kimemerson

I have maybe 1,000 jumps on one of the early Sabre 135's. Damn wonderful canopy. Make sure your body position is clean - true for any canopy - and DO NOTHING WITH THE NOSE when packing it. Chances are you'll end up loving this canopy.

I started jumping in June, 1989. In June 2009 it will be twenty years that I have been working on perfecting my landings. When I get it down, I'll write back.

I've seen it happen. Rare as hen's teeth, but I've seen it.

He'll know....

Superb idea. I have always believed the skydivers need more pack jobs than they have jumps - especially in the beginning - but I've noticed they have more jumps than pack jobs. So use down time for something useful. And packing fills the bill nicely. Pack, unpack, pack, unpack... I would suggest doing it in stages: Lay it out, and get it right up to the point you would have to put it in the bag. Then just repeat this for a few hundred times then practice the part of getting it into the bag to closing. Just so the whole job doesn't frustrate you enough to give up early. Get someone to teach and supervise you a few times then have at it. Get advice from more than one person - but choose these people wisely. Pester the packers, riggers and BASE jumpers for insights & tips (ideas, not money). I congratulate you for taking this initiative. For being willing to pack. I'm all for paying a packer. But I just have a hard time paying for something you use to save your life while remaining largely ignorant about the device itself. I allow that not all of us will understand the aerodynamics, flight properties or construction deceleration devices, but packing is Skydive 101 and anyone who treats packers as a commodity, as consumer goods, misses the point of it all anyway. Pay for a packer eventually if you want to, but at least be able to understand what's happening with your parachute while it's in the hands of someone else. Refuse to remain ignorant. Again, good for you.

It's not a place. it's a perspective.

Packers should also be skilled to pack good spots and safe landings. Also, as an aside... 360°, 720°, 1,080° openings are actually on-heading with scenery. Another also... they are your jumper, you're not their packer. And another... You are essentially cleaning up the mess they leave on the floor and it is their option to jump it, loan it or sell it. If someone wants you to pay for free-bags etc. then they need to pay a retainer, a deposit on services... something other than the snob approach that says packers are rug rats and dispensable. Whoever told you that is a fool.

rollerblades do help with a speedy exit. Landings can be a challenge but the experience won't be a waste.

Krishnamurti said, "The answer is in the question."

was the 144 way done there?

looks like Baldwin Field, in Quincy.

Actually, one jump is in fact the minimum requirement for a skydive to kill you. yep, one is all it takes.

Call Mike Mullins and ask him what he thinks.

Scrabble is only 60? Is that correct?

none of us really "subscribe" to Parachutist because we cannot opt out. I don't know that it factors in to your poll.

How long are you going away for? When do you expect to be out? Jail won't be pretty but it doesn't seem you'll be gone a very long time. Ok, that's relative to freedom I suppose. A year? Three? Five? Will you be 30 yet?

consider it done. Here's the caption that accompanied the sequence of shots. "This horrifying picture is called hide the apex. Can you find it? This is a 26-foot conical without a pilot chute. Unpacking at 120 mph., this 'mess' fluttered this way for a good three seconds, before deciding to inflate and snap Ken (no longer smiling) Rounds out of the sights of Ralph White's Nikon. Normally a complete system (canopy with pilot chute) takes only .9 to 1.6 seconds to open."

The first is from Sky Diver magazine. All the others from a book called, "Parachuting Folklore. The Evolution of Freefall" by Michael Horan. # 15 is not about the guy with the beard.

You did pretty damn good. #1 yes. #2 is over Livermore, Ca. and they are (L-R):Susan Clements, Ludlow Clements and Bill Nelson. Dave Barnhard shot it. #3 yes #4 well, I suppose so... #5 is "...Ed Marler preparing to glide through a hula-hoop held by Jerrt Bradley 15,000 feet over Limeric, N.J." From Parachutist March 1965 #6 yes #7 I thought I had cropped that little clue. #8 Ah, the keen powers of observation at work again. This is from the August '64 Parachutist and it is a Jerry Irwin photo of "Joe Nichols of the South Jersey Skydivers passing the baton to Shep Witherow of the Delaware Valley Skydivers over Burlington, N.J." #9 Another dead center. This one accompanied his "A message From the President" on the inside front cover of Parachutist.

Here are some more. Again, I apologize if any have already been posted. For those who were there and remember, seeing some of these images must be a tad nostalgic. Guessing must be like shooting fish in a barrel. But for those of us who came later, raised on three rings, ram-air main & reserve, hand deploy, 13,500', who wouldn't know a T-10 from a P.C. or a Crossbow or a Thunderbow, who might not know what the inside of a Cessna looks like, those who have only seen pilots spot & packers pack & all the rest, not seeing these images or listening to the tales of the days would be a shame.

Here are some more. They are all from Parachutist ca. 1965 or so. I have left off some captions in case anyone cares to make some guesses.

try a search for pete reynolds and/or leo dickenson

Yes, it was Tom Craighead. Died in March, age 74.

This past Sunday I scattered the ashes of an old timer who died of cancer in March. He had left me some of his skydiving memorabilia from as early as 1957. Here's a taste. Forgive me if any of these have been posted already. They may be familiar to some like HW and others. More to come...

They landed it?