low_pull1 2 #1001 July 5, 2009 We were all wearing shorts and diving fins ............. ive done rw in swim finns.....mid/late 80s... was interesting Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jbrasher 0 #1002 July 6, 2009 Bill, Just adding to your advice. Back about 76-77 a few of us went to Lake Elizabella one weekend for promised water jumps. Of course the winds stayed at 25+ all day. One of my buddies, Paul L. decided to go for a land jump because the water jumps where caled off. He had a PC Guess were he landed Yep (you knew it was coming), in the lake and started leaving a wake like a speed boat. A real speed boat finally overtook him and brought him back. He never got too wet because he was being pulled on his back by the PC. A week or 2 later I asked him whether he'd gotten his reserve (piggyback) repacked after drying it out and he said OH. When the ripcord was pulled nothing opened; it was a solid brick; luckily he didn't need it before he got it repacked. Red, White and Blue Skies, John T. Brasher D-5166 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skybill 18 #1003 July 6, 2009 Hi JB, "Thats A Good One!!!" Shows to go ya' a "still wet" canopy may gve ya' a rock hard opening whereas after it dries out "in the pack" it will be "ROCK HARD!!!" with no opening!! The Reaper Lurks!!! BSBDJB!!!!!!!! Good hearin' from ya'!!SCR-2034, SCS-680 III%, Deli-out Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steve1 5 #1004 July 7, 2009 I met a guy who told me a water jump story. He'd made a couple water jumps (back in the 70's), but for whatever reason he didn't get his belly reserve repacked. I don't know if this guy had a death wish or what. He knew that his reserve was now probably full of mold, but he kept right on jumping with it. Weeks later, he had a malfunction. Guess what?.....it worked fine. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skybill 18 #1005 July 8, 2009 Hi Stevie, Shows to go ya' the dif xtwn a bellywart and a pig! Bellywarts don't need a Jesus cord and they are in a good location for easy access to beat on to get to work!! 'Seen a few dried out pack jobs on the table all crinkled up!! Would they have worked?? I'd still not want that to be the last egg in the basket to use!!SCR-2034, SCS-680 III%, Deli-out Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skybill 18 #1006 July 9, 2009 Hi Stevie, To add on a bit about the "dried out-wet reserve" back a few cases of beer ago I used to work for scurvyirvin scare-o-space and we built all kinds of chutes, mainly non-personnel, and because of customer requirements we usually had to get a lot of chute in a very small and wierd shaped space. "so," we broke out the hydraulic ram and a lot of em' got squeezed to the density of 50 lbs. per cubic foot!!! Then we wrapped the thing in a plastic envelope, hooked it up to a vacuum pump and "baked" it in a large oven we had at 180*F for usually 8 hrs. S.O.P. "They worked!!" Don't know what kind of rig that JB's buddy had that table totaled but the question I have is why didn't the spring from the P/C have enough strength to kick open a couple of flaps?? May have been some other reasons besides being "dried out" that kept it shut??SCR-2034, SCS-680 III%, Deli-out Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Douggarr 6 #1007 July 10, 2009 Bill Booth's power line story has to be the best, weirdest. Before he was killed at Watkins Glen in the famous rock concert bandit jump, Bill Smith nearly went in on a demo at a VFW Hall. I had already landed and watched him smoke it down to about a ground. His PC streamered and when he finally cut away he got his reserve out just in time for maybe two or three oscillations. Hit the sloped shingles of a one-story building, slid into a snowbank, and popped up as if nothing happened. We figured he had opening shock at about 75 feet and had only a few seconds under canopy. Surely there have been closer calls, but this happened right in front of me. I had only 76 jumps at the time and it scared the bejesus out of me. Read about in my book, "Between Heaven and Earth: An Adventure in Free Fall."SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dks13827 2 #1008 July 12, 2009 John Combs C-9774 finally arrived ........ i have not seen this name in a long time, is he among the living? John B. Combs,, attorney in Edmond, OK !!! you betcha !!!! in the phone book, too. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 6 #1009 July 12, 2009 Quote May have been some other reasons besides being "dried out" that kept it shut?? Karma! ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 6 #1010 July 19, 2009 Quote I was just wondering if anyone had a scary jump story from way back when? Steve1 Going through boxes of old pics I had in storage and found this one of me on my 21st birthday doing a solo demo into the backyard at my folks place...couldda bin worse. 2nd pic is of me and the Mighty Kaptain K that I've written about a few times ~circa 1977. ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jumpwally 0 #1011 July 19, 2009 Hard to see ,,whats going on in the demo pic ? what was the outcome ? smile, be nice, enjoy life FB # - 1083 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 6 #1012 July 19, 2009 Quote Hard to see ,,whats going on in the demo pic ? what was the outcome ? I jumped from a C-172...the pic was from a C-150 at or about a grand, couple friends were supposed to circle me and do a low pass after I landed in the folks yard. The pic is what a spider-slider knotting up a 252 looks like, my hands are on the cape-wells...questionable visibility with all the smoke going up in my face. I landed a 23' Tri-Con in the street, a block or so away from the party...my dad ran all the way there to hand me my 1st 'official' beer as an 'adult'. Probably the best tasting chillybrewdog I've ever had! ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jumpwally 0 #1013 July 19, 2009 Nice, Very cool....smile, be nice, enjoy life FB # - 1083 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Matitemel 0 #1014 July 20, 2009 Yeah me too it was not me but my dad, like quatorze. He jumped and the parachute didn't open ... he just open the safety one at about 100m before landing!!!! he felt dow in a tree!!! He was really lucky !! he just got a leg broken .. fortunately..coz I think that some people wd have died for it !!! (sorry for my english, I'm french!!)Mélanie Check out my new website!!! :) www.greentimes.com.au or the page on FB Green Times !!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steve1 5 #1015 July 20, 2009 Nice looking gear Airtwardo! I had a nice rig back then. I took a quarter off school just to save enough money for it. Everyone who was still jumping B-12's called me a gear freak. I didn't care I loved my Super-Pro and Red-devil P.C. That demo jump looks crowded..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lilchief 0 #1016 August 24, 2009 Awww...WHAT a great thread. It has taken me 5 days to finish reading it, but it was sure worth it!!! Nice to read it while my broken neck heals. Twardo, your stories rock! There's also some 8 stories left that is reffered in this thread as "another long story", elbow in the ribs or due to Statue of limitation. Can't wait to hear them!! I've got some scary moments in my short career, but compared to this they're kinder garden stuff! Maybe in 20 years they'll qualify. But I'll chip in a story from the modern days, April 2003. The jumper took SL course in the early 80 in the army and jumped a mini sport rig with a 23" Russian model PC from Pioneer(DOM around 74) with a 24 PISA reserve(DOM early 80's). So it was almost like back in the days We had our clubs 35th anniversary and decided to jump the old PC to celebrate. We got the required permission from our organization here in Noway(we needed it due to the old and well used rig and for insurance). The jump was made over the down town area from 10-5-ish with a 4way star. They broke off at 5 pulled and landed. The jump was fun an uneventful...we thought. A couple of hours later, one the members of the club watched the 7pm news, when a story caught his attention. There was a mystery in town. Somehow a 5lb weight had made it's way through the garage roof, front window of a Mercedes and stood firmly in the dashboard. Police was in dire needs to find any witnesses to find the origin and cause of it. The jumper watching, who was part of the club board at the time, thought the weight seemed pretty familiar. he called the cops and informed them that it was our clubs weight! He then got the media and police to follow him to the house where he made an public apology to the owner. It was all covered by insurance, so there was no real issue. We ended up with lots of good PR and filled our SL courses for the rest of the yearNow..here what happened: The jumper while packing the old PC used 4 5lb weights to press out the air and hold it down after having it stretched. He then of course forgot in the packjob and jumped it. Since it was on the outside of the panels it bounced of and away from him. Remember this was over the downtown area? The droppoint was over one of my city's most populated residential areas, much similar to typical American suburbs. It was in addition a kinder garden and a elementary school was within 200 yards from where the weight landed. To say we were lucky is an understatement. It could have had a much more deadly outcome But while we were unaware of this mystery projectile from the skies, some balloon pilots had some tough interrogation with the local police. They were, in the police mind, the responsible since they were the only ones flying in the area...even if they actually were 8 miles east of us. The police an local ATC didn't ad 1+1=2 and remembers that a cessna had passed over WITH jumpers in it. So they blamed the ballon pilots, who tried hard to prove their innocence, while we thought all's good The retrieved weight was quickly modifed with a 1" silk tape with the letters: "Please remove before flight"(see pic) Last year we thought about puling of another jump with the same canopy and jumper to mark our 40th anniversary. The email sent to the S&T committee asking if we could jump it again had a little subnote saying: "We'll leave the weight out this time" And to top it off, one of the other oldtimers in our club, and good friend of the jumper, had made a mock-up of the weight in question in foam, put it on his head and laid there waiting for the PC jumper to land. "Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you long to return." - Da Vinci www.lilchief.no Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Niki1 1 #1017 August 24, 2009 Yeah, things falling from the sky can be embarassing. It sounds like the DZ guy did the right thing in this case by fessing up (and theres no such thing as bad publicityI would think that the Statute of Limitations has expiree on this one but here it is: It was the mid '80s at DeLand and the RWS. In the testing for the TSO on the tandem reserve, (I think Bill Booth had just started using PD 360s and Bill Coe had told him that the Relative Workshop would have to get the TSO) One of the tests is "Rate of Desent" How do we measure that accurately? Well, we take a 5 lb. weight and attach it to a 100" line, put that on the drop test dummy and time the last 100' to the ground. Sounds great. The "Common Sense" part was touched upon but not overly emphasised. Bill trusted me to do it correctly as I had through most of the test drops for the tandem equipment. (Along with inventing the "Molar" meathod but that's abother story) We load the rubber dummy in the Twin Beech along with the other dummy (me) and the fool I got to help me. We take off on runway 27, ciimb and make a left turn over town to come back around at 2,000". As we're over town, I tell my ASSinstant to put the weight out and I watch him just toss it out the door instead of lowering it. Too late I yell, "NO, NO,NO" I tell him to pull the line back in and he does so easily because there is no longer a 5 lb. weight at the end. I go tell the pilot (who shall remain nameless) that we should go to plan B. We secure the drop test dummy, and WE get out over the DZ and the pilot goes to Bunnell for breadfast. Bill wasn't too hard on us figureing that a 5 lb. weight falling 100' should have been OK with the 550 suspension line but I knew better. The lesson I learned was that if it's not said, it can't be understood. Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skybill 18 #1018 August 26, 2009 Quote Yeah, things falling from the sky can be embarassing. It sounds like the DZ guy did the right thing in this case by fessing up (and theres no such thing as bad publicityI would think that the Statute of Limitations has expiree on this one but here it is: It was the mid '80s at DeLand and the RWS. In the testing for the TSO on the tandem reserve, (I think Bill Booth had just started using PD 360s and Bill Coe had told him that the Relative Workshop would have to get the TSO) One of the tests is "Rate of Desent" How do we measure that accurately? Well, we take a 5 lb. weight and attach it to a 100" line, put that on the drop test dummy and time the last 100' to the ground. Sounds great. The "Common Sense" part was touched upon but not overly emphasised. Bill trusted me to do it correctly as I had through most of the test drops for the tandem equipment. (Along with inventing the "Molar" meathod but that's abother story) We load the rubber dummy in the Twin Beech along with the other dummy (me) and the fool I got to help me. We take off on runway 27, ciimb and make a left turn over town to come back around at 2,000". As we're over town, I tell my ASSinstant to put the weight out and I watch him just toss it out the door instead of lowering it. Too late I yell, "NO, NO,NO" I tell him to pull the line back in and he does so easily because there is no longer a 5 lb. weight at the end. I go tell the pilot (who shall remain nameless) that we should go to plan B. We secure the drop test dummy, and WE get out over the DZ and the pilot goes to Bunnell for breadfast. Bill wasn't too hard on us figureing that a 5 lb. weight falling 100' should have been OK with the 550 suspension line but I knew better. The lesson I learned was that if it's not said, it can't be understood. Hi Bob, 5 lb weight eh? At least it didn't wrap around the elevator like the one my old ex rigging buddy who used to work with me at scurvyirvey did to GenePaul's Twin Bo at lumberton with Geeter flyin!! That one wrapped around the elevator and beat the shit out of the tailcone!!! Lucky for them it wrapped with a litttle "UP" elevator instead of "DOWN!!" The dude "HAD" to have not just a picture but also a video of all scurvyirvy's upper management ...you know the story about the goat!!! Why??? They blamed "me" for "his" fuckup and I "WAS ON THE GROUND and didn't get to the airport with Jim Nipper till an hour after that happened!!!" Go Figure!!! Next time yer at Raeford ask GenePaul and or Geeter!!!! Oh BTW, as for the tailcone, thanx to "Duck Tape" it got a "temp field repair!!" PS, If anyone wants to know about the "Goat," go ask Bob.SCR-2034, SCS-680 III%, Deli-out Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pirana 0 #1019 September 22, 2009 Thread bump. Come on, none of you old guys has any more stories? I hate it when that stupid DB Cooper thread is always on top in this forum. I mean come on, thousands of posts and nothing of any value is EVER revealed. Reminds me of a soap opera. EDIT TO ADD: Apologies up front for those that saw the thread on top and thought there was a new scary story to read." . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnDeere 0 #1020 September 22, 2009 Quote Apologies up front for those that saw the thread on top and thought there was a new scary story to read. As you should! I always love seeing new story's in hereNothing opens like a Deere! You ignorant fool! Checks are for workers! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RonW 0 #1021 September 23, 2009 I remember when I was on the 7th APT in Germany, we went to Aviano AFB for yearly Spring training. Probably 1970 or 71. Anyway, we were on a D model Huey climbing to altitude. This particular Huey was equipped with an external fuel cell to extend it's range. This thing was nothing more than a long rubber bladder that went under the seat we were sitting on. Long story short, one of the FNG's was moving around trying to get his smoke bracket on his foot and he kicked the fuel cell and ripped a hole in it. Things started smelling bad and we looked down at the floor and it was covered with jet fuel.. The pilot shut the motor down and went into auto-rotation. Normally, this wouldn't of been such a major problem for the jumpers as they could just get out, however, Aviano AFB was a fighter base with a lot of traffic most of the time and we had strict instructions never to exit the airplane without clearance from the tower. So, we were losing altitude fast and wanted to get out more and more by the second. I was getting ready to go without the OK when the co-pilot nodded his head and we un-assed the AC. After we landed, the co-pilot told us that he was talking to the tower and when they finally gave him the OK, he turned around to tell us we could jump, the helicopter was empty. Probably the fastest and the lowest exit that year. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davidlayne 5 #1022 September 23, 2009 Ron I always thought it was you that punctured the fuel bladder that day.I don't care how many skydives you've got, until you stepped into complete darkness at 800' wearing 95 lbs of equipment and 42 lbs of parachute, son you are still a leg! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mccurley 0 #1023 November 22, 2009 "" BUMP"" Surley there's more to be heard from this thread? I wish I had something to add myself.Watch my video Fat Women http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRWkEky8GoI Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Niki1 1 #1024 November 23, 2009 Quote"" BUMP"" Surley there's more to be heard from this thread? I wish I had something to add myself. Some time in the mid '80s I found myself sittong around with a bunch of other jumpers waiting for a hole in the clouds. We were telling jump stories, "No shit, there I was..." and it occurred to me that I had a lot fewer stories than the jumpers who hadn't been jumping even half as long as I had. Then I realized that most all their stories involved some pushing of the envelope of prudence either in experience or judgement. Then I congratulated myself on my good sence to stay out of those situations (most of the time.) So if you don't have as many jump stories as the next guy, in stead of starting the story with, "No shit, there I was. Going through 1,000 ft. with nothing but a silkworm and a sewing machine." Try, "This might be a lie but I'm not the first one to tell it."Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkeenan 13 #1025 November 23, 2009 Quote ... the only thing that saved him was that the reserve pilot chute somehow had wrapped around the RSL on the descent, and as he fell away from the main, the malfunctioned Sierra acted as a large pilot chute to pull out the reserve before releasing... Bill Booth must have been hiding in the bushes, watching that jump. Now we know the "Rest of the Story" behind the SkyHook. Kevin K._____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
