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airtwardo

D~1

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I had the good fortune to have dinner with Lew Sanborn and Ted Strong last night...

THERE'S some:

Skydiving History!


Lew celebrated his 56th consecutive year of jumping
last Sunday...think about that...56 YEARS in a ROW!

A couple of very cool gentlemen, Lew & Ted,
it was an honor to sit and talk with them for a few hours.










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

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You meet the neatest people being involved in this sport!




I've known both Ted & Lew for over 25 years, and it never ceases to amaze me where they get their inspiration and energy!

I use to do demos with Lew,
http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/gallery/imageFolio.cgi?action=view&link=Personal_Galleries/airtwardo&image=LibertyLineDance.jpg&img=18&ttp
but haven't seen him in a couple years...he sat me down and inquired about our kids by name...
whom he's only met once or twice... many years ago!

And Ted took up with the most interesting story about his walking the Appalachian Trail...
(beginning to end...quite a HIKE!)
...right where he left off the last time we spoke a year ago!
I love to hear his stories about the many things he's actively into and involved with!


I genuinely look up to those guys, and not just for all the things they've given to skydiving.
B|










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

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hey hey!!!! What an awesome time! It was so great to meet you! Now, lets not mention my far out landings either!!;) I never claimed to be good with accuracy (maybe part of why I wasn't competing) HAHAHA!!

Lew is so amazing. He is one of the nicest people I have met! To be able to sit and talk to him as if I had known him forever was so cool! Man, ya gotta love this sport. B|

I'll be sure to remind you when next years accuracy meet is coming up. Glad you could make it out!

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Do I recall this story right?

Lew Sanborn and Jacque Istel both qualified for the "D" license at the same time, so they flipped a coin.

Lew won and Jacque Istel became D-2.

NickD :)BASE 194



***

That's the way I heard it.










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

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Met Lew as well...and found out REALLY quick that he is NOT Mr. Sanborn....

Mr. Sanborn is his grandfather, "Sir" is his father...and that he only answers to Lew.:D

Such a down to earth gentleman. It was a honor to have him at Spaceland.

Like the dork I am, I got him to sign my logbook....

A lot of "1's"

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Like the dork I am, I got him to sign my logbook....

A lot of "1's"



Not a dork at all. I've met literally dozens (or more) politicians, actors, and others in the limelight and, with the exception of the books of authors whom I've known personally, haven't asked for an autograph since I met Louis Armstrong about 1960.

I'd ask Lew Sanborn to sign my logbook, too.

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In the summer of '65 I met Istel. He said then that Lew got D-1 and he D-2 because Lew was doing a lot of competing in those days and Istel was not. A mutual decision. So possibly not a coin flip. Someone might ask Lew.



***

Hi Jerry~

I personally never asked Lew...but had heard him tell someone at a demo once that it was a coin toss..

Could be a more 'politically correct' version that's evolved over time...I don't know.

Do you know Lew well personally?

The reason I ask is, he was telling a story over dinner Saturday night...and I could swear it was YOUR name he was mentioning!

~Twardo










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

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The four-way scrambles at POPS meets can result in some very interesting team-mates, as I found out at the World POPS at Chilliwack in 1999. I was drawn to team up with Harry Leicher and Lew Sanborn! Our fourth, Gord (can't recall the last name) was almost as awed and humbled as I was.

If you're not 40 yet, you should get there as fast as you can - POPS meets are the best way I know to meet and jump with the living legends of our sport

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If you're not 40 yet, you should get there as fast as you can - POPS meets are the best way I know to meet and jump with the living legends of our sport


Quote



Passed THAT landmark a while ago..but only this year join POPS!

Denial I guess!! ;)



I had such a great time at this 'little' accuri meet!

Going to have to try to made it to a world meet I guess!












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

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If you're not 40 yet, you should get there as fast as you can - POPS meets are the best way I know to meet and jump with the living legends of our sport


Quote



Passed THAT landmark a while ago..but only this year join POPS!

Denial I guess!! ;)



I had such a great time at this 'little' accuri meet!

Going to have to try to made it to a world meet I guess!



40 is only 6 years away and I do not see myself joining pops......oh man, what a scary thought!:D:D

"Some call it heavenly in it's brilliance,
others mean and rueful of the western dream"

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One of my 1st jumps off of student status was with lew. We did a 2 way and someone voluntered to do outside video. When he asked me what I wanted to do I told him I just wanted to jump. He laughed and said "how about some back loops then?" When we landed he offered to sign my logbook and I was in awe. Lew is a great guy and I was privlaged to have him regularly jumping at my home DZ. You could always find lew in the air no matter what canopy he was jumping because he was the one that was hovering over the peas and hit them everytime with a nice accuracy landing.


Greenie in training.

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__________________________________________________
Do I recall this story right?

Lew Sanborn and Jacque Istel both qualified for the "D" license at the same time, so they flipped a coin.

Lew won and Jacque Istel became D-2.

NickD
__________________________________________________

I have heard Lew tell the story of how he received D-1. The cool part is he is D-1 because he LOST the coin toss. Istel won the toss and took Instructors Rating #1 which was at the time considered more prestigious. Lew lost and received D-1. The rest is history. Forgive me Lew if I have any of this incorrect but this is the story to the best of my recollection....
A mile of highway can take you a mile
But a mile of Runway can take you anywhere!

Blue Sky Traveler

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I met Lew Sanborn at a traffic light in Longview, Washington.

It was way back in 'nine-one' or so. I was driving down the freeway on my way to my rigger's house to work on getting my ticket. On the freeway, I passed this motor home with a USPA sticker and vanity plates that read D-1.

OK, I freaked out a little and slowed down next to him, waving frantically and pointing to my own USPA sticker. Lo and behold, he gets off at the same exit as I do and now I'm following him through town waiting for him to stop for gas or something. After awhile, I realize he's heading out of town towards the Washington coast. If I don't get him now, I never will. Finally, a red light! Its a pretty major road but only one lane of traffic and I'm about 8 cars behind his motor home (I never claimed to be either Starsky or Hutch)

I make my move!

I slam the Camaro into PARK (yes, I had a mullet at the time) and make a dash for his motor home with a handfull of bumper stickers and a TOLEDO PARACHUTE CENTER beer mug in my hands. I'm hoping for a long light. He must have seen me coming 'cause he rolled down the window. I'm jumping up and down like an idiot yelling "You're D-1!, You're D-1! You....YOU! ...ARE ...LEW SANBORN! In hindsite, I think he tried to say something to me but I'm yelling out stuff like 'owning a DZ down the road' and 'father of skydiving' and 'legend of the sport' and 'can I go with you?'. Stuff like that.

The light, of course, turns green and now his wife is gently telling him (OK, she was yelling) to go because it's a green light. Wait, maybe it was 'Honey, this looks like a car-jacking'.

Well, Lew slowly starts to move forward. The drivers behind us are standiing on their horns. Missus Sanborn is yelling 'Honey...HONEY! Goddammit LEW!

I'm still doing my 'Elvis Groupie' bit and the great LEW SANBORN is patiently listening. Finger poised, and pointed out the window. He's probably thinking if only I would shut up for one second, he could say hello.

Finally, he says 'Great to meet you. Good luck with your rigger's ticket' and moves on.

I'm standing there in the middle of Ocean Beach Highway, outside of Longview, Washington in the United States of America and 20 miles from the dropzone that I owned, holding a bunch of bumper stickers and a TOLEDO PARACHUTE CENTER beer mug.

That's how I met D-1. The Great LEW SANBORN.

Brett Martin

Note: This is a true story, including the Camaro and the mullet. Lew's wife didn't actually cuss or anything, though.
"It's only arrogance if you can't back it up"

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I met Lew Sanborn at a traffic light in Longview, Washington.

***

I first met Lew in the late 70's, he & Bill Hayes came to Sparts, Ill. home of Archway Parachute Center.

Kirk Verner's dad, Dave ran the DZ and had them come out to give an accuri class before an upcoming meet.

I was jumping an old heavy weight 252 that had been RADICALLY trimed nose down for serious accuracy...it was a dead center machine. Partly because the judges would run like hell when this thing came screaming straight down in full fight at the disk.:ph34r:


After one of my more 'interesting' landings...Lew says to me, "If I had to land like THAT..I'd quit jumping!":S

The next time I ran into Lew was 4-5 years later
in San Diego, at Otay. I was test jumping the Phantom (plant 'em) 24' reserves that my roommate was starting to manufacture.

I'm a swelt 240 pounds and after doing another rather 'impressive' landing...Lew walks up to me and pretty much says the SAME THING he had on our prior meeting.:ph34r:

Time goes on and eventually Lew joins up with a demo team I jump on, and we became good friends.
A nicer more genuine guy you couldn't meet!

Lost touch for a few years with Lew...
then 5-6 years ago the spousal unit and I were touring Alaska for a month. On one of our last days we happened on Bill Jones's operation, then located south of Anchorage.

I'm walking around the hangar with the manafest girl doing the old 'who do you know that I know' routine, since I hadn't expected to jump and didn't have a logbook or USPA card with me...the chances of getting some Alaska air looked grim.[:/]

Suddenly Lew and a couple others walk in to the hangar, having just landed following a load.

"Hey Twardo...Let me pack up and I'll make one with ya!" Says D~1....:)


Bill Jones the DZO looks and me and says----Just grab any rig there off the wall...B|










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

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