McGonigal 0 #1 September 8, 2008 Does anybody remember a 10 man star team at Z-Hills in 1975 called "Captain Croch and the Queer Buckaneers? Who were these people anyway? How about some of the other names of teams? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RogerRamjet 0 #2 September 9, 2008 I was at/in the meet on the Ten High Bunch as well as the Deland 16 and 20 man teams. Hell, I don't even remember the name of the 16 and 20 man teams and we won both events! Don't remember that team name either, but there are a few other lurkers of this forum that have been around long enough. Not too long ago, someone had the names of the top 10 man teams from that meet from the magazine. Have to look through a few threads to find that post though. It as a sad meet for me as I knew both Lou and Sabrina who went in 40 minutes apart... ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RogerRamjet 0 #3 September 9, 2008 Check this thread: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2718662;search_string=Ten%20High%20Bunch;#2718662 Some of the team names are listed for the '75 Turkey meet. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
howardwhite 6 #4 September 9, 2008 "Capt. Crotch.." was a mostly-Massachusetts team. It came in 7th out of 71 ten-way teams in the meet. Attached, from the Nov.-Dec. '75 Spotter, is a picture of one of its leading members, "Fast" Frannie Strimenos. Though no longer jumping, Fran is the very hands-on DZO at Pepperell, MA. Among other team names from the same meet: -Captain Paranoia and the Plummetting Necrophiliacs"; -Sphincter Brothers; -360 and Track; -Cunning Stunts (an all-female team); -Commander Qualude and Company; -Uncle Tyler's Child Molesters; -Slow to Come. HW Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
McGonigal 0 #5 September 10, 2008 Thanks for the info Howard. You obously go back aways like me. I remember alot of the team names you mentioned and I met Jerry Bird there too, he was hot shit back then. Im also sorry about the 2 people that went in 40 minutes apart that Rogeram jet mentioned. I was packing my chute when that happened. Lou Jecker from Michagan had some type of new velcro capewells that screwed up and the girl cut away and never pulled her reserve, but the meet went on! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RogerRamjet 0 #6 September 10, 2008 Quote Thanks for the info Howard. You obously go back aways like me. I remember alot of the team names you mentioned and I met Jerry Bird there too, he was hot shit back then. Im also sorry about the 2 people that went in 40 minutes apart that Rogeram jet mentioned. I was packing my chute when that happened. Lou Jecker from Michagan had some type of new velcro capewells that screwed up and the girl cut away and never pulled her reserve, but the meet went on! Well, I was the DZ rigger at the time and I've never heard that story about Lou. First, he was from Illinois, not Michigan (Sabrina was from Michigan). Lou, who was a habitial low puller, had a high speed mal which he cut away somewhere under 1000'. The top of his reserve was just starting to inflate on impact. Sabrina had some sort of mal on her main and cutaway and was UNABLE to pull her reserve. I put the fish scale on the rig and buried it (over 90lbs). Didn't matter, 2000lbs would not have been any better. The housing was attached in such a way on the early SST rigs, that a very short person like her would have a total every time. The pin had to make a 90 degree turn into the housing. We reported this to the builder and they changed how the housing was routed/attached to solve this issue. Too late for Sabrina... I always knew Lou would go in one day, still sad when it finally happened ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phildthedildo 0 #7 September 10, 2008 Quote Quote Thanks for the info Howard. You obously go back aways like me. I remember alot of the team names you mentioned and I met Jerry Bird there too, he was hot shit back then. Im also sorry about the 2 people that went in 40 minutes apart that Rogeram jet mentioned. I was packing my chute when that happened. Lou Jecker from Michagan had some type of new velcro capewells that screwed up and the girl cut away and never pulled her reserve, but the meet went on! Well, I was the DZ rigger at the time and I've never heard that story about Lou. First, he was from Illinois, not Michigan (Sabrina was from Michigan). Lou, who was a habitial low puller, had a high speed mal which he cut away somewhere under 1000'. The top of his reserve was just starting to inflate on impact. Sabrina had some sort of mal on her main and cutaway and was UNABLE to pull her reserve. I put the fish scale on the rig and buried it (over 90lbs). Didn't matter, 2000lbs would not have been any better. The housing was attached in such a way on the early SST rigs, that a very short person like her would have a total every time. The pin had to make a 90 degree turn into the housing. We reported this to the builder and they changed how the housing was routed/attached to solve this issue. Too late for Sabrina... i recall jumps shacks motto in one of their old ads was something to the effect that they" got it right the first time" I always knew Lou would go in one day, still sad when it finally happened Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RogerRamjet 0 #8 September 11, 2008 Ok, I have some more info on the releases you mentioned from Jim Hooper: Quote Hi Rog - Can't remember who made them, but Jecker was one of a couple of jumpers with that release system. It was a square fork - bottom side inserted horizontally into (I think) a Type 7 webbing loop sewn to the harness, the top of the fork inserted into the bottom of the riser. The solid outboard end of each fork had a 1 1/2-shot sort of ring pull that was folded inward and held down by a velcro cover. Very simple, except once the velcro was open and the rings popped out sideways, you had to hook your thumbs and pull horizontally, rather than down. Very awkward. A combination of the hockey mask obstructing his vision (there to protect his face during their explosive 10-man exit), plus low pull, plus weird cutaway system resulted in an almost simultaneous opening and feet-to-earth impact. Ruptured aorta. There's a photo in Skies Call II of Lou at about 200 feet with the uninflated reserve at line extension. The old Z'hills maintenance building is just behind. A wild man he was. But a good guy. Hoop I made a lot of jumps with Lou the summer of '75 and he pulled low a lot. Many of his friends including me talked to him about it, but he was convinced he could handle it... ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
McGonigal 0 #9 September 11, 2008 Rogerram jet you really impress me with your memory from back then. I was wondering if you were on the 16 way Diamond I remember seeing and thought it was the coolest skydive I ever saw!!! It was 4 (4way diamonds) making up a big diamond and they seperated did a 360 hooked back up and tracked the big diamond!!! WOW I was Impressed. I think the photographer was trailing smoke/ totally wild. Were you in that??? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RogerRamjet 0 #10 September 11, 2008 Quote Rogerram jet you really impress me with your memory from back then. I was wondering if you were on the 16 way Diamond I remember seeing and thought it was the coolest skydive I ever saw!!! It was 4 (4way diamonds) making up a big diamond and they seperated did a 360 hooked back up and tracked the big diamond!!! WOW I was Impressed. I think the photographer was trailing smoke/ totally wild. Were you in that??? Not sure my memory is that good. If it was our 16 man team, then we may have done that though I seem to remember forming the diamond and then breaking into 4 4-man diamonds and then tracking those off for a distance before breaking off for deployment. Note: I was 16th in the first ever 16 man diamond in Deland in '74. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
3331 137 #11 September 11, 2008 There was another real low puller in that 1973-74-75 time frame in Florida. His first name was Glenn sort of a Redneck, his wife was a Real Cutie. The better he got at RW the lower he'd pull. He was warned continually to pull higher and that seemed to encourage him to keep pulling low and I mean "barely get your reserve out low". He got grounded for a while at Z-Hills and started going to Deland where he got warned about low pulls. By 1976 he wasn't jumping anymore.I Jumped with the guys who invented Skydiving. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim_Hooper 4 #12 September 11, 2008 Good memory, Steve - That was Glenn Thornberry. Beingg redneck wasn't the problem, it was his attitude. Not a bad skydiver but not as good as he thought. Rog might remember the doofus. I grounded him a couple of times, then said that another low pull was a guaranteed permanent ban. So he left. Wasn't missed. Hoop Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RogerRamjet 0 #13 September 12, 2008 Actually, I think redneck does fit Glen. I remember one day he was harassing a turtle and Ed Moore (of Ed and Charlie [Charlene] Moore) took exception. Ed said that if Glen messed with the turtle one more time, they were going to get into it. Well, you know what happened then... If I recall correctly, Hoop broke up the fight which consisted mostly of rolling around in the dirt trying to get some punches in. Yeah, his wife was way better looking than he probably deserved I think the prettiest girl I ever saw at Z-Hills though had to be Kathy Embry... ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RogerRamjet 0 #14 September 12, 2008 I think Billy Revis was a low puller also. If the plane crash hadn't gotten him, a low pull or another stunt like cutting away a good canopy (which I witnessed more than once) for fun was bound to get him eventually. I remember him telling me that he wouldn't make his 25th birthday and I believe he didn't. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lodestar 0 #15 September 12, 2008 Yepper, I remember billy revis, he would always turn back to me when jumping out and crack a huge grin and flip me the bird, often on his back as he fell away from the aircraft. He was a daredevil and loved life....a bunch of us were out back by the gun bunker at the hills one day, and he totally got off on firing one of the automatic weapons, looked like a small Che Guevera....he loved to take my bonneville for a high speed spin on the back runway now and then....he is missed... Tuna Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RogerRamjet 0 #16 September 12, 2008 Quote Yepper, I remember billy revis, he would always turn back to me when jumping out and crack a huge grin and flip me the bird, often on his back as he fell away from the aircraft. He was a daredevil and loved life....a bunch of us were out back by the gun bunker at the hills one day, and he totally got off on firing one of the automatic weapons, looked like a small Che Guevera....he loved to take my bonneville for a high speed spin on the back runway now and then....he is missed... Tuna Yeah, I liked him too. He lent me his Papillon to try and his (I think it was his) Para Plane to try as well. I jumped every square on the DZ before the Strato-Star came out; Para Plane, Cloud, Para Foil, Para Sled and after the Strato-Star came out, the new 7 cell Para Foil. Still hard to believe students jump squares on their first jumps these days... He also had a T-Bow for a while. I used to watch him during decent pull the centerlines down until he had esentially a streamer and then let them go. Never saw it mal from that, but always thought it might... I believe Billy also has a static line (24' reserve in a T-10 direct deploy bag) jump off the old Skyway bridge. Talk about opening low!!! ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lodestar 0 #17 September 14, 2008 roger, I'd forgotten about the skyway jump, i think me and a couple of others were down at the base of the bridge on a public fishing pier and were watching through binocs, he had no sooner hit the water than the catch boat grabbed him and took off....don't remember if he ever got arrested or even in trouble for the jump, I do remember some discussions about the jump and whether it would work or not....guess it did...... tuna Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phildthedildo 0 #18 September 14, 2008 i remember Billy reevis too. he had come up to Steve Snyders dropzone in new jersey to jump the para plane.for some reason , all the control lines ripped off the tail on one side and put him in a violent spin. rather than cut away, billy just fired his reserve off which cleared and opened. i took pictures of the whole sequence with a 400 mm lens ,came out pretty good. people crticized him ,quite severely as i recall, but the pitures show that the reserve never really stood a chance of entanglement because the main was diving.someday i will dig out my old negatives......... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkeenan 14 #19 September 15, 2008 Quote I think the prettiest girl I ever saw at Z-Hills though had to be Kathy Embry... Mmmmm.....Kathy Embry. Silly Cerasoli's girlfriend. She certainly prettied up DeLand.Kevin K._____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RogerRamjet 0 #20 September 15, 2008 Quote roger, I'd forgotten about the skyway jump, i think me and a couple of others were down at the base of the bridge on a public fishing pier and were watching through binocs, he had no sooner hit the water than the catch boat grabbed him and took off....don't remember if he ever got arrested or even in trouble for the jump, I do remember some discussions about the jump and whether it would work or not....guess it did...... tuna I imagine it wasn't open for long. The roadbed of the old skyway bridge was only 155' from the water... I don't believe he was ever cought or even if anyone of authority knew the jump happened. ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lodestar 0 #21 September 15, 2008 for sure Roger, as i recall the details of the jump they were going to tie the apex off with break cord to the railing, i vaguely remember the chute was in a big maybe paper bag and thrown after him as he left, I believe the reports were that he got line stretch and opening and hit about the same time, fortunately water is a bit forgiving. Billy was a definite risk taker, he always pushed the envelope beyond safe practices. I have forgotten but a website states: Despite a severe opening shock, the 1940s-50s Paratroopers were able to jump as low as 143 feet in training, the t-10's were 35 feet in diameter, when i was at the hills we had 20-30 student rigs and though my memory is foggy, believe we modded them to a bag deployment system, what were things like when you came to the loft? Jeff had a nice singer 97-10 for harness work and a couple double needle singer commercials and a single needle singer. I remember hooper getting one of the first harness/pack system i made there. I just recently heard from Gary Farnsworth...don't know if you remember that bunch from canada or not, a guy Terry, i recall went in up there. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RogerRamjet 0 #22 September 16, 2008 Quote for sure Roger, as i recall the details of the jump they were going to tie the apex off with break cord to the railing, i vaguely remember the chute was in a big maybe paper bag and thrown after him as he left, I believe the reports were that he got line stretch and opening and hit about the same time, fortunately water is a bit forgiving. Billy was a definite risk taker, he always pushed the envelope beyond safe practices. I have forgotten but a website states: Despite a severe opening shock, the 1940s-50s Paratroopers were able to jump as low as 143 feet in training, the t-10's were 35 feet in diameter, when i was at the hills we had 20-30 student rigs and though my memory is foggy, believe we modded them to a bag deployment system, what were things like when you came to the loft? Jeff had a nice singer 97-10 for harness work and a couple double needle singer commercials and a single needle singer. I remember hooper getting one of the first harness/pack system i made there. I just recently heard from Gary Farnsworth...don't know if you remember that bunch from canada or not, a guy Terry, i recall went in up there. Man are you taking me back in the way back machine! When I went to work for Jeff Searles, there were probably about that many T-10 static line rigs in service. They were all standard direct bag (just like the military setup). I didn't know it was a modification though, I thought that they were mil spec. I packed those things for two years and we never had a single mal on a static line drop (other than mine where the type 8 webbing around the pilot's seat in the 182 holding the D-Ring for the static lines broke and followed me out). I used to sleep neck deep in T-10's on Sunday night sometimes There was the 97-10, a double throw zigzag, and a double needle machine that needed attention. Though I liked the 97-10 ok, I later used a 731 which is way better for harness work IMO. I bought a 731 from Deland when I started making my own rigs. Gary Farnsworth was/is a great skydiver and certainly one of the good guys that came down from Canada for a few years. I had a big crush on Josie DeNatalie who used to come down with that group. I recently exchanged emails with both of them and both are doing well I'm happy to report ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lodestar 0 #23 September 16, 2008 Roger, I think I was in error on the bags, the bags were mil spec, we somehow modified the cone/pin configuration on the closure. Still foggy in my mind but I think it had to do with one cone/pin instead of several....and may have involved the break cord to the apex's. Phew, it's been awhile..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RogerRamjet 0 #24 September 17, 2008 Quote Roger, I think I was in error on the bags, the bags were mil spec, we somehow modified the cone/pin configuration on the closure. Still foggy in my mind but I think it had to do with one cone/pin instead of several....and may have involved the break cord to the apex's. Phew, it's been awhile..... I got this from Hoop a few minutes ago and this is how I remember them also: Quote Rog - apex of the canopy was tied with 80lb tape to the end of the static line inside the bag. S-fold the canopy in the bag, stow lines on the bag, place bag on pack tray. Instead of tying the container closed with 80lb tape, installed grommets on all four flaps with an elastic tape behind one, which held a loop of bungee cord. Pulled the bungee loop through the grommets, then stuck a bight of the static line through the loop. Quick, simple and dependable. Ring any bells? Hoop It was a great system for students. Reliable openings and as long as the spot was good, not too much they could do to hurt themselves. Bury a toggle and you're just turning when you hit at pretty much the same rate as going forward. I keep reading where students are pranging themselves under squares in the incidents forum. Maybe squares have been safer, but I don't know the stats on it... ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lodestar 0 #25 September 17, 2008 Once again Hooper's steel trap mind pulls up an obscure detail from the early 70's....as soon as i read that it instantly re-ocurred in my memory banks.....thanks Hoop, and Roger for digging that one up...it's like peices of a puzzle falling in place..... Yah, Rog, sunday nights in the loft were remembered as piles of rigs gathered up from the days jumping....i do remember working late every saturday to get rigs ready for the sunday jumps, missed half the fun at the DZ cause of that.....oh well, such is a riggers bane in life. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
