tempretired 0 #26 December 13, 2007 That's a different Fang. I'm referring to Rich "Fang" Fenimore. He was (RIP) a famous HERD member. He was a Pilot, AFF Instructor (probably Static Line as well), and I believe he owned a dropzone at one time. He owned a Cessna 182 and used to Fly us at X-Keys in the early 90's. His 182 was a jump plane that you couldn't forget, as he had a bubble window on his side of the airplane so that he could spot the exit point himself. The floor of the plane was covered with a nice blue padding (foam inside of blue cloth material) that I think he made himself. He also had numerous photos of himself and friends pinned up on the back wall of the airplane covered with Plexiglass (spelling ??). I still remember the first day that I met him at X-Keys. He taxied into the loading area, hopped out with no shirt or shoes and tattoos everywhere smoking a cigarette, pulled out the right side seat and a bunch of luggage and placed it in a pile next to the fence on the grass and said "hop in, I'm your ride". I remember that first climb to altitude occasionally hearing the stall warning buzzer, which made me a little nervous. I was scared to death. But, what a Pilot and Skydiver he was. Great person. sorry, I'm not the best storyteller. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billabx 1 #27 December 13, 2007 Different Fang. The pictures are of Jim Fangmeyer from Ohio. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
howardwhite 6 #28 December 13, 2007 Oops.. my bad. HW Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jonstark 8 #29 December 14, 2007 Different Fang Howard. They mean Richard Fennimor for Ripcord and United. Court jester to The Herd, Tommy Piras and Deland before his death in a suspected smuggling operation. Started the DZ at Flaglor with Rocky Evans. High strung, funny sumbitch! RIP. jon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guru312 0 #30 December 14, 2007 Quote... They mean Richard Fennimor for Ripcord and United. ... High strung, funny sumbitch! RIP. But you really haven't experienced funny unless you had the pleasure of Fang, Soss and DD together. I would drive 3 hours just to experience them at a Herd Boogie. Those were the days. Dang...this olde farts SH&T section of DZ.com makes me think backwards.Guru312 I am not DB Cooper Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
howardwhite 6 #31 December 14, 2007 Thanks to all for keeping me honest. So far this year, I've gotten corrections from D-1 and D-38, among others. Every time I leap thoughtlessly to an assumption, i fall on my face. Mostly I get up again. I probably knew the Herd/Deland Fang at least slightly. HW Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tempretired 0 #32 December 14, 2007 In August 1995, we held the first annual Herd 8 way scrambles meet at x-keys. We had 3 teams and each did 3 jumps. Fang was captain for 2 of the teams and I was on 1 of them. A HERD buddy of Fang's was the captain of the other. He name our team "Spacely's Sprockets". Each jump of the event and many dirt dives and plane rides were video taped. Fang is the center of attention in much of it and was always doing something funny. One of Fang's many talent's was tracking and the video shows some of his great tracks (trying to get away from us newbies at breakoff). That scrambles meet was a few weeks prior to he passed away. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billabx 1 #33 December 14, 2007 Hey, If you survived long enough to remember many of the subjects in this forum, you probably killed off more than a few brain cells in the process. Now I have a question. While I know "Ohio Fang" well, I also remember another Fang who worked for Para-Flite and used to travel around a lot for them. Is this "Herd Fang" or yet another to confuse us old farts? I went to a few Herd Boogies and knew a few of the guys in passing, but I survived long enough to kill off lots of the aforementioned brain cells. Bill Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tempretired 0 #34 December 17, 2007 QuoteHey, If you survived long enough to remember many of the subjects in this forum, you probably killed off more than a few brain cells in the process. Now I have a question. While I know "Ohio Fang" well, I also remember another Fang who worked for Para-Flite and used to travel around a lot for them. Is this "Herd Fang" or yet another to confuse us old farts? I went to a few Herd Boogies and knew a few of the guys in passing, but I survived long enough to kill off lots of the aforementioned brain cells. Bill I'm not sure about that one. He didn't work there when I knew him. However, it seems probable, as he spent most of his life in the skydiving and aviation field. Seems like there were many skydivers from UPC and X-Keys that have spent some time working at Para-Flite and SSE. I believe he grew up in the South Jersey area and began skydiving at Ripcords. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guru312 0 #35 December 17, 2007 QuoteQuote...I also remember another Fang who worked for Para-Flite... I'm not sure about that one. He didn't work there when I knew him. ... As long as I had known "Herd Fang" I never realized that he worked for Para-Flight either. So I thought I'd check into it.... I called a friend who had worked at Para-Flight for quite a long time; who was an instructor at Ripcord, where Fang had jumped; and who was an AFF instructor at X-keys when Fang flew there. My friend TC really got a good laugh when my question brought back thoughts of Fang. He said, "THAT was one crazy mother..." He then told me this Fang story. "Yeah, he worked at Para-Flight for a few years. None of us could understand how he kept from being fired because he was *always* doing crazy shit. You knew Steve pretty well; he was always the very straight, very conservative, all businessman type of guy. Particularly when around the military." For those of you too young to have knowledge of our sport's fascinating history, Steve Snyder is the ram-air canopy inventor and owner of Para-Flight. Steve's license was D-5...and he was also a guy with a pretty good sense of humor...if you got him at the right time. Because of the rapid business growth of Para-Flight during wartime, the company expanded during Viet-Nam. The company expanded, literally upward, by building a second floor for final assembly and testing of new rigs. Completed and tested rigs from the second floor were then sent down an aluminum chute to the shipping department on the first floor. Para-Flight had many types of military contracts for all sorts of steerable delivery systems. During the time period in question, they were improving on a delivery system which allowed a payload to be kicked out of a cargo plane, very high and very far, from the intended LZ; and then guided to the desired land point--most often within a Special Forces encampment--by the forces on the ground receiving the resupply. As TC told the story...One day a group civilian engineers, in suits, and Naval officers in uniform who were visiting Para-Flight to get an update on various developments. Steve Snyder and company chief test jumper, Dick Morgan, were giving the suits and officers a full tour. As it turned out, the entourage of very straight guests ended up near the exit ramp of the chute from the second floor. Every so often a completed rig, packed in a plastic bag, with owners manual and packing data-- and all dressed up for shipping-- would slid down the chute as Steve talked with the group of suits and Navy guys. After the second or third completed rig slid down the chute, Fang, who was working on the second floor, sat on a rig, straddling like a horse and rode it down the chute totally and completely, bare-assed naked. He got to the bottom, looked at Snyder and then at the Navy guys and said, "Ooops, I'm sorry Steve, I didn't realize we had company. I'll go put on some clothes." Anyone who ever met "Herd Fang" will realize this is not a made-up. Somewhere in my stash of stuff I have a T-shirt from a X-Keys "Fang Boogie" which was started to raise money for his kids after his death. Fang was ballsy, funny and a totally wild and unconventional guy. RIP, guy. ------------------------------- While looking for the correct spelling of "Para-Flight" on the Net, I found the website of another jumper who I *always* loved to see when I went to a Herd Boogie and that's Scotty Carbone. I've lost personal touch with Scotty since the demise of the Herd Boogies but I bet lots of folks here on DZ.com know him. See Scotty's website here: http://www.carbonezone.com/about_him.html My research found a Herd newsletter. See it here: http://www.freefalladventures.com/upc/dzdirt/DZ-Dirt-VIII-1.htmlGuru312 I am not DB Cooper Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tempretired 0 #36 December 17, 2007 GURU312, Surprised to here someone mention TC. There was only one TC at X-Keys that was an AFF Instructor there. Are you referring to TC (I'll leave his name out), the Navy Seal? Great guy and great instructor. I think that he is still pissed at me for something silly from back in 1997ish. I haven't seen him since he left x-keys. I started at X-Keys when they first opened it late 1993 when I had about 30 jumps and TC was one of the instructors. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jumpwally 0 #37 January 2, 2008 Is the Herd Boogies till active nowadays ?smile, be nice, enjoy life FB # - 1083 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tempretired 0 #38 January 2, 2008 QuoteIs the Herd Boogies till active nowadays ? I believe they officially ended in 2000 when United Parachute Club moved from their location in New Hanover, PA (New Hanover Airport) to the Flying M Airport in Germansville. Maybe they had 1 or 2 at the new airport but I'm not sure. The new location closed after only a few years of operation. I believe they hold re-union type events at various places but nothing official. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nitrochute 2 #39 July 11, 2012 thats NOT the same Fang. Fang he was referring to was Richard "fang" Fenimore Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
33zulu 22 #40 July 12, 2012 Great stories about Fang. I remember making several jumps with him at Pelicanland back in '76. Nothing you hear about him was an exaggeration. What a guy, indeed! Pic attached of him packing at the Nationals in the summer of 1981. I've got another somewhere with his grinning face I need to dig out of the photo boxes. Also attached a shot of Carbone at the Nov. 1977 Z-Hills Boogie. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bozo 0 #41 July 13, 2012 I call bullshit. CARBONE WAS NEVER THAT YOUNG. bozo Pain is fleeting. Glory lasts forever. Chicks dig scars. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mjosparky 4 #42 July 13, 2012 It looks like Fang was jumping a Piglet rig. SparkyMy idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mjosparky 4 #43 July 13, 2012 Quote I call bullshit. CARBONE WAS NEVER THAT YOUNG. Hey Jim, none of us were ever that young. SparkyMy idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bozo 0 #44 July 14, 2012 Quote Quote I call bullshit. CARBONE WAS NEVER THAT YOUNG. Hey Jim, none of us were ever that young. Sparky You were Sparky. I still have that Streamlite Ad. hahaha bozo Pain is fleeting. Glory lasts forever. Chicks dig scars. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mjosparky 4 #45 July 14, 2012 Quote Quote Quote I call bullshit. CARBONE WAS NEVER THAT YOUNG. Hey Jim, none of us were ever that young. Sparky You were Sparky. I still have that Streamlite Ad. hahaha Bhaaaahaa SparkyMy idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DBCOOPER 5 #46 July 15, 2012 QuoteQuoteThe person that I was referring to in the post is Soss... Harvey was my student and one of my best friends for 30+ years. Soss was someone you could never forget. You may find this interesting: http://www.aicommand.com/SossAtAngelFalls.htm He's still with us in cyberspace... https://www.facebook.com/?sk=nf#!/hososs The Herd's alive and kicking... https://www.facebook.com/?sk=nf#!/pages/United-Parachute-Club-Home-of-The-Herd/178554785514724Replying to: Re: Stall On Jump Run Emergency Procedure? by billvon If the plane is unrecoverable then exiting is a very very good idea. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guru312 0 #47 July 16, 2012 Quote He's still with us in cyberspace... https://www.facebook.com/?sk=nf#!/hososs The Herd's alive and kicking... https://www.facebook.com/?sk=nf#!/pages/United-Parachute-Club-Home-of-The-Herd/178554785514724 Thanks for the links. Reading about Soss and anything Herd is better than working. I was hoping to make the reunion last year but something got in the way...probably reality.Guru312 I am not DB Cooper Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
180pilot 0 #48 August 18, 2012 I started jumping at Pelicanland in '75 and Herd Boogies were an event to go to by every jumper on the DZ. I did my rigger's course with Dave DeWolf in the cold of winter in the rigging side of the clubhouse at New Hanover. I was told by Dave DeWolf that he is the "Father of the Herd." He told us during the rigging class that he found them all at orphanages and took them in and the orphans learned to skydive and he created the Herd. Joe Smith (RIP) backed him up on this explanation of how the Herd came to be. I saw Dave at the Pelican Reunion in 2010 and hopefully he will be at the next one on Sept. 15th. He still has Paraloft in Elizabethtown, Pa and is staying active as a Rigger/Examiner and jumps when his neck doesn't bother him. He has had neck problems since he jumped back in the 50's and that was real hardcore jumping! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fangsdaughter1 0 #49 March 23, 2013 I can't believe this. I googled my dad's name Richard "Fang" Fenimore and came across these amazing stories. I jumped with him when I was ten years old. Rest in peace dad and thanks for the stories. :) I miss my uncle Soss and would like to talk to Rocky... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fangsdaughter1 0 #50 March 23, 2013 QuoteQuoteQuoteThe person that I was referring to in the post is Soss... Harvey was my student and one of my best friends for 30+ years. Soss was someone you could never forget. You may find this interesting: http://www.aicommand.com/SossAtAngelFalls.htm I thought about starting a page for my dad, Fang He's still with us in cyberspace... https://www.facebook.com/?sk=nf#!/hososs The Herd's alive and kicking... https://www.facebook.com/?sk=nf#!/pages/United-Parachute-Club-Home-of-The-Herd/178554785514724 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
