33zulu

Oh, geez. Sorry to see this. I had the pleasure and honor to spend some time with him at the '81 World Meet in Z-Hills. Another loss. Sigh. R.I.P. Hoop.

Jumped with Bobby on numerous occasions in El Paso and Ghoulidge. Several times for his Gold Wings jump. Lol. Quite a character! R.I.P. Bobby V.

No, my white one is long gone. Wish I still had it, though. Was lots of fun and easy to pack. Free packed it many times with no bag. When I ordered it in 1977 it arrived in a shoe box. That was kinda freaky. "This is all the canopy over my head I get?" But it flew well and with my light weight, gave me consistent stand-ups. A friend had one and I asked him if he still had it in storage somewhere. If yes, and he's willing to part with it, I'll let you know.

No double keel, but had several hundred jumps on a couple of single keels. One black, which I passed on to a friend, and a white one. I'd split the nose slider on them for a touch better performance. Made about 25 jumps on the black one with no main slider at all. Jumps 1-24 were gravy openings, but that 25th one about killed me, so slider went back on. Some pics attached. The colorful Dactyl was Zing's.

Oh no, say it ain't so. Johnny Crews....what a guy! One of the first jumpers I met back in Pelicanland in '73 then from '75-'77. Quite the character. An original. RIP, Johnny, and condolences to Sandy and other Pelicans.

He kindly sent me this after I wrote him a few years back. I'd mailed him this page from the Dec. 1960 National Geographic and he signed it for me. Was a childhood idol and his jump got me dreaming of the days when I'd be jumping, too. RIP.

These the ones?

Can't forget the Cunning Stunts!

Oh, no......not Jeff. What a guy. Made nice jumps with him at Coolidge. Bummer. Sigh....

Yes, indeed!

Halloween Boogie, 1977.... seldom if ever matched. Tom Piras, Zing, Ernie Butler, etc. in rare form.

Another of my early idols in the sport. Sigh.... R.I.P.

Russ was a much loved jumper from El Paso who jumped at all the Ghoulidge Boogies in the 80's and early 90's passed away Sept. 20, 2020. He'd had numerous health issues and as many close calls as the proverbial 9-lives cat, but finally his time here expired. Gone, but never forgotten. R.I.P. old friend.

Here's an old letter I got from M. Anderson Jenkins long time ago. Also attached to letter is article on his drowning from Mike Truffer's Skydiving magazine.

My first Dactyl, the black one. Came from Handbury in a shoebox. Note no slider, as I'd cut it off. About 100+ jumps on it back in the 70's, then another 200 on my white one.