steve1 5
Legend number 1. The year was 1974. The place Wagoner Ok. 10 way speed star teams were practicing for nationals. The Aircraft was Bob Schaffer's ugly blue twin beech with the skull and cross bones on the tail. I was 1 year from skydiving(17, but at the airport watching.) A group from the Gulch were driving a hearse around. I know I met some of them, but cant remember any names except for Bob Schaffer. It seems there was a betty? They were playing with the mumified arm and taking pictures scratching themselves with it with the hearse in the background. The big rumor at the time was that it was Captain Hook's arm. I was told that they actually found it in a cave in some cliffs next to the desert. The Seventies were very good to me, but that is the way I remember it.
steve1 5
Jeff Frangos had a hearse during those years at Casa Grande. He was an ex-Vietnam helicopter pilot turned renegade skydiver. I'll bet he was one of the guys in the hearse.......Steve1
rehmwa 2
Without exception, this is my favorite forum category.
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Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants
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Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants
WrongWay 0
Quote
As he was back into freefall and getting down to a couple of hundred feet above the clubhouse, people on the dz heard him yelling, 'TAKE PICTURES!'...
TRUE.
I'm not sure if this was the same guy that jumped the rig you spoke of, but I know a guy who was on a dz when a friend of his did this. He had a double mal, and a few hundred feet up, he yelled "Take a picture!!!". That was cool. The guy accepted his fate, and tried to make the best of it. Cheers to that jumper.
Wrong Way
D #27371 Mal Manera Rodriguez Cajun Chicken Ø Hellfish #451
The wiser wolf prevails.
Bobutt 1
quackSkydiving Legend #1 - THE GULCH
My favorite t-shirt is one I bought from Chet Poland in 1981, 'The Gulch Lurks', showing a disembodied hand reaching out of the pea gravel holding a ripcord... Legend had it that there was a jumper at the Gulch who had such an appendage that he carried around with him to show wuffos and pose in pictures, etc. ... Anyone know if this is true?
Yup! Apparently it was some pilot who went in with his plane. His body disintegrated, but the right forearm was mummified or some other such thing.
Quack
Actually a guy landed out and found it in the desert.
The Gulch
My shirt had "We fly. You die" under the hand.
They ignored the ground
That cardinal sin
Monte bounced
Link went in
Bobutt 1
More Gulch Trivia:
Larsen said the only rule was if you scared him you were grounded. Apparently, Monte and Link were able to get grounded or so I was told. They would show up after the month and get grounded again. One of them had his hand on the ripcord before impact.
I can't remember who it was - went in on the runway with a partial. When they got to him he was hysterical screaming "I bounced and lived" Jumped again after recovery. The asphalt was far more forgiving in the Desert Heat than the ground.
A team looking for sponsorship went to a mortuary with a proposal based on how much business the DZ provided. Pretty much the last straw of many episodes for the city and ending the business license shortly thereafter.
Coolidge was already going on and the Ghouls moved a bit East.
Larsen said the only rule was if you scared him you were grounded. Apparently, Monte and Link were able to get grounded or so I was told. They would show up after the month and get grounded again. One of them had his hand on the ripcord before impact.
I can't remember who it was - went in on the runway with a partial. When they got to him he was hysterical screaming "I bounced and lived" Jumped again after recovery. The asphalt was far more forgiving in the Desert Heat than the ground.
A team looking for sponsorship went to a mortuary with a proposal based on how much business the DZ provided. Pretty much the last straw of many episodes for the city and ending the business license shortly thereafter.
Coolidge was already going on and the Ghouls moved a bit East.
skybill 22
Hi Skypup & all,
Heard the stories too. As for the dude bouncing at Otay (O-die) he was not the one who yelled "Take Pictures!!" Rick Mazie was teaching the FJC and saw the whole thing and according to Rick when the guy realized his situation he was yelling something more to the effect of,"Oh Jesus, Oh Jesus....!!!!" Some Brits at a Perris Turkey Boggie told the story of a bounce back in UK where the dude went in just across the runway from the packing area and was heard to yell,"Take Pictures!!" right before he bounced. I think it was the Ducks' end farm road freefall club jumpers that told the story.
Pretty much right on about the Green Star rig. Never saw one up close so I don't know how the reserve risers were configured but they sounded,"Sport Death!" Sorry I don't have one of Bullet Bob's "Sport Death" T-shirts but I do have a Monty and Link Sport Death Skullcrest from Ghoulidge in my archives!
Yeah The Gulch and Ghoulidge are now history. Most all of the USFET are still around and still tellin' the tale. Pat Works chronicled a lot about those daze on "Air Trash" "Blast from the past" go read it!
I Don't know if there's more to it but from the Gulch the line goes,"They ignored the Ground that Cardinal Sin, Monty Bounced and Link went in."
Like a lot of those WWII training bases the runways were set up in a triangle form, ala the Gulch. The triangle formed by the runways was called the "Devil's triangle" and all loads were spotted over the center as nobody was to have bounced "inside" the triangle. The guy who hit the asphalt was probably the closest.
Never seen the "Arm" up close but did see the first B&W 8x10 glossy photo or two at Perris or Elsinore or both. Several stories prevail about the arm. Anyone know for sure it's history??
Heard the stories too. As for the dude bouncing at Otay (O-die) he was not the one who yelled "Take Pictures!!" Rick Mazie was teaching the FJC and saw the whole thing and according to Rick when the guy realized his situation he was yelling something more to the effect of,"Oh Jesus, Oh Jesus....!!!!" Some Brits at a Perris Turkey Boggie told the story of a bounce back in UK where the dude went in just across the runway from the packing area and was heard to yell,"Take Pictures!!" right before he bounced. I think it was the Ducks' end farm road freefall club jumpers that told the story.
Pretty much right on about the Green Star rig. Never saw one up close so I don't know how the reserve risers were configured but they sounded,"Sport Death!" Sorry I don't have one of Bullet Bob's "Sport Death" T-shirts but I do have a Monty and Link Sport Death Skullcrest from Ghoulidge in my archives!
Yeah The Gulch and Ghoulidge are now history. Most all of the USFET are still around and still tellin' the tale. Pat Works chronicled a lot about those daze on "Air Trash" "Blast from the past" go read it!
I Don't know if there's more to it but from the Gulch the line goes,"They ignored the Ground that Cardinal Sin, Monty Bounced and Link went in."
Like a lot of those WWII training bases the runways were set up in a triangle form, ala the Gulch. The triangle formed by the runways was called the "Devil's triangle" and all loads were spotted over the center as nobody was to have bounced "inside" the triangle. The guy who hit the asphalt was probably the closest.
Never seen the "Arm" up close but did see the first B&W 8x10 glossy photo or two at Perris or Elsinore or both. Several stories prevail about the arm. Anyone know for sure it's history??
SCR-2034, SCS-680
III%,
Deli-out
III%,
Deli-out
Hi Bill !
The real 'problem' with the Green Star Express IIRC, was that it wasn't the most comfortable rig going.
It was like a sheet of plywood on your back stiff.
The not so wise 'inside trick' was to stitch rip the threading that held the reserve risers down over the pack tray...loosened things up and let the yoke spread a bit.
That threading unfortunately was what held the risers to the harness...
~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~
The real 'problem' with the Green Star Express IIRC, was that it wasn't the most comfortable rig going.
It was like a sheet of plywood on your back stiff.
The not so wise 'inside trick' was to stitch rip the threading that held the reserve risers down over the pack tray...loosened things up and let the yoke spread a bit.
That threading unfortunately was what held the risers to the harness...
~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~
skybill 22
airtwardoHi Bill !
The real 'problem' with the Green Star Express IIRC, was that it wasn't the most comfortable rig going.
It was like a sheet of plywood on your back stiff.
The not so wise 'inside trick' was to stitch rip the threading that held the reserve risers down over the pack tray...loosened things up and let the yoke spread a bit.
That threading unfortunately was what held the risers to the harness...
Hi Jim,
'Bout as close as I ever got to a Green Star was lookin' at their ad in "Spotter" mag from the NE back when. 'Never liked "slaved on risers." Most all current (I think) rigs have the reserve risers come down the harness and become the main lift web to the leg straps as one continuous piece. Would be interesting to see the drawing (blue print) of the set up. Just like "Tapewells" they're history!!
PS, did ya' ever find that Orange handle "Hook knife??"
SCR-2034, SCS-680
III%,
Deli-out
III%,
Deli-out
pchapman 279
airtwardoThe real 'problem' with the Green Star Express IIRC, was that it wasn't the most comfortable rig going.
It was like a sheet of plywood on your back stiff.
A valuable post. The Green Star gets mentioned from time to time over the years, but I don't recall anyone ever actually explaining WHY people started mucking around with the stitching.
I owned a Green Star Express I bought it from Charlie Brown in Richmond, Va. 1979. It was my first piggy back rig. It had a PC in a bag not a sleeve for a main and a Navy Conical round reserve. I took it to Dublin, Va. to make my first jump in my new rig. Since the rig was not designed for a PC nor was the PC designed for bag the Dublin DZ people took it out and re packed it on a packing table designed for T-10's. I will never forget them saying while scratching their heads " well it looks like it will work." Truly the dumbest thing I ever did was take it for a test jump from 7500 feet to see if it would open not knowing the rig had been recalled for the stitching coming loose on the reserve risers. Fortunately it opened. Later at a Nationals being held at Perris Valley, Charlie told he he had the rig sent back to the factory for restitching of the reserve before he sold it to me. Meanwhile my guardian angels were working overtime.
Tony Brogdon
D-12855
D-12855
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