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steve1

Scary stories from the old days?

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"" BUMP""

Surley there's more to be heard from this thread?
I wish I had something to add myself.



Hi Mc,
Got ta thinkin' bout it and did a search, nuttin' showed up so here goes. Any old farts from South Louisiana Cottonbelt Sport Parachute Council daze remember "Frank Goodman" aka Major Goodies' Parachute Team. He used ta drive Ben Seal, our CSO at Hammond Airport, crazy!! One day he was gettin on the Howard and Ben noticed a 45 cal 1911-A1 strapped by his reserve (belly wart daze) and pulled it off him. "Oh it's loaded with tracers so if I land off DZ I can signal where I'm at with them!!" said Frank!! Short story, Ben didn't let him jump with it!! (Can you imagine shit like that happening in todays' anti-Gun climate??)!! Frank had an old "sensative" "2-Needle" altimiter on his reserve. Only problem was the adjuster knob had broken off and it was stuck at 6700' (at Hammond Airport 40 feet ASL anyway)!! So howz it work?? "Oh just add 2500' for pull alt!!" says Frank. Frank was quite a guy and there's lotz of great stories about him. One of the best I heard was he tried to make some "Napalm" in his apartment!! He tried to heat up a cooking pot full of gasoline on a stove and add some laundry soap powder to it (the heated gasoline was suppose to disolve the soap!!!) well he never got there as the pot of gasoline caught on fire and bout burned down the building!! BTW Frank's OK!! If anyone else remembers Frank, ya' gotta have some good stories about him!! I'll add a few more later.
SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out

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While giggling away at my screen I have done no work whatsoever for the past week or so... I think people at the office are starting to think I'm losing it.

If you really would like to see me lose my job keep those stories coming... :)
Thank you all for sharing.

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agree. best thread of all time. this post reminds me of a funny story. In the mid 90's I was jumping in Panama with the club there. We were getting ready to do a demo into Coronado beach. We were gearing up when at the last min Lotty, who ran club drove up and said "Coca Cola is sponsoring us put these shirts on!" They were red shirts so I just sliped mine over my read jumpsuit. One of the other jumpers took of his rig and unsipped his jumpsuit to put the t shirt on. I noiticed that he had a Baretta 9mm stuck into his shorts! I said something like "Dude, do you know someting I don't know?" He said. "Hey man, this is Panama. you never know WHERE you are going to land" Well OK then if we land out I'm landing with you! We proceeded to put 8 jumpers in a ratty old 206 and make an off shore jump run. I was 8th out and very motovated to get out as quickly as possible. :P All went well and we all landed on the beach and proceeded to get drunk on free booze.B|

ATW,
Cael

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Back in i think May of 08.  I was flying a triathalon 220.  I was at skydive temple, texas.  It was a little windy that day, between 15 and 17mph gusts.  So i was making my landing pattern coming in, however i somehow end up coming in downwind.  At least 25 to 30mph.  I was to scared and thought i was to low to make any kind of turn to go back into the wind.  So i said screw it, here i come and brace for impact.  I barely miss the RV's, and the main building by inches, not to mention a line of cars in the parking lot.  I luckily managed to dodge all of that and slide in the dirt parking lot.  Fortunatley for me the parking lot was dirt and not asphalt.  My friend willy and walt were looking up and of course the rest of the DZ was in awe, literally.  Walt said he had his finger on the send button ready to call 911.  So when i hit and slid in, i just layed there.  In shock i didnt break anything!  Here come willy and walt running fast!  Hahaha.  I felt like the guy on fandango!  Angels!!! :-D. Another jumper there mark small was there to bandage my hand up.  Yeah, just a scratch.  And needless to say, i went ahead and did another jump that same day :-D.  Lesson learned:  flat turns come in handy!
Mick Evans

"Blue Skies"

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New Years 69/70, Wisconsin. We decide to jump into the new year. I get out and track after the guy in front of me. No matter how hard I try I can't gain on him. Finally pull and see the red lights I have been chaseing are on a car.
Fingers froze, nuts are even froze, no idea where I am. Crash into the ground on my cheepo. Gather my stuff and start to wade through the knee deep snow toward the road. I hear someone else. Catch up to my buddy George, just busting his ass going through the snow. "George, how come you're dragging your stuff?" He was so frozzen he didn't even notice, he was pulling that cheapo like a big plow.
Oh boy the old days. Happy New Year
U only make 2 jumps: the first one for some weird reason and the last one that you lived through. The rest are just filler.
scr 316

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Jack, Where was that jump?
I can remember doing several of those up at Aero Park and at Rainbow as well....no door on the 182, precise timing so you went out in 1969 and landed in 1970 etc. etc. Radical wind blast through the door, carb heat on full, inky dark with no streamer drop....asses frozen off....oh yea....

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Jack, Where was that jump?
I can remember doing several of those up at Aero Park and at Rainbow as well....no door on the 182, precise timing so you went out in 1969 and landed in 1970 etc. etc. Radical wind blast through the door, carb heat on full, inky dark with no streamer drop....asses frozen off....oh yea....




People who do things like that have fun a different way than I do. :)My glove rule: If it's cold enough to where gloves, it's too cold to jump. I lived in Florida for a reason.;)
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?

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Okay....at Rainbow the only radio they had was unicom and no tower per se, but if it was 69/70 I would have been in Zhills as I went there Easter of 69. If it was 68/69 would have been me for sure....I had moved to Rainbow from Aero Park after their 182 was burned up by one of the pilots trying to start in cold weather and overpriming the engine resulting in a backfire and subsequent fire that pretty well destroyed the aircraft.
Nearest tower to there was likely Milwaukee, Mitchell Field or someone may have been on unicom (122.7) at Rainbow, I know they did have that available during daytimes...
I think Searles did keep the operation at Rainbow for a few years after he moved to zhills but not sure who would have been flying then, possibly Frank Youngquist?
Do you remember who the pilot was?
Tuna

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It was the tower at Mitchell we called to check on wind chill. I think Searles or one of the other hired pilots flew. I would have to check with Frank, but don;t think he was flying there at the time. Different people, me included kept the place going for Jeff after he left.
Do you know Rainbow is closed? Real shame too. Menomenee Falls DZ is a sub division.
You should get hold of Frank. He would be glad to here from you.
U only make 2 jumps: the first one for some weird reason and the last one that you lived through. The rest are just filler.
scr 316

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Thanks Jack,
More likely an alternate pilot, I think Searles was down in Florida at the year change, smart move, it's cold in Wisconsin....lol...
Didn't know Rainbow closed but not surprised by that, suburban expansion has killed a lot of small airports that used to be "out of town"
I'd love to get ahold of Frank, do you have any info on his email or other contact info?
I know we continued the tradition at the hills in subsequent years but the 182 had a door so it wasn't too bad.
Thanks..
Tuna

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I was doing an intentional water jump into the Governors Cup Hydroplane Races at Canyon Ferry lake just outside of Helena Mt. Jumping a old t10 and belly reserve. Terry Scot and I did a two way and he pulled first with his square on a staged demo type deal. I waited about 5 seconds and pulled. NOt a thing happend. I kept waiting and nothing is happening. I looked down to see individual sage brush plants on the mountain side. Just as I was rolling over to pull the reserve the main came up and opend. I was about 3hundred feet up and not even in sight of the Lake! I had fallen behind a hill and the crowd could not see me at all. I turned and drifted over the steep hillside toward the lake. I remember the crowd gave a roar when they could see me! I wasnt going to make the lake. My only out was the center line of a highway with guard rails on both sides and steep rocks on the edges. I center punched the center line. Dressed in cutoffs a life preserver and old sweat shirt. Got some bruises and blood out of that one. Piolet chute spring was found to have come out of a torn seam of the piolet chute and may have snagged on the way out delaying opening. But ya... I missed the whole Lake and scarred hell out of me and everyone including Terry Scott who watched me fall away from him to no where. I can still see those sage brush plants.

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Mid 70s I was jumping at Sky Unlimited in Helena Montana run by Terry Scott. It was a great D.Z. with safty being number one at all times. I had graduated from a 28foot Navy to my Russian Paracomander with a Top Secrete harness. It was a great fun rig. On this jump the wind came up in flight. I opend and noticed I was moving backwards a bit. Ya a bit like across the airport past the terminal building and headed across ditches fields and looking at roof tops! Everyone else on the load had graduated to squares and at least landed on the airport. Nope not me! I was backing up so fast I could only look over my shoulder and pray. I saw the roofs coming and jagged a bit to the side befor I touched earth. This increased my down wind speed. The canopy came over up against a wood fence and helped it to colapse and stop befor it would have dragged me big time. I pealed myself off the ground and was finally able to get the P.C. in some sort of ball to carry. I limped a short distance to the street where I was picked up by a guy driving a sporty Porsh. I cramed inside this thing for a ride back to the D.Z. of over a mile. I orderd my first square the next weekend! I got a million of em.. Linsey

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Ok one more and I will quit. Early 80 Missoula Skydivers would hop a twin Otter from the Smoke Jumper base to Orofino Idaho for a town fly in celebration. It was one of the few times we in Montana could get a large plane other than Cessnas.
My jump cronie Mike Lynch and I got a load of about 6 people including this babealicouse stripper that had some how got on the load. No one really knew who was who but we jumped anyway. The spot was tight and out the door we went. We werent the best at R.W. work so Lynch and I are in the base with about one or two other people trying to form a simple star. Out of no where above came this Babe dong mach 9 in a max track! She came right through the middle of the circle just screaming speed. As Mike and I looked down at her she rolled over on her back to earth and was still just screaming speed away from us. To this day I can see her face as she rolled over and looked up! Mike and I still remember that she was way out of her experience and could have killed us both! We avoded her like the plauge. Big Hooter does not a jumper make! Ya for the Silvertip Skydivers

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Mid 70s I was jumping at Sky Unlimited in Helena Montana run by Terry Scott. It was a great D.Z. with safty being number one at all times. I had graduated from a 28foot Navy to my Russian Paracomander with a Top Secrete harness. It was a great fun rig. On this jump the wind came up in flight. I opend and noticed I was moving backwards a bit. Ya a bit like across the airport past the terminal building and headed across ditches fields and looking at roof tops! Everyone else on the load had graduated to squares and at least landed on the airport. Nope not me! I was backing up so fast I could only look over my shoulder and pray. I saw the roofs coming and jagged a bit to the side befor I touched earth. This increased my down wind speed. The canopy came over up against a wood fence and helped it to colapse and stop befor it would have dragged me big time. I pealed myself off the ground and was finally able to get the P.C. in some sort of ball to carry. I limped a short distance to the street where I was picked up by a guy driving a sporty Porsh. I cramed inside this thing for a ride back to the D.Z. of over a mile. I orderd my first square the next weekend! I got a million of em.. Linsey




High Wind Story:

Back before ram air canopies, the reason for pulling the ripcord was so that you could jump out of an airplane again. Well, I'll tell you that the reason to not jump in high winds is the same reason.
It was the fall of 1970 in Jacksonville, Fla. Our little group (maybe 6 or 7) used a C-172. This particular Saturday the ceiling was maybe 4,000 ft. but the winds were probably 30 to 35. Three of us really wanted to jump. The rest were content to start drinking. Some body said, "Cross country." Yeah, that's the ticket. So we go up and throw a WDI. It went into the next county. OK. 4 miles sounded about right. A hop-&-pop at 4,000 ft, 4 miles away with Para-Commanders. What's wrong with this picture? We go out and the other 2 guys who had a lot more experience (a few hundred jumps compared to my 40 or 50) immediately started holding. I, on the other hand wanted to get back over the air port before I started holding. Big mistake. The other 2 guys landed where they were soposed to. I was barely able to make the far side of the air port. I made a run across some trees and turned back into the wind between the tree line and the runway. In the next 15 seconds, I believe I experieced all the violence of an entire NFL game. Only the far tree line stopped the canopy. I slowly gathered up my canop and started wakding back. A truck came out to get me (retrieve the body, I think is how they put it) For the first time in my short jumping carreer, I just put my gear in the trunk instead of packing, I went back home and laid on the couch for the next day and a half.

The best way to make sure you can jump tomorrow is to survive today.
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?

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were probably 30 to 35. Three of us really wanted to jump. The rest were content to start drinking. Some body said, "Cross country"

:D:D:DYup, that's how it works, all right

Wendy P.
There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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