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steve1

Scary stories from the old days?

By steve1, in Skydiving History & Trivia

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patworks    5

patworks
Yez, I got more lives than 2-cats.

Her's an old one: It won a "Pull-it Sir!" when Gene Hunnel printed it in DZ-USA in ~62


Thought of some 'near-death' stuff you might dig. Sooo, here's
something I wrote in the '60's, I think.... Do a GOOGLE on "Unconscious and falling " for full text.
http://www.cs.fiu.edu/~esj/uwf/uwf8.htm

"Unconscious and Falling!
In Texas on December 22, 1966, 16 expert parachutists met at a small
pasture five miles from the Gulf of Mexico between Galveston and Houston.
After two weeks of planning, they were ready to attempt free fall jumps
from the edge of space.

At 12:15 that afternoon the first five loaded their jump aircraft: a 206
Super Cessna Skywagon. It roared down the narrow grass runway and climbed
upward into the 21 below zero temperature at 25,000 feet, into air so
thin it robs a man of useful consciousness in minutes by oxygen
starvation, or hypoxia as the doctors call it. They were climbing into
trouble.

We were manifested for the second lift to 25,000 feet. So, as the plane
took off, we watched with more than casual interest. Tim, an ex-jet
fighter pilot who had lost his left eye flying for the Marines, turned to
me with a grin and a shrug, "Well, they made it off the ground, but I'll
lay you odds that one of those clowns screws up before they even leave
the airplane."

Some 37 minutes later, when the Cessna reached jump altitude, the thin
air and cold had done their deadly work. Only two of the five skydivers
aboard were able to jump. One of the others had been so affected by the
cold, or his nerves, that he froze in the door and did not jump; another
had accidentally unhooked his oxygen line so that when it came time to
jump he was only able to turn blue and babble. During the ascent he had
been sucking on an oxygen line that wasn't connected to the oxygen tank
and as a result, the necessary state of mental alertness was replaced by
confusion and euphoria.

The third jumper had suffered the consequences of gas expansion which
occurs at high altitudes. When he was carried from the aircraft on the
ground, I solicitously removed his lined jump suit and carefully scraped
the frozen vomit from it, Warmer than mine, I wanted to use it for my
upcoming jump. Little did I realize that before the day ended, I, too,
would be lying unconscious at 25,000 feet far out over the chilly waters
of the Gulf of Mexico in a plane piloted by a man whose oxygen-starved
brain convinced him that north was best reached by flying south......"

Yada Yada yaadaa, no-shit, we was there


Crazy Pat Works, 2-cats
Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,
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patworks    5

patworks
More black death: Orgin of Bonus Days:
Bonus Days."

Safety is survival. You should practice safety nearly as reflexively as you automatically blink when a raindrop nears the eye.

As a jumper, and interested observer of and participant in a few "Bonus Days", my more than 17 years of jumping suggests that you will likely become more safety conscious the longer you jump. In other words, you'll come to recognize the subtle distinction between a "might survive" and "comfortably survivable" situation.

Safety consciousness in parachuting can be described thus: The easiest thing to "do" is nothing. Unfortunately, in parachuting doing nothing is deadly, Occasionally a parachutist, or pilot, or motorcyclist, or mountain climber or hang glider will do nothing -

or the wrong thing -

for too long...

There are some adventures that are hard to squeak past, There are some adventures that are fairly certainly terminal ones. So whenever anyone slips past a "real close one," a new calendar is started and ALL the days survived thereafter can be termed "BONUS DAYS."

These are those extra days you get after the near-crash. As Freak Brother No. 2 Roger Nelson tells it:

"I reconfirmed my membership in the Bonus Days Club watching the ground 'stop coming' at about 100-150 ft. SPORT DEATH!

"What had happened was a typical brain malfunction, yep, I packed a total! So I really shouldn't have been doing a 3-man after-star. 'Cause when I threw out my pilot chute, it went 8 feet and stopped fully inflated!!! So, immediately I pictured Waldo Jecker, FB No. 22, and Tony "Frit" Patterson, FB No. 181, (both deceased), as I looked at the ground.

"Time was vital. I had a choice of two things, dump your reserve and chance an entanglement and streamer in, knowing I'm gonna bounce (the way Frit went in at Deland), or reel in my small 29" pilot chute and take it lower for a clean reserve opening. See, when I looked at the ground right after realizing my problem, I said "3 seconds" in which I had to play. So I decided to reel as I counted to 3. I hit 3 just as I grabbed the bottom. I dropped my head to get some air on my back as I dumped my reserve.

"Well, at this point, seeing where I was, I kind of thought dropping my head might not of been too smart 'cause I was about to bounce head first on the side of the runway. When all of a sudden, "YEA, BONUS DAY CLUB!!!" (To become active member in the Bonus Days Club you must very narrowly escape eternal freefall ... one exciting time.)

`I looked down, saw my shadow, screamed excitement and saw a jumper clapping my Z-Hills act."

That was a Bonus Day.
Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

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airtwardo    7

airtwardo
Quote

"BONUS DAYS."



Quote



I was having lunch today with an old jumping buddy that "hung 'em up" a short time after qualifying for membership in the Bonus Days club a few years ago...

I kind of had to smile when he told me that the reason he quit jumping was because...

"It's like we're all just standing in line waiting to die, ya just don't know WHERE you are in the line...":ph34r:


I guess my buddy thought he had wandered into the '12 Items or Less' lane!;)

Thanks for adding some REAL color to this thread Pat.

PLEASE...keep the stories coming!B|B|B|



~Twardo












~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

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mjosparky    4

mjosparky
Pat,

Welcome to DZ.com. I am sure you will find it interesting, informative and humorous all at the same time. Your experience, knowledge and wit will be a welcome addition.

I really feel bad about missing your party but Demo duty called. And being a retired senior citizen on a fixed income every little bit counts.;) Say hi to Jan.

Sparky
My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

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steve1    5

steve1
Pat,
Welcome to the forums!

I was wondering if you remember me. I know you probably jump with hundreds of really good jumpers each year, but to remember me think back to someone who might need a lot of work....

About three or four years ago I was traveling through Oregon and ended up at Mollala. There was a Free Fly Festival going on and I couldn't find anyone to do RW with when I noticed this group of jumpers gathered around you (learning how to Free Fly).

Relative Work is about the only thing I've ever done, but I figured..."What the heck if that old guy can do it, maybe I can too.

At any rate I made three or four jumps with you trying to do everything from head down to a sit, and I just kept getting worse and worse. My best jump of these...I probably resembled a spastic trying to imitate a helicopter.

I was still trying to get over the embarassment of all this when, a few weeks later, you wrote an article in Sky Diving Magazine discussing the boogie. In the article you said that all your students did great except for this one "Village Idiot".

Please tell me that this wasn't me! I've developed quite a complex over this since[:/]....Steve1

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patworks    5

patworks
Steve,
Yes I remember you and the Freefly festival at Skydive Oregon.
Yes. Somewhere there are villages which have had their idolt drafted. And, No, babe, it ain't you.

Hope you are well and flying>
Pat
Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

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steve1    5

steve1
Quote

Steve,
Yes I remember you and the Freefly festival at Skydive Oregon.
Yes. Somewhere there are villages which have had their idolt drafted. And, No, babe, it ain't you.

Hope you are well and flying>
Pat




Thanks Pat,
I feel much better now...I need to give freeflying another try. I get so absorbed with RW that maybe another discipline would be a good change to keep my interest up. Blue skies....Steve1

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bozo    0

bozo
Quote

Quote

That chick sure looks like a young Kate Cooper.

bozo



Yes she does...even made a few..."Back In The Day";)



which brings up the obvious question.....where is she now ?

bozo


bozo
Pain is fleeting. Glory lasts forever. Chicks dig scars.

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airtwardo    7

airtwardo
Quote

Quote

Quote

That chick sure looks like a young Kate Cooper.

bozo



Yes she does...even made a few..."Back In The Day";)



which brings up the obvious question.....where is she now ?

bozo



***

After 12 lovely years of noncommittal bliss, she'd finally had enough...saying she'd NEVER date another skydiver!:$



So in order to help her keep her promise, I keep her at the bottom of a deep well I dug in the basement.
:)




"It rubs the lotion...."
:ph34r:










~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

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airtwardo    7

airtwardo
Quote

Quote

Quote

That chick sure looks like a young Kate Cooper.

bozo



Yes she does...even made a few..."Back In The Day";)



Do you remember how to calibrate that AAD? :P

Sparky



***

Two buttons two lights!;)



Edited to add:

That was an AOD...not an AAD...remember??:P










~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

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