DHRapide

Apols for the late reply, it was eight.

Happy to have found this site. Started my brain cleansing sport back in ‘66 at Blackbushe. The training was comprehensive over two weekends (4 days). PLF’s were hammered into us for obvious reasons as we students, were using ex-US military chutes. Remember descent rate around 22 fps. The club used a Cessna 180. As we progressed, so did the altitude. The catch was we were under London Heathrow ATC!! If we tried to sneak another few hundred feet or more ... they were on us mas rapido. Netherhaven and Thruxton were two other better DZ’s as there was zero altitude restrictions other than the slowness of the plane. The DH Rapide was a joy to jump out both as a student and as a qualified skydiver. In the early winter mornings, hand starting was the norm. As a student, i did 13 statics (the average was 5!) and remember well, praying in the wooden floor as the instructor always sent me out last. Sometimes, i would hope the clouds would roll in and the jump would be cancelled. Remember my instructor was a Green Beret in the army reserves, John Meken. Tough tough taskmaster. Arm slightly out, back to 5 second delays!! Anyway, i persevered and got over my fear. Other equipment we used, was a Jackaroo (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thruxton_Jackaroo). Whata blast that was. A Britten-Norman Islander, a great jump plane except the vibration would knock the fillings out of your mouth! Naturally, the best was the Skyvan and the RAF base in Dunkeswell, had one. Our jumps were subsidized by the taxpayer and a 1/4 of the price of civilian DZ’s. The discipline was something else. We had to stand on our designated circle which were numbered before the lift. All grist for the mill. Moved to North America. Jumped at Abbotsford in BC for awhile as well as Quebec. The most interesting was Stormhaven, NY, back in ‘81. Lots of Vietnam vets and wild times. Even the State Troopers didn’t bother us. Remember a night jump when one of the guys shot a bazooka (without the warhead) at The Green Haven prison. It was a full moon after all-:)) A great jump center near Lake Okeechobi as well as the fabulous Perris and their DC3. No injuries mercifully ... a couple of close calls. Great people, great memories for the rest of my life.