Old Timers, How many sport static lines did you make?

[poppenhager 1]

Steve, Army Jump School has always been at Ft.Benning from the beginng.I went through jump school at Benning in 1950.I think Bragg started a jump school there around 1955 and Campbell had one too(I think).............POP

[danchapman 0]

!962 TriState, NJ was same, 2 SL/3 drcp and Jump and pull, same day. I had same weather problem, did an extra J&P. I remember the Instructors wanted to see you stable at terminal velocity and to be able to spot by 15's or 20's.
They wanted some controlled turns, 180/360 stop on headings, and Back loops. After that you were on your own with 20-30 jumps.
But in student accuracy events a jumpmaster would be avaiable for spotting.

[steve1 5]

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Steve, Army Jump School has always been at Ft.Benning from the beginng.I went through jump school at Benning in 1950.I think Bragg started a jump school there around 1955 and Campbell had one too(I think).............POP

Thanks for the info! I've never heard of the one at Ft. Cambell. I think there was a jump school also in Vietnam for training South Vietnamese soldiers. I remember seeing S.F. soldiers with foreign jump wings during the early 70's....

[1888 0]

1961 = 5

[airtwardo 7]

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Now someone needs to start another thread: HOW COLD WAS IT? jumping without doors.

It was SO COLD...

~we use to speak into a paper bag, when we'd land we would throw all the frozen words into a fryin' pan to we could hear what we said!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[paralola 0]

Jumping in the winter in the alps we worried that the pin would freeze to the cones.

Always happy to fall out of a plane

[paralola 0]

1969 19 S/L, 15 required to take the test(2 SL) for 'A' license in Switzerland, then free-fall progression with more and smaller free fall time increments.

Always happy to fall out of a plane

[Faicon9493 141]

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We are talking 1970’s here.
The question came up the other day while we waited for a load with some other veterans who started in the round days. As a jumpmaster and instructor, I remember the norm was 5 static line jumps.

Then you would progress to 3 clear & pulls, followed by 3 delays of 5, 10, and 20 seconds. After that a 30 second delay and then released from training.

Most of us made 5 (except for me, I made 11and didn't get on 30‘s for 70 jumps). But a couple of guys said they made 3 and then their clear and pulls.

I made 6 SL jumps. When I made my 5th SL, I ran out of daylight to do the clear & pull so when I came back, I had to do an extra SL.

[winsor 236]

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Steve, Army Jump School has always been at Ft.Benning from the beginng.I went through jump school at Benning in 1950.I think Bragg started a jump school there around 1955 and Campbell had one too(I think).............POP

Thanks for the info! I've never heard of the one at Ft. Cambell. I think there was a jump school also in Vietnam for training South Vietnamese soldiers. I remember seeing S.F. soldiers with foreign jump wings during the early 70's....

Wiesbaden, BRD had a jump school that supported the 509th and various units stationed in Europe.

[tbrown 26]

But I made 7 static lines. I remember being told when I got to 15's that I had to buy an altimeter -- they wouldn't let me progress past 10's without one.

Wendy P.

[manchuso 3]

I made 5 static lines with TU´s in 1990 then 5 freefalls before switching to a US Pap...
Last year for my birthday I did a 500ft jump with static line and freebag. I had civil aviation authorization, lots of chilled champagne for my friends and 20 mile winds...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5wjTM0r9SM

blue skies, rafael

[captain1976 0]

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I made 5 static lines with TU´s in 1990 then 5 freefalls before switching to a US Pap...
Last year for my birthday I did a 500ft jump with static line and freebag. I had civil aviation authorization, lots of chilled champagne for my friends and 20 mile winds...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5wjTM0r9SM

blue skies, rafael

Nice video, but that altitude gives me the willies. I think 2,000 ft would have been more fun. I couldn't tell if the canopy was steerable or not.

Thanks for sharing

You live more in the few minutes of skydiving than many people live in their lifetime

[dgskydive 0]

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Wow, I didn't know they used that method past the 80's anyway.

That was my progression back in '94. Hell, we still didn't have any AFF jumps at the DZ until after I left in 96.

I can still remember the DZO and Tommy Lentz practicing for their AFFI course. I cant remember if Tommy got his AFF rating before he died in a crash, but the DZO failed his AFF course. lol

Dom

[manchuso 3]

For civil aviation to clear my 500ft jump I made an earlier jump from 2000ft. That one gave me the willies!
I used a pioneer 26ft lo-po which steered like s*** but it opened almost on level with the plane...can´t have it all!

blue skies, rafael

[danornan 79]

I'm definitely not an old timer, but one of the last to go through the student program at Z-Hills before the fire. I did 3 out of a Cessna, several hop & pops and then went on to the Southern Cross for my first 30 second delay during a Turkey Boogie.. I thought every DZ had a DC-3.....

Dano

[D-105 0]

In March of '58 I made two SL's followed by my first FF next week from a Meyers Bi-Wing. I honestly believe the only reason I recieved any SL's was that my civilian "Instructors" were ex-Airborne.

Took me 15 more very intersting FF's of 15-30 seconds to achieve real stability and those first 22 jumps were made under Air Force 28' red/white Ripstop canopies with no sleeves. Opening Shock always left a lasting impression on you body!

The first sleeve we saw came from Sherman Reed who returned that summer from France touting this new fangled packing idea. We seriously considered selling tickets to his first jump as we all knew that the canopy would never open with that huge tent streched over it.

Fortunately, the Parachute Club of America came along just in time with the likes of Jaques Istel, Lew Sanborn, Russ Gunby and countless other stalwart building blocks of the future of Parachuting, and SAFETY became the mantra. Pretty soon every student was receiving 5 SL's before moving on to progressive delayed jumps and each affiliated Club had a designated Safety Officer. We even had a Licensing system. Progress was truly underway.

In answer to WH's question as to what sort of airplane would catapult us civilians to 12,500' and above, in November of '59 my logbook shows that myself and 4 other jumpers exited our club Howard DGA15 at 17,500' and the note says the freezing temps in the cabin and dwindling Oxygen supply kept us from hanging on longer for a higher altitude. Our C180 was our work horse to 9,500' and another C180 around 1962 set an altitude record for the highest jump made in Missouri when Ken Sisler (MOH in Viet Nam) and two other jumpers exited at almost 21,000', and at Orange, MASS. the Nordyne Norseman had a great reputation for hauling and climbing. All it took was time and patience adn the plus part was that if you were qualified in the airplane, you might consider loggng the flight time!

Being an "Old Timer" sure beats the alternative......

Airborne!

[patworks 5]

We are talking 1960’s here.
I made about 5 static line jumps. Then Jump & pull, and 3, 5, 10 second delays. Then 30 second delay. It was a special offer that Clyde D42 + Carlos D152 gave me contingent on my buying an altimeter then and there. I did. (Big: about the size of a can of soup) for $25, I could skip normal progression and go straight to 30 second delays. Clyde followed me out. Stayed real close, said that i looked "awful but pulled stable..." I spent the confusing part in a cannon-ball position so that the earth didn’t move so much….

We didn't jump above 9500 feet back then. It was 2 years later, in Nov '62 that I made a 60 second delay from a 182 at Doc Anagnostis Galveston Skydivers at Midway.

Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

[captain1976 0]

We didn't jump above 9500 feet back then. It was 2 years later, in Nov '62 that I made a 60 second delay from a 182 at Doc Anagnostis Galveston Skydivers at Midway.

[Douggarr 6]

Did 5. 2 then 3 drcps, last one had to be done on the same day as your first FF. Howard has the protocol down correctly.

SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

[fastphil 0]

Not an old timer, but I did five; Made them and a freefall my first weekend in the sport, then suffered withdrawal because the DZ was closed Monday and Tuesday...

[SivaGanesha 2]

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We are talking 1970’s here....

Well I'm certainly not an old-timer measured by jump totals but my first time around in this sport was in 1983. I did 10 S/L jumps (with round canopies) but wasn't making much progress. My home DZ switched from S/L to IAD (still with round canopies) in 1984. I did 4 IAD jumps my first weekend jumping in 1984 and was then cleared for my first FF which I did later the same day.

It may be that IAD--which is a bit different from S/L--was more to my liking. But another explanation for my greater success with IAD would be that I was in a position to make a bunch of jumps at once in 1984. Some of my S/L jumps were good jumps--others definitely were not--but my jumping in 1983 was too sporadic to build up any momentum.

My total of 14 SL/IAD jumps was probably a bit more than average but by no means a record.

After being cleared for FF the progression was:

1 C&P
3 5-second delays
3 10-second delays
3 15-second delays
3 20-second delays
then cleared for 30+-second delays

"It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

[RonD1120 62]

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We are talking 1970’s here.
The question came up the other day while we waited for a load with some other veterans who started in the round days. As a jumpmaster and instructor, I remember the norm was 5 static line jumps.

Then you would progress to 3 clear & pulls, followed by 3 delays of 5, 10, and 20 seconds. After that a 30 second delay and then released from training.

Most of us made 5 (except for me, I made 11and didn't get on 30‘s for 70 jumps). But a couple of guys said they made 3 and then their clear and pulls.

May - June 1963 Beachcombers SPC, Destin, FL

5 S/L's with 5 DRCP's

I was cleared for C&P after 3 but decided to do 5 so that there would not be any BSR conflict.

Look for the shiny things of God revealed by the Holy Spirit. They only last for an instant but it is a Holy Instant. Let your soul absorb them.

[SCR216 2]

Started May 1965 at Arvin, and then on to Oceanside, Elsinore, Taft.....

5 S/L's. Last 3 were DRCP's.
2- CP, 2- 5 sec, 3- 10 sec, 1- 20 sec, 2- 30 sec
Then went to several 30-sec RW 2 & 3 ways
And then 60 sec RW from then on.


Still making fun jumps with the new kids on the DZ and with my old friends from the 60's.

Last jump at Taft on 5-29-2010
Check out the smile on the guy in the red and blue jump suite. I may fly like an old model-T, but my timing is still right on. Some of the people on the jump are in their 60's, 70's and one is in his 80's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDNC_yVYOXs

[JerryBaumchen 1,363]

Hi 216,

Well, the exit was right out of the 60's.

JerryBaumchen

[SCR216 2]

Hello Jerry,

You are right about that Jerry. 60's style Fire Drills can be fun also. I don't like to hold on during the exit. I like to work for it a little before the formation starts to form.

Regards,
Dennis Henley