Sped

Im looking for some pictures of Jim Perry's Helio Stallion that he had back in the late 80's that crashed in Perris? I believe the Tail number on the aircraft was N9991F.

Thanks in advance
Ed Hauck
D-12662

Panama City Beach. 4th of July weekend about 16 years ago and we had the DZ spending the weekend on the beach and a few travelers too. We had hired a Caravan for the weekend and my buddy and I had our "traveling tandem business" and doing Tandems on the beach. at the end of the day on saturday we went up to do a 12 way. Everyone on this jump was every weekend current, jumped together for around 15 years and no one had less than 400 jumps. we were about 500 yards off the beach on the perfect spot. Exit went fine. We were a little late putting the first point together then broke for the second point and completed that. I saw a guy all the way across the formation turn and and track.

Im thinking "oh ok! Break off" as I slide out and turn I look at my altimeter and see us going through 2500 feet!! I was facing out to sea during the whole dive so depth perception was non-existent. The horizon and ocean just blended together as it was a cloudy misty day.

I turned and tracked like hell and as soon as I turned Condominiums were so big I shit my pants! I could see peoples faces on the patio by the pool looking up at us! I dumped in a full tilt track at 1600' and had my hands by my handles at line stretch. Now I had packed my gear for a video jump and was getting ready to chop it when it opened. I was open 1200 feet. There were 3 people below me and we had 3 land in the water. all high experianced jumpers half of us AFF instructors. We almost killed 12 people in front of family, friends, and wuffos because of losing track of time and altitude.

The only thing that saved anyone was Big Al decided to wear his frappe hat because it was chilly. And it had his dytter in it set for 2500 feet. we quit jumping and bagged it for the day with 4 hours of daylight left. I have a good habit of glancing at my altimeter but also others in the formation as the dive progresses.

No one panicked and started pitching in place but we were dumping with some of us within 20' of each other. Anyone that says "Oh thats pretty effin stupid that wouldnt happen to me" Trust me it can. 12 highly experianced skydivers will agree how stupid it is. and they will tell "Yes it can happen to you in the blink of an eye!!! I still get chills when I think about it.

My Glidepath Fury 220. 400 foot or less opening soft smooth and on heading EVERY time. For a camera jump, 15 lbs back then, I'd roll the nose, flat pack it, (Yeah Im one of those) and had a 36" F111 pilot chute. The older my PC got the smoother the openings. I had no problems pitching at 2000 at all. I wish someone made a ZP fury. The closest i came was an Omega with almost 1000' snivels. I put a 159 slider on my 169 and solved that problem. It brought it back to 500' smooth openings. I dont freefly at so I dont need 10 second snivels

I have know of someone holding on to the door rear floating on a DC-3 that got a loose rivet under their ring, and while wearing gloves no less, Let go and left a neat little gray pouch with a finger hanging on the AC. My dad told me of a guy in the army who had all the meat stripped of his finger. I remove all rings, jewlery, necklaces, and leave them at home. It would piss the Ex-off to no end when going to a boogie and I would leave my ring and necklace in the box. and i always wear gloves no matter what

I would prefer my reserve over a well loaded Stiletto. but with no AAD I'll take what I can get. whats the old saying? "Something is better than nothing"

I bring along a few bucks and look for the liquor store to land at. A bunch of skydivers will be along in a few minutes. Actually I have packed up my rig walked to the road and flagged someone down.

Thanks guy!

What is a good rule of thumb for determining the per jump depreciation on equipment? Specifally Zero-P main, and Harness and container? Trying to work out something on gear and curious if there is such a way to determine this.

Thanks!

Just a little background. I guess I should have laid it all out in my first post. I grew up around jumping all my life. My father was in on developing Special Forces HALO freefall techniques from the get go. Its always been a dream of mine to freefall. I was 13 years old and had 2 Grand Mal seizures. During the time period between 13 and 27 my EEG (brainwave) exams got progressively better to the point where no burst (seizure) activity was occuring at all. After consulting with my doc I jumped for 16 years no issues at all, no meds, no indications of seizure activity, nothing. And then Sept. 13, 2001 I had another Gran Mal seizure while riding to work with a friend. I was immediatly grounded from not only jumping but also from driving. They put me back on meds and I am driving again but not jumping. All 3 seizures I have had were accompanied by a major ear infection of my left ear. I was hoping this was the case with the last one and it was a fluke but it is not to be. I gave myself several years to see how it would pan out, but no joy. My jumping again is now out of the question as of yesterdays EEG results. Seizure activity has reared its ugly head once again. I was hoping this last seizure was a one off deal and I could start doing CRW, at least until I got my Gold Wings. There is no way I would jump with active seizures, cypres or not, but I wont judge anyone based on my experiances. The DZ I started jumping at was fully aware of my history and they had enough faith in me and what my doctor had to say to let me start.
(Thanks everyone. You know who you are!)

just curious if anyone is anyone skydiving with a seizure disorder of any sort?
post here or email me at [email protected]
or grab me on AIM screenname "theedman10"

The (Inactive) is because I was grounded by an epileptic seizure in september 2001.

Spoke with Paul tonight he was doing well and moving right along. I will only be calling him every few days now that he is doing better. I wont be posting as much in the coming days unless something drastically changes. Thanks for putting up with me gang and I'll be dropping back in from time to time.

Paul is doing fine this evening. Didnt have much time on the phone as the doc was coming in to check him out. He did get to talk to Terry and my 2 girls which was good for everyone. I have contact info for Paul for anyone who wants to send something to him. I apologize for not gettig some contact info out until now but we wanted to wait until he was settled in back in Tallahassee before giving up and address. That way stuff wouldnt be chasing him around the state. This is his business address and as it not very far from the rehab center it will provide a central place to mail to, also it will keep his personal address off the internet.

To: Paul Bliss
Bliss Pool & Spa Designs, inc.
1716 Thomasville Rd.
Tallahassee, FL
32303

Several people will be checking the mail there.
Until later everyone

Jeff I always make it to the DZ whenever I get to town. It just somehow dont feel like being home unless I get out there and see Cindy and the gang. My old racer is still around?!?! Man ya making me feel old again!! Who knows what will happen next time I show up, anything is possible!
Later

Got a call from jim this afternoon from his car on I-10 following the ambulance carrying Paul to the rehab center in Tallahassee. I will have contact info, addresses, etc. tomorrow night as soon he gets settled in as and I get a call from them with the information. He will be doing some pretty heavy duty rehab during the daytime hours and as soon as he gets this laptop of mine he will be on the web in the evenings for a little while each night. I dont have access to his home PC from NJ so I am setting him up from scratch. Anyone who wants me to add them to the address book I am putting together for him, send me an email with your name and anything you want to say to Paul and I will add the info and the emails to it.

I'll keep posting it as I get it. As soon as I get Paul setup with this laptop I am shipping him he can start posting himself.
Later

I got to talk to Paul for a few minutes this morning and he had some really good news. He wiggled his toes last night for the neurosurgeon while she was checking his reflexes. This morning she checked the bottom of his foot and he jerked it away from her because it tickled!! Awesome news!! His was sitting up in a chair at the time I was talking to him and they were getting ready to do physical therapy. He said he is signed out of the hospital but was waiting on insurance red tape BS to stamp his papers to transfer him to the rehab center in Tallahassee. The ambulance and the bed at the rehab is all lined up. just waiting on the word. He said he wont be going today/tonight but would definitely be going there sometime tomorrow. He is real optimistic and his outlook moving forward is definitely a "go get em" attitude. I will be posting an address where cards, letters, etc, can be mailed once I talk to Jim or Paul again and find out which address they want me to give out. Util next time everyone.

I just got off the phone with Jim and got the kind of news we have all been waiting for. The neurosurgeon was in checking Pauls reflexes on various parts of his body and during the exam he was moving the big toe on his left foot!! Still too soon to tell what that means but we will take anything we can get!! Paul had some very special vistors last night. The family that was first on the scene with him at the accident site came in to see him. They have been looking for him since last saturday and finally found him yesterday. Come to find out they live only a mile and a half from Paul in Tallahassee!! Needless to say there were lots of tears and hugs in the room last night. Why they were at that exact place in that moment in time can only be chalked up to one thing. God sure is doing that mysterious ways thing with Paul. Paul Ferrell has been right there through most of this and has been helping out in some very special ways over the past few days. My hat is off to him for all his effort. I have been saving emails and messages to paul in an email address book and will slap it in this laptop to make it easier for him to reply to everyone once I get him squared away on it. More to come later.

I haven't heard anything in a couple of days. I guess they took Jim to surgery to get the Cell Phone removed from his ear as he has been bombarded for the last week. But I do know they were going to be busy getting him up and down and ready to move back to Tallahassee. I will Give Jim a call later today and get an update.

I didnt get a call last night as everyone got home late. I did get to talk to Paul today for a couple of minutes. He is really short of breath because of the fluid buildup in his lungs from being on the gas so long in surgery. He is in really, really good spirits and very heads up. He was really proud of the fact that the Diamond was completed and went to 65. They are going to get him up in a chair tomorrow and and get him used to sitting up for extended periods. After which they are going to move him to a rehab center in Tallahassee. He is looking at getting there by tuesday at the outside. He was having a real hard time breathing and talking so I told him to quit talking while I passed a everyones names and emails I had recieved to him. He told me to pass on to everyone his deepest thanks for the support, prayers and good words.He said he would call me next week when he gets squared away in Tallahasse and we'll take it from there. I have a spare laptop here I am getting setup right now to ship to him to use while he is in rehab to be able to get out to everyone through the web. It sure was good to hear his voice. I will add more as I get it. Thanks everyone.

Finally got a phone call from Jim about Paul's day today. They had him sitting up at 60 degrees most of the day and had him holding himself up at 90 degrees for awhile taking Xrays, etc. He has been in pretty good spirits today. The docs decided that his vitals have been so well and steady since surgery that they moved him from the surgical unit he has been in to a regular recovery room. I will be getting a call in the evenings now instead of twice a day to find out how his day went and will get it out to everyone as soon as I hang up the phone. Even though he's not taking calls and visitors right now, if anyone wants to email me directly I'll get them all put together and get them down there so he will have them. Thanks everybody.

Have not heard anything yet as of 12:00 PM. Waiting for a call anytime. We told Jim yesterday to keep us informed and call at once if something changes. So no news is is good news in that things are as they were yesterday. Once either I or Tom Balboni find out what the scoop is we will get it posted. Also when we get the word on where to send cards, letters, beer, and dirty magazines we will pass that on as well. Thanks again everyone.
Ed

Just to add a little to what Tom sent out. I Just got off the phone with Jim at the hospital a little bit ago. They were in there fitting brace and cast up for him. As soon as his spine would support it they were going to start sitting him up gradually until he is fully upright. Seems kind of soon to me considering his injuries but that is what the docs are saying. The doc said not to get our hopes up about the feeling in one of his feet and only time would tell if it improves or not. According to Jim they are looking at 7-10 days from today and they would be looking to get him moved into a rehab program either in Jacksonville or back home in Tallahassee where he is looking at being there several months. He was alert and awake this morning making decisions and preparations concerning his situation. He sends his heartfelt thanks to everyone for their concern, thoughts, good words and congrats out to all the Dawgs on the 64 way Diamond this morning. Thanks everyone for keeping that positive energy machine in high gear.

Just got this from Tom B. about Pauls status...
"Latest news from the hospital is that Paul's surgery went well. They accomplished what they went in there to do. Doctors reported Paul has "some sensation" in the bottom of one of his feet. Too early to tell what the ultimate outcome will be so keep the prayers up. He is being measured for a type of back brace that will allow him to sit up. He is alert and is aware and thankful of everyone's positive thoughts and prayers and wants to tell everyone thank you. I passed on the news of the 64 way. Congrats to you all. That's the latest word as of Tuesday 11-25-03 at 10:30am. I will of course post news as I receive it. Bless you all, Tom"
Thanks to everyone again! We will let everyone know as we hear anything.

UPDATE ON PAUL'S STATUS. He was still in surgery as of late this evening. (6:30 EDT) The last word was he could be in surgery late into tonight as the surgeons are fusing quite a few vertabrae together (up to eight) which means a bunch of hardware going in there. Its not looking real good at all. Seems there was quite a bit more damage than was previously thought, which always seems to be the case in these damn situations. We wont know anything else until tomorrow morning sometime unless Tom B. or I get a sitrep later tonight. As soon as I hear anything I'll get it posted.
Thanks to everyone for the good thoughts and I will pass them on to him first chance I get to talk to him. Just keep leaving that voicemail with the Big Guy upstairs. Every little bit helps.

Sped
D12662
[email protected]