Tidlof

I don't see a thread about this, so reluctantly, I'll ask here. This CA bill http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB295 was signed by the Governor on Saturday and is aimed at tandem safety (and Lodi) based on a tandem fatality in 2016 there when the tandem master was not legally rated. The following salient points were reported on a local Sacramento news report: 1. the "association" objected "mildly" to the bill saying it would duplicate what is already Federal law. 2. Caltrans would levy fines (the Caltrans Div. of Aeronautics does not have a history of safety enforcement that I know of and would logically leave that to the FAA/NTSB). 3. The FAA said they would not sanction Lodi for that particular incident because they could not hold responsible for "discrepancies" in the tandemmaster's paperwork. (There has to be more to that part of the story). We all have an opinion on Bill and Lodi's ops and have debated those opinions for years. Let's not beat that dead horse here again, BUT, tell me if there are additional facts to a real back story to this bill other than speculation that * the plaintiff's lawyers want to beef up the lawsuit or their reputation or * other DZ owners are tired of Bill's ridiculously low jump rates. Ted D6691 SCR 3975 SCS 2242 NSCR 698 On the road to wrack and ruin………… but making damn good time.

You're very welcome. Glad to see it go to someone wild and crazy like I was many years ago. Ted D6691 SCR 3975 SCS 2242 NSCR 698 On the road to wrack and ruin………… but making damn good time.

Sure, It's hard and dangerous, but so is a lot of other skydiving disciplines. when & where was the last skysurf jump you saw? Kind of curious: made about 80 myself 20 years ago and have a couple of boards I'd give to anyone who'd want them. See Misc. classifieds Ted D6691 SCR 3975 SCS 2242 NSCR 698 On the road to wrack and ruin………… but making damn good time.

Thank you. Now I'll go just to see Roger. Ted D6691 SCR 3975 SCS 2242 NSCR 698 On the road to wrack and ruin………… but making damn good time.

I called and they said there would be organizers. They didn't name any names but I probably would not recognize or remember them anyway. Guess I'll go and check it out. Ted D6691 SCR 3975 SCS 2242 NSCR 698 On the road to wrack and ruin………… but making damn good time.

Have not jumped at Davis since Colin retired. Wondering how their annual boogie is for the old farts these days and if there will be some decent organization for travelling/unknown belly flyers this weekend. Ted D6691 SCR 3975 SCS 2242 NSCR 698 On the road to wrack and ruin………… but making damn good time.

Mike certainly had the talent to jump with Tesseract and win national 4 way medals, but he was too busy chasing down rainbows and making pipe dreams come true to commit to something as boring as 4 way practice. As a new commercial pilot, he had the world to see and experience. It was his brother John who was on Tesseract. Ted D6691 SCR 3975 SCS 2242 NSCR 698 On the road to wrack and ruin………… but making damn good time.

Mike suddenly passed on a couple of days ago and the grapevine is buzzing with a lot of great "Mike stories" going back thru the years to Spokane circa 1970. Anyone got a mind blower they'd like to share? Let's see, I think I have one that includes Boise, the first upside down meet, Mike, Jerry Bird, a van and a rather unique 1st place prize. Details are kinda foggy right now...........stand by. Ted D6691 SCR 3975 SCS 2242 NSCR 698 On the road to wrack and ruin………… but making damn good time.

Mike passed on suddenly in Florida a couple of days ago. http://www.facebook.com/#!/michael.j.culler I have no details; just thought I'd put this out there since he knew so many of us going back 40 years. He will be missed. Many of you will appreciate what an understatement that is. Ted D6691 SCR 3975 SCS 2242 NSCR 698 On the road to wrack and ruin………… but making damn good time.

Here's a picture of the 1st year (1988). This is as close as we got that year at least. We may have completed it in 90 or 91, but by then, it was just Dav3 fun and we didn't really care. Also here's a picture of the pointy end of the formation. It was also impressive just seeing all those Cessna's lined up on the taxiway. Looked tight and squared away. I think I threw away the Norm Kent plane pics as they were very nice but only 5x7's. Ted D6691 SCR 3975 SCS 2242 NSCR 698 On the road to wrack and ruin………… but making damn good time.

It was at Snohomish as Jamie Woodward had closed Issaquah several years earlier and been running Slow-ho for some time. With Jamie's organization, the logisitics weren't that hard. I brought my 182 over from Spokane and, along with most of the jumpers, had some apprehension about how tight and safe the formations would be. But after the first load, we all relaxed and knew that the challenge was getting all 55 jumpers into the dense slow falling diamond. Norm Kent gave us plane owners some plane to plane shots that give some perspective (as well as just great photography). I'll see if I can find those. I had a great time and I think almost everyone on the load and the pilots did too. Here's a picture of Dave from that era that I still have sitting on my bookshelf and enjoy looking at. When I met him 30+ years ago, I never thought I'd say that. Ted D6691 SCR 3975 SCS 2242 NSCR 698 On the road to wrack and ruin………… but making damn good time.

Jerry, yeah, TC was #11. The attached is my revised guess on jumper seating based on the NTSB report of where the survivors and the injured survivors were in the airplane. TC got his knee/leg smashed up pretty good and Boling was in the hospital for at least a few days. Ted D6691 SCR 3975 SCS 2242 NSCR 698 On the road to wrack and ruin………… but making damn good time.

here's a resized jpeg Ted D6691 SCR 3975 SCS 2242 NSCR 698 On the road to wrack and ruin………… but making damn good time.

Eric, here's a pic for you. April 1981 over Issaquah out of 3 Cessnas. Inside facing out: 12 noon; Ted Idlof 8:00 "Bushy" 4:00 Mark King Inside facing in: 10:00 Earl bartell (Paraphernalia) 2:00 Root 6:00 Lani Schroeder Outside: 11;00 Mark Leverenz 1:00 Maggot 9:00 Kari Seppanen 3:00 Debbie (Maggot's squeeze) 5:00 Mike Metcalf (the mouth) 7:00 Lynda Forney (Paraphernalia) Maggott, you'll love this; My log book says you did a steep dive versus a flat track (remember those debates?) and pulled your reserve at 1000' because "there was no clear air!!" That ring a bell?? Ted D6691 SCR 3975 SCS 2242 NSCR 698 On the road to wrack and ruin………… but making damn good time.

Had some old pics out for another reason and stumbled on this sketch I made soon after the fateful day. This is my understanding of where people were in the airplane. Probably not real exact as it obviously it doesnt' jive very well with what I thought Monty Stevens told me recently. But at least it has all the names and generally where they were. The numbers by the names don't make a lot of sense now but those guys got out and lived. Ted D6691 SCR 3975 SCS 2242 NSCR 698 On the road to wrack and ruin………… but making damn good time.

Maggot, do you remember a Monty stevens? I jumped with him just a couple of months ago at Davis. It was a pick up load and I didn't think I'd ever met him before. But it turns out that he was passing thru Washington on his way to Alaska and got on the Learstar load that fateful day. He was "up front" of the line up and got out easily. Ted D6691 SCR 3975 SCS 2242 NSCR 698 On the road to wrack and ruin………… but making damn good time.

I was not on the load but had previously jumped that airplane wiith everyone who was on this load. I arrived on-scene immediately after. It seemed logical to me and others discussing the attitude of the aircraft and nature of the stall and roll, that one or more of the jumpers in the back of the load could have fallen into the cockpit from the cockpit door and onto the back of the pilot or co-pilot. Besides possibly pinning and or incapacitating one or both pilots, this would have pushed the yoke(s) forward. IIRC, survivors who made it out from the back of the load described climbing up the wall to get to the rear door and exit, and that everyone inside was basically falling toward the front of the airplane more than floating back toward the tail. Flying over the site afterward, there was nothing but a black smoking hole in the ground and almost nothing that looked like an airplane, never mind one the size that the Learstar was. Ted D6691 SCR 3975 SCS 2242 NSCR 698 On the road to wrack and ruin………… but making damn good time.

Thanks for the education without the flames. Now I know and it will give me something to do under canopy besides just wait to get to the ground. I guess I've jumped so many years with buds I know and trust on "my DZ" that it never came up. On 4 way loads, and after clearing the air below, 2 or 3 of us would "dog-fight" and spiral down chasing each other as well as just fly no contact CRW. Now of course, we don't do that and especially not at other DZ's because just seeing 2 canopies that close would scare people and they'd be calling immediately for an ambulance. Or a straight jacket. Since I don't have a home DZ anymore and jump with lots of strangers, I would've thought I'd have seen lots of leg kicking before this. But I'm on belly flying loads with other old farts who, apparently, are as clueless as I am. But not to worry, we'll soon be in our rocking chairs and out of the way. Ted D6691 SCR 3975 SCS 2242 NSCR 698 On the road to wrack and ruin………… but making damn good time.

So, have I missed something about canopy safety? I thought that making the canopy flight as boring as possible was safe enough. But apparently not, according to one young lady. Recently I'm flying along at 1500 ft, going due north as straight and level as possible and I see this canopy on the same level that is heading about 160 deg (SSE) and will pass me at a distance of about 300 feet. I was not the least bit concerned about this and if I had something else to do, I would not have noticed this person kicking their feet. But I did and I think, "well that's probably a 100 jump wonder who's excited about a 2 way or new canopy or something." On the ground, she comes up and asks "did you see me out there?" and I think back, "hmmmm, could I have cut someone off?" But the only canopy remotely close that I saw was the one at 1500 ft, so I say, "you mean about 1500 ft over there?" pointing to the general airspace. She continues, "Yeah I was kicking my feet, didn't you see that?" "Well yeah, but.........." I respond kind of confused. She explains this is her communication to me that she's there and she would appreciate a response, presumably some leg kicks too. I just say that I didn't know that. I don't bother to point out that at that distance and at the same altitude, at approximately the same descent rate, and as boring as we both were flying, there is no way I could run into her even if I wanted to. So, have I missed something? i Am I now required to use leg kicking as the new and improved really safe way to make sure to avoid canopy collisions? For an old fart, the new safety has absolutely taken the fun out of the canopy ride, to the extent, I'm tempted to check my Email on the long boring ride down. Nomex on........flame away. Ted D6691 SCR 3975 SCS 2242 NSCR 698 On the road to wrack and ruin………… but making damn good time.

Old camera flyers, a couple of questions; Weren't military surplus ring sites pretty common in the late 80's? And were they not considered better (glass, scratch resistant and generally more durable) than the commercially made newton ring sites back then? I bought a ring sight from a reputable skydiving vendor in the late 80's and tend to recall that it was military surplus and that was preferable. Am I right in that military was worth it for just a marginal price increase back then? Are military surplus units still around now and how do they compare in today's market? I can't imagine they'd be inferior, but are they? I'm ready to practically give it away to a friend and not looking to make a buck, so mostly I ask because I'm just curious and testing my fragile egg-shell memory. TIA. Ted D6691 SCR 3975 SCS 2242 NSCR 698 On the road to wrack and ruin………… but making damn good time.

10/4/68 Elsinore out of a Howard. Al Catlett C2781 was instructor. Jim Fee D1536 put me out. Memory's still as vivid as the first day. But I gotta say, the last 4000 went by faster than a head down. Ted D6691 SCR 3975 SCS 2242 NSCR 698 On the road to wrack and ruin………… but making damn good time.

Gary was very good at striking the right amounts of both fear and inspiration to flailing students like me. He did a lot for Elsinore, the Perkins, and all of us, including those who never met him. Ted D6691 SCR 3975 SCS 2242 NSCR 698 On the road to wrack and ruin………… but making damn good time.

Oh, I don't know about that. I was on a 4 way team with him for a Boise upside-down meet in the late 70's. No horny gorillas, but tits up flying was the goal. We won and enjoyed the prize in the back of a van. He looked like he was really enjoying himself that weekend. Anyway, count me in as another fan. He made quality RW look and feel simple enough for us common folk. Rock on Jerry. Ted D6691 SCR 3975 SCS 2242 NSCR 698 On the road to wrack and ruin………… but making damn good time.

Foo foo, you got it right in your earlier post; 501 was the AT-11. SN-1B (Snib) was the glass bubble navy version in your picture. I have (or had) some video of wingwalking/plane to plane transfer crazy shit using Snib at Athol in probably mid-80's. Remember that? I'm sure you and Lee were flying those loads, right? I suppose it could've been Joe. Is Ricardo still in Athol? How's he doing? Emmett's still in Garwood and doing fine if you didn't know. Ted D6691 SCR 3975 SCS 2242 NSCR 698 On the road to wrack and ruin………… but making damn good time.

Boy Howdy. Tom's "gang" was so unique, each one of them, that someone should write a book about them. If it was a bit on the light hearted side, which I believe it should be, Jimmy Buffett would write it. One of them, Mike Culler was "back in town" and visited Emmett (Florea) recently. Like Tom, Mike's keeping a low profile. Emmett said he was pretty guarded and not telling the real story like he so boldly used to. Either that or he's now just another guy like the rest of us. Ted D6691 SCR 3975 SCS 2242 NSCR 698 On the road to wrack and ruin………… but making damn good time.