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robskydiv

Arvin

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If I can remember to do it, I'll inform Don what went on yesterday, tomorrow. No, no, I mean today’s events tomorrow. Or was it yesterdays today? I'll need to think on it for a month and get back to you or Don sometime in the future.

I found some of Paul’s log books. It has your name in it under Demo. It says C-Puff Demo. Should I bring my Rumbleseat Mug to Taft in May so you can finish the Demo? Or would you rather drink out of an old prosthetic leg?

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If I can remember to do it, I'll inform Don what went on yesterday, tomorrow. No, no, I mean today’s events tomorrow. Or was it yesterdays today? I'll need to think on it for a month and get back to you or Don sometime in the future.

I found some of Paul’s log books. It has your name in it under Demo. It says C-Puff Demo. Should I bring my Rumbleseat Mug to Taft in May so you can finish the Demo? Or would you rather drink out of an old prosthetic leg?


Hi 216,
The "Rumbleseat" and you have a MUG?!!! WOW! Do you remember the "Ironclad" Cardinal Mug?? 'Twas an article in Cam's old Rag 'bout some joker comming into the Rumbleseat sportin' a monsterous mug made out of cast iron pipe!! Someone did the Supreme Cardinal Ritual with it and wala!! "Ironclad Cardinal!!" 'Wonder what ever happened to "That" mug??
SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out

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Hello Bill,

What I remember of IronClad is Lyle using a sewer pipe for the demo at the Rumbleseat. We would meet there once a week to view some of Carl's film of our jumps that week. Lyle would give a demo for anyone that requested it. But if you requested the demo, you were stuck with trying it until you passed. I made most Puff games, but IronClad was way too hard for me.

I'll see Lyle Jr. this May at Taft and ask if he has the IronClad Mug.

Regards,
Dennis

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Hi Dennis,
'Gotta dig a little in the archives but I have the "Sky Diver" with the article about the "Iron Clad Mug' there's a photo with the Mug on the bar and a little kid holding the handle!!!! Can you dig it??

Wednesday night at the Rumbleseat!! Talk about "Instant replay!!" Shot 16mm film on Sunday, ran back to LA Sun. night, dropped film off at lab Sun Night or Mon Morning first thing, they developed it on Mon.-Tue. and you got it first thing on WED and First run was Wed. night at the "Rumbleseat!!!" "Thank you our Camera men!!" Today's kids have no clue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!B|B|

SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out

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Hi Dennis,
'Gotta dig a little in the archives but I have the "Sky Diver" with the article about the "Iron Clad Mug' there's a photo with the Mug on the bar and a little kid holding the handle!!!! Can you dig it??

Wednesday night at the Rumbleseat!! Talk about "Instant replay!!" Shot 16mm film on Sunday, ran back to LA Sun. night, dropped film off at lab Sun Night or Mon Morning first thing, they developed it on Mon.-Tue. and you got it first thing on WED and First run was Wed. night at the "Rumbleseat!!!" "Thank you our Camera men!!" Today's kids have no clue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!B|B|



Well dummy, where's the damn picture?

Sparky
My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

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Hi Dennis,
'Gotta dig a little in the archives but I have the "Sky Diver" with the article about the "Iron Clad Mug' there's a photo with the Mug on the bar and a little kid holding the handle!!!! Can you dig it??

Wednesday night at the Rumbleseat!! Talk about "Instant replay!!" Shot 16mm film on Sunday, ran back to LA Sun. night, dropped film off at lab Sun Night or Mon Morning first thing, they developed it on Mon.-Tue. and you got it first thing on WED and First run was Wed. night at the "Rumbleseat!!!" "Thank you our Camera men!!" Today's kids have no clue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!B|B|



Well dummy, where's the damn picture?

Sparky

Hi Spark,
OK, Here's the deal. Somewhere in the 1965-66 issues of SDM, in the "archives" gotta dig thru and thumb thru each mag to find your MUG!! Only SDM I have on the desk is 8/66 showing Jimmy Godwin exiting Pop's T-6 kneeling on the leading edge of the port "WINGTIP" by leaning over forward!! No this doesn't have the "MUG!" but yer welcome!! Gotta revamp the office, the aquisitions of over 40 years in the Sport are interesting, 'need ta' have a "Loft Sale!!" Missed goin' fer "Ironclad," hell I had enough trouble with jez plane ol' "Cardinal Puff!!" "But," I still have my "Rumbleseat Cardinal Puff" card!!B|B|
PS, ask Lyle, Jr. he has all the archives of "Sky Diver" !!
SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out

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I wonder how many jumps Mr. Henley was able to make on one leg. In 74, I had a friend who started jumping with one leg. He'd lost the leg to bone cancer. (Cancer killed him years later.) He was rough and tough, but he just couldn't take all those brutal landings on one leg. He finally had to quit after twenty or so jumps...

If I remember right he was jumping a t-10. A para-commander might have been a little easier on his body to land....

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A good friend of mine, Dave Barr, lost both legs to a land mine in the 70’s. When I met him in the early 80’s he was jumping at Perris with a gutted cheapo. Sometimes he would hit so hard that he would bounce back up and to a flip through the lines and smack the ground again. He would jump, well sort of jump up, smile and hoop and holler and be ready to go again. In the 90’s he rode a Harley solo from the Atlantic coast through Europe and Russia to the Pacific coast in the middle of winter. Toughest SOB I have ever met.
When I first met Paul he was doing demos with California Aerial Circus, Pat Moorehead’s team and one of the premier teams of the time. As I mentioned up thread I did my first demo with Pat’s team in 1978 into an event at Lake Perris. I exited on the second pass with Paul calling the spot. I was scared to death when we boarded the plane at Perris DZ but Paul’s calm demeanor and encouraging words settled me down enough that on exit I was able to at least remember to pull. I followed Paul’s line and watched him to a single leg tippy to landing. I learned a lot about doing demos that day, things that I would use for the next 25+ years.
I guess what I am trying to say is it depends on the individual whether or not they continue to jump after losing a part. I have been privileged to know several amputee jumpers over the years and they all have that self assurance and quite determination so many others lack.
Blither done. This message brought to you courtesy of Gray Goose.;)

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

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Thanks for the article Howard,

I know a little about this because Paul is my brother. Both Paul and I got our training and first jumps through Ed Hutchinson. Mine was at Arvin. That is another story all together.

Paul lost his leg at Elsinore during one of our SCR Stumbles meets. Kevin Donnelly and Curt Curtis came to the DZ to get me and take me to Corona to see Paul in hospital. Paul was on a gurney and I could tell right when I waked in what was up. Paul pulled the sheet off of where his leg should have been and said to me, "Well Dennis, I'll be ok walking on curbs, but I'll be shit out of luck when I get to a driveway". He told me to sign to have the rest of the leg removed so he could get on with planning his next move in life. That is just how Paul was all of his life.

A few months after he lost his leg Paul and I went up together at Elsinore so he could get in the air again. On exit Paul was having a hard time finding the right position in freefall and was in a slow spin. Every time he came around I would slap him upside the head to stop his spin. I could tell he was getting real pissed off about this and then he found the correct position. We did a few 2-way grab ass things and pulled at around 1700. When we got down Paul sat on the ground for a minute and said, "That was hot. OK, give us a hand here brother". I answered back, "You wanted to jump again, this is part of it". Paul jumped up on his one good leg with the stump of the other leg bleeding and field-packed his rig and hopped over to the old Elsinore DZ jeep so Gary Douris could drive back to the packing area. Gary was real hot about our opeining low, but for some reason this time he didn't ground us.

I know what I said and did to my brother on that jump sounds to most people to be a real jackass thing to say and do, but I lost full use of my left leg and foot when I was a kid in the 1950s and both Paul and I were taught by our Dad to never use our little problems as an excuse. Dad would always say to all of us kids, “You know what you have to work with, so deal with it and get on with your life”. Dad was right, so we always moved on, looking forward to the next new thing in life.

Paul went on to make ~1000 more jumps before he departed this life. I still jump with one of Paul’s old stump socks inside of my jump suite pocket. I still like to spot for myself without the green light so when I am looking out the door to spot I am talking in my head to Paul and asking if the spot looks good to him. The answer I always get back is, “Looks good ta me brother, lets do this thing”.

Sorry for making this so long. I just miss that prick.

Dennis Henley
SCR-216

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Paul made ~1000 more jumps after he lost his leg. He also got into down hill skiing and won a few Para-Ski meets. I think he also won a few one legged ass kicking contests. For sure I know he kicked mine a few times.

Dennis Henley

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From about 1969 on Carl had two showings during the week. One at Jay and Garths' Gypsy Moths Bar and then at Frank Carpenters Rumbleseat Bar. It was a lot of fun picking our yourself on the film, seeing the old Fairchild, the old Howard, Big Red and others.

Let me know if you find the Skydiver Rag articles. Lyle had me write a few articles for him back then. Sure wish I had them now.
One had the title:
"There I was at 12000 feet with a pocket full of quarters and not a pop machine in sight"

I cleaned that title up a little to be PC, due to the day and age we are living in now.

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Hi Dennis,
I have a small batch of SDM's from about '65 till early 70's. A bunch got swiped by the mail guys when I was in the Nav and a few others disappeared over the years. I'll check the ones I have. Check with Lyle Jr., he's still on the left coast and I think he still has the SDM archives!!! That's a treasure!!

"Missed a lot of those shows in those early daze, 'was out sailing for the "Blue Water Line" on the other side of the planet, aka; Uncle Sugar's Canoe Club, Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club chapter!!
SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out

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Hi Bill,

See if you have one ~68-69 that has an article near the end of the magazine titled:

MODIFICATIONS TO THE 26 FT CONICAL

by a guy named Jerry Baumchen.

I no longer have anything of that article that I originally wrote for a local publication called CHUTING THE BREEZE.

Some how Lyle got a copy of CHUTING and copied the article for his SKYDIVER magazine.

I would like to see the article once again; even if it's without the photos.

JerryBaumchen

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Hi Bill,

See if you have one ~68-69 that has an article near the end of the magazine titled:

MODIFICATIONS TO THE 26 FT CONICAL

by a guy named Jerry Baumchen.

I no longer have anything of that article that I originally wrote for a local publication called CHUTING THE BREEZE.

Some how Lyle got a copy of CHUTING and copied the article for his SKYDIVER magazine.

I would like to see the article once again; even if it's without the photos.

JerryBaumchen


Hi Jerry,
'Had a little time this evenng and thumbed thru what i have of my SDM's, didn't find the article. Don't have all the mags as That was when I was in the Nav and some got lost in the mail!! One issue I got when I was on the Princeton , they were hauling cargo out to the ship doing externals on helos and dropped a mail bag!! they fished it out of the drink but my SDM got water logged with salt h2o!! Had fun though lookin' thru the mags rememberin' when!!
SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out

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Hi Dennis,
'Gotta dig a little in the archives but I have the "Sky Diver" with the article about the "Iron Clad Mug' there's a photo with the Mug on the bar and a little kid holding the handle!!!! Can you dig it??

Wednesday night at the Rumbleseat!! Talk about "Instant replay!!" Shot 16mm film on Sunday, ran back to LA Sun. night, dropped film off at lab Sun Night or Mon Morning first thing, they developed it on Mon.-Tue. and you got it first thing on WED and First run was Wed. night at the "Rumbleseat!!!" "Thank you our Camera men!!" Today's kids have no clue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!B|B|



Well dummy, where's the damn picture?

Sparky

Hi Spark,
You want photo?? OK.! MAR66 SDM page 24 "So you wanna be a Cardinal?" by Bob Gilman I don't have a scanner so I'll try some trick shit with my digital cam tomorrow!! Now for Ironclad Cardinal so the story goes, Don Molitor brought the mug into the Rumbleseat he was listing 30 degrees to port for he had,"In his left hand was the biggest, heaviest, most rust lined drinking mug anyone has ever seen. It was constructed of old cast iron 3" sewer pipe!!" Anyway, Frank did the Supreme Cardidnal ritual with the Mug, gained possession of said mug and invented the game of "Ironclad Cardinal!!" To go fer this one you were supose to be a Pope!! The mug weighs 8 1/2 lbs. empty, holds almost a pitcher of beer and must be picked up with one hand. He says, Willie Armstrong, Tavern co-owner, lifted this mug as if it were a dixiecup of lemonade!! The Ironclads are as follows, 1. Frank Carpenter, 2. Willie Armstrong, 3. Bob Gilman, 4. Chip Maury, 5. Bill Edwards, 6. Jim Fee, 7. Lyle Cameron and 8. Chuck Casteel. The story goes that as of the writing of that piece, Don Molitor had not made an attempt at Ironclad, if he did he would become MUGMASTER!! If you can't find a MAG, I'll Photocopy the article for ya'.
SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out

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The first time I saw Arvin, CA was from 10,000 feet. The early morning air of Saturday, October 17, 1964 was nippy at altitude. I had just squeezed out of a Cessna 172 and was locked into the largest, and most rigid spread eagle position every recorded, to that date. I had exited second of three, because we figured that Zane Strong, at 230 pounds, would be the best one to force the door open. I was diligently counting (altimeters?? we didn't need no stinking altimeters) and looking down, as suggested by Jim Dann, who I had met an hour earlier at the Flying Tigers hangar at Burbank Airport. As I neared my 39th second of terminal velocity (I had been to 5,500 twice), I wondered if it was such a good idea to try and be like those six Arvin guys on the previous month's cover of Parachutist Magazine.
I had met Zane a few days earlier when he walked into the beer bar near my apartment in Burbank. He was wearing a jacket with a huge "Wisconsin State Parachute Club" patch on the back. The bartender knew I had jumped and he yelled, "Hey, Al, another skydiver...and he's your homey too!" That proved to be a fateful day for me. Zane said he was jumping into a place called Arvin on Saturday and invited me to go along. His wife would be driving up that afternoon.
Around 8,500 feet I became aware of another life form closing in as Jim, inches away, slowly sank below me. He looked up and motioned to my lightweight self to pull in my arms and legs so I would fall faster. I tried pulling in a couple of times but it was just too little and too late. Jim finally shook his head and tracked away. I never did see Zane.
We opened around 2,500, Jim knew to set his altimeter at +400 feet in Burbank. I was heading downwind toward a big white "X" spray-painted in the dirt when I heard a female voice from the ground.
"Turn around, jumper. That's not the target. Turn around!"
I cranked my newly-acquired 28 foot surplus candy-striped, 5-TU back into the wind and crashed onto the hard-packed taxiway. I was conscious and unhurt, this time (but that's another story). I laid there for a few seconds as Inge Onnes trotted up.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, just resting." I slowly got to my feet.
"Man, you hit like a sack o' Bandini! That "X" marks the end of the runway; we had a Super G Connie here last week."
"I thought it was a little close to the road; not to mention those wires."
Inge grabbed my helmet and reserve. "So you know Jim Dann, huh?" She led me back to the packing tables and introduced me to the hardcore Saturday morning crowd. The thing I remember most about my first day at Arvin was the accepting attitude of everyone there.
That night there was a big backyard party at Bill Newell's house in Bakersfield (one of many over the years). I remember the sound of the stereo blasting and Bill playing his conga drums mounted on a stand. I walked over and he motioned me to play one while he concentrated on the other. Brian Williams walked up and Bill introduced us. Brian played the other side of both drums. I'm pretty sure that Bill Stage was there because most of his crew was. That Arvin crowd sure knew how to party!
Eventually, I got to wondering where I was going to spend the night. Luckily, Inge took me under her wing and we wound up with 11 other jumpers in a motel room across Old 99 from the Travelers Restaurant. There were two queen sized beds. The procedure was to pull the mattresses off onto the floor. There were three people to each box spring or mattress and one person got the cushions from the mini-sofa and chair. I shared a box spring between Inge and Don Bradley.
The next morning was a beehive of activity with hung-over people bumping into each other trying to get organized. There were different shifts; the best relative workers went first so they could eat and head north up Old 99 to Bakersfield Air Park where the planes were tied down. These coveted Sunday morning "garbage-dump" jump-ins out of Dave Keagey's 195 and Walt Mercer's Howard took place every weekend.
On this day I witnessed, even assisted in, some really, really sloppy pack jobs thrown together on that motel parking lot. Someone needed to transport the jumpers to the planes and then drive their cars out to the dropzone. I was designated to be one of the drivers; we stopped for breakfast at the Travelers on our way back.
That was my introduction to the Arvin scene and people. The Arvin era technically ended on Sunday evening, May 30th, 1966, when we loaded that plywood shack on a big truck and deposited it at the new site in Old River. We started jumping there the next Saturday. But the Arvin spirit flows on.
I see the Arvin spirit much like the "Aloha" spirit in surfing. Jumpers in the relative work community are innovative and they cooperate to push the envelope in ways that no one had thought possible. The Arvin spirit is perpetuated in the Star Crest Awards and we have Bill Newell to thank for this. Bill Newell developed, and has worked tirelessly to maintain, this way to include every relative work jumper into the spirit of Arvin whether or not they had a chance to physically visit the place. Thanks Bill.

Al Paradowski SCR2

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Arvin has a lot of good memories for me also. I have many photos of Arvin and the gang I need to figure out how I can scan them and all of the negatives that are stuck up in a box in the attic and share them you who remember that whole incredible scene.
Tim Harris SCR 21
SCR-21

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Hi Tim,

Good to know that someone had the presence of mind to take some photos. One of yours of the ten man baton pass is on the "Early RW Records" site. I still have an enlargement of that shot.

I sure would be interested to see whatever you can put up on Dropzone. If a financial contribution would ease the pain, fly me an e-kite and I'll scrape one together.

There's no time like the present. The old crowd seems to be shrinking at an alarming rate now. I don't know if you've seen Bill Newell's latest post (5-5-12) on Air Trash but it snapped me back to reality.

Remember when Don Bradley used to ask, "Hey, want to get up a load? You know, cheat death; devil may care?" Those were the days.

Al Paradowski SCR2

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Hi Al,

> The old crowd seems to be shrinking at an alarming rate now. I don't know if you've seen Bill Newell's latest post (5-5-12) on Air Trash but it snapped me back to reality.

I didn't know about that. Thanks for telling me.


I should apologize for pulling in your face before
it's too late.

It's just that I was used to pulling at two rather
than breaking at two. I actually saw you, but by
the time it registered my right hand was going
for the ripcord and it pulled before I could shift
gears.

And then when you said I should be able to handle
myself at 1,500 ft I knew you were right but I was
too embarrassed to say so.

It's funny the stuff you remember.

Skr

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Hi Skratch,

I don't think that was me. At least, I HOPE that wasn't me.

As you know, I managed to track through the front of Alan Walter's 32ft double L at 3 grand over Arvin. I was looking back and down on him as he waved off and pulled. I thought I was far enough ahead. But NOooo! I swear that big old white canopy shot forward 150 feet during inflation.

Al threw his reserve and landed safely. I opened with a small line burn on my upper lip and a thrashed jumpsuit.

I started taking it to 1800, thinking that was safer. Art Armstrong would later hate me for this skewed logic. He was right, of course. And I was wrong.

Al Paradowski SCR2

PS More bad news on Air Trash (SCR1)

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