0
BIGUN

Skydiving History - by Dr. Eco

Recommended Posts

By Dr. Eco

Bob Buquor, first 6 man star, early D-License Holders with comments, Up date from the Pacific Northwest.

I had about 50 jumps with Bob Buquor at the Arvin DZ. With most of them, Bob was taking photo's with his motorized 35 mm Nikon mounted on his helmet. I knew Bob from San Antonio, Texas before we both ended up in California. Bob had a low C license number C-150 but never got around to applying for his D license because he thought that C-150 would look better than a higher number D license (ahhh, vanity).

Bob was trying to make it in the movie business. He shot freefall sequences for part of the "Rip Cord" series and for several movies. At that time, I was a 1st Lieutenant in the USAF at the Flight Research Center at Edward's AFB Calif. I had applied for my D license earlier while still at the University of Texas working on my PhD. I did most of my California sport jumping at the Lancaster DZ which was close to Edwards AFB. However, Bob and I would get together at Arvin to jump. Bob shot the photo's when we made the "First Six Man Star in the World" September 6, 1964, at Arvin, California." The photo of the Six Man Star was the centerfold of Skydiver Magazine. Another Skydiver Magazine centerfold showed the same group of jumpers leaving the Twin Beach. After 1965, I did more flying than jumping and got my commercial, instrument, multi-engine and flight instructor pilot ratings.

Richard Economy D-115 See List of Early D license holders below.

The Bob Buquor Memorial Star Crest

The Bob Buquor Memorial Star Crest (BBMSC) is a perpetual memorial to commemorate the efforts of the late Robert H. Buquor who played a major role in the origin of star formation relative work.

Bob Buquor initiated and photographed the majority of the star attempts at Arvin, California in the early 1960's and was successful in capturing the first 8-way star there on film on October 17, 1965.

Bob drowned off Malibu Beach, California in 1966, while filming a dangerous movie sequence for a major studio. It is to his driving enthusiasm in this aspect of the sport that this membership is dedicated.

Note: Bob was a good swimmer and would not have drowned if he would have dumped his helmet with a large 35mm movie camera mounted on it and the large heavy battery pack attached to his waist. But good jumpers never dropped ripcords handles or dump large expensive cameras in the ocean.
The camera and battery pack were recovered along with Bob's body.

http://www.scr-awards.com/

Star Crest Awards See below for all Star Crest Awards
http://www.scr-awards.com/bbmsc_the_beginning.html

The was no Accelerated Freefall program, no AAD's, no Dytters, no altimeters and no packers. Your main canopy was a 28-foot round. Your reserve was a 24-foot flat circular canopy. All of which were purchased as "military surplus." And then, you had to convince some pilot that it was a good idea to take you up to five thousand feet, open the door, fling yourself out and learn... See below for all Star Crest Awards

First 6 Man Star Photo by B Buquor
September 6, 1964. Arvin, California
John DePorter Mitch Proteet -Black on left
Richard Economy -Yellow Lou Paproski
Don Henderson -Purple Al Paradowski




List of Early D License Holders Note: I do not have all of the comments from other jumpers entered into the list. You could update the list with the additional comments from other jumpers. DrEco

Dear Dr. Economy:
It good to hear for an early D license holder. We are working on the electronic version of the "A", "B", "C" and "D" License holders.

I was able to complete the list for D License numbers 1 through 400 for your use.
Please see list attached. If you should have any further questions, please feel free to contact us.

Blue Safe Skies, April 20, 2003
Michelle Garvin
Director of Membership Services
USPA Alexandria, VA

Note on D-License numbers: By December 1961, I had over 200 free fall jumps (I had no static line jumps) but had never applied for PCA (later called USPA) membership or for an PCA: A, B or C Licenses (Note: In Central Texas in early 1960's, no one paid much attention to the PCA, their safety rules, or their license)
I had all the requirements for my D-License and applied to the PCA for membership and my D-License in late 1961 when the D-License numbers were in the 50's. I got my D-License over six months later in May 1962 with a D-License Number of 115 over 60 numbers higher.

I talked to a guy who had been at Orange, Mass. (the old PCA headquarters) and he told me that Istel and the other officers at the PCA had given priority for low D-Licenses to 1) their long term PCA members with A, B, C License, 2) jumpers from the major PCA approved DZ's i.e. California; 3) their buddies at Orange and other New England DZ's; and 4) to the Army jumpers e.g., Golden Knights. Based on my application date, he said my D-License should have been in the 70 to 80 range (oh well!!)

Note:I had between 20 to 50+ relative work jumps with the following Bold Underlined D license holder.

List of Early D License Holders:
No. - Location - Name
1 MA Lewis B Sanborn
2 MA Jacques A Istel
3 MA Dana Paul Smith
4 MA Darius Vakharia
5 PA Steve Snyder
6 MO George P Taylor
7 AK Heisel Christian
8 VA Verlin Glenn
9 CA Lt. James P Pearson
10 NY Robert M McDonnell
11 GA Danny Byard
12 NC Loy Brydon
13 NY Jim Arender
14 Ernest Lynn Pyland
15 NC Merrill L Shepard
16 MA Edward F Strong
17 Ray Love
18 KY Michael Kremar
19 Jack Helms
20 NC Herry E Arter
21 MA Mark Schmidt
22 NC Gerald F Bourquin
23 PA William C Edge
24 PA Robert Spatola
25 NC Harold R Lewis
26 MA William G Jolly
27 Lee Ray K Smith
28 GA Elfers, William
29 KY Kirtley, Thomas
30 NY MacPherson, Allan
31 MA Straus, Bradford
32 Unziker, William J.
33 CA Hulick, Gerald W.
34 PA Bahor, Erick M.
35 KY Meyers, Lee A
36 OH Reed/Sherman Wilson
37 TX Duncan/Edmond C
38 NC Fortenberry, Richard T
39 NC Jorgensen, Keith C
40 NC Dunphry, Richard
41 NC Martin, Roy D
42 TX Jacks, Clyde E. I had about 50 Jumps with Clyde who had Gold Wings 1 or 2. With about 1500 jumps he was killed doing low altitude rolls in his stunt plane near Houston, Texas in Nov., 1962.
43 CA Pol, James E.
44 OH Harding, Daniel E
45 CA Skinner, Robert W.
46 IN MacPherson, Dennis H
47 FL Poppenhager, Paul J.
48 VA Hale, Roger, C.
49 MA Moge, Maurice R.
50 NJ Guilfoyle, Lee
51 CA Stevens, Perry D.
52 CA Murry, robert A.
53 CA Duncan, Edmond C.
54 CA Williams, Verne
55 CA Kilsow, Arthur
56 FL Brezin, Ben
57 MN Mathwig/Jerry E
58 MO Williams, Douglas E
59 CA Kochenberg, Dale R.
60 IL Stoyas, James C. Creamed In 1982
61 APO NY Chace, John P.
62 NC Ward, Richard F.
63 CA Simbro, Henry L. Jumped with Hank and Muriel at Lancaster, Taft and Arvin DZ's
64 CA Percival/John Moring
65 WI Goetsch/Phillip L
66 APO NY Charland, Normand E.
67 GA Edwards, Roy L.D.
68 OH Beyan, Dennis P.
69 VT Pond/Nathan
70 KY McDonald/Coy O
71 NC Letbetter, Bobby W.
72 SD Smith/Richard Nelson
73 NC Hollis/John T
74 AZ Hirschberg/Kenneth Allen
75 NC Perry, James M
76 CA Buckner, Robert H, Jr.
77 NC Norman, Joe
78 CA Muriel, Jean Simbro Wife of Henry Simbro D-63
79 NJ O'Reilly, James J.
80 NC Yost, Charles E.
81 FL Benoit, Chritten P.
82 NC Cole, Ray S., Jr.
83 CO McCarthy/William E
84 CA Cupp, Jack M. Jumps with Cupp at Lancaster, Taft and Arvin DZ's.
85 OH McLean, Howard
86 CA McClellan, Haynes, F.
87 NC Mills, Wesley G., Jr.
88 FL Horvath, Martin J.
89 TX Fitch, Edward D. Dr. Fitch (C-198), a friend of Clyde Jacks, was a Heart Surgeon in Houston. Had about 30 jumps with Fitch at Bee Line and Midway DZ's near Houston,Texas
90 NC Charette/Wja
91 OH Gates/Dale V/ Jr
92 NC Webber, Claude A
93 OR Scott, John A
94 MO Garrison, James W.
95 CA Molitar, Don Jumps with Molitar at Taft and Arvin DZ's.
96 SC Coleman/Maurice C
97 OH Draper, John D.
97-A NC Palmer, Ralph K.
98 PA Pasquale, John F.
99 NC Williford, Sherman H.
100 FL Shuford, Richard H.
101 PA Yurchison, John
102 NY Markhoff, William C.
103 WA Ady, Jack
104 NY Feeney/Gene F
105 NC McCusker, James
106 MI Allen, Fred L.
107 MI Raddick, Robert A.
108 OH Baron, Mark
109 CA Sellers, John M.
110 CA Haring, Robert
111 CA Carpenter, Frank Jumps with Carpenter at Taft and Arvin DZ's
112 FL Wright, Harold L.
113 CA McDonald, James P.
114 TX Anagnostis/Constantine B
115 TX Economy, Richard First Jump: a jump/pull from J3 Cub April 1960 at Casterville, Texas. Third Jump:12 second delay freefall from 3500 ft from J3 Cub with no sleeve (hard opening). Fourth jump:15 second delay freefall from 4000 ft from J3 Cub. Used a sleeve for the first time (big difference). Jump 7: Landed in Mitchell lake. Jump 8: a night jump. Spotted for myself the first 10 jumps.
116 CA Sewell, Ronald D. Jumps with Ron Sewell at Lancaster
117 JAPAN Adair, Willie (Duke)
118 FL Mathews/Robert Anthony/Jr
119 APO NY Lanier, Robert H.
120 WA Peterson, Cal
121 FL Kruse, Edward P.
122 FL Picard, Harold W.
123 NM Mulcalry, George R.
124 CA Martin, Coy D.
125 AZ Jenkins/Steve
126 FL Godwin/Jimmy F
127 FL Gaffney, John D.
128 VA Waugh, Leonard A
129 CO Smith/N Ray
130 CA Flick, Leslie L.
131 Johnson, Howard R.
132 CA McRae, Monte J.
133 TX Lewis, James E.
134 WA Johnston, Howard r.
135 FL Wenk, Peter, J.
136 CA Gividen, George M.
137 CA David, Harold L.
138 WA Gainor/Denny Bear
139 KY Howard, Michael
140 KY Allsopp, Leonard E.
141 SC Selby, Edward B. Jr.
142 TX Fowler/James Floyd/Jr
143 CA Freeze, Ronald S.
144 NC Baker, Alton, W.
145 FL Dupuis, Lawrence
146 CA Lizzio, James R.
147 MA Soutter, Nicholas B.
148 NC Duffy, Ray
149 APO NY Stroughbaugh, Donald
150 NC VanderWeg, Phillip J.
151 KS Passailaigne, Edward P. Jr.
152 TX Wallace, Carlos, G.
153 VA Jones, Sonny
154 HI Gough, Harold W. Jr.
155 NC Saunders, Joseph G.
156 NY Wild, Frederick W
157 AK Sisler, G. Ken
158 IL Morrow, Don
159 FL Addison, Wilbert E.
160 MA Doolittle, Lewis E.
161 NV Evans, Hal
162 CO Driver, William K.
163 KY Kidwell, Jerry G
164 HI Galbraith, Lachlan, N.
165 CA Rinder, James, E.
166 NC Pronier/Robert Anthony
167 NC Thacker/Gene P
168 NC Larry Schell
169 NJ Charles Seymour
170 FL Thomas Rudder
171 CA Padayhag/Stan
172 MS Jerry Price
173 CA Joe Tiago Jr
174 TX Max Schetter
175 KY Lyon/Michael E
176 MI McTaggart/Robert E
177 OH Nininger/Paul W
178 NB Clarence C. Peters
179 IN Jonn Findley
180 AL Buddy L. McCoy
181 CA Doyle Fields
182 FA Ronald G. Diebold
183 NJ Hugh M. Hilden
184
185 PA Fritz A. Muller
186 FL Bob Collinsgru
187 PA Carl E. Blessing
188 PA Owen M. Curran
189 CA Walter C. Scherar
190 NY Philip F. Flynn
191 WA Jim Jacobs
192 FL Norman Roy Johnson
193 TX John Miller
194 MA David B. Jansen
195 NV Robert Archuleta
196 CA Carlyn Olsen ~20 Jumps with Carlyn Olsen at Lancaster,
Taft and Arvin DZ's.
197 CA Albert R. Barry
198 WA Ledbetter/William R
199 TX Malcom Thompson
200 NJ Thomas Murray
201 CA Forrest D Castle
202 CA Tyson/Jerome P
203 NB Jay O. Emery
204 CA Denny M. Manning
205 CA Roy A. Fryman
206 TN Dennis T Rhodes
207 NJ William W Bohringer
208 NC Charles L Mullins
209 TX Bobby Dean Crump
210 WI Falconer/Robert Davis
211 OH Raymond M. Starnes
212 NB Stanley Searles
213 CT Ed Vickery
214 NC Paul S Newman
215 NC James C. Lane
216 NJ Theodore O. Taylor
217 FL Gutshall/George A
218 OH Joseph J. Giel
219 FL Charles McSwain
220 FL Potts/Len
221 MI Kim Emmons
222 NB Lowell A Ham
223 NB John Timothy MacFerrin
224 MD Jimmy Grant Roberts
225 TN Bud Sellick
226 CA Enarson/Richard L
227 FL Anthony C Riek
228 FL De La Mar/Donald R
229 NC Zacher/George A
230 NY James E Garvey
231 CA Binford/Frank L
232 DC Richard L Myron
233 WA George F. Mitchell
234 CA Lance S. Haserot
235 NV Ridenour Jr/Whitley A
236 PA Joseph A. Nichols
237 KY Henry Nehrbass
238 NY Thomas E. Waldie
239 WA Buford W. Knight
240 CA Richard Pedley
241 MA Edward A Dorey
242 FL Gary J. Dupuis
243 ME Donahue/Robert L
244 NC Robert L. Donahoe
245 MA Ellsworth H. Getchell
246 NY Robert J. Cathey
247 TX George H. Sage
248 CA Young/Ronald Leo
249 IA John H. Talbott
250 CA McNamara/Brian Michael
251 TX Jeannie McComba ~ 20 jumps with Jeannie (the jump mistress) McComba. Jeannie went in at Ellsinore.
252 CA Leigh R. Hunt
253 CA Dennis P. Moneymaker
254 MD Robert W. Hollar
255 NC Dennis N. McCarthy
256 TX William E. Ritchie
257 VA Sutherland/Thomas Ray
258 CA Joseph Mangine
259 NC Clark/David L
260 CA Ludlow O. Clements
261 NV Floyd A. Martin
262 UT Currie A. Harlacker
263 FL Kauffman/Warren
264 FL Christian K. Ebersole
265 FL Coppe/John Eugene
266 CA Lewis T. Vinson
267 WA Drumheller/Ed/II ~ 30 jumps with Ed at Lancaster DZ's.
268 TX Robert H. Sholly
269 WA Peter A. Goodwin
270 NC Patrick G. Murphy
271 AZ Al J. Hoffman
272 MI Sinclair/Bob Camera man for some of the Rip Cord series. (5) jumps
with Sinclair at Califorina City and Lake Elsinor DZ's. Bob was a good camera-man but average at relative-work and did not participate in large relative work jumps.
273 NE Janousek/Marion L
274 MN Burg/Gerald L
275 FL Newton Neidig
276 NB John D. Wade
277 AL Sugg/Samuel E
278 CA James B. Cameron
279 NC Kevin F. Brady
280 AZ Jack Ely
281 MN Richard N. Christenson
282 GA Sims/Dave C
283 GA Edward A. Rector
284 NC Hal T. Baxter
285 IL Stephan J. Wilke
286 WI Herman W. Rockenbach
287 SC Mark T. Graham
288 IL Beverly/Elbert W
289 NC Louis Bell
290 NC Richard Derry
291 CA David Barlow, Jr.
292 FL Howard Curtis
293 NY Frank Richard
294 NC James Bailey
295 NC Jeffrey Dixon
296 PA Charles Murphy
297 NY Patrick Lawton
298 NY William Ottley
299 IL William Martin
300 CA Cornelius O'Rourke, Jr. Creamed in 1965
wearing a Santa Suit from [email protected]
301 CA Bill Williams
302 NC Jerry Babb
303 MI Karl Brushaber
304 WA Jens Jorgensen
305 MD Robert Buscher, Jr.
306 OK Gerald Roth
307 IA James De Lap
308 CA David Becker
309 NC Robert McDermott
310 AL Dannie Smith
311 CA Lane Smith
312 CA Ronald Wright
313 CA Michael Clancy
314 NY David Lanzendorf
315 KY Robert Eves
316 VA Ronald Anderson
317 CA Burl Baxter
318 KY Larry Caid
319 NY Alva English
320 NC Paul Mac Lean
321 NC William Duncan, Jr.
322 NC William Lockward, Jr.
323 NC Billy Nolan
324 CA John Harrison
325 CA Anne Batterson
326 AK James E. Pullis
327 CA Larry L. Perkins
328 NC Warren E. Farrell
329 IL Oldrich Olichovik Killed Plane crash, Hinckley 1992
330 LA R.L. Ticer
331 MA William T. Hamilton
332 CA Ralph E. Weekly
333 OH Joseph W. Cooper
334 NY Judy Simpson
335 CA Arthur W. Jarrell
336 CA Arthur E. Armstrong
337 CA Donald P. Woerner
338 CA George I. Nicks
339 NY James W. Shaw
340 NC Robert B. Ferguson
341 NC Tod Smith
342 RI Richard D. Yessian
343 OH Andrew N. Starkey
344 CA Jack C. Smith. Jack was the area safety officer at Lancaster
and creamed in circa 1966 while working with a freefall student. Had
about 30 jumps with Jack. The safety officer was not too safe.
345 CT Roy Bertalovitz
346 NJ Richard C. Lee
347 CA David F. Perry
348 GA David L. Pride
349 CA Bob Allen
350 KA Lloyd Y. Jan
351 TN Jack Norman Jr.
352 PA Harry M. Burlin
353 CA Donald E. Myers
354 IL Walter Huninsky
355 MA David L. Eisner
356 MI Robert E. Tighe
357 MO Jon L. Bergman
358 IL Robert C. Kellen
359 MI Paul E. Yarnell
360 CA Frank M. Collison
361 AK Johnny M. Davis
362 TX Arthur A. Nelbach Jr.
363 UT Jamy M. Minnock Jr.
364 OR James L. Wright
365 OR Evan N. Hale
366 IL Leon Somers
367 TX Dennis A. Clark
368 OR Morton O. Gossett
369 KY Sherman K. Hawkins
370 NY Robert J. Busch
371 WA Charles S. Wallin
372 IL Wernet K. Roth
373 KY Clarence E. Nugent
374 OH Richard L. Bates
375 FL Charles F. Clifford
376 WA Donald M. Stone
377 ND Peter Gange
378 WA Gerald E. Helms
379 NJ David Wignef
380 NY Rudolph P. Ahlgren
381 NC Richard Stanton
382 NC Harold W. Ferguson
383 CA Daryl R. Galloway
384 PA Ed Marler
385 PA John Higgins
386 CA Charles O. Choate
387 MA Arthur P. Spilios
388 IL Michael Ditzig
389 IL Richard N. Roberts
390 MI Billie M. Dolley
391 WA Rudy Peterson
392 NY L. Stanley Zielinski
393 FL John B. Chamberlin
394 OR Ralph A. Hatley
395 OR Joseph M. Brockway
396 WA Richard W. Carlisle
397 NJ David P. Lithgow
398 AL Thomas W. Pritchard, Jr.
399 WA Frank W. Vogt
400 WA William M. Berg


All Star Crest Awards

http://www.scr-awards.com/bbmsc_the_beginning.html

The was no Accelerated Freefall program, no AAD's, no Dytters, no altimeters and no packers. Your main canopy was a 28-foot round. Your reserve was a 24-foot flat circular canopy. All of which were purchased as "military surplus." And then, you had to convince some pilot that it was a good idea to take you up to five thousand feet, open the door, fling yourself out and learn...

Updates on D license holder from other Skydivers Gerald Bourquin - D-22 - lives in CA still active jumping.
Steve Snyder - D-5 - died in plane crash
Denny Gainor - D-138 - Still active at Perris
Richard Pedley - D-240 - died on a base jump in L.A.
Jeannie McCombs - D-251- went in at Ellsinore
Ed Vickery - D-213 - Retired from Irvin Aerospace, living in Big Bear, CA
Ronald Wright - D-312 - went in CA on demo.
Larry Perkins - D-327 - working in aviation, Ellsinore CA
Art Armstrong - D-336 - died in Ca

Up date from the Pacific Northwest to DrEco: Jerry Baumchen D-1543 (a newbie compared to this list)
John Scott - D-93 - John died about 10 yrs ago from a sudden, massive heart attack.
Jack Ady - D-103 - I was in the Snohomish area yesterday and decided to go to the airport for lunch and ran into Jack. He is retired, living right off of the airport and got married for the first time about 3 yrs ago; a real optimist.
Rich Johnston D-134 - Rich had a stroke just after the first of the year and is now slightly disabled. Hi lives near me and we used to get together every month or so for breakfast or lunch; I hate to visit now in his condition, but I do need to.
Jens Jorgeson - D-304 - I haven't seen Jens in over 20 yrs but a mutual friend saw him last summer and said that he is in good health.
Jim Wright - D-364 - Jim was killed on a jump about 15-18 yrs ago.
Evan Hale - D-365 - I last saw Evan at the memorial for Jim Wright; nothing since.
Ralph Hatley - D-394 - Ralph still runs a drop zone and is one of the biggest gear distributors in the world.
Joe Brockway - D-395 - Joe retired from the gov't about 15 yrs ago; I last talked to him about 10 yrs ago. I need to call him, also.
Dick Carlisle - D-396 - I understand he was killed in a plane crash many, many years ago.
Bill Berg - D-400 - Bill was killed flying a forest fire fighting aircraft when she came apart in mid-air.


Update from Bob Federman
To DrEco: Just in case anyone who knew them might be interested.
It was fun going through all of the names; I started jumping in early '64 and a few months later joined PCA & subscribed to Skydiver Magazine. A lot of those names were in those mags many times.
And I do remember your photos.
Jerry Baumchen
D-1543 (a newbie compared to this list)

D-60 CREAMED IN 1982,
D-300 CREAMED IN1965,WEARING A SANTA SUIT,
MY FIRST JUMP INSTR.,D-329 PLANE CRASH,HINCKLEY 1992
bob federman FEDO C-2403,SCR-155
Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.
  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
SkyDiving Stuff while at Austin and Edwards
By Dr. Eco

1. How I got started: Moe came back from California in 1958 with a couple of modified Air Force surplus parachutes and talked me in to making some jumps. At Casterville airport all the instructions Moe gave me was "When you leave the plane count to 3 and pull the ripcord and put you feet together when you land"

First Jump: 3 delay, from J3 Cub April 1960 at Casterville, Texas.

Third Jump: 12 second delay freefall from 3500 ft from J3 Cub without a sleeve deployed chute. (very hard opening, I had harness bruises on my shoulder and chest).

Fourth Jump:15 second delay freefall from 4000 feet from J3 Cub. Used a deployment sleeve for the first time (much smaller opening shock).

Jump Number 5. An 18-second delay free fall. Tried a baton pass.

Jump Number 7: A 20-second delay from about 5000 feet from a Piper Tri-Pacer at Mitchell Field. Mitchell Field was next to Mitchell Lake (a sewage disposal lake for San Antonio). I wanted to take the right side door off the plane but Moe told the pilot no, no, don't bother taking the door off. This made it very difficult for me to look straight down to spot when I was over the target. Also trying to open the door against a 60-mph air stream made leaving the plane difficult and time consuming.

Buy the time I left the plane, I was over the middle of Mitchell Lake. From 5000 feet my position did not look too bad. However once I open my chute at about 2000 feet and started looking around, I saw I had a problem. I landed in the middle of Mitchell Lake with my parachute harness, boots and overalls on and of course the canopy had to come down right on top of me. I did not have any flotation gear with me and the lake was about 8 feet deep. I got the canopy off my head but I was all tangled up in the canopy and the lines. With the parachute wrapped around me, and my harness, my boots and my overalls on, swimming was all but impossible.

I was staying afloat OK but my arms were getting tired. So I would take a breath sink down and stand on the bottom for a while to rest and try to get my parachute harness off, then come back up. I did this for about 6-7 minutes until two guys got a rowboat and came out to pick me up. As they started to pulled me out of the water, Moe was on the bank yelling: "Get the parachute, get the parachute, be careful with the parachute, don't tear the parachute." He never once asked if I was OK. But that was Moe and that is what I liked about him.

When they got me to the bank, they pull me out of the boat and sat me down. I was sitting there, exhausted, spitting out sewer water, when Moe comes over to me. His first endearing words were:
"You have ruined my parachute, you have ruined my parachute."

Jump Number 8: My first night jump. I spotted for myself for my first 10 jumps.

I was on a 1960's accelerated free fall schedule.

2. Exhibition Skydiving: Exhibition skydiving has come a long way from the early 60's when I did most of my jumping. At first, jumping at some hick county fair with a different color smoke bomb on each foot and doing some spirals while in freefall would excite the crowd. If you got fancy, two jumpers could do some crisscrossing if freefall with some smoke.

When that got old, you could always get the crowds attention by doing the freefall smoke bit and then opening at about 800 feet with a lot of scrapes of paper and the contents of a couple of large jars of talcum powder packed in with your chute. Openings would look like you chute blew up.

I did the - scraps of paper - talcum powder - smoke bomb, thing at a county fair in some nondescript hick town in East Texas back in 1961, and the crowd went wild. About a hundred people kept running under me when I was trying to land. It was like Lindbergh landing in Paris in the 1920s.

I landed right in the middle of them and luckily I did not hurt anyone. But then they started trying to tear souvenir pieces off my canopy and run off with my ripcord and sleeve. I barely got out of there in one piece.

3. Cream In's and Low Openings: If you hit the ground at freefall velocity the ground gives about 2 to 4 inches depending on the soil type. If you hit concrete runway the ground does not give at all. Assuming a body is about 8 inch thick at the chest, the center of gravity of your body stops in about 6 to 8 inches on contact with soil and about 4 inches on concrete. If you stop from 130 MPH (~200 fps) in 4 inches the center of your body pull about 1,875 g's if my calculations are right. Ouch!
(Note: The term 'Creamed-In' came about because a jumper's body is like thick cream inside his skin after he hits the ground at around 120 mph.)

Jack Smith was the second "creamed-in" I witness. Earlier in Texas a student had gone out on his first freefall. He was falling in a perfectly flat stable position but never pulled his ripcord. The student must have had his eyes closed because if you are in freefall going 130 MPH and looking at the ground when you get under 1000 feet, the ground rush is like a freight train coming at you. I have opened under 800 feet a couple of time at demo jumps at county fairs and ground rush alarm-bells were going off.

It takes a sleeve-deployed parachute about 400-500 feet to open and the jumper to slow to safe velocity. Because as the chute deploys it is slowing you down, a pull at 800 feet give you about a 3-second margin assuming you don't get any pilot chute flutter. To minimize pilot chute flutter, you pulled your knees up to your chest as you pull the ripcord. This puts your body in a vertical position so the wind stream pull the pilot chute right off of your back with no hesitation.

With hand throw-out chute deployment, flutter is not a problem anymore. With hand deployment, when you are preparing to open, you take the pilot chute out of it sock and hold it in you hand in the wind stream while you are falling. You let go of it when you want to open. Hand deployment is not without it risks. If you get the line between the pilot chute and the sleeve holding the main canopy, which is flapping around in the wind, wrapped around your arm or caught on your backpack, you have a problem.

4. Relative Work Jumps: By varying the positions of your arms, legs and body you can change your aerodynamic characteristics and control the vertical and horizontal components and lateral direction of your freefall velocity. Horizontal velocity can be varied from 1) 0mph in a flat and stable position to 2) about 100mph in full reverse arch track position, to 3) about minus 50mph (going backwards) in a reverse delta with your arms extended over your head and legs pulled up to your chest.

Vertical velocity can be varied from: 1) around 120 mph in a flat and stable position with arms and legs extended, 2) to about 140mph in the full reverse arch track position, 3) to over 200 mph with your arms by your side and legs together in a head down "at attention" position.

For the full reverse arch track position you bend forwards at the waist roll you shoulders down and cup you hands by the side of your body. This position turns you body into a wing segment and produces a lift vector pointing upward and forwards. In this position you can move about a foot horizontally for every 1.4 feet you fall vertically, or a Lift/Drag ratio of about .7. Your horizontal across the ground speed is about 100 mph and your vertical speed is about 140 mph.

Two skydiver doing a crisscross with both jumpers in a full reverse arch track position can have relative closing speeds of over 200 mph. Under such condition, collisions between skydivers can prove fatal. Two Army jumpers collided while doing a crisscross demo. One jumper was killed and the other lost both legs.

Relative Work Jumps with Some Early D (Expert) License Holder.

Dear Dr. Economy:
It good to hear from an early D (Expert) license holder. I was able to complete the list for D License numbers 1 through 400 for your use. They are now around 25,000. Please see list attached.
Michelle Garvin, Director of Membership Services, United States Parachute Association (USPA) Alexandria, VA

My Comments on D-License numbers: By December 1961, I had over 200 free fall jumps (I had no static line jumps) but had never applied for PCA (later called USPA) membership or for an PCA: A, B or C Licenses. (In Central Texas in early 1960's, no one paid much attention to the PCA, their safety rules, or their license) (Note: At the time I got my D License, the requirement for an A (novice) license was 20 jumps, for a D (Expert) license it was 200 freefall jumps including night, water, and 60 seconds delays plus other shorter delays jumps.)

I had all the requirements for my D (Expert) License and applied to the PCA for membership and my D-License in the spring of 1961 while still at the Univ. of Texas. The D-License numbers were then in the low 50's. I got my D-License over eight months later in May 1962 with a D-License Number of 115 over 60 numbers higher.

I talked to a guy who had been at Orange, Mass, (the old PCA headquarters). He said that everyone wanted a D number under 100 so Istel and the other officers at the PCA set aside a large block of low (under 100) D-Licenses numbers for: 1) their buddies at Orange and other New England Drop Zones, 2) to the Army jumpers e.g., Golden Knights, 3) long term PCA members with A, B, C License, and 4) jumpers from the major PCA approved DZ's i.e. California; and the New England states. Based on my application date, he said my D-License should have been in the 70 to 80 range

Oh well, with D licenses numbers now in the 25,000 range, I can still get a free beer when I show up at a jumpers bar and show my D-115 license. Lower license number indicated that you were a pioneer and are considerably more prestigious.

I had between 20 to 50+ relative work jumps with the following D (Expert) license holder except were noted.

D (Expert) License No. Location (State) Name Comments

D 42 TX Jacks, Clyde E Luck was with me when I met Clyde Jacks. I did not developed any good freefall technique until I started going to Houston to Jump. At Houston, I had about 50 jumps with Clyde who had Gold Wings (Over 1000 freefall jumps). License No. 2 or 3. Clyde was undoubtedly one of the best skydivers in the world. Plus he was bright, thoughtful, articulate, well educated, technically competent (the complete Anti-Moe, Anti-Typical Skydiver) and a stunt pilot to boot. He was a great jump instructor and jumping partner. Our personalities meshed and every time I was in Houston we jumped together. I learn more from Clyde in one jump than I had learned in all my previous jumps. After a jump, Clyde could tell you exactly what you did wrong and how to fix the problem. During freefall, he would come up next to you indicate what your problem was, e.g., your left leg was too high. If you did not respond he would push your left leg down to the right position. Clyde had over 1000 freefall jumps and I only had about 80 but he would treat me as an equal because we both had a methodical approach to skydiving. After 20 jumps with Clyde, I was as good a jumper as anyone at Houston, except for Clyde of course.

One full moon night in September 1961, Clyde and I jumped from 15,000 ft with a flashlight. We pass the light back and forth several times and then saw that we were starting to drift into some tall cumulus clouds. We both went into a full reverse arch track position giving us a horizontal across the ground speed of about 100mph.

We were able to track our way around and stay out of the high thunder head cumulus clouds. There were lightning flashing in the clouds all around us and they would look like big white frosted light bulbs. We open our chutes about 1800 feet when we were under the cloud bottoms and could see the Drop Zone lights. With about 1500 jumps Clyde was killed doing low altitude rolls in his stunt plane near Houston, Texas in 1962. Flying is risky.

D 63 CA Simbro, Henry L. 12 Jumps with Hank / Muriel at Lancaster, Taft and Arvin DZ's

D 78 CA Muriel, Jean Simbro Wife of Henry Simbro D-63

D 84 CA Cupp, Jack M. 10 Jumps with Cupp at Lancaster, Taft and Arvin DZ's.

D 89 TX Fitch, Edward D. Dr. Fitch (C-198), a close friend of Clyde, was a Heart Surgeon in Houston, and another exception to the typical skydiver. I had about 30 jumps with Dr. Fitch at Bee Line and Midway DZ's near Houston, Texas

D 95 CA Molitar, Don 10 Jumps with Molitar at Taft and Arvin DZ's.

D 115 TX Economy, Richard

D 196 CA Carlyn Olsen 20 Jumps with Carlyn Olsen at Lancaster, Taft and Arvin DZ's

D 251 TX Jeannie McComba ~ 22 jumps with Jeannie (the jump mistress) McComba

D 272 MI Sinclair/Bob Camera man for some of the Rip Cord TV series. (5) jumps with Sinclair at California City and Lake Elsinor DZ's. Bob was a good cameraman but average at relative-work and he did not participate in large relative work jumps. See picture of Bob in photo below.

D 344 CA Jack C. Smith Jack was the area safety officer at Lancaster and "creamed-in" circa 1966 while working with a freefall student. The student pulled too low and by the time Jack stop concentrating of his student and pull his ripcord he hit the ground. His body was a mushy lump. Had about 30 jumps with Jack. The area safety officer was not too safe. The term "creamed-in" came about because a body is like thick cream inside your skin after you hit the ground at around 130 miles per hour.

Bob Buquor: I had about 50 jumps with Bob Buquor at the Arvin DZ. With most of them, Bob was taking photos with his motorized 35 mm Nikon mounted on his helmet. I knew Bob from San Antonio, Texas before we both ended up in California. Bob had a low C license number C-150 but never got around to applying for his D license because he thought that C-150 would look better than a higher number D license (ahh, vanity).

Bob was trying to make it in the movie business. He shot freefall sequences for part of the "Rip Cord" series and for several other movies. At this time, I was a 1st Lt. in the USAF at the Flight Research Center at Edward's AFB Calif. I did most of my California sport jumping at the Lancaster DZ which was close to Edwards AFB. However, Bob and I would get together at Arvin to jump.

Bob shot the photo's when we made the "First Six Man Star in the World" September 6, 1964, at Arvin, California." The photo of the Six Man Star was the centerfold of Skydiver Magazine. Another Skydiver Magazine centerfold showed the same group of jumpers leaving the Twin Beach.

The making of the First 6 Man Star in the World. Rehearsal jumps.
Trivia Note: To minimize arguments over who it was in the photos, jumpers had identifying patches on their jumpsuit, parachute, helmet, etc. Drummiller's were Tiger Strips on his helmet. Mine were a pair of long and short yellow stripe on my back pack, a gold dark-yellow jumpsuit and an old red foot ball helmet with black tape over the vent holes to minimize wind noise.

Buquor thought my old red football helmet look like crap, so for star formation photo jumps where appearance was important to Buquor, he would lend me one of his new white Bell Helmets. Notice in the photo below of me leaving the Twin Beach I have on my old red football helmet with black tape over the vent holes. It ironic, that for the photo from this practice jump I had on my old red football helmet and it was the photo that ended up on the centerfold of Skydiver
Magazine.

Bob was always pissed about this. Because Bob was making a living from his skydiving photography, he took the smallest details very seriously. To me, skydiving was just a way to get a little excitement into my life, waste some time on the weekend and hustle some of the gals that hung around the DropZone.

We jumped for 15,000 feet. Photo below was taken about 12,000 feet. Small door on Twin Beach, see photo below, made egress time consuming. This spread out the jumpers making the star formation more time consuming.

In the photo below, I had grabbed Poteet's left hand with my right hand and was trying to decide whether or not to switch to my left hand with the jumpers coming in from my right side. Ed Drummiller, in the tiger striped helmet, did not participate
in the last series of jumps when we made the 6-man star.

SEE PIC 1


Below: one of the final jumps. I am the jumper on the left in the 3 man hook up. The jumper above me with his hands in a position ready to pounce came in between Poteet and myself. The smoke bomb burned out by the time we all got together. The smoke was for the benefit of the observers on the ground so that they could track the jump better. Jumper on the far left is Don Henderson. The jumper on the upper right is tracking towards us in a frog position. Notice how he is twisting his hands to make fine speed adjustments as he tracks in towards the formation.

SEE PIC 2


Bob shot the freefall photo's when we made the "First Six Man Star in the World" September 6, 1964, at Arvin, California." The photo of the Six Man Star was a centerfold of Skydiver Magazine. Bob Buguor was the cameraman for another Skydiver Magazine centerfold that showed the same group of jumpers leaving a Twin Beach in an earlier jump preparing for the Six-Man Star photo shoot.

SEE PIC 3

In September, Bob Buquor had just returned from Germany after filming the world skydiving meet for ABC. Back at Arvin, he filmed the first 6-man star September 6, in the world. That record made the cover of Lyle Cameron's Skydiver Magazine.

Because the skydivers are in such close proximity to each other, the position and motion of one jumper can disturb the airflow around the others, causing the others to have to compensate to maintain a stable star position. Because your hands are tied up holding on to other jumpers, all control has to be done with your legs.

Notice the jumper on the right, in the above photo, has pulled his legs up to his ass because he is slightly high. I am the lower jumper in the yellow (light colored) jumpsuit with his ass to the camera, I have extended my legs because I am a little low. I have a photo taken moments before showing jumper on the left of me entering the formation. Because he was the last jumper in the formation and he came in a little fast, he overshot and is lower than the others. He had pulled the left side of the yellow suited jumper (me) down.

Notice that I have my left leg extended more than my right leg to compensate for my left side being pull down by the red suited jumper on my left.

For "First Six Man Star in the World" photo, we had jumped from 12,500 feet out of a Twin Beach. It takes about 1200 feet of freefall to accelerate to terminal freefall velocity of around 130 mph. Depending on how fast the plane is going when you exit it, you don't have a lot of aerodynamic control until you get near terminal velocity. Once you are falling over about 100mph, you can turn, track across the ground, do flips, do formation flying, and etc.

The Twin Beach has a small door allowing only one jumper to leave at a time. By the time the 7th jumper (the six in the photo and the cameraman) is out the door, the first jumper out is about 600 feet below and already getting up to freefall speed. The last jumper after diving out the door and stabilizing has to go into a head down full track position for about 12-15 seconds to catch up with the first jumper and the others who have formed up with him.

The problem is by the time the last jumper out start to catch up with the jumper forming underneath him, the last jumper is going about 60-mph faster than the group and has to flare into full spread eagle position to put on the air brakes. If you flare to late, you end up underneath the other jumpers and you are out of the picture. Worst yet if you flare to late, you may run into the lower jumpers, who are forming the star, going 35-40 mph and do a lot of damage. If you flare to early, you are above the other jumpers and then have to tuck back in to drop down to them wasting valuable time. The freefall activity from leaving the plane to opening your chute only lasts about 65 seconds.

Below - Exiting the twin beach on one of the practice jumps. I am the jumper in the yellow jumpsuit with the yellow strips on my backpack with my old red football helmet with black tape over the vent holes on. From Skydiver Magazine.

SEE PIC 4

I have pulled my left leg up to keep from being turned sideways by the prop blast of the left engine.
The jumper behind me, Don Henderson, with his arms back has just push off from the door.

The Bob Buquor Memorial Star Crest: http://www.afn.org/skydive/rw/bbmsc/index-old.html
Bob Buquor pictured here at Arvin in 1966. Bob drowned later that year on July 27th off the Malibu coast while filming a skydiving segment for a movie (Photograph by Tim Harris).

The Bob Buquor Memorial Star Crest (BBMSC) is a perpetual memorial to commemorate the efforts of the late Robert H. Buquor who played a major role in the origin of star formation relative work.

Bob Buquor initiated and photographed the majority of the star attempts at Arvin, California in the early 1960's and was successful in capturing the first 6-way star there on film on September 6, 1964.

Bob drowned off Malibu Beach, California in 1966, while filming a dangerous movie sequence for a major studio. It is to his driving enthusiasm in this aspect of the sport that this membership is dedicated.

My Note: Bob was a good swimmer and would not have drowned if he would have dumped his helmet, with a large 35mm movie camera mounted on it, and the large heavy battery pack attached to his waist. But good jumpers never dropped ripcords handles or dump a large expensive camera, not when it belong to the movie studio, in the ocean. It ironic, the camera and battery pack were recovered in good shape along with Bob's dead body.

http://www.scr-awards.com

The Beginning: The was no Accelerated Freefall program, no AAD's, no Dytters, no altimeters and no packers. Your main canopy was a 28-foot round. Your reserve was a 24-foot flat circular canopy. All of which were purchased as "military surplus." And then, you had to convince some pilot that it was a good idea to take you up to five thousand feet, open the door, fling yourself out and learn.
http://www.scr-awards.com/history/index.html

Some Comments from Scratch http://www.afn.org/skydive/usenet/1995/mar/0176.html Bob Allen was our camera person in the early star days at Taft. The two cameras on the load were Bob Buquor and Richard Economy. Bob Buquor was a very good skydiver who brought stars into focus by taking pictures of them. Before that stars had no more meaning than any other freefall activity. I still remember seeing the picture of the first 6 star on the cover of Skydiver Magazine. I couldn't think of anything else for weeks. Richard Economy had an even greater influence on me. One day at Lancaster he showed me the idea of flying close but not touching. We called it hovering. It has pretty much been my favorite freefall activity ever since. Mainstream skydiving pretty much went the way of grips and hookups when stars became popular a few years later, but my favorite has always been flying around without touching. You get to fly the whole time. You never have to hang on.
End of Scratch's Comments:

Lancaster Jump Meet: 1964. This was only a Landing Accuracy Meet In the photo below, Bob Sinclair of the Hollywood Paraventures Group is standing next to me. Sinclair was the photographer for the first part of the Ripcord TV Series before Bob Buquor and Lee Hunt took over.

SEE PIC 5
SEE PIC 6

After 1965, I did more flying than jumping and got my commercial, instrument, multi-engine and flight instructor pilot ratings.
Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Six of the "first 400" at the PI reunion held in Orange, MA Sept.15-17.

50226: Lee Guilfoyle (D-50), Jacques-André Istel (D-2), Bill Jolly (D-26)
32569: Anne Batterson (D-325), Nate Pond (D-69)
2212: Kim Emmons Knor (D-221) and Istel.

(Lots more pix where these came from).

HW

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

The SCR Database goes from...

4784 LEPICK MARK H BORDERLAND CA 06/14/75
6810 NOVOTNY PAUL J HINCKLEY ILL 11/13/1976

Anyone know when that gap of about 2,000 recipients might be filled in?



Hi,

I am the database admin for the SCR stuff. As Keith said, Bill and at least one other person are transcribing paper records into xls form and sending them to me for import as they can get it done. He is aware of the holes, but has limited time and the process is a manual one.

I'll start an awards thread here on the next large import and post to that thread each time I get a new import.

-----------------------
Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Skydiving History- Dr. Eco- DrEco-Dr.Eco

If you are searching for Richard Economy D115 Replies and comments they are under the following names.
1) Dr.Eco, - a period but no space between Dr.and Eco
2) DrEco, - no space and no period between Dr and Eco
3) Dr. Eco - a space between Dr. and Eco

Sorry for the confusion DrEco, aka Dr.Eco aka Dr. Eco
D115

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
If you are searching for comments from Richard Economy D115 under Skydiving History, they are under the follow names:
Dr. Eco with a period and a space between Dr. and Eco
DrEco no space and no space between Dr and Eco,
Dr.Eco with a period between Dr and Eco

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

The SCR Database goes from...

4784 LEPICK MARK H BORDERLAND CA 06/14/75
6810 NOVOTNY PAUL J HINCKLEY ILL 11/13/1976

Anyone know when that gap of about 2,000 recipients might be filled in?



All the tables at http://www.starcrestawards.com are up to date. If you think something is missing or incorrect, please contact me or Bill Newell (link on site).

-----------------------
Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

More info on D18s death...send to [email protected] thanks



It has been a long time ago, but if memory serves he crashed his ultra lite into the Cumberland River outside of Clarksville TN. I think it was around 74 or 75, but wouldn't swear to it.
In the early 70s I purchased a lot of hardware from Mike for the gear I used to build at the time, but was not a good friend.
You might be able to find out some more info on line from what ever the local paper down there is. Sorry I couldn't help any more than that.
GUNFIRE, The sound of Freedom!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Hi, Jack. (Not something we should say at an airport, huh?)

I doubt you and I ever jumped together as I didn't start until 1981... I was posting an email thread in this skydiving & history section from Richard Economy (Dr. Eco) so as to capture, preserve and pass on the history of skydiving. If you wish to correspond with Dr. Eco directly... go up to where his name is listed and click "Reply" to his post and he'll get an automatic email ping to respond to you directly. Or, you can send him a PM and he'll still get an automatic email to contact you directly.
Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

209 TX Bobby Dean Crump. Was a barber that worked in the same shop as my dad in the mid to late 50s I was about nine years old when he invited us out to watch them jump and after seeing the first jump of the day I was hooked and knew right then that I was gonna' be a skydiver.B|

Don't know whatever happened to him after about 1964.

The older I get the less I care who I piss off.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi usedto,

Well, he was married to Tee Taylor ( 1964 Woman's World Champion ) for awhile.

And IIRC, he was also the Conference Director for that area for awhile ( then = Conf Dir / now = Reg Dir ).

I think they were divorced by the time of the '64 Team Tryouts where she and Brydon 'got together.' :P

JerryBaumchen

PS) I eventually figured out what the 'Tee' stands for. And, NO, I am not telling. ;)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Jack: My full name is Richard Economy. My D number was 115. I was a Lt. then a Capt in the Air Force at Edwards in Calif. when I did my Calif jumping. Most of my Calif jumps were at Lancaster and Arvin. I also some jumped at Taft and Calif City were Bob Sinclair ran the DZ there. Because of my PhD in Physics from the Univ of Texas, I go by DrEco and DrEcon. I jumped a lot with Buquor at Arvin and was in Bob's Buquor photo of the First Six Man Star in the World Photo.

I can'f find my log book but I beleave we jumped together at Lancaster and Arvin DZ's and maybe Taft DZ,s

My Emails are: [email protected] and [email protected].

[email protected] is the one I use the most.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

0