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steve1

Scary stories from the old days?

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Just an Idea!

I love reading this thread - I just want to read more and more. There must be many more stories out there - some can only be told by an old timer verbally.

The younger divers need to go listen to these stories and write them down and bring them to the site for everyone to enjoy. It is your history.
Copyright 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 2013, 2014, 2015 by Jo Weber

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Static lining a reserve from the ceiling of the Kingdome, eh?
Look something like this?
(This is Dave Singer.)


Well, if I wasn't so drunk on Dave Singer's 2nd story boathouse after the Kingdome jump, I would've thought getting thrown off the balcony would've been the scariest 'jump' I made. I landed in the water OK, but barely missed the corner of the water level deck. Were we effing nuts or what?
Ted
D6691 SCR 3975 SCS 2242 NSCR 698
On the road to wrack and ruin…………
but making damn good time.

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Came by to see if anyone had posted anymore scary stories. The Cooper site has gotten out of hand and I need some R&R. Come on you guys - I know you got more stories in you and I want to read all of them.
Copyright 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 2013, 2014, 2015 by Jo Weber

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Well, there was the time I "went in" at a Z-Hills Turkey Meet during the 10-way competition with a main/reserve entanglement following a pilot chute in tow.



I remember that Jim! I followed you down. We were really worried because we didn't have an alternate for the team. After we got you out of the tree that saved your life and figured out that you were OK our only concern was- Who had a spare rig so we could make the next competition jump! What are friends for?
:P

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I remember you and Mike Arbour (sp?) being on the scene quickly. I actually had four complete rigs at the time since I was working at Pioneer. I think we were up for round two an hour or so later.

Had to buy two cases of beer that night - first double mal and first time I went in.
"A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

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I remember you and Mike Arbour (sp?) being on the scene quickly. I actually had four complete rigs at the time since I was working at Pioneer. I think we were up for round two an hour or so later.

Had to buy two cases of beer that night - first double mal and first time I went in.



That was some of the best tasting beer I ever drank! We were truly grateful that you were around that night to buy it. If you hadn't gone into that tree we would have been having a wake. It was one of the most amazing things I have witnessed. And if I never said it to you before, I was really impressed that you got right back into the airplane so soon after it happened.

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I was really impressed that you got right back into the airplane so soon after it happened.



You know what they say sometimes. If you give yourself time to think it over, chances are you get more scared later. I have done the same thing. Canopy collision down low that kills the other skydiver (messed me up in the head for sure), I was back out skydiving the next weekend. Another time, I had a hard spinning malfunction and low cutaway that I barely cleared the forest to make it back to the DZ on a state record attempt, I simply grabbed a backup rig and went up on the next attempt. Another time a leg strap inexplicably got pulled loose all the way to the end and flapped against my leg only after I started tracking away and I spent nearly too much time trying to pull it tight because I felt for sure if I dumped either main or reserve with a loose strap I would end up with a double mal. Got it tight and dumped main, in the saddle by 500 feet. Back up on the next load. A few other near incidents, same move. Nowadays, I can go 6 months without jumping and simply go up and jump, no problem. Call it muscle or mental memory I guess. But I would be rusty after more than a year I'm sure.
"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

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Well, there was the time I "went in" at a Z-Hills Turkey Meet during the 10-way competition with a main/reserve entanglement following a pilot chute in tow.



I remember that Jim! I followed you down. We were really worried because we didn't have an alternate for the team. After we got you out of the tree that saved your life and figured out that you were OK our only concern was- Who had a spare rig so we could make the next competition jump! What are friends for?
:P



:D:D:D

And THAT post / reply 'Ladies & Germs' ~

decribes skydiving "Back In The Day" B|










~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

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I was also in the Ft. Devens Trojan Sport Parachute Club, 77-79. Still have the patch to prove it. Great times. One of my jumpmasters was Dave Smith. I heard he went on to make the Golden Knights. We jumped in Pepperell, MA, next to the creek, forest, and motocross track. I landed in a tree my first jump but kept jumping. I had a chance to be in the first all-military eight-way but we didn't jump because of the wind. I would have been the least experienced - needless to say part of the base. I worked at the hospital (Darnall) and most of my jumping friends were Special Forces. Anyone else at Devens back then?

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Hey Jack, living in Milan Michigan? What is there except for Milan Prison, is that where you are?...almost drove off the hiway one nite on my motorcycle after staring at the lights coming from the Milan Prison, riding back from a day of jumping in Tecumseh... I remember standing next to you at Z-hills watching this belgium jumper having a double mal going in next to the big tree at the far end of the field where my tent was pitched and everyone turning their heads so as not to watch and then hearing both of us cheering for joy because the round reserve popped in the last second and he lived...the folks who turned their heads away thought we were slightly twisted for cheering a person going in, until they realized...asked the guy later what was going thru his mind and he said how bummed he was because he had worked so long for this skydiving vactation in Florida and how it was now coming to an end before making many jumps....Another story with you I remember is coming back from a "miller" demo in south florida after jumping into a volley ball game, the day after Peter Genau died who was supposed to be in your slot but wasn't due to the fact that he was preparing for the demo doing CRW and had a low wrap...you were in the front right seat of that twin airplane at the controls flying just above the water like a drug runner, off the florida coast line, scared the shit out of several sailors and windsurfers. Barbone and I think it was Billy and a couple others were in in the back drinking beers...

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Yeah Eric, watching that Belgian kid NOT go in was one of the coolest things I have ever seen in skydiving!!!!

It was the first jump of his vacation at Z-hills. He was jumping a rig with a pull out pilot chute and did a lazy throw, leaving the pilot chute flopping on his back. He pulled his cutaway then his reserve. Both pilot chutes left him at the same time and got tangled together. His main came out of the bag and was was a big blob completely free of, but anchored above, his stretched out round reserve. We figured out later that the huge amount of drag from the ball of main parachute was fighting the pull from the jumpers weight and keeping the base of the round reserve from letting air in. As his body went below that big tree out in the landing area the reserve suddenly opened. The few of us that didn't turn away started cheering and those that didn't see it open thought we were some sick puppies until the kid got up and started jumping around without a scratch. That reserve opened at the absolute lowest possible altitude for him to survive.

As far as the flight back from the Demo, I now make my living as a pilot so I don't know what your talking about. You must have mistaken me for someone else.

;)

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His first name was Rob. I went down to ZHills for a few days just a couple of days after he had nearly bounced and made a half dozen jumps with him in early November/1983. He told me he got his reserve canopy open about 10 feet off the deck. Does that agree with your memory?

He was as surprised as anybody else that he was alive but he said he kept shaking the risers right until the reserve opened. He landed hard but was obviously pretty much completely unhurt.

Keep pulling shit until your goggles fill with blood!
--
Murray

"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

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His first name was Rob. I went down to ZHills for a few days just a couple of days after he had nearly bounced and made a half dozen jumps with him in early November/1983. He told me he got his reserve canopy open about 10 feet off the deck. Does that agree with your memory?

He was as surprised as anybody else that he was alive but he said he kept shaking the risers right until the reserve opened. He landed hard but was obviously pretty much completely unhurt.

Keep pulling shit until your goggles fill with blood!



That's right Murray, his name was Rob. And yes, he opened at ten feet or less. I remember now about him saying he was pulling on the risers all the way down. He bought his beer too!!!

:o

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HUh!

The only other guy I know that opened that low (and lived!) - broke both his feet on line-stretch.

But that's a story for another day.
If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead.
Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

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HUh!

The only other guy I know that opened that low (and lived!) - broke both his feet on line-stretch.

But that's a story for another day.



There was another one that got busted all over and spent weeks in ICU after nearly going in at an old DZ near Birmingham. Sometime before I started skydiving. I don't remember the details but she may not have had anything out, and then pulled the reserve at the last possible instant. I think she had something like 30 broken bones, maybe more. Think of Dead Mike Vederman at Quincy '97. It was about that bad.
"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

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Ok here is one of them: You can blame Jewels for this.

Sorry it is a long one, hope you like.

Let me put a small history on this first. Was practically born at the Dallas Parachute Association in 1967, spent 16 years there packing for first jump students or experienced , teaching the PLF portion of the first jump course,using the orange paddles (no radios yet) to guide students back to the peas and sold landing photos with my Handle Instamatic camera. I started doing this all by the time I was six years old. So I cant tell you how many times I have seen folks land on a building, trees, ponds whatever. So I should know to cut away in most circumstances (buildings that is). Aslo be aware that I grew up around broken bones especially legs and arms with my parents and the round canopies. I solo'd a glider at 14 and our 172 at 16. So I was pretty good at making it back to the DZ or airport. Made my first jump in 1984 on static line under a square, one foot stand up in the peas. Knocked out about 12 jumps in a couple of weekends, but then only made about 40 jumps till 1993.

So I was living in KC MO and had gotten back into the sport, my family came to MO. on 6-19-93 (fathers day) and we flew around to a few DZ'z visiting. My mother was president of USPA at the time so all the DZ's thought it was cool to meet the president. AFF was not an easy rating to get at the time, but my father and brother had theirs, the DZ I had made the recent 4 jumps at didnt have any so we had a "modified" program, I think it was called ASL-accelerated static line. shhhh lets not talk about that one.

After my father asked where I wanted to jump I said lets go back to where I had made my 4 in the last few weeks, wide open DZ plenty of outs good DZ.So I was ready to make my level 5, it had been raining all day and the winds were around 21-24, (maybe mistake No1, I do believe I could have handled it, but we will never know) yes a bit high but I was ok with it. I had a radio but I was rarely ever given any instructions due to my experience, so I told my instructor at the time (who was also the DZO) dont talk to me unless I get downwind.

So we hire Jaime Paul for video and my dad and brother take me up, dad was just lurking and brother was the only instructor. We left the Twin Bo, I flipped us, got stable, arched so hard my brother had a hard time staying with me, but it was a good dive and I completed all my tasks. Deployed on time (but not without the springloaded PC hitting me in the back of the head like it always did first) and started to do my thing. Immediately the DZO started to talk to me, I thought to myself uh oooh I must be screwing up... Didnt know how or why but I decided to listen and let him have COMPLETE CONTROL (mistake No2.)

My mother is at the peas doing ground video, Jaime and the others have landed and now there are two ground videos.

Im following radio to a T.... He takes me barely down wind of the AC hangar and has me do a small S turn (mistake no 3). I am to fly over the building to the peas. So here is what my final looks like. Rectangular asphalt (newly laid I might add) I am directly over the middle of it. The hangar is in front with a small packing shed to each side, on the left side is the parking lot filled with cars. Behind me is the manifest building, to my right is a tandem on final, and the Twin Bo is coming in under me to park.. This is a DZ on a large piece of land with very few buildings and they were all bunched together as i described so its really a nice layout.

I come out of the S turn and stop! No where nada, zilch, just straight down, guessing at 100'. Now I know I have a problem, so hell I figure front risers, I think it was a 220 manta, so I pull on them for a bit (no i was not taught this I just knew about it), but then as i watched the nose I thought: man I wonder If i can flip it under and collapse this damn thing? So I let them go. I started to get a bit of drive but not much, then I hear over the radio, are you going to make it? Im like WTF??? I cant answer you its a one way radio? And NO Im not.
The hangar: its a slanted open front pull in hangar, no doors. So the front is 24' tall and the back(pea side) is 7' tall.
As i start to get more drive I am over it doing now what would be a perfect swoop only 1.5 feet over it, and my decent rate is equal to the roof, I was going to make it, barely, yes it was scary but it was perfectly doable. As i get to the middle of it I hear FLARE FLARE FLARE......So what did I do as a student that gave up complete control at 4K earlier?? I freakn flared!! Mistake No 4

With the winds and the canopy it set me down gently on the roof as i was falling on my back, while pulling me UP the hangar.
I was on the hangar for 1.2 sec (based on the two videos) but it was a lifetime of thoughts and reactions. I still remember every detail and here they are:

As I was sliding up I thought, ok cutaway, no you have an RSL and its 24mph winds it will inflate mistake No 5}
So I pulled the left toggle as fast as i could, had the tail at the grommet, the canopy quickly turned over, my thoughts were to have it hit the other side of the hangar nose first so it would collapse (not sure if that was a mistake or not and will never really know, my guess it it was not). But here was mistake No 6, there was no "other side " it was not an A frame roof, some how I had forgotten that after i flew over it. As I watched the canopy fly over the side and accelerate I realized I'm in real trouble, no worries, as i get to the peak of the roof I will grab onto something and save myself. Mistake No 7, there was nothing there was no more roof! I realized this as I saw the asphalt in the corner of my left eye 24' below. I am now coming off the building with an inflated canopy flying down, Im like a rock at the end of a string as you swing it around. Im leaving the roof on my back, head first with a large packed reserve on my back and neck. I thought I cant land like this it will kill me or paralyze me so I flipped over and now I am belly to earth (correct move NO 1). Im in freefall thinking f&%^& I cant land like this either, so I kick as hard as i could to get my feet beneath me, while also bringing them and my arms together for a PLF. Correct move NO 2. I am falling at least at 20+ mph and I thought there is no way you can PLF but I dont want my knees hitting my face. So I left my feet and knees together and shifted my upper body to the left, getting my legs off to my right and no longer below me. Correct move No3.
Next thing I know I am on the ground on my left side and not able to breathe and have something funny in my vision. I lay the for a second and think breathe, breathe, breathe, and I got my air back, then I realized my protek had shifted on my head and was blocking my vision, ok no problem. Now how screwed up am I, body check. So I start at my head, ok check, it feels good, (not moving just flexing and trying to be aware of inuries) neck, ok, chest...etc I get to my knees and determine they were good. Then I thought ok Im done checking cause I know I have problems below the knees but I really dont care at this time cause those are repairable. (turned out that they couldn't repair the ankle and still cant but hey Im walking)

The were two EMT jumpers (one died later thats season in a 206 crash when he switched DZ's) who start to work me. Im on my back and I see my dad walk up with a camcorder and say, "might as well get video Im sure he'll want it". I gave him a thumbs up. I remember them asking me what day it was? I hesitated, cause I really didnt know, but I didnt want to say that so I said not a F$&%&%&g good one. The ambulance arrived and it took three tries to get me in it as they almost dropped me each time. Backboard, neck brace and strapped in, that could have hurt.
I remember looking down and seeing my foot facing the wrong way with what looked like two knuckles sticking out, no blood, that was the last time I looked. The local hospital looked and laughed and said you got to be kidding me, we cant do anything thing with that send him to KC an hour away. They took the card board off and used an air bag for support. They wanted to cut my borrowed jumpsuit (worth about $10) off and I said no, undress me i said, they did and I regretted it. Next time give me the morphine first I mumbled. It took three days to convince the Dr to xray my wrist, he didnt believe I broke it. When he did he came back and said it was broke in two places, I said "I know".

For three days I could not figure out how I broke my wrist, I didnt reach out when I fell, so how did it happen? It was my 4th day in the hospital and I had been also trying to figure out why I had a tear drop shaped black bruise running the length between my wrist and elbows on both arms. Well I rolled over to my left side to go to sleep and laid my right arm on top of my left to lay my head on my hands. Well thts when I did i realized that they matched! I figure I had pulled my arms apart about 4" just before I hit on my side. In doing so this allowed my right arm to slam down on my left thus flopping my hand down and back up so fast and hard that it snapped my wrist on both sides. I was really excited in solving that mystery. LOL

I do believe this would have killed me if i hadnt done what I did after leaving the hangar. My ankle is fusing itself, I limp a while each day, replacements are still too far behind in technology so Im in pain every day. But I have made over 1400 jumps since and I can walk.

So I have great video from Airplane to Ambulance!!:(

Oh and BTW once I regained my canopy confidence back (which did take a long time) I went 642 jumps with out falling down.

Sometime I will share the premature deployment on a four way meat missle with harness grips. His bag hit him in the face just as we left and he and I were wrapped up in his lines at 9K with the canopy still in the bag...:S


Oh it took me 7 months to recover, so I waited till fathers day 1994 to go back out and start again. I flew over that hangar and my divit in the asphalt on purpose and stood it up with NO Radio! Scared shitless.




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So the front is 24' tall and the back(pea side) is 7' tall.



OSHA reqs say to be tied off above 4feet! wtf were thinking not tieing off Sir? I know you said that there was nothing to grip on as you went over the side, but maybe a little planning ahead next time aye....;);)

Glad your still around too UDS! ALL you "back in those days" jumpers.... You old farts, my envy is your smiles and stories... I came over here from another thread! I have alot of catching up to do!

Happy New and safe Year to you ALL!!

BLUEONEs :DD

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I liked this part best:

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[I was] using the orange paddles (no radios yet) to guide students back to the peas . . . I started doing this all by the time I was six years old. So I can't tell you how many times I have seen folks land on a building, trees, ponds whatever.



Thanks!
Mark

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