patmoore

Update:  I narrated the Audiobook.  It's now on Audible, iTunes, and Amazon

There is a link to listen to a chapter for free and another link to let you read the first chapter also for free.

Happily the book is off to a good start with sales in the US, UK, France, and Poland.

December 2nd will be the 60th anniversary of the first of my 2000+ jumps.  Like anyone in this sport I had my share of misadventures and was recently encouraged to chronicle them.  I just completed Bad Decisions Make Great Stories and it appeared on Amazon yesterday in paperback.  Skydiving is the focus of the book but my misadventures in ski racing, snowboard racing, unicycling, sailing, flying etc are featured as well. The Kindle version is forthcoming.  If you got into the sport in the sixties or seventies, you'll be able to relate.  

Pat Moore

D-1814

HI Bill,

I just sent you an email.

Pat Moore

D 1814

Pop's Winter Accuracy was the "must attend" event each year. My ex-wife became the first woman in the world to jump a square chute that Steve Snyder brought to Indiantown to demo.

Happily I was on the winning team in 1969 with Bob Holler, Bill Ottley, and Tommy Bryant.

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You know you're an older jumper when your first jump certificate is signed by these guys......


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I created a website devoted to defunct drop zones a couple of years ago.

Visit DZGone.com

Great stuff! Can someone encapsulate a story about the DZ and hopefully add some pictures? I'd like to update the listing at DZGone.com for Osceola. Please send submissions to [email protected]

Thanks!

I was only able to stop by at the Pioneers Lunch on Friday as my wife and I had an early flight to Australia the next morning. I had a thrill reconnecting with Lew Sanborn, D-1, my instructor and jumpmaster at Orange 53 years ago.

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I was part of the nominating team to get Paul "Pop" Poppenhager D-47 inducted and I gave him a pencil drawing I did from a 1962 photo.

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I had some legends of the sport autograph a page that contained my first jump certificate.

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Many of the attendees said they would submit stories and photos for DZGone.com

Google Maps list Good Hill Farm Airport as being in Roxbury.

I'll see Lew Sanborn in early October and can ask him then. Lew was my jumpaster/instructor on my first jump in 1962.

DZGone.com has now identified 622 defunct DZs with more coming in every day.

Are you from Woodbury? I took some Giant Slalom gate training from Rod Taylor at Woodbury Ski Area many years ago.

Jennikay, you've revived a very old thread. I'm not familiar with the gentleman in question.

Earlier in this thread, the question was raised as to the first commercial dropzone in America. Roxbury, CT lays claim to that distinction. See this article.

Had two rides down on WWII era 24 Twill reserves in 1965. They tended to oscillate a bit during descent and one occasion I timed it right making a standup landing on the runway.

I had Mae Wests on my 5TU C9 surplus canopy on my 11th and 61st jumps. In both cases I hand-deployed the reserve. In the next 2000 jumps I had two totals and a scary reserve ride that I can describe when I have more time....

Folks - make it a point to visit this site. Pat Works has created an extraordinary resource.

I didn't know AJ had jumped. I see him a few times each winter. I even made Ski Racing Magazine with him a few years back.

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Only celeb I ever jumped with was Richard Bach, author of Jonathan Livingtston Seagull. I was the first person he had ever seen in freefall.

When doing an equipment check on my first jump students I'd instruct them to "turn your head and cough". That always got a laugh and they were a little less tense going aloft.

We had gone a couple of months with no new submissions but about a dozen have surfaced in the past few days. I just did a recount and the list of defunct Drop Zones in the US is now up 590. Can you think of any we've missed?

DZGone.com

As always, I'd love to post your photos and stories.

I'd like to get more info as well for Lakewood and any other defunct DZs for DZGone.com

I posted a short entry with one photo for Magee at DZGone.com. Would anyone like to write a short historical piece and maybe add some more photos?

Here's a link to the submission form. If the photos are too large to send, just email them to [email protected]

Today DZGone.com takes a look back at Kissimmee, FL. I first met Jimmy Godwin in 1967 and ultimately competed at several meets at Kissimmee and later at Eustis. I recall Jimmy telling me that shortly after he took up jumping he met up with Doc Gaffney at DeLand. He noticed that Doc had a stopwatch mounted on his reserve. Jimmy asked him what it was for and Doc told me he watched it to know when to open. Jimmy replied, "You can see in freefall?". Apparently he had been closing his eyes and pulling by feel. Intrigued, JImmy bought a stopwatch but couldn't figure out how to mount it on his reserve so he welded two pieces of angle iron to his helmet and mounted the watch right in front of his eyes. Unfortunately it was oriented to the right instead of vertical. Jimmy told me that the first time he jumped it, he kept inclining his head to the right to see it and put himself in a flat spin. I don't know if he was pulling my leg or not but it's plausible. I really liked Jimmy. I've just added this story to the Kissimmee listing. Please share your stories from the old days!

Gary Corderman submitted a fascinating account of the first ram-air canopy jump by Paul Poppenhager D-47 way back in 1962.

Ironically it was at Pop's Indiantown DZ that the first-ever ram air jump was made by a woman. My first wife Connie and I were competing at the winter meet in 1969 when Steve Snyder showed up with a prototype. I jumped it and then Connie did. Later that day Donna Huminsky jumped it and broke her leg.

To date DZGone.com has identified 565 "Lost DZs" in all fifty states. Can you think of any that I've missed?

Trying it again with the image embedded.

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In doing my research for DZGone.com I'm looking through my old magazines. DZ USA used to publish a list of who were the most experienced jumpers in the country. In 1966 Paul "Pop" Poppenhager was the only jumper with over 2000 jumps. See attached.

What's your Dad's name? I probably competed against him in the sixties and seventies.

Also, how are you embedding images in this forum? I've only been able to upload attachments.

Thanks.

I stand corrected. Thanks for pointing that out. It's been removed.

I guess you can't edit posts after a few days.

In any event, the submission form has been fixed. AT&T sold my email provider (SNET) to a company called Frontier and my DZGone email was suddenly blocked.

You can submit stories through this link. If your photos are over 1024 kb you can just email them to me at [email protected]