SStewart

That's it, Swift Main (the reserve is also a swift) It opened hard, turned slow, and flared like shit. Onward and Upward!

Here are two pictures of "Handsome Dave DeWolf" I took in January 2008. As you can see from the grainy photo he has not changed much. It warms my heart to see pictures from the old days and know that some of those folks are still active. Dave should be back in the air soon. More later, Onward and Upward!

ZZ pretty much nailed it. You can't beat a protech. I jumped one until I had almost 2000 jumps and I got lots of shit for it. "Hey lets get that student to go on this 30 way with us" (fraphats) But mine was custom, I had it lined with red Caribou hide on the inside and on the outside stickers you can't get anymore. Sniff... It was the best $29 I ever spent. I think they have gone up a dollar or two since then. More later, Onward and Upward!

Yep, only five cells. Crickets, Hobbitts and Wizards were seven, not made by the same company either but thats another thread... I don't remember the Goblin but that sounds like a cool name for a canopy. (unless you do CRW) . . Onward and Upward!

Not a Strato Star, or a Safety Flyer. . Onward and Upward!

Not a bad guess but no. I am also too fat to land this thing on the hard ground. But for deep water landings it still works just fine . Onward and Upward!

Probably an easy one, I jumped it into the Susquehanna river last Saturday during Maytown's annual water jumps. We had a total of 10 "vintage" parachutes splash down. I believe I won the splash contest. . Onward and Upward!

So I'm hearing that "Fandango" was based on a true story? Yep; except Pecos parachute school was in Oregon and not Texas. And; Ted had 13 fatalities in about 9 years at a small cessna DZ. Roch Charmet bounced there and at the time he had more jumps than anyone in the world. (over 10,000) It was a sad story all the way around and I always liked Teddy. But, I would never send my sister or girlfriend to make the first jump there. Sheridan was the ultimate outlaw DZ back in the day. The parties were legendary and fatalities were common. More later, Onward and Upward!

$35 is ten minutes at the bar. Add a cheeseburger and some fries and you shot your wad for the day. I have easily spent over $7000 of my own money in the last year to do this job. No complaints, I knew the realities when I got involved. But please don't even think we are being compensated for our efforts. We are volunteers and this is our way of giving back to the sport. More later, Onward and Upward!

I wondered about that as well. I bought a reserve canopy from you and got a good square deal. No problems at all. (a little slow on the shipping but hey, shit happens) It seemed strange to me that all your ads were marked as scams. If you need a reference let me know. more later, Onward and Upward!

As far as I know Ted Mayfield is the only USPA member to get the lifetime ban. Are there others? Onward and Upward!

I jumped with Grover, he was the last one out of the doomed aircraft. He died a few years later. Agent Orange or something like that. Grover was down at Ralph's after the crash and we were doing an 8 way out of the Beaver. His main popped open and I closed it with a borrowed pull-up cord. (in the plane on the way to altitude) He was cool. What a bummer! Onward and Upward!

Disclaimer; I was a pro ski patroller and EMT for 17 years. In my younger days I was a big advocate for mandatory first aid training for all USPA rated instructors. As was mentioned above it used to be part of the ICC and JCC. Now; I think this is a bad idea. With the cell phones available the first thing you should do is call 911 and let the pros deal with it. Sure, everyone should have these skills but it should never be a requirement for any DZ staff. I have made many rescues and climbed a lot of trees but I would never expect any DZ to have a guy with my skills on hand 24/7 More later, Onward and Upward!

Fucking awesome man, I could not possibly have said it better. I remember when tandems first showed up at the DZ and I said "You gotta be kidding, Who are you going to get to do that? " I thought it was going to be a novelty, a safe mister bill but nothing more. Boy was I wrong. I think tandems are killing our sport but now that the genie is out of the bottle what can we do? A good friend of mine recently made a quoteable quote and I think it should be on the wall in big bold letters..... "This is not a drop zone, It is an amusement park!" more later, Onward and Upward!

Velocity all the way! Onward and Upward!

Those small clubs still exist, I jump at one. They just need a voice. Onward and Upward!

I don't remember the name Jerry, he was an old timer that used to jump at Beaver Oaks. As I recall it was a top secret container but don't quote me on that. Onward and Upward!

Hey Gregor, we are also doing actual water jumps into the Susquehanna river on August 9th. None of that sissy swimming pool shit. Onward and Upward!

I used to know this guy who had TWO MA-1 pilot chutes in his reserve. When I asked him why two? His response was; "Because I couldn't fit three in there!" True story! Onward and Upward!

27 years and I still have not lost a friend or witnessed a fatality or been present on the DZ when one occured. I did lose two close friends in a plane crash in 1990 and I was supposed to be on the load. Just lucky I guess but the DZ's I have made most of my jumps at have outstanding safety records. Two of them have not had a fatality since the 70's and another has never had one. Many of my old skydiving buddies are dead now but it was other stupid things that killed them. Drugs, drunk driving, health problems, old age, and even a few suicides. Onward and Upward!

You guys did an awesome job Chuck! I got a real kick out of talking to Ray after the jump, he had some interesting stories for sure. I told him I hope I am still jumping at 83, actually I just hope I am still alive at 83 Onward and Upward!

Who ever it is I bet they are in New Zealand. Onward and Upward!

Not letting them jump at all comes to mind. They may not be worth the liability. I agree with Gary. Hit the road Jack! Onward and Upward!

Retired Firefighter US Forest Service, (wildland) EMT, Pro Ski Patrol, Avalanche control, Dog trainer/ handler. I was stationed in the Pacific Northwest but I have worked fire assignments in most western states including Alaska. I expect to relocate back to the west in the near future and I may get back into alpine sports and maybe fire in a support role. Onward and Upward!