Usetawuz

26 years! Congrats Chuck. It seems like you've decided to give the sport a try - you know, just to see if you like it. Here's wishing you another 26!

Thanks HW. I still have my copy. (Second edition June 1967, with the elephants ass and sign "The End" on the back cover. Now I'll find myself 'singing' some of the tunes. Not a pleasant sound!

12000!!! That's a lot of times out the door. Congrats to the 'Pope', aka Handsome Dave.

Stay safe, stay well, old friend.

A real loss. He gave a lot of himself to the sport.

Hey Jerry - Thanks for the tip! I'll use either that line, or Howard's. Both sound plausible to me!

Sounds like you were on one of Thom Lyon's sites. He covered a lot of jump history. Hey, I'm not old enuff for POPS but might come down to watch. I do plan to attend the Pioneers of Parachuting get together 1st week of Oct in Vegas. Not old enuff to be a "pioneer" either. Just want to 'rub elbows'

Hey, Tall One

Blue ones

Don't know where he is now, but Doug Iverson jumped out of Albuqueque years ago. Crazy, fun guy. We usta call him "Iverdeath".

Hey Jerry - I stand corrected...of course it should be the 1st 1543!

Thumbing thru that list was was kinda strange. So many of the names are people I know or have met or does it just seem I've met or know some of them because I've seen or heard their names for so many years?

I know Jim Arender from NM. Always thought of him as a billboard, never as D13! Damn! Lee Guilfoyle jumpmastered me at PI in NJ. Anyone who knew a ripcord from a connector link was a god to me then but D50? Damn! Perry Stevens was a good friend. D51? Damn! Mick Howard taught my FJC & sold me my first 28'. D139? Damn! G. Gutshall and I jumped together in Thailand many, many years ago. D217? Damn! I consider Dave Clark as one of my best friends (and probably as close to my 'hero' as I'd allow anyone to be). Got his sign-offs throughout many of my logs. Never gave his D# a thought. D259? Damn!

Everyone knew Bill Ottley (including me) & he knew everyone! D298 Damn!

Whoa!! Talk about a 'bit of history!" Tends to make an 'old-timer' realize he's really just a newbie. It would be interesting to see the 1st 1000 D's, and maybe the 1st 500 or so gold-wingers too,

I don't remember him being in any races but I knew a Black guy who used to jump a lot - years ago - not so much now. Had thousands of jumps - he did. Oh! Oh! - wait a minute - that was me!

1966 FJC - SL (was there anything else?) Reserve "down & in the direction of spin" - I think I paid $35. Training ran for 4-hours-per-night for 5 nights plus a couple of hours Sat. before the 1st jump!

You're right the DZ was owned and run by one Robert Lee Clark (Bob Clark) back in the early to mid 70s. Some sort of little industrial park is there now. Time moves on.

Dave you weren't such a renegade but you were pretty wild for an AFA cadet. Glad you're still on the planet.

Blue stuff -
Frank Halcromb

Congrats!! Know you're good for at least another 15!!

I've seen. I've heard. Several times. I didn't want to see and/or hear. That's just the way it went down. I doubt that having a "plan" would have made a difference. Like someone said - "instinct takes over".

He's with you forever. Keep his memory alive. Condolences to you and your family.

Happy Birthday.

Interesting observations. Thought provoking.

BTW, I'm not sure but I think both Geo. Washington and Abe Lincoln's birthdays were US holidays before they combined them into 'Presidents Day'.

That's great! I used to jump with him when he was just starting, at Ft. Carson Colorado. We went on one helleva 'skydiving road trip' once to the Albuquerque NM area. It was him, Gary Baker, Corky Connery and me. When we weren't jumping I don't think we had a sober moment. We were jumping out in the desert south of the city and the wind was ripping. There was a windmill out there with blades spinning like crazy. Your Dad stared at this windmil for a long while then finally sez "Well, if they'd turn off that damned fan it wouldn't be so windy!"

Tell him Frank Halcromb said "Hi"

Pat - You're a breathe of fresh air!!! An endless source of tales. Welcome aboard!

I think I have a couple of PCA and USPA patches stashed away someplace. Before we collected Tee-shirts, we collected patches.

Dave DeWolf, Jay Harsh, Dan Poynter, Dave Clark.

Somewhere in the deep recesses of my mind I seem to remember that story. What is your Dad's name?

So sorry. Grandmothers are precious. Wishing you and your family the best. Prayers for 'Grandma', and for you, are on the way.

So very sorry for your loss!