jonstark

The reason I got back into BASE after an 18 year layoff was that I had started to climb in Yo. After a couple of ascents of the big stone I just had to get my E. Well said about two tastes that taste great together. Want the CO jewel too someday but went and got soft. jon

I would definately concur ! jon

Hi Bill, The Wright engine used in the DC3 would have been a single row engine I think called the Whirlwind or Cyclone. It was 1830 cubic inches and made about 900+ HP. The P&W was a twin row engine of 18 cylinders, two rows of nine. It was 1820 cubes and made about the same amount of power. Each had or has it's advantages. The Wright was far easier to work on and was lighter. It is very robust with huge pistons and long stroke. It was preferred by the Navy. But, when the engine failed it usually failed big-time. The P&W was/is a constant nightmare of exhaust and baffle repairs. It ran smoother and quieter and is the more common engine so parts are more readily available. Twin Beeches and Howards are powered by the P&W R985. Single row of nine cylinders producing 450HP. I'm not sure if Continentals were ever used on either. Possibly in the earliest models. The guy to ask would be Jim Slocum. There are several dash - number differences in all of these engines which affect the available power and/or the duration of METO (max except take-off). Some were equipt with two stage superchargers, Mr Douglas being the only one I've ever flown in that had it actually working for years. Some had larger front bearings and the list goes on. You want a rundown on this stuff just ask Mark Berghorst(sp?). His eyes will roll back into his head and he'll start spouting dash numbers, dates, figures, etc. on and on... I wonder if he still ends every sentence with "and that" ie:"Did you know that the power enrichment valve of the Bendix pressure series carburetor is in fact edible, an' that."

Chrome Dome, Faast Harry When I met him outside of Pittsburgh -74ish- he had a chrome motorcycle helmet and the nick name to go with it... I used to have a rural DZ outside of Savannah, GA called Skydive City of all the crazy names. Ran it with Robert Kempf from 76 to 80. We would take our students to Deland for their "buck-off boogie" every month. Religiously attended the Z-Hills meets too. Moved to Fla in 81 and was a regular in Deland till 86 when I fell off the face of the earth and went international with the job delivering Gulfstreams. We might recognize each other but the 70s were a blurr. Had a red and yellow Buchman "Eagle" that I liked quite a bit. Was built for a much taller jumper but it fit me well enough to use it. Did you start with Bill in Miami? I still have Wonderhog s/n 1200sumpin. Built for a Strato-Flyer and strong LoPo. jon

He's retired from the phone company and no longer has to maintain the "appearance" of normalcy.

3. Bobby Gray was around in the last few years but I don't remember who told me so. 5. Silly is around but you have to go golfing to find him. 6. Chrome Dome, Fast Harry. Last time I saw him was in Deland in 76. Lost him after that. Moe Villetto might know. 10. Beanpole ain't dead. He showed up at a south Florida invitational wknd to see old friends this year. Val Thal says he's doing fine. 11. DogEater is as bad as ever in Deland. How about Barb Challat? Last I saw her she was a Capt for People Express airlines 1984ish. Suzie Luger? Where's she? Brian Jeffries? Darrel Berger? Matt whazizface? with Slots? Is Al Brown still in Florida smashing bags for Delta? And where did that slug Jon Stark go? fekkin' geezer

Bill Coe, the brains and drive behind Perofrmance Designs, was especially enamoured of the Hornet. He wanted to develop a single surface squarelike canopy that would perform better but still have as little bulk. It was in the back of his mind for years. He jumped one more than any other jumper that I know. I think he might have weighed #140 at the time and was living on ramen noodles to spend every cent he made at Eastern Airlines on materials to make canopies. His was a very interesting story to watch.

Try the white pages or the yellow pages for that matter. It's in New Freedom, PA.

I started jumping in Pgh 30 years ago and some of the same guys are still at it with a vengeance. It is a great town, although very different from when I was there. Try Beaver valley Skydivers too. Small rural setting but lots of history. enjoy... jon

I wonder if it would be like dropping a magnet at another with the same (repelling) poles facing each other. OOPS! That one didn't work.

The Hot Dog was a good evolution away from two PCs but was even harder to pack and cost quite a bit as I recall... OLd MA1s were usually laying around and you could get 'em for pennies if not for free. Wasn't the HD about $100?! I pulled my reserve for repack with my friend across the room and the HotDog gave him a fat lip and almost got me a black eye. jon

seems to me that you'd probably be doing a front loop on the way out... I kinda like the idea of jumping into aerated water but how deep would you end up? For that matter why not a bunch of floating packing peanuts. How about a bunch of nerf balls...? Things that make me go naaaahhh!!! jon

Is there a DZ in or near Lubbock, Texas? Where might I find a more comprehensive list of DZs besides the few that are listed as USPA affiliates? thx! jon

"minefield" ?? That's an interesting choice of word :-) :-) Or did you mean "Mind Field"? But you're right, Bill has been one of the real thinkers. Skr Anybody remember when he tried to get a whole lot of Glad trash bags reefed together to jump? He was going to sell the idea to Glad for an ad. A couple of the young bucks at the relative Workshop in 1978-9 were trying to figure out how to slow the openings to survivable speeds. They finally got bunches of bags tied together and reefed them with middle 3-ring hardware. Bill used to laugh about getting the whole mess open and riding it for awhile. Bummer if you tried to ride it to landing only to have it come apart on final!! I can't remember if anybody ever actually rode one tho. That would be a fun story!!! Now, Just what was that mindfield thinning then?... jon

UGH! I sure am glad I was so light and had spring steel for legs when I was jumping them...! I think I was 145# nekkid back then. jon

You never would forget his giggling. He had a way of listening to anybody that was doing base jumps that made you feel like a pro. He was very interested in any experiences and anecdotes. (again, the giggling...) jon

Tree... Knock Knock Is anybody home??? Wakey Wakey pal. Read the first post keeping in mind what it is that we do...

It could be a wire that would indicate that it had been deformed or overheated by the inner conductor touching the outer sheath causing a closed circuit or the inner insulating material breaking down in extreme heat. It is typically uninsulated tho. For more info on your proposed installation you could look for Fenwall or Kidde on your box.

It was predicted that we'd be landing 150 ways!!! Of course the bases were being built with balloon sootes. jon

My standard answer is... "You die". My Standard answer is "you will get really, really, hurt" and just walk away. The confused look on the persons face is priceless IMO. R.I.P. (DZ name) My standard answer is... You have the rest of your life to think about it...! jon

Mike, I think the 4 way at the '75 World Meet was won by the U.S. Team, but they were The Rainbow Flyers. I can't remember his name anymore, but one of those guys played a big role in getting AFF started in the U.S. before he died in a balloon crash. According to my shakey memory... The Rainbow Fliers were... Ken (Mr AFF) Coleman, Rocky Evans (also hurt in the same crash that killed Ken), John with white hair, and another possibly Hoot Gibson?... As I recall they were also the DelRay Aerial Circus. Can Ya'll say HOG FLOP??? That's what we called round/backloop/round. The hot tip was to keep your chin tucked during the backloop. You'd go around much faster and stay much closer. Try it!!! Jon

QuoteI am deffenetly getting into this, But I want to learn the safe way, Talk about an oximoron... What "safe" way is there to learn BASE?

Here's a photo that was posted to an earlier thread.... You see how the jumper is looking up at his canopy? You spent a lot of time doing that under a Dactyl. And...Nobody warned me about stalls. They just said to "try it...heh heh heh"

Did you stall it ? Try that next time!

You mean Leon Riche? (all dogs must Leon Riche) whatever happened to him?