Pulling off the ground!

[steve1 5]

I was talking to an old friend the other night, and we were discussing what it was like way back when. He said that when he first went down to Cassagrand (the gulch) in Arizona, he and several other people didn't even use altimeters. Many just pulled when the ground started looking big. I do recall more than one person doing this back in the early 70's. Remember this was before dytters and almost noone used an AAD way back then. Anyone else out there ever been crazy enough to practice this? Yes, there were a lot of fresh craters at that D.Z. during that time period.....Steve1

[jonstark 8]

The only alti I've ever worn was mounted on the front of my hockey helmet for all those left to see.

I've never even tried one of those dad-blasted noise makers.

Keep your eyes open and calibrated.
See oranges in the trees; time to pull.
See the Golden arches; time to pull.
Scared?; time to pull.
Just hope the oranges haven't been harvested if you're waitin and hope the arches aren't on a bag!

Old School,
jon

[BlueSBDeath 2]

I use an alti and an audible, but back in the day we used to say:

"When the people look like ants pull, and when the ants look like people pray"

Life is short, and so is the spot sometimes, so just get out and do something!!!

Arvel

[Hooknswoop 19]

I tended to rarely wear an altimeter. Only w/ students would I wear one. It is easy to judge altitude down low, 4000 ft on down. My pro track went on my ankle because it was too annoying.

Derek

[Amazon 7]

When I started I got this reallly kewl panel that had an aircraft altimeter mounted in it and a stop watch... It sat right on the top of the belly wart and you could click on the stopwatch when you went out the door. The 2 hands on the aircraft altimeter were interesting, you only paid attention to the slow one.

[steve1 5]

I remember lot's of folks who had the big altimeters taken out of the dash of an airplane. They weren't considered cool, but they worked just fine....that is as long as you didn't have a hard opening and bang your face into it. They were huge! I had a stop watch too, but I don't think I ever looked at it. It just filled in the open spot on dash board on top of my belly wart and looked cool.

I never was brave enough to pull off the ground very often. I suppose with practice you could get the hang of it. I've had ground rush at 6000 ft.

Jeane, are you coming to Lost Prairie this summer? We need to try another Pop's record.....Steve1

[RogerRamjet 0]

I wore an altimeter only for other people's reference, I eyeballed my altitude. I learned this after opening at 700 feet with three other jumpers after the altimeter we were all referencing turned out to be "stuck" at 3500. Jim Hooper (ASO at the time) had quite a talk for us when we landed several seconds later...

I was tested several times by non-believers and could call 3500 (break off altitude in the '70s) and 2000 feet +- 200 feet every time.

Now, if you took me to another drop zone, I would certainly reference altimeters on others until I learned the topology there.

As for Casa Grande, I never jumped there, but being in the desert probably would make it very difficult to judge one's altitude, same with over water jumps.

-----------------------
Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

[skr 1]

I got an altimeter at around 1,500 jumps.

I used to practice a lot looking at the plane's
altimeter and then looking at how stuff on the
ground looked.

Cars were a good constant feature, but trees
vs desert vs over town took practice.

Some dropzones had helpful features like the
meadow on the hills at Elsinore.

Every time I got new glasses I would have to
re-calibrate my eyes :-) :-)

Skr

[mjosparky 4]

I remember the base man in 10 way would wear one on the front of his helmet so the rest of the team could see it.

Terry Ward taught me to look at car and houses. They are always about the same size. Trees could be bushes and bushes could be trees.

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[Amazon 7]

Quote

Jeane, are you coming to Lost Prairie this summer? We need to try another Pop's record.....

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1465996#1465996

Dude those POPS things scare me.. I dont want to sound snitty or anythng but some people need to get their shit together with big ways.. like tracking off like you are on a big way.. not a 4 way from a Cessna. There was WAYYY too much scetchy shit last year.. and if its going to be the same crap I will just watch them from the ground.

Wehn the first group breaks at 5500 and the second group breaks at 4500....and then I break and track at 3500.. ther is NO friggin excuse for some dude falling past me when I deploy at 2k...

[darkwing 5]

I made at least 400 jumps without an altimeter back in the mid-1970s. It was easy at my home dz, but harder when I visited elsewhere. Remember, on most jumps you can see the altimeters other people use. Another plus is that not having an alitmeter MAKES you pay more attention, which is good.

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

[Tink1717 2]

I know a guy who doesn't use an altimeter OR goggles. I have no idea how he gets away with it. He doesn't wear shoes either.

Skydivers don't knock on Death's door. They ring the bell and runaway... It really pisses him off.
-The World Famous Tink. (I never heard of you either!!)
AA #2069 ASA#33 POPS#8808 Swooo 1717

[steve1 5]

Jeane,
That's a good point. Many weren't tracking very flat or for very far.....Steve1

[chuteless 1]

When we used to be climbing in the aircraft, we would take a note of how big the houses and trees were as we pased the 2000 ft mark so we could eyeball it if and when we jumped without an altimeter.

Eyeballing the altitude was easy after some practice.

Bill Cole D-41

[markd_nscr986 0]

It was a fairly common practice once upon a time......
I was generally within 200- 300 ft either way of 2K.........and I would ALWAYS use an altimeter on a night jumpbut there were some who wouldn't

Marc SCR 6046 SCS 3004

[mjosparky 4]

Quote

note of how big the houses and trees were

Houses yes, but how do you know if the trees where not bushes?

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[flyingferret 0]

Funny...my dad jumped at Casa Grande when he was 18 in 1960 (If I have the story straight). Now that you mention it, I don't remember him every saying anything about altimeters, in fact a lot of just plain hop and pops were pretty common. Back then, he said they would go to air shows to get free jumps, regardless of your experience level. He had a JM with like 75 jumps, that would pack his main with laundry and use his belly wart for a spectacle at airshows.
Not that that has a lot to do with altimeters, but given the stories and mindset, I bet most people then did not have one.
Even now, I jump without one sometimes, and sometimes I have it and never look at it. I find myself at a point, where I know what the sight picture looks like at 3K, and flying camera, I try to never pull below there. I usually don't think about this unless my dytter is out, and I pull instinctively; it is usually dead on.

--
All the flaming and trolls of wreck dot with a pretty GUI.

[itllclear 1]

The skull and crossbones on top of the hanger (before it got painted orange) at Coolidge were a good reference for altitude.

When you could just see the gaps in the teeth...

"Harry, why did you land all the way out there? Nobody else landed out there."

"Your statement answered your question."

[wmw999 2,543]

Even in the mid-70's altimeters weren't universal. I can remember being told that as a student, I had to either buy an altimeter, a stopwatch, or stay on 15-second delays.

I still use the same altimeter
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)

[chuteless 1]

Because the trees were much bigger than bushes....thats how.

[mjosparky 4]

Quote

Because the trees were much bigger than bushes....thats how.

And they still are, unless you are looking at bushes and think they are trees. Much smarter to use houses and cars, they are always about the same size. A tree could be 30 feet high or 80 feet high. Thats the difference between 1600 ft. and 600 ft.

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[mccurley 1]

I'm sure you would note the differance between trees and bushes before take off on a load! Back when we were jumping rounds we usually noted things like that just to be sure of our approach to landing. You couldn't carve a roundy around an obsticle like you can today.

Watch my video Fat Women
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRWkEky8GoI

[airtime1 2]

I seem to remember Darkwing clearing me for 30 sec delays trying to get me to do a 15 sec delay.
No altimeter, no stop watch but I could count pretty damn fast. Truth be known - I usually lost count somewhere past 5 sec got scared and pulled. I think someone loaned me an altimeter to get me to 30 sec delays. Took thirty some more jumps to discover what "gound rush" was I didn't need an altimeter to know I was low that time.

[darkwing 5]

Quote

I seem to remember Darkwing clearing me for 30 sec delays...

Hey, don't blame me for your questionable skydiving skills.

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

[stratostar 5]

Waving off is to tell everyone on the ground to get out of my landing area!

~

you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo