Turkey Meet Ad -- Spotter

[howardwhite 3]

This was part of an ad in Spotter for the 1976 Z-Hills Turkey Meet.
Wonder if Parachutist would print it today?

HW

[CReW 0]

Heck, Parachutist wouldn't have printed it then.
Anybody remember what team won that meet?
I think I do.

T

[howardwhite 3]

Quote

Anybody remember what team won that meet?

"Remember" is not a word I use much these days, unless preceded by "don't."
"Look up," however, works well.

10-way - Spaced Rangers
8-way Sequential - APT
16-way Sequential - V D Clinic
20-way - Spaced Rangers

My team was "Lemmings." For some reason, we are not on the list of more than 100 teams, possibly because we did not complete all rounds. We went up one time with nine people because the tenth was an amputee and had misplaced his leg.

Another note, from Spotter Magazine:

"(Thursday) at 11 o'clock things come to a grindng halt when Slots team members Charlie McGurr and Carl Dougherty have a canopy collision 150 feet off the deck and come spiraling down to dent the tin roof of the administration building.
"Both were flying squares but were not attempting canopy relative work. They were both lucky that tin roof was there, because there was concrete underneath."

I vividly remember the sound.

HW

[CReW 0]

Wow, not what I remember at all.
Except of course,

<<(Thursday) at 11 o'clock things came to a grindng halt when Slots team members Charlie McGurr and Carl Dougherty have a canopy collision 150 feet off the deck and come spiraling down to dent the tin roof of the administration building. >>

I remember that quite vividly, very violent.
Still have a piece of that old shed in a plastic bag around here somewhere.

Just the other day after opening I looked down and thought, now what's familiar about this.
Landed right in the middle of the old landing area and my buddy Mike put her right in the old pit.
Thought it was cool, enjoyed it a lot. Was picked up right away in the DZ truck.
Thank You Very Much,
T

Edit to add: Lemmings, Hahahaa

[Zing 2]

I was there too, and I'll never forget the sound of their impact on that roof. I was packing about 50 feet away and saw the entanglement happen. It was a surprise that they both walked away from it.

Zing Lurks

[jonstark 8]

I was there too. It sure was loud. As I recall Carl stayed on the roof for awhile pretty badly bloodied. There were a number of nasty fatalities that year. I just happened to see them all. Bummer.

jon

[RogerRamjet 0]

Quote

Quote

Anybody remember what team won that meet?

"Remember" is not a word I use much these days, unless preceded by "don't."
"Look up," however, works well.

10-way - Spaced Rangers
8-way Sequential - APT
16-way Sequential - V D Clinic
20-way - Spaced Rangers

My team was "Lemmings." For some reason, we are not on the list of more than 100 teams, possibly because we did not complete all rounds. We went up one time with nine people because the tenth was an amputee and had misplaced his leg.

Another note, from Spotter Magazine:

"(Thursday) at 11 o'clock things come to a grindng halt when Slots team members Charlie McGurr and Carl Dougherty have a canopy collision 150 feet off the deck and come spiraling down to dent the tin roof of the administration building.
"Both were flying squares but were not attempting canopy relative work. They were both lucky that tin roof was there, because there was concrete underneath."

I vividly remember the sound.

HW

Do you have a similar list from the 75 meet? I'd love to see it, especially the team names since I don't remember our team having a name that year.

I was on Hooper's Ten High Bunch (4th place).
Deland 16 man (way) team (1st place).
Deland 20 man (way) team (1st place).

BTW, Carl Daugherty (note the spelling) was on both the 16 and 20 Deland teams (and the winning 10 man team) that year as well.

I am planning a few jumps after a 27 year layoff and he is going to do my re-cert training and AFF jump with me. Last time I jumped with him, I had close to 1000 jumps and he had close to 2000. Now, I have 1000 jumps and he has close to 17,000

Two other notes of my history with Carl. I was on final approach to a formation in Deland one day when Carl collided with me, taking out his two front teeth and leaving two perfect teeth marks in my motorcycle helmet. Another jumper on the dive saw the collision and hung out until he was sure we were both conscious (no AAD's in those days).

Later in 1974, he and I were in the first ever 16 man diamond over Deland.

It will be exciting to say the least to see him in freefall again after all this time

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

[howardwhite 3]

Quote

Do you have a similar list from the 75 meet?

But of course..

10-"man": Slots are for Tots
16-"man": Migratory Bird Refuge
20-"man": Migratory Bird Refuge
Other top 10-"man" teams, in order of finish: Exitus, Migratory Bird Refuge, Ten High Bunch, Captain Paranoia

This is from Parachutist January, 1976, and includes lists of the names of everyone on all these teams.

Historical note: The editor of this issue of Parachutist was me. (It was the first issue published after USPA moved to DC and I was chairman of the Publications Committee.) The author was my then-g/f. Pictures were by some unknown named Jerry Irwin.

The (mis)-spelling of Carl Daugherty's name in my earlier post was the error of Paul Proctor, who wrote the item. Paul was editor of Parachutist for a while.

HW

[popsjumper 2]

Quote

...
"(Thursday) at 11 o'clock things come to a grindng halt when Slots team members Charlie McGurr and Carl Dougherty have a canopy collision 150 feet off the deck and come spiraling down to dent the tin roof of the administration building.
"Both were flying squares but were not attempting canopy relative work.

I just spoke with Carl this past weekend and he told that story with a grin. I didn't get to Z-hills until '77 and the roof was still broken...I don't think it was ever fixed, IIRC. I had been try to remember the names for many, many years and speaking with Carl just cracked me up.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[fastphil 0]

It's good Carl is around to grin about it, I watch the entanglement and thought I was watching two dead men. It was just a miracle they hit the tin roof.

The '76 Turkey Meet was my first, and what an enlightenment to the sport; Wet (pronounced "no") T-Shirt contests, lots of cool planes, lots of good jumps, a few bad accidents and lots of input from the herd...

[howardwhite 3]

Here is another account, from "The Endless Fall," by Mike Swain.

------
One of the most horrifying sights is to watch a low-altitude malfunction, where every detail is visible but the chances of survival are slim. One such accident took place directly over the packing area at Zephyrhills during one of the Thanksgiving meets.
Two parachutists, Charlie McGurr and Carl Doughtery, were making their final turns to land in the packing area when they crossed paths, wrapped lines, and plummeted toward earth. They were only about 200 feet up so they had no opportunity to recover and were far too low to cut away.
They were in full view of everyone in the packing area, all of whom stood frozen in horror. It was obvious that these guys had no chance whatsoever. The immediate emotional response to the sight was not excitement but a sickness in the pit of the stomach. It was one of those times that you want to look away but you can't.
By sheer dumb luck they impacted on the corrugated metal top of the packing shed, leaving distinct impressions of their bodies visible from underneath. Luckily, there was just enough spring and give in the roof to save them. Charlie walked away with just sprains and bruises. Carl was not quite so lucky. He had a broken kneecap, a fractured arm, and a few broken ribs, but nothing life-threatening.
They were very, very lucky and the incident put the fear of God into everybody who saw it. Shortly after that, there was a "no pull" down to tree-top level where the jumper finally got out his reserve. For the rest of the meet, everyone was spooked and intently watched the openings of every load.

----
(The butchery of Carl's name is the work of the author -- I just scanned the text.)

I seem to remember an incident at one Turkey Meet, not necessarily this one, where a jumper under canopy decided it would be cool to pull up his legs and wrap his feet around his risers at about a grand. Unfortunately, in the process, he managed to cut away. Fortunately, he pulled his reserve, really low. I saw that one pretty clearly.

HW

[Zing 2]

I think this was the same year WHO (Bill Ottley) made a nude jump, but his buddies turned his main around backwards without telling him. He opened, decided landing backwards without clothes was not a good thing and cutaway.
After he landed under his spare, I remember Ottley walking past the area we were packing in with his reserve wrapped around him like a silk toga whilst loudly cursing his "friends."

Zing Lurks

[smooth 0]

This is an ad for a Wonderhog rig from the May-June, 1977 issue of "Spotter". ( the original was in black & white, it got colored in over the years)

And yes, that is the correct price ! ! ! !

[cosmobuddy 0]

Quote

This is an ad for a Wonderhog rig from the May-June, 1977 issue of "Spotter".

Great to see Dean Westgaard's name. He was a great guy.

www.SkydiveLostPrairie.com

[BigSky 2]

Why do they call it "Three ring circus" in stead of just three ring release. Was that just the catchy name for it?


For some reason this ad reminds me of the movie Deliverance

“Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, th

[howardwhite 3]

Quote

Why do they call it "Three ring circus" in stead of just three ring release. Was that just the catchy name for it?

You are obviously not a prime candidate for a position in Product Marketing.

HW

[BigSky 2]

Well using the word circus in something that is suppose to instill the idea of safety doesn't really sound like a good marketing idea to me

“Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, th

[fastphil 0]

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Well using the word circus in something that is suppose to instill the idea of safety doesn't really sound like a good marketing idea to me

The "Three Ring Circus" revolutionized gear. I succumbed to their marketing and bought one about early '77...

[BigSky 2]

I understand completely what the three ring did for gear.

It was just the word circus that I was curious about.

“Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, th

[smooth 0]

Quote

Why do they call it "Three ring circus" in stead of just three ring release. Was that just the catchy name for it?


For some reason this ad reminds me of the movie Deliverance

At the time people were still using R-3s and "frap wraps". My guess is that for lack of a better name it was referred to as the three ring circus . . . .until Booth's ad called it the three ring release.

[NickDG 23]

I remember Dean's "store" in Laguna Beach. I even recall the containers he had hanging on the wall, Corsairs, I think they were. And at his house he showed me an old car under a canvas cover in his garage. It was the car he drove his wife away from the church in.

Of course as interesting as all that was - all I was doing was ogling his daughter . . .

I also think about Audra Jackman (sp?), the Kiwi lady, who manned one of Dean's vans selling gear out at Lake Elsinore. About twenty years later I was in New Zealand and ran into her at the DZ in Whenuapai.

At the time the younger jumpers were trying to get her grounded as they said she was getting rather dangerous. They may have had good cause, but it hurt me to see her treated like some crazy old ding bat . . . She remembered me though, and she had a good cry on my shoulder while remembering the "old" days . . .

NickD BASE 194

[howardwhite 3]

And I remember spending a night at Dean's house. We went down the hill into what would now be called a gated community, parked, put on our SCUBA gear, and swam to a rock just off shore. The rock hid a cave; inside, with a light, you could see the walls covered with abalone, rock scallops and other delicacies. We took enough for dinner, and feasted that night. He said he believed only he and his kids knew about the place

I returned the favor a couple of months later, taking him on a boat dive in outer Boston Harbor. I told him where I had seen a big lobster the week before -- one I couldn't quite get.
He came up with it; it weighed 18 pounds!

A wonderful guy and a life cut much too short.

HW

[RogerRamjet 0]

Quote

This is an ad for a Wonderhog rig from the May-June, 1977 issue of "Spotter". ( the original was in black & white, it got colored in over the years)

And yes, that is the correct price ! ! ! !

The price for the original was $250.00.

The 3-Ring Circus kind of came from me. Bill didn't know what to call his rings and there were three and my brother was in Ringling Brothers at the time, so I said 3-Ring Circus whenever I was asked what it was to be called. I left Bill's operation before he actually released the system though, so did not know it was ever advertised that way... I would bet he changed it to "3-Ring Release" in his own ads for exactly the reasons given here (Circus does not really exude safety).

Now it's 2007 and I haven't jumped in 27 years (trying to fix that), my brother isn't in the Circus anymore, but... Bill is still making the sport better and safer everytime I turn around, damn!

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

[howardwhite 3]

The August, 1977 Parachutist has a split decision on the term "three ring circus." It has a three-page article by Andy Keech, with lots of pictures. The article never uses the term, but the headline and cover blurb both say "Three-Ring Circus."

A Relative Workshop ad uses the term "Three-Ring Release," but the attached Dean Westgaard ad says "3 Ring Circus Canopy Release."

(Could this ad fall into the "sexist" category?)

HW

[howardwhite 3]

More dredging in the archive cellar.

This is from Spotter, May-June 1978. I think it is the McGurr/Daugherty wrap but am not sure; there's no caption.

It accompanies a Pat Works article on survival, in which Pat quotes himself as follows:

"High-speed sports all involve the constant risk of hitting something which is traveling significantly slower than you are."

HW