tempretired

When did Doug pass away? Dick Lee put me out on my first jump but Doug was there and he later put me out on a few jumps. A few years ago (maybe 2yrs) I was thinking of those days and I looked up the skydive east phone number and called it just to see if anyone would answer. To my surprise someone answered the phone "hello". I asked if it was skydive east. The person responded that it had closed down. I asked whom it was speaking to and he replied "Doug Angel". I said hello and told him that he and Dick Lee had put me out on 5 SLs in 1992. I thanked him and we talked for a while about what we had been doing since that time. Then we said goodbye but I promised to stop by and see him sometime. That time never came. RIP Doug! Thank you for introducing me to the sport. Blue Skies!

Oh, you must know that Skydivers go down faster than non skydivers. It's a gravity thing!

Here is a picture of her taking off back in the fall 2012

I'm not an old timer (started in 1992 and retired in 2004) but I have 5 static line jumps on modified T10 rounds with belly mount 28' round reserves. I did 5 jumps at Skydive East in the summer of 1992 before transitioning to an AFF program. Loved it. Although the landings hurt on some of those hot summer days, I'm glad I experienced it. I loved the emergency procedures for a total mal. It went something like this (forgive me if I forget); "1 thousand, 2 thousand, 3 thousand.... nothing...... Look (by bending at the waist to look at the reserve on your belly. reverse the arch and go butt to earth), Grab (the silver ripcord), Close (your legs), Pull (the ripcord), Punch (the reserve pack to push the reserve out into the relative wind). I think that is pretty close to what they were. Fun times. I still have my photo of me in my jump boots, mechanic coveralls, and motorcycle helmet.

My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends. I believe I first met Burt at a Herd Boogie between 1993 and 1995 and ran into him when he visited X-Keys through the mid 90s to early 2000's. I did not know him too well but he was fun to be around and always smiling. Truly a nice person. Blue Skies

Although I did my First Jump course in May 1992, somehow, I found (not intentional) as DZ that still used T-10s. It was at Skydive East in NJ. We had 30 people in the first jump course split between 2 Instructors, Doug Angel and Dick Lee. We PLFed for hours, as it was a pretty hot day. That landing hurt like heck despite doing a good PLF. Over 90 degree heat on a T-10 coming almost straight down. Harry, the ground instructor, was real serious about making sure our legs were squeezed together and we were looking out at the horizon. I remember there were 3 leg injuries on that day. I did 5 more T-10 jumps before moving to AFF at UPC.

"The best part of you ran down the crack of your mothers ass and became a brown stain on the matress" - Full Metal Jacket

My first 5 jumps were at Skydive East back in the Summer and Fall of 1992. 5 static line jumps on modified T-10s and belly mounted reserves. I believe they split up the first Jump Class into 2 classes. Doug instructed 1 class and Dick Lee instructed another. My class had Dick Lee but during some later jumps Doug was my jumpmaster. Both were legends and have some pretty low license numbers as written in my Log Book. A really fun guy there was Harry "The Ground Instructor". He was a PI and has some great stories.

My first H&P was my first jump. It was a static line jump in May 1992 at Skydive East in Pittstown NJ. They were still using surplus miltary gear. I didn't know any better. My rig was a Modified T-10 (35ft round) on my back with a belly mounted 28 foot round reserve. Our jumpsuite was a mechanics overall. Our helmets were Bell motorcycle helmets. They supplied us with real military Jumpboots. Did the 1st Jump Course and jump in the same day. Most of the course was practicing PLFs off of a 3ft high platform. We did front, sideways, and backward PLSs for hours. It was 95 degrees (hot for may in NJ) so they needed to drill us with PLFs because the landings were going to be hard on this hot day. My group was the last of 30 jumpers. 3 had already gone to the hospital with leg injuries due to hard landings. I have no idea what made me want to continue. All the way to altitude I prayed and promissed I'd never do it again if I got down alive. My climbout was strong and then it went to hell. My logbook reads "Reverse Arch, Hands On Helmet". Well after the parachute cam over my shoulder, it opened ok. I thought I was going to die. I landed about 200 yards from the target on the other side of a corn field. As I was getting close to the ground, the ground instructor just kept repeating over and over to look at the horizon and squezze my legs together and PLF when you feel the ground. Needless to say, I hit very hard and lucky for me the PLF worked but I did hurt my ribs. Couldn't breathe for a week. I landed directly next to my buddy. Never saw him until I peeled myself off of the ground, as I was afraid to look anywhere but the horizon. Glad I didn't land on him. He tells me that it hurt him when he saw me land. Despite all of it, I had to go back for more and more and more.

I have a postcard of the jump into the olympics hanging on my office cubicle wall. I believe that I bought it at either UPC or X-Keys back in the mid 90's. Rich "Fang" Fenimore is one of the participants and I remember him showing us pictures of his trip to the Olympics. I believe he was one of the people on the green ring. He use to jump with a green frap hat at x-keys. One of the pictures that he showed us was of him sitting on top of the stadium hanging out.

I believe they officially ended in 2000 when United Parachute Club moved from their location in New Hanover, PA (New Hanover Airport) to the Flying M Airport in Germansville. Maybe they had 1 or 2 at the new airport but I'm not sure. The new location closed after only a few years of operation. I believe they hold re-union type events at various places but nothing official.

GURU312, Surprised to here someone mention TC. There was only one TC at X-Keys that was an AFF Instructor there. Are you referring to TC (I'll leave his name out), the Navy Seal? Great guy and great instructor. I think that he is still pissed at me for something silly from back in 1997ish. I haven't seen him since he left x-keys. I started at X-Keys when they first opened it late 1993 when I had about 30 jumps and TC was one of the instructors.

I'm not sure about that one. He didn't work there when I knew him. However, it seems probable, as he spent most of his life in the skydiving and aviation field. Seems like there were many skydivers from UPC and X-Keys that have spent some time working at Para-Flite and SSE. I believe he grew up in the South Jersey area and began skydiving at Ripcords.

You mean she "used" to fly C-141's, right? You're correct. Looks like they retired them in 2006 and started using the C-17 (the internet is wonderful). The last time I spoke with her was back in 1999. Actually, she was on the skydive that I had my last malfunction on. I'm not sure where she is now.

In August 1995, we held the first annual Herd 8 way scrambles meet at x-keys. We had 3 teams and each did 3 jumps. Fang was captain for 2 of the teams and I was on 1 of them. A HERD buddy of Fang's was the captain of the other. He name our team "Spacely's Sprockets". Each jump of the event and many dirt dives and plane rides were video taped. Fang is the center of attention in much of it and was always doing something funny. One of Fang's many talent's was tracking and the video shows some of his great tracks (trying to get away from us newbies at breakoff). That scrambles meet was a few weeks prior to he passed away.

Funny you should say that "you cannot add power". A friend at the DZ is an Air Force Pilot that pilots C-141s. She got behind the treeline on a windy day at our DZ and landed in a big tree. When we asked how it was possible to land in a tree with all of her piloting experience, she laughed and told us that airplanes are easy land, as they have throttle control to help compensate for wind on final approach. On final while going straight down towards the trees, she said she kept reaching for the throttle for more power but didn't get any. It was a classic.

That's a different Fang. I'm referring to Rich "Fang" Fenimore. He was (RIP) a famous HERD member. He was a Pilot, AFF Instructor (probably Static Line as well), and I believe he owned a dropzone at one time. He owned a Cessna 182 and used to Fly us at X-Keys in the early 90's. His 182 was a jump plane that you couldn't forget, as he had a bubble window on his side of the airplane so that he could spot the exit point himself. The floor of the plane was covered with a nice blue padding (foam inside of blue cloth material) that I think he made himself. He also had numerous photos of himself and friends pinned up on the back wall of the airplane covered with Plexiglass (spelling ??). I still remember the first day that I met him at X-Keys. He taxied into the loading area, hopped out with no shirt or shoes and tattoos everywhere smoking a cigarette, pulled out the right side seat and a bunch of luggage and placed it in a pile next to the fence on the grass and said "hop in, I'm your ride". I remember that first climb to altitude occasionally hearing the stall warning buzzer, which made me a little nervous. I was scared to death. But, what a Pilot and Skydiver he was. Great person. sorry, I'm not the best storyteller.

Thank you for sharing that article. Excellent. I didn't know Harvey well but was around him several times at UPC and X-Keys and he was a lot of fun Another great guy (and friend of Harvey) from the HERD and x-keys was "Fang". I believe he started skydiving at Ripcords. I had the privilege of skydiving and hanging around with him a on many occasions. Ripcords produced many skydivers that moved on to UPC and x-keys. Joe "Pete" Warner, Claude Bennett, Janet Kelley (now Lunquist) and others. Again, thank you for the article. Regards,

Sometime after 1993, I remember when the UPC Club members bought Pete (the old Static Line Jumpmaster that taught the first jump course) a new/used car because his car was getting old. Before they told him that they had bought him a new car, they burned his car (I think it was at the HERD Boogie). For some reason, I missed the incident but I recall a story indicating that he walked up to the fire excited to see what was burning and there was his car. He almost had a heart attack until they showed him the new/used car that they had bought for him. He was never happy with that car they'd bought him.

I went through the student program at UPC in 1993 and continued skydiving between there an x-keys until they closed. Some of my fondest memories were from UPC and The HERD. I wrote this in a post a while back. The person that I was referring to in the post is Soss: "I was a plane Loader / Bus Loader at the 1993 Herd Boogie. The old DC-3 was at the boogie and was taking off out of a local asphalt runway airport. So, a shuttle bus was needed to get to the airport. I was still a student at the time but helping as a loader. As I was loading the bus, some of the long time Herd memebers, wanted to board the bus for the jump with pitchers, mugs, cans, and bottles of booze. I thought I'd be the authority and tell them that they couldn't board the bus or drink while skydiving. The laughed at me and called me some names that I'd never heard of. I yelled to the UPC president for some help and he told me to let them do whatever they wanted. They kept laughing as the boarded and didn't hesitate to tell me that they were stopping a "Our Place" (a local bar) for another shot and a beer. About an hour later, the DC-3 let out its group. One of the guys landed directly on the grass runway with an Otter coming in to land. As I was yelling at him to get off the runway, he was pulling a beer out of his jumpsuit. He turned around, saw the Otter, and ran as fast as he could to get off the runway. He thanked me and got on the next load.

I really buckled down and got serious after my 4th year and graduated in 7 years. Just Kidding. For 2 years, I went to a school that I hated but stayed due to friends on Campus. I transferred to a State University and worked full time while going to school part-time. It took me 5 more years as a part timer but it was well worth it. No regrets.

Try registering in the Clydesdale category. I believe it is over 190 (some races are over 200lbs). Some race directors offer this category and some don't. So, you'll have to check it out. Generally, I place in the 25th percentile when I register in my age group 35-39. However, I've placed 3rd in two races where they offered a clydesdale category. This category will definately have less people than your age group but it will improve your chances. Then again, one time I placed 7 out of 20 due to some very tall slender experienced guys registering in the category so that they could compete for the top 3 spots. That killed the spirit of the clydesdale division. You should have seen these guys swim. Tall slender people are very hydrodynamic and can swim very fast with less effort than a 5'9" 210lb person. That's my spin on it. Try it. Or, maybe you already kick butt in your age group category and don't need to do it.

I often visited Perris 1 or 2 times per year back in 1997 through 1999 and I've seen a several of them. One day was particularly active with dustdevils and manifest kept announcing them as they were approaching the packing and creeping areas so that we could protect our gear. The Ghost Riders CRW team was actually flying their canopies around the damn things. I thought that was pretty damn crazy but they seemed to be having fun. The dustdevils that I saw that day were larger than the one in the video.

I always have bounce dreams despite being retired from jumping. The DZO and all other people at the DZ give me hell for bouncing in every dream. In my dream, I dump but the parachute comes out and falls below me. I continue shaking it out (like the belly mount reserve procedures of the T-10 days) and it usually inflates as I hit the ground. I have two other recurring dreams (non-skydiving). I dream that I still have a paper route and I am still chasing the people that owe me money. I also dream that my University will not give me my degree because I have not completed two required classes.

On one ride to altitude in a skyvan, I was sitting right seat. It was a summer day with tall/fat clouds. The pilot was climbing around them most of the time; however, at one point, he just went directly into the side of one of the huge towering clouds. Somewhere in the middle, we broke through into an open space and there was what appeared to be a ramp leading up around a corner to the outside. The pilot looked a me and smiled and proceeded to follow the path to the outside of the cloud. Maybe it was dangerous (especially if an airliner flew through the other side), but it was the coolest ride to altitude ever. It was watching a 3D movie.