djr

Were you up at Osceola the day that a jumper just got done putting students out (I believe that it was Rod) and bailed out himself only to find that he had a static line wrapped around his foot? The only problem with that is that the other end was still attached to the plane. Luckily he was OK and Ernie just happen to carry a hook knife in the plane and all turned out well except for a few pair of soiled shorts. After that I think we all started carrying hook knives. When did stickman start jumping? Trying to figure out if I knew him?

If I remember, when you were jumping off the balcony at the hotel, didn't the picture of the Queen that was hanging on the wall by the balcony show up missing about the same time, and then just happen to be hanging in the hanger at Osceola the next weekend? The desk clerk did not like us very much that night! Don't forget the nice 6' beer sign that came from one of the Stanton meets. They didn't like us there either if I remember. They thought we were to wild or something. I came across a picture of all of us from about 70 or 71 when we rented the DC3 from St Paul Airport. That was really a site watching that old thing lift off the runway at Osceola. At Charlies it wasn't if you had ever landed in the trees, it was how soon before you landed in the trees.

Hey old man, some one who remembers the good times, and the old friends we used to jump with. I think I can add to the stories from Osceola, even some good Ernie stories. How about the day that Ernie looped his 182 just to see if he could do it. If I remember right, we were sitting on the ground waiting for Ernie to land when he put it into a dive and pulled it over. And how many times did we have to bail out when he ran out of gas. I remember when JQ could not get stable and I threw him out at 7200 and held on to him till he stabled out. Never had a problem after that. Not to many people know the fun of riding the beacon at 2:00 in the morning with a cold beverage in hand. How about the nights at Tommy's with Dick Sykes, Dan Burt, Trombley, the Allens, and of course Art was always in the middle of it all. Of course it was always fun when we got together with Charlies group Mason, Wes, the Quaids. Does anyone remember what they used to call the in jump up there before they move the row of breeding shacks out of there. I think it was only about 100'x100' on a good day. It was always a challenge but good for a free beer from Charlie. Sorry to hear about Art passing away, the man fell like a rock, straight down and fast. And the stories about him, but for another day.