swovelin

Damn, fate can be so cruel; Ed White has left us. Apparently, Mimi found him last night (Sunday May 30), after a heart attack or ...? Ed, Ed, Ed, how can you expect us to just carry on? You were always the heart of the party, the light of the group, you infectiously enlivened everyone who was near to you, with your effervescent love for life. It was a pleasure to have you in my life, thank you.

Jeremy Mahoney passed away on March 13, following a massive stroke. He leaves behind his grieving wife of 35 years, Kathie, his Air Trash teammates, and many, many friends throughout the So Cal skydiving community. Jeremy's formal service will be at Riverside National Cemetery at 1:00 on Friday May 26, with full military honors. His ash dive will be at Skydive Perris the afternoon of May 27th. Please join us if you can for Jeremy's Life Celebration, and please help to get the word out to his many friends. If you have photos of Jeremy, Kathie would love to get them; please PM me. Fly free my good friend, fly straight and true to that BFR in the sky!

Hey there fellow old timers, I have an important question for you all. I'm trying to locate next of kin, family, whatever for JOE MORGAN. Does anyone know how to find Annie Bell? I am in possession of some very precious items that belonged to Joe, and I want to pass them on to Annie or Joe's family. Please PM me if you have any leads that i can follow. Thank you and blue skies.

Thanks for posting Ken. You're right, Ken was one of the good guys. We'd known each other at Perris for years, but I got to know him better, and to appreciate his genius, when he and Bob Buehrer collaborated to build the amazing Dream Machine, the ground-to-air video system that changed the sport. RIP Ken.

It is with great sadness that I must mention the passing of Moe Viletto, a noted skydiver and BASE jumper, a good friend and a great teacher. All I know is that Mo passed in his sleep last night. Blue skies forever, my friend!

Hi Jerry. I'm working on it.

It's not a great picture, but here ya go!

Sad news times 2: It is reported that a small plane crash took the lives of two old-school skydivers, Flip Colmer and Jim Taffralion near Howel MI this morning. The aircraft was a Rockwell Commander single-engine plane. No other details are available at this time, Our hearts go out to Skip's wife and family. Here is a very brief article: https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2019/08/small-plane-crash-reported-at-airport-near-howell.html

We're in! Jerry & Barb Swovelin

Well, we did it. Bob was one spectacular guy and we gave him a mot fitting spectacular send off. The weather at Perris was threatening; in fact the airport was flooded and shut down on Thursday & Friday. But then Barb Swovelin talked to Bob and ask him to kindly clear the skies and part the floodwaters. On Saturday we had mostly-clear skies, that is until we geared up for the ash dive and were shut down with a weather hold. But Bob was just teasing us. Anne Helliwell fly us to altitude, hoping for a hole. But then the clouds parted to perfectly blue skies, and Bob made his final skydive right over the assembled family and friends. The jump went very well, but the best part of Bob's Life Celebrations was the people; so many family and friends came to share stories and photos of Bob. The energy generated by all that love jammed into one room was a testament to Our Boy Bob; he touched the lives and the hearts of so many people and they are all better for having known Bob.

Hi Friends-of-Bob! I have big news: Bob's Celebration of Life is only three days away and it's happening RAIN OR SHINE! (Actually Saturday's forecast is looking better and better!) In any case, we're moving indoors. That's right; we're taking over the Perris Bombshelter for the Bob party, starting at 3:00! We're still planning the memorial skydive at sunset, but before and after we'll be warm & dry in the Bombshleter. VEGETARIANS, please speak up now with a post or a PM, so we can get a count of the number of veggie entrees. The other option is BBQ pulled pork sandwiches NAME BADGES: Check-in with Linda Witte when you arrive to get your name badge; that's your ticket to food and beer & wine. If you haven't yet checked in or confirmed, please do so NOW. If you want veggies, please speak up now. We're looking forward to seeing YOU and so many Friends of Bob at 3:00 Saturday! Blue skies!

Hi DZ.COMERS! Here is a reminder about the memorial celebration for Bob on Feb. 16th at Skydive Perris. It will be a fine gathering of the tribe and a grand send off for our friend, the one & only Bob Buehrer. Please join us if you can and RSVP and spread the word. Blue skies!

February 16th is the date of Bob's Life Celebration & Ash Dive at Skydive Perris. Many of Bob's friends and loved ones will gather to share stories of Bob, to enjoy photos and videos, and to eat and drink and toast and laugh, all in memory of our beloved absent brother, our Bob. Bob will make his final skydive in the afternoon, accompanied by several of his oldest and dearest friends. The group energy from all that love-of-Bob is going to be powerful! Please join our celebration to help us extol a life oh-so-well lived! RSVP please.

It is with a heavy heart that I report the passing of Bob Buehrer, my best friend for over four decades. After fighting a courageous battle with cancer, Bob was released from his struggle yesterday, December6th, in Boulder Colorado, where he lived with his wife Joan Zerkovich. Barbara Swovelin and I will always treasure spending some final time with Bob on his last night. We told him old stories and we told him that it was okay to let go if he was ready. He couldn't respond, but we were there for him. This morning it was snowing lightly and everything was covered with a fresh white blanket to start a new day. RIP Bob, farewell for now. ❤️❤️ PS the photo is Bob with Doris, his 91-year-old mother, after a Flightseeing flight in a floatplane over the fiords of Norway on our cruise last June. Bob wasn't about to let the Big C slow him down!

Well if the German engineers could do that in the 1920's, just think what the Russians might try in the 1960s! Edited: Apparently I was misinformed. The first photo I sent was not from Russia; it was shot in New York! (The logo on the nose clearly ready "New York Central System." Duh.) Built by General Electric, this was America's entry into the Cold War "Jet-Powered Train" race. Here is another photo showing our noble All-American jet train below the dastardly Commie jet-propelled Train.

RiggerRob asks "Riddle: why do moose kill so many motorists in Atlantic Canada?" Answer is easy! In US, when motorist hits a deer, the deer dies and the car is damaged. But when US tourist in Newfie hits HUGE moose, the motorist dies and the moose is merely injured. The moral is: If driving, don't hit Moose. (And if shooting Moose, be damn sure Moose is dead!)

Yes, the right time & the right place! Blues skies!

I have been advised that Tony Brogdon has died, but I have no details. Tony was instrumental at several times in the sport, helping to found the Perris Valley Skydiving Society and getting demo skydiving into the Seoul Olympics were just two of his accomplishments. Tony was my friend, he was one of the real 'good guys' and most importantly, he was always a true gentleman.

You can try to contact Miles Daisher, he enjoys both sports (along with many others). He's on Facebook, or you can look up his webpage. :-)

Solar Impulse 2 is an astounding flying machine. I flew up to San Jose on Saturday, hoping to see it land at Moffett Field. It wasn't supposed to land until midnight, so I was relaxing in my motel room. But then my wife called and said "It's already here! It's in a holding pattern over the Golden Gate Bridge! You gotta go see it now!" I checked the traffic and it was 90+ minutes to drive to the bridge, so no go. And that's when my brilliant wife said, "Well then, I's a good thing you own an AIRPLANE!" I rushed back down to San Jose, jumped in my little Light Sport, and I flew through the VERY congested airspace all the way up the bay. I was still miles from the bridge, when I saw a gigantic dragonfly-shape slowly moving through the sky. SI-2 was orbiting at about 3,300' and ATC wouldn't let me climb above 3K, but I got to fly "formation" with her for about 30 minutes. The thrill of a lifetime! :-)

Will people ever skydive on other worlds? NASA has provided a clue. I was pleasantly surprised when I visited a NASA website to check out a number of FREE downloads of posters from the future "Exoplanet Travel Bureau," depicting scenes of humans vacationing on other worlds, all done with a marvelous 'retro-futuristic' look. But, my point is that one of the posters features one of us, a daredevil parachutist diving down from space into the "super gravity" of a "Super Earth." (I am not making this up!) You can see all the posters here: [url]http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/exoplanettravelbureau#HD40307g

It is reported that Van Pray died in a plane crash last night, along with his wife Alberta. Van Pray was, I believe, the founder of the DZ at California City and he operated it for many years. He has many friends throughtout the So Cal skydiving community. Blue skies on your flight west Van.

Just to let the community know, Doctor Dave Holmes was given a most dignified and heartfelt send-off at Palm Mortuary in Henderson NV last Sat. 10/18. The old-time Perris jumping family was well represented. The featured speaker for Dave's skydiving life was the inimitable "Lizard" (Bob Waltzer), who spoke eloquently and lovingly of his years of jumping DC-3s with not only a fellow Marine, his best friend, Dr. Dave. Junebug Urschel mustered the courage to speak off the cuff about the tremendous impact Dave had on her early skydiving career, giving her the confidence to stick with the sport. Also in the audience were Pat & Jan Works, Chris Kelly, and Barb & I, amongst others. The heartfelt tributes went on & on, by current & former Marines, by Professors & Deans from UNLV, by members of the Henderson City Council. by so many people whose lives had been shaped by this amazing man. There was not enough Kleenex in the world to contain the flood in that room! Farewell and Godspeed Doctor Dave, a bright soul whose light burned out much too soon.

Here is the url of a very nice obit for Doctor Dave, with lots of info about his amazing life and many excellent photos. http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=David-Holmes&lc=1010&pid=172749411&uuid=7562c818-f883-4ebb-9805-ab7ef54282c1