Ever jump one of these??

[steve1 5]

Anybody remember the little red jump logs. They each held a hundred jumps and most everyone had them in the early 70's......Steve1

[usedtajump 1]

Quote

Quote

Standing, second from left and kneeling second from right.

Sorry Steve, I don't know either on of them. After looking at the picture for a few minutes, I dawned on me, I don't know the names of some of the people I do know.

Its hell getting old.

Sparky

Yep, I sure know what you mean.

The older I get the less I care who I piss off.

[sprtdth 0]

Yea, I remember jumping "The Shady Lady" I was in the load that took off from Shafter (where the plane was from) to Taft. There were 6 of us stuffed in the radioman's compartment, right behind the pilot and co-pilot. Everybody else is in the back or the bomb bay. The pilot tries to start No. 1, it caughs, sputters, caughs, sputters and stops. The co-pilot turns around and looks at us and says "We've been having a little trouble with No.1" We look at each other, shrug, and figure so what, it has 2 engines.
Get No.1 started, damn it's hot in this little compartment. Try and start No.2, same as No.1, caugh, sputter...... The co-pilot again turns around and says "Yea, we've been having a little trouble with No.2 too". We did a quick count and came up with, you guessed it, we only have 2 engines and they've been having a "little" trouble with both!!! About that time some of us were wishing we would have stuck with jumping his BT-13. That only has one engine, but at least it runs. Dwight (the pilot) got things squared away and off we went. The backfire on take rotation really got our attention tho

CRW Skies
Frank
CRW Diva #58

[mjosparky 4]

Quote

Yea, I remember jumping "The Shady Lady" I was in the load that took off from Shafter (where the plane was from) to Taft. There were 6 of us stuffed in the radioman's compartment, right behind the pilot and co-pilot. Everybody else is in the back or the bomb bay. The pilot tries to start No. 1, it caughs, sputters, caughs, sputters and stops. The co-pilot turns around and looks at us and says "We've been having a little trouble with No.1" We look at each other, shrug, and figure so what, it has 2 engines.
Get No.1 started, damn it's hot in this little compartment. Try and start No.2, same as No.1, caugh, sputter...... The co-pilot again turns around and says "Yea, we've been having a little trouble with No.2 too". We did a quick count and came up with, you guessed it, we only have 2 engines and they've been having a "little" trouble with both!!! About that time some of us were wishing we would have stuck with jumping his BT-13. That only has one engine, but at least it runs. Dwight (the pilot) got things squared away and off we went. The backfire on take rotation really got our attention tho

Frank, are you in the picture, if so which one is you?

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

For my D-license I had to have an intentional water jump, two night jumps, and turn that style series in time. I had the "optional" two-point 8-way as well, but that's besides the point. Likewise, my original D license (which I of course still have) says "Master." That doesn't seem long ago at all to me, but some people look at you like you have a dick growing out of your forehead when you tell them that stuff.

Chuck Blue
D-12501

[wmw999 2,512]

(Wendy checks original D license picture -- nope, no dick )

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[sprtdth 0]

No Sparky I'm not. Some of the people in the photo are: kneeling right Mike Tulysuski, kneeling left Jimmy Tyler(?). Standing 5th from right Jim Stinson, 8th from right Mike McFarlin(?). Some of the other faces I know, the names are WAY too many brain cells ago

CRW Skies
Frank
CRW Diva #58

[mjosparky 4]

Quote

No Sparky I'm not. Some of the people in the photo are: kneeling right Mike Tulysuski, kneeling left Jimmy Tyler(?). Standing 5th from right Jim Stinson, 8th from right Mike McFarlin(?). Some of the other faces I know, the names are WAY too many brain cells ago

Frank,

Here are the ones I can remember:

Kneeling from the left, Jimmy Tyler, died jumping Half Dome, next Bill Parsons, Dick Pedley, died on a base jump in L.A., Me, Richard Brooks.
Standing, tall guy in the center, Chuck Dodson, on his left, John Miller.
The guy kneeling on the far right, don't remember his name, drown in the canal under at Taft under a reserve.

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[usedtajump 1]

Bill Parsons? The video Bill Parsons i knew in theas in the 80s? Man, if it is the same Bill Parsons he sure changed after he got here.

The older I get the less I care who I piss off.

[mjosparky 4]

Quote

Bill Parsons? The video Bill Parsons i knew in theas in the 80s? Man, if it is the same Bill Parsons he sure changed after he got here.

Yes, the same Bill Parsons. I saw him at Old Farts this year and he has changed, but I guess most of us have.

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[mjosparky 4]

Quote

Yea, I remember jumping "The Shady Lady" I was in the load that took off from Shafter (where the plane was from) to Taft. There were 6 of us stuffed in the radioman's compartment, right behind the pilot and co-pilot. Everybody else is in the back or the bomb bay. The pilot tries to start No. 1, it caughs, sputters, caughs, sputters and stops. The co-pilot turns around and looks at us and says "We've been having a little trouble with No.1" We look at each other, shrug, and figure so what, it has 2 engines.
Get No.1 started, damn it's hot in this little compartment. Try and start No.2, same as No.1, caugh, sputter...... The co-pilot again turns around and says "Yea, we've been having a little trouble with No.2 too". We did a quick count and came up with, you guessed it, we only have 2 engines and they've been having a "little" trouble with both!!! About that time some of us were wishing we would have stuck with jumping his BT-13. That only has one engine, but at least it runs. Dwight (the pilot) got things squared away and off we went. The backfire on take rotation really got our attention tho

Hey Frank,

Small world, I jumped with another of the jumpers the were the load from Shafter to Taft. He told the same story about the engines.
Remember Norm Van Pelt. Well he just got married to Phil Christman's daughter, Patti and some of Air Trash went up to make a jump with him and celebrate.

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[sprtdth 0]

Hey Sparky,
The date of the B-25 jump was 13 May '78. I've got another picture I'll get scanned one of these days.
So Norm and Patty got married, and my "Evil Big Brother" (Norm) didn't let me know! I'll have to call and congratulate him.
I started jumping when I was 16. Norm and Richard Armstrong took me under their wing to teach me RW. My Mom used to bake Norm cookies just so he wouldn't bounce me! Guess it worked in spite of myself!

CRW Skies
Frank
CRW Diva #58

[mjosparky 4]

Quote

Hey Sparky,
The date of the B-25 jump was 13 May '78. I've got another picture I'll get scanned one of these days.
So Norm and Patty got married, and my "Evil Big Brother" (Norm) didn't let me know! I'll have to call and congratulate him.
I started jumping when I was 16. Norm and Richard Armstrong took me under their wing to teach me RW. My Mom used to bake Norm cookies just so he wouldn't bounce me! Guess it worked in spite of myself!

Norm took you under his wing. Now that is a scary thought.
The 13th. was Sat. and the 14th. was Sunday. That weekend I jumped a B-25, AT-6, Grumman Tiger and Spikes D-18. I had less then 200 jumps and was jumping a Piglet. Good weekend.

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[NSEMN8R 0]

I assume you were all belly flyers back then, right? I mean you couldn't freefly in those rigs could you?

It's funny cuz it looks like they're all wearing FF suits.

[wmw999 2,512]

Quote

It's funny cuz it looks like they're all wearing FF suits.

From where I am, it looks like freeflyers are wearing old, but post wing war, RW suits

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[steve1 5]

I quit in the mid 70's, but even then jump suits were getting baggier and baggier. Most everyone I knew during that time frame had bells on both arms and legs. Grippers weren't invented yet, so most people would grab a handful of material when they took grips....Steve1

[NSEMN8R 0]

I searched this forum and this is the only time it's come up so I gotta ask..

What's wing war?

[wmw999 2,512]

Quote

What's wing war?

In the late 70's, people realized that more drag meant longer freefalls. Since you tend to run out of time when building formations, the thought was that more freefall was better.

So wings got bigger and bigger (i.e. the bells on arms and legs, and the fabric between the wrists and the waist). Then there were the inflatable jumpsuits (Krueger Balloon suit and its ilk). Just as now the lightest jumpers have to wear weights, then the heaviest jumpers had to get more and more fabric, because even light jumpers had big suits.

I was 5'4", weighed about 125 lbs, and had a "medium" jumpsuit. Which meant swoop cords, fabric all the way from my wrist to my waist, and very baggy bottoms that were closed in. The large would have had extremely baggy bottoms, and more fabric overall. The fabric was stiffer, too, so that it had more body. The attempt to make them as big as possible were the wing wars.

Eventually folks realized that
a. this CAN go too far -- lighter people can go faster, but there's a limit to how much slower the anvils can go
b. slower doesn't necessarily mean cleaner flying.

So now we have the skintight suits with spandex, and the light people wear weight so they can fall with the anvils. And if the anvil is the leader, well, the light people just have to wear even more weight.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[mjosparky 4]

Quote

I assume you were all belly flyers back then, right? I mean you couldn't freefly in those rigs could you?

It's funny cuz it looks like they're all wearing FF suits.

Like Wendy said, we are not wearing FF suits, all of you are wearing "wing war" RW suits. If you stay in the sport long enough you will see everything come full circle.
Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[mjosparky 4]

When I was jumping a "Silly Suit" it had more material in the wings then my Hobbi Cat had in the sails. And back then I only weighed 155 lbs.

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[steve1 5]

Here's a couple pictures showing the jump gear and suits worn in the mid 70's.....Steve1

[slug 1]

Hi steve

We still got our "Bunny" helmet.

I recognize the pop top reserve in the first pic, Butt whats the reserve called in the second pic? was that one of the Jerry Bird reserve's we heard about?.

R.I.P.

[mjosparky 4]

Quote

Here's a couple pictures showing the jump gear and suits worn in the mid 70's.....Steve1

Here is one from the 1978 Nationals at Richmond.

4 are dead, and only 3 are still jumping.

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[darkwing 5]

Here's one that won 4-way at the Nationals in 1978 and 79... Wanna do some 4-way in that?

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

[wmw999 2,512]

Yep, a Jerry Bird rip-off reserve (well, at least we called it that -- the velcro has a distinctive sound...).

The teardrop shape is supposed to make it easier to get close on exit.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)