martymac11

Within the last few days I saw a video on the Facebook page of a DZ telling the story of one veteran who says skydiving turned his life around. I alerted a Veteran friend of mine to the video and he has asked me to send him the link. I can't for the life of me find that video now; and I don't remember which DZ Facebook page it was on. I believe it was a Southern DZ but that doesn't help much. Can someone tip me off as to where I can find this video? It was just over 7 minutes long. Thanks Martin (Marty) MacDonald D-18936

Hey where have you been? Joe is already in Alta for the Memorial Service tomorrow. I'm heading out in an hour to be there around 1:00 PM tomorrow. The Service is at 4:00 PM. Joe (Bubba) Phillips can be reached at xxx-xxx-xxxx Marty Paulson can be reached @ xxx-xxx-xxxx. For those who didn't know, Jim was one of the original eight who made up the Flynig Hellfish. He is Hellfish #4. The photo that Jason Bell mentioned of Jim in his wingsuit is on the main page of "theflyinghellfish.com". Our group has lost some of it's heart with Jim's passing. Marty MacDonald - Hellfish #2 Posted edited to remove phone numbers. Please PM this poster if you need phone numbers.

Thanks for all the encouraging words from everyone. I also got several private replies that really lifted my spirits. Yes I have my plane tickets for the Perrine over Memorial Day but my intentions are just to video my sons jumps and to drive the shuttle vehicle. Of course I'll have my BASE rig with me and it may need airing out. Marty

Hey thanks for posting that photo. That is the first view I have seen from the bottom. It is obvious that these canopies double up as a funeral shroud when you have a cliff strike - I was under it somewhere. Marty

I'm Marty MacDonald, the 61 year old guy who had a wall strike at Moab and was helicoptered out. I have just now gotten up the courage to read what was being said about me while I was laying in St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction, CO. Friends had told me that I was getting traashed on Dropzone.com - but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Most of what has been said is totally factual. I would like to clear up a few misconceptions and then provide some incite into what happened that day for the benefit of anyone it may help. The most important thing I want to say is that the people who rescued me are the Best People in the world - not just the Best BASE jumpers in the world. I have thanked them all individually but I would like to publicly thank them in this forum (since these were legal jumps I'm hoping this doesn't violate the rules of the website). They are William Gaddy, Kenyon Salo, Jimmy Pouchert, Jason Bell, Tony "Donk" DiCola, Brian Cork, Chad Peabody, Lee Hardesty, Nick Carapella, Matt Moilanan, Amanda Scheffler, and Jim O'Brien. Thanks folks for saving my life!!! Now in my own defense, I just want to say that I fu#@ed up royally. I think that about covers it -OK? But someone mentioned that I had little experience and no jumps in the prior six months. Well I have been jumping the NRGB every year since 1994 and have 18 jumps off of it, I did a training session at the Perrine and got ten jumps in over Labor Day and I jumped an antennae in mid October and got 2 in at NRGB. So I had 29 BASE jumps coming to Moab, 13 of them within the prior three months. The first big mistake I made was not listening to Marta when she told me I didn't have enough experience to come to Moab. The second big mistake I made was not installing the deep brake setting on my lines like I had been told. The third mistake I made was jumping a Mojo with ZP top skin at Moab. It was so dry out there it just wouldn't pack up right - whereas we had humidity at the Perrine and it packed up OK. The fourth big mistake I made was not grabbing a hand full of suspension line and pulling something. My sight memory of the accident is totally different from what I saw from the top side video. I would have sworn on a stack of Bible that my canopy snapped open with a full 180 left while tossing me 180 right (it actually opened 90 left with a slow left turn). The video shows that it was 5 seconds from opening to impact with the wall - I know, time enough to eat lunch and then fix the problem!! My first view up was looking at a canopy over my head perfectly in line with my body except there was 360 degrees of line twist - all in the risers. I had had a similar opening at the Perrine and knew that I couldn't kick out of the line twists in time so I never even considered that. I had packed slider down so that was in the twist and I couldn't see any toggles. At the Perrine I had practiced rear risers turns and couldn't get the dog to move very fast. This is totally different than my Spectre 230 which turns very easily with rear riser input. I'm not weak - I work out with 60 pound barbells and thirty pd dumbbells and I'm in good shape. But I have to pull down with two hands to get that thing to move. So at the Perrine I decided that it was much easier and quicker to grab those Big Grab Toggles than to try to rear riser it - big mistake of course. My opening the day before was actually amost the same but without the line twists and I was just able to miss the wall by burying the right toggle. So I knew what difficulty I would have getting the thing to turn using suspension lines. And I couldn't even see the red steering lines - yes I know they were there but in that split second I couldn't see them. All the suspension lines terminated in one bunch at the top of the risers - it was hard to see what I should pull on. I figured if I started pulling on suspension lines I would just succeed in hitting the wall on an angle. I decided to hit the wall sqaurely and PLF (OK I know it was the wrong decision but I had two seconds left and that's what I went with). This actually worked because I wasn't hurt on initial impact. But obviously it was stupid because what happens after that??? Well my canopy collapsed at least partially and I was plummeting to my death - I was sure of it and just thought - "oh, crap". I didn't fall too far before my leg hit an outcropped rock (and broke my rt. fibula) and then my canopy snagged that rock and stopped my fall just 20 feet above the talus!!! (Praise the Lord!!) My right leg strap broke my pelvis in three places due to the force of the immmediate stoppage. I couldn't believe my eyes when Willim Gaddy free climbed up to me from the talus - he was putting his own life in jeopardy to save mine. Then Brian Cork rapelled down from the top and the two of them got me off that wall in 35 minutes. Then the wohole crew took me down the talus on a back board. The talus was so gnarly that I call this the Baton Death March (for the guys doing all the work - it wasn't that bad for me). That took over an hour. I hit the wall at 2:30 and was loaded in a helicopter at 5:45. I spent 15 days in the hospital and then six weeks on a hospital bed in my living room -but I'm just finishing re-hab and basically I have fully recovered with no ill affects. They advise me it will take a year for the bones to fully heal. Well, if I BASE jump again I will be back at the Perrine practicing turns using suspension lines and steering lines ABOVE the risers - and that would be my advice to anyone not wanting to have this happen to them. Practicing rear riser turns would not have gotten me out of this situation. I will also have my deep brake settings tuned in and I won't be jumping that ZP top skin Mojo off anything but a bridge. I hope this helps someone somewhere and thanks again to everyone who was part of my rescue. Marty MacDonald Hellfish #2

Hey Michiganders, Don't forget that this Saturday is the 4-Way Formation Skydiving (RW) Scrambles at Skydive Tecumseh. Entry fee is a measly $20 to cover the camera flyers slot. This event is aimed at attracting newcomers to 4-Way Competition. We will assemble balanced teams so don't think you have to have your own team. Just come by yourself and we will place you with a team. We hope to have someone with less than 100 jumps in each 4-way team. We have an excellent group of top notch skydivers signed up so this is a good learning opportunity for all. This is our second year for this event and last year's was a lot of fun for everybody and no pressure. 1st place gets trophies, 2nd place gets plaques. See the Events Calendar for more details or call Marty MacDonald @ 586-823-7004

Hey Flat Flyers and Flat Flyer Wannabe's, I hope this won't change anyone's mind, but we are raising the entry fee to $20. The economics are simple. (4) jumpers per team equals $80 intake. (3) camera slots @$21 each equals $63 and we pay each camera flyer $6 per jump for a parachute re-pack since the professional camera flyers are running from load to load doing tandems and they don't have time to pack. So our outlay per team is $81 (oh-oh!! We lose $1 on every team - and I have an MBA - go figure). This benefits the non-professionals who pack their own but we don't discriminate. This is what we did last year and just ate the cost of the pack job. The cost of the trophies and plaques is a whole nuther issue - so this is still the best deal in skydiving - besides being an awful lot of fun!!! I hope to see you all there. Marty

Hey Pete, sorry to hear about your mishap. I had two crashes in the last two weeks but with motocross you can generally walk (or ride) away every time. Think about it. If you're not able to jump maybe you could help me with judging and stuff.

I told your team-mates, Brad, Bruno and Mikey not to expect another one this year. We have a new rule - every team must contain a jumper with under (100) jumps. (OBTW - nice photo).

Hey Liz, I'm glad you had fun. Where are you???

Hey Michiganders, mark your calendars!! Skydive Tecumseh will host it's 2nd annual 4-Way RW (FS) Scrambles On Saturday June 11th with Sunday June 12th as the rain date. Check details on the Dropzone.com calendar of events page.

I don't know why you need a radar detector in Canada. I have driven the 402/401 from Port Huron to Toronto for years and you can go as fast as you want and never get a ticket. I got stopped by a cop in New York who saw my Michigan plates and it cost me $160, I feel the same about N.Y. as you do about Canada.

We currently have (5) slots still open for the 4-Way Scrambles at Tecumseh tomorrow. We have room for (6) teams and currently have (19) signed up. Sunday was going to be our rain day but with the current forecast we plan to complete the three rounds of competition tomorrow. This is a fun event for all experience levels. We will pick the teams. We are looking for individual fun jumpers of all skill levels. If you are on a four-way team sign up but don't plan on being on the same team as your current team mates. We currently have jumpers with 50 to 4000 jumps signed up. We have a team Captain Meeting at 10:00 AM to finalize the random dive sequences and decide team make-up. then instructions to competitors at 11:00 AM and competition starts promptly at the "crack of noon". If weather gets bad in the late afternoon we will call the meet complete with two rounds if need be, but we are planning to complete all three rounds. Call Marty MacDonald at 586-823-7004 if you are interested. Entry fee is just $10 to cover the camera slot ($15 if we get three rounds in).

We have it set up for just two rounds thinking that we will be limited by the number opf cameramen. If we can get a full compliment of six cameramen we will probably go to three rounds.

P.S. I am in need of camera flyers. I will cover your jump and re-pack. Call me at 586-823-7004 if interested.