chileman

Fly free old buddy. A good man with an amazing spirit. A great ambassador for our sport. Blue skies...Lee

Goodbye Burt, my friend. I'm glad we had a chance to have a few laughs together in those last couple of days. Big ways won't be the same without your friendly smile and great stories. Fly free, brother. My condolences to Burt's family; it was brave of you to come to Eloy and meet us. I hope you left knowing how much we loved him too.

Eli represents the very best qualities of the skydiving community. That smile will live forever. Peace

From Thailand to Texas, we had many great jumps together, and many wide ranging conversations over beer or weather holds. We didn't have time to finish all we wanted to do or say, my friend. Susan and I miss you. I can't be in Dallas today, but our mutual friend, the man who introduced us, will be there representing. Peace.

My wife and I both found your story to be quite inspiring. Thank you for posting this. Good luck and blue skies on your coming jumps. We'll be watching. Cheers

Thanks, that was a few years ago, and it seems to be working. Lucky me... Good luck and feel free to ask.

Now that makes me smile

By the way...she said yes.

Based on several such jumps for ad shoots and one marriage proposal (attached)..you are wise to carefully consider how to rig the banner. it is not "just another skydive". A friend had one spin up rapidly on his hand as he let go to deploy and it was instantly a streamer firmly attached to his hand. For this reason, never use a loop of line to attach the banner. Here's how I do it: ...have the banner made of mesh material for light weight and less resistance, with extra binding tape across the bottom. I also have the message screen printed rather than vinyl letters which can roll up or blow off. ...Have 4 grommets spaced across the bottom ...Use lengths of wooden dowel attached with short lines as your handles. ...Use a felt marker on each dowel to indicate left hand, right hand and front of banner. ...I exit w/ both dowels in my left hand and the banner rolled up. As I approach the video (or future fiance) I unroll the fabric, glance at my dowels and place each in the proper hand and orientation. You don't want it to come out backwards. ...Once clear and ready to deploy, I put both dowels in my left hand and deploy normally. ...By using dowels instead of a loop I am able to move it from hand to hand, keep it under control and release it easily if I go to emergency procedures. ...Do not wear gloves or a top of the hand mounted altimeter. ...most of what I am suggesting is visible in the attached photo. Consider the dive carefully, and make the banner minimum size. 4-5 feet is very long and can cause issues with floating up in the center. Dowels help with this as well. Have fun and send us a picture.

Great job everyone. Congratulations. It's hard to believe, but I'll be joining you next year. Lee

I had heard there was no fracture ...so this is sad news. Heal fast Betty, we missed you in D plane.

I'm going to pin dollar bills and fake 401K statements all over my jumpsuit and go as "The economy in freefall" Jeez, i love candy corn!

Harry was one of the great ambassadors of our sport. He will be missed as evidenced by the number of lives he touched on this thread alone. A small sampling, I'm sure. Janna, my heart goes out to you. Lee

Hey Woody...Where did you "run across" that article? Hanging over your mantle? I thought you were the one who taught me to hang my reserve from one side after opening for acccuracy jumps. Hmmm...must have been someone else Lee

[email protected] I couldn't find Bill Kowalski's e-mail, guess I lost it in the crash. The address above is his brother Jimmy, and I'm sure he can get you in touch with Bill. Lee

If your only tool is a hammer, then every problem becomes a nail.

Nick...thanks for sending me on a search for my old log books. I had a few good laughs reading mine and the others on here. Jump #4 on a T-10 7 TU, one mile off, landed in a neighborhood, the guy comes out to see WTF and I know him. Gave me a ride back to the air strip and I beat my JM back. Jump #5, trees, #6 my last stable pull for 10 jumps, didn't stand one up until #25. Needless to say, i was not one of the "naturals". Jeez, how did we survive?

This is from BJ's e-mail yesterday on the Kaleidoscope Dives commentary: Until next year, then, I wish you all a happy holiday season. Safe skies, bj PS: For those of you on World Team '06, you will be getting a special present in the coming weeks - finally!

Congratulations...I need all the news e-mail me at [email protected] Lee

Looks like it could be a C 124 Globemaster. There is one on static display at the AFB here in Charleston, SC. I believe there was an elevator into the fuslage that could be the jump door in your photo.

That was the zipper shot I tried to send but the file was too large and got kicked out. I remember the Chris Wagner weekend too. Is that Kally looking up at the video? Nothing like staying focused on the center. We were doing some sh*t hot skydiving in those days. Remember the star wars completion? That's still one of my favorites. Who has video of that? I have backed off the treasure hunting gig (still involved, just not diving) for now and focused on family, skydiving and work (in that order) Give Barb a big hug for me. Lee

Hey Matt...Great to see your post. It's been a while since I've seen you around Skydive Carolina. I love that picture from the early Flock days. I'm attaching one of my favorites which is the first point on that dive, the zipper. Chuck Smith took the photos and he's been gone about as long as you. Come seeus. Lee

Damn Beezy, I'm going to miss you, bro'. Thanks, Billy Vance, for reminding me of the time when Sandy Wambach (still love you, girl) was organizing the Ga. State Record (96-7?) when Beezy hummed it down, had two out, cut away for a 3 second reserve ride with a camera on. The whole load counted out loud with him as we watched the video over and over that night. He was a great storyteller, a great skydiver, a great friend, and truly one of a kind. He was sure good to me when i was trying to break into the big ways all those years ago. Fly free, my friend, there's a lot of good company for you up there. Lee

Damn Johnny...Those boogies in St George and Chester took on new life when you showed up. Always a smile, muff,muff, "hey asshole", toys, fireworks...white tails and tie dyed shirt...miss you, bro... Lee...MB #1673