape on it. We had ripstop tape, but I considered the stuff a waste of good money because it wouldn't adhere worth a shit. You'd go to all this trouble cutting out a piece and putting it on, when you knew it would just blow off on your next opening anyway. So I said fuck it and switched to duct tape. That stuff really worked. It held up, didn't blow off, and gradually seemed to kind of merge into the canopy fabric. The 2.2 oz. fabric was so heavy anyway it didn't make any difference. I never had a problem with it and swore by it. The next year I bought an almost new Sparrow canopy (think 21 ft mini PC clone made of lightweight ripstop) with a brand new hand deploy Hanbury system. Thankfully, I don't think anyone ever jumped my PC again, but I never felt the least doubt or hesitation about jumping that thing. I wasn't alone either, there were plenty of people jumping horrific old piles of crap that didn't let them down either. I guess that's some kind of testament to how well they are/were built - even when they go to shit they're still good.
Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !
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