OATSF14

Should be cleaning the house. That is my regular Sunday morning choir. But not today. I am waiting for the playoffs to begin. I will do no work today. I pulled my old log books and took a look. It is amazing to me how clear some of those jumps remain today. A friend and I took a drive one day in his MGB and drove by a dropzone. We stopped, watched and decided to try it. The small town was named: Slaughtersville. The spot was the middle of the cemetary. First jump was Aug 13, 1977. From the log book: Jump 1: “35’ T-10/ 24’ 4 line release. Static line. Temp 100 degrees/0-5 wind. 3,000 ft static line”. Jumpmaster notes were fine. My notes: “I am not religious but I think I saw God. Slammed into the ground. Gotta get better at this or there will be much pain” Jump 3: Static line. First jump on a PC. My notes: “Wow! I want one of these. Nice landing and the thing turns fast.” Jump 19: My Notes: “Had to exit early. Plane out of gas. The bulb came on. I’m hooked”. Jump 119: First cut away. Strato-Cloud. My notes: “That sucked. At least I know I can do it”. Jump 320: Pilot stalled the plane on climbout. (182). “My notes: That sucked. Pilot let airspeed bleed on climb out. Nice dive though”. (this jump changed my way of flying. I became much more professional whenever I flew the plane) Jump 488: Second malfunction. Notes: “High speed malfunction. Mis-routed pilot chute. Wrapped around leg strap. We always gear checked each other but not today. We were mad at one of the jumpers so we never said a word to each other. Opened below the tower. (height 620’)” (I remember waiving at 2000 and throwing the pilot chute. Nothing happened. I looked over my shoulder and there it was......just following me down. I looked back at my altimeter and noticed the house getting really big really fast. I immediately pulled my reserve. Line stretch, release bakes, flair. This jump made me more altitude alert.) On and on and on.....The point is, I still remember very clearly these specific jumps and the people I jumped with. One of my JMs sold marijuana to the students at OU. (Oklahoma University) One of my JMs was a cop who chased him all week. One of my JMs was a Lawyer who continually offered his services to the dealer if he ever got caught by the cop. We had Army Rangers, Air Force Pilots, college kids and it was just a fun place to go. I laid off jumping for about 9 years. Got back into it recently. The people are the same. You have the young guys chasing the young girls. You have the young girls who just want to skydive. You have the jumpers who want to change how the place is operated. Over all, it is still as I remember it, a great place to be. Skydiving is the only sub-culture I have belonged to that shares the camaraderie of my old squadron days. In many ways it exceeds it. The only thing I have noticed is that many people nowadays jump and leave the DZ. That is too bad. Hanging around after the jumping, drinking beer, lying, and just sharing the day helps builds that camaraderie. With all the differences of opinion on this website it is still a fact that we all share something in common. For some ungodly reason we jump out of airplanes. That statement in itself in itself is amazing to me. What a rush. Gotta go, pre-game.

An excellent summation and reply. Some people are just jerks.

You speak of Adam and Eve.

I have the first three years on DVD (Amazon) To see the development of the characters, the poetry lines, the music...a great show. Remember Jessie the bear?

Y "Broke Back Dropzone....."

Northern Exposure

I could not agree with you more. Have a good day Bill. I will also take this opportunty to say "Thanks" to you and the other Greenies for the job you and they do on this site. HH started a good thing. Having it moderated by you people has I believe turned it into the site that it is today. You have taught me things about jumping. The worldwide postings are a good thing. Diversity is a good thing. No matter where we live we can come on this site and "talk" to others around the world. Hope you make it to POPS in Australia in 2008. (providing you are a POPS. I have no idea) I promised my boy I would take him so there we go. I'll buy you and any other Greenies a brew.

Yep....

I agree with "the commemoration for someone who has done more for civil rights...." MLK is that person. The world is a better place for his being a part of it. Again I agree. This is where a flag is thrown. Do you really think there are enough Eskimos to equal the political power of MLK's followers during the civil rights years? Political power made this a holiday. A woman? Perhaps. Many great civil rights women have made great stands. Rosa just passed. I hope she is doing well. Racism knows no race or gender boundries. It is practiced by all. To suggest that an eskimo, woman or white guy would receive the same press/power as MLK in his hey day is simply wrong. Lord help you if you are a white eskimo woman. I do agree with Bill's premise. The man did well and he should be honored. But he was honored because of his race AND his message during a very turbulent time in our history. I humbly disagree to those who suggest otherwise.

Bill...Bill such a naive young man you must be.

Agree, because I think this implies a few things: Done them all. Oh well....

Agreed.

Well said.

The only reason I do it is because SOME member DZs require it. Good point on the insurance. I do like the magazine. Hmmm...OK then 3 reasons.

Best time of the year.

Robert is 21. Maybe 6 or 7 spankings while he was growing up. He simply knew that a warning meant action if he brushed it aside. Kids are smart. They know.

Well said and very true.

Cremated. But my organs stay with me.

Agreed. Very antiseptic and programmed these days. Still the greatest thing around tho.

Bravo. Well said.

A must have. You know of what you speak.

Agreed but be careful. Some people believe you should pay for everything they do. It is not politically correct to suggest otherwise.

Spoken by a confident woman. Good for you.

I will admit that Carter is probably a better driver than TeddyK.....especially crossing bridges.

Agreed. Let him stick to building houses.