skypuppy

Oh yes, Rocky Charmet... I met him in z-hills in December 1979... He flew in 3rd on my first 3-way on my 27th jump... I'll never forget the sight of his white beard flowing up on both sides of his face... He was quite a character - my understanding was that he was formerly in the French foreign legion, had jumped into Algeria twice, and fought in Vietnam (before the Americans)... I was told he was once promoted post-humously - he'd been declared dead before he came wandering out of the jungle some time later... I can still see the little movements he made in freefall, flying in - one of the first people I saw closeup in freefall... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

I've met a lot of neat people since I started jumping.. When a buddy and I showed up at Sandwich Illonois on a rainy Friday evening sometime in '82, Roger Nelson took the two of us in his 206 personally just to make sure we got in a jump on a weekend that wasn't forecasted to be very good... The next day he took out a 27-way dirt-dive while riding around on his golf cart - he was supposed to have been on the dive but got called away to fly, and on the way by he headed straight for the dirt dive and said 'If I can't be on it I'm gonna take it out!' Unfortunately the accelerator pedal stuck and he did end up running through the formation, but no one was seriously hurt... In '84, the day after bridge day at Xenia, Ohio, Dan BC went up with the Kone and I for a low one, once again because the weather didn't look good... We got out between 3 - 3.5 and turned a few points - I just remember getting ready to break off and BC shooting another back-in to me... I've done lots of jumps with Floyd Martineau, one of the first Canadians to complete a baton pass in Canada and also the first Canadian to compete for Canada; and Bill Cole, the Canadian high altitude record holding jumper and successful stuntman who's made two chuteless jumps, borrowed one of my rigs for a demo once without my knowledge, and proceeded to throw the ripcord away after someone packed him a mal (how that happened is controversial)... But the most memorable meeting I ever had with a jumper took place in a bar in Penetanguishene, Ontario on a cold winter night in February, 1986... For those Yanks out there that don;t know it, Penetanguishene, or Penetang is a remote outpost almost in northern Ontario. Before being transferred there in '85 the only thing I knew about it was that it was home to the Canadian Prison for the Criminally Insane - you know, the real sick ones... Anyway, I didn't know anyone around there so one night after closing up the shop I went with some of the guys (and gals) from work to this bar... Later that night on my way for a beer I spotted a guy wearing a jacket with a skydiving crest on the back - 'Huronia Skydivers - Coldwater DZ'. Now at the time I was a lot younger than I am now, and having about 6 years and a thousand jumps under my belt, plus instructor and rigger ratings, I was pretty full of myself as I sidled up to the guy and tapped him on the shoulder... "Hey man, do you really jump out of planes or do you just wear the jacket?" I asked. This old guy turned around and sort of looked me up and down (Probably thinking, Jeesh, what a dweeb) and said, "Yeah I do... What's it to you?" "Alright" I said, "I didn't know there was anyone else around this neck of the woods." Turns out Claude Lalonde - Froggy - aka the Frogman - had started jumping out of planes while with the Royal Canadian Regiment - the RCRs - two years before I was born, in 1957... He'd jumped before a quarter of a million spectators at the CNE airshow in Toronto, done work in the movie 'If You Could See What I Hear' in 1978, and generally been jumping his ass off while I was still wet behind the ears. A day or two later a girl at work who knew Claude gave me his number and told me to call him... It turns out Claude had a 172 booked for solo jumps at the town Winterama that weekend - did I want to come along? Did I! But I had a couple of jumping buddies coming up that weekend to do some partying... "Tell them to bring their rigs" was Frog's reply... That weekend there we were in an open door 172 in -15C weather, dodging snowsqualls to jump onto the frozen ice of Penetang Bay... In the windseat I was sitting with my arms over my face to cut the cold wind, and my buddy beside me on the seat couldn't see much out the door when Frog tossed the winddrift either... Steve kept saying "Where are we supposed to land?" "Follow Froggy" I said. "Where;s the spot?" he yelled. "Follow Froggy" I answered. After Froggy exited he said "Where are we?" "Follow Froggy" I yelled as I dropped away, trying to get out of the wind... Well, we didn't land where we were supposed to, but as we bundled up our chutes the snowmobiles were racing across the bay to pick us up and return us to the docks where the Winter Festival Queen and her retinue were waiting to welcome us... After greeting the queen we ended up in the basement of the local Legion Hall to pack, while the local Pipes and drums band marched around the dance floor practising... No wonder we needed a few pops to get rid of our headaches! Over the years I've jumped at many winter and summer festivals, airshows and competitions with Claude. I've seen him hum it low with a bridle cord wrapped around his smoke bracket, and I've had accuracy competitions with him under paracommanders for beer... Claude may not be the flashiest guy or best formation flyer around, but he was surviving when I was still wearing nappies and I figure it was a pretty decent night when I walked into that bar in Penetanguishene... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Every skydiver has someone he looks up to - someone he's met that showcases the abilities and desires all skydivers should have... So who was the most memorable character you've met while skydiving - and what were the circumstances? Tiny Broadwick? Harry Ward? Jerry Bird? Dan BC? Or someone who's name no one will ever recognize? Tell us who you met, and how,and what they meant to you... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

I apologize if my comments were taken personally. I did not mean them to be... Unfortunately I was away for a week a didn't realize they'd caused offense... I stand by my original post that I think a lot of people get into BASE too early simply because of its media prominence now, but I did not mean to disparage your accomplishments... Skypuppy If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

I went up with some friends back in the '80's to do a back-to-back-to-back - something we thought had never been done. This meant a 3-way freefall formation, followed by a 3-stack, after which we'd cutaway and do another 3-way before dumping our (round) reserves... We meant to follow the rules, and so wore 2nd reserves on our harnesses... Things went all right in the initial freefall but we were slow getting our triplane together... by the time we were flying where we wanted to be we were below 4k, but we decided to continue... We cut away one after the other in order to ensure the top jumpers feet cleared the lines before the next cutaway... I was the bottom, cutting away last... the other two were quite a ways below as I dove down... At one point I saw Anvil come out of his dive, almost stop and I thought maybe they're going to dump, but he kept falling, so I kept diving past at Hawkeye, the low man... I realised Anvil had given up as we went thru 1500', but Hawkeye was still falling so I kept going... I mean, we were using our reserves anyways... Around 1000' I came out level and in front of Hawkeye and I wondered if he really wanted to do this or not... Hawkeye had black hair and a full black beard, and as I looked over at him 15 or 20 feet away, all I could see was his white teeth gleaming amongst all that black hair... He wanted to hook up too!!! We flew together and hooked up about 700' a little offset so we just kept on going past each other into a track... Looking at the rye field below me I saw we were real low, and reached to dump... The handle wasn't there!!! Glancing down, I saw the weight of the 2nd (front-mounted) reserve had dragged my harness down a little on the first opening, before we did our stack... I refocused and pulled the handle... I felt the reserve go out (Strong Lopo, with a diaper), but it wasn't slowing me down... Looking at the field below, I saw one spot below me from which waves were radiating out like a pond after you toss a pebble into it... I thought this was it - I could hear the people back at the dz saying 'he bit off more than he could chew this time!'... I could see my girlfriend's face in that one spot on the field that wasn't moving... Then the diaper released and the reserve cracked open... I heard all screaming 'Yee-haww!!! Did you see that rye field???' Looking around, he was about 75' above and behind me... I started to turn 270 degrees (away from the 4-bush and around into the wind) but I didn't quite get all the way around before I landed... We were about a quarter mile from the dz. After landing I gathered up my reserve and tried to stop shaking... Al came up and said 'Man, are we ever going to get shit! But man! Skypuppy, that was some jump!' We walked back to the dz... Everyone was abuzz talking about us - some rushed up to congratulate us - they seemed to think we'd planned to open low! I say again, we planned to do the jump safely, but we seemed to be always too slow at each step, and we kept deciding to go keep trying instead of giving up and dumping... Like I said, we knew we going to use our reserves!!! The DZO was out walking the runway when we got back... He'd seen too many people from that perspective who hadn't made it to be able to talk right away... When he got back we were grounded for a month, but we had to continue coming to the dz on weekends anyway, just so we'd hurt... The whole jump was on ground-to-air video, and if he heard of us jumping at another dz before the month was up, the tape would be sent to the national organization for action... Otherwise it would be destroyed... I often wished I had a copy of that tape... BTW I really got shit from my girlfriend after that... I thought she'd happy I was still alive, but she really tore me a new one... I've done BASE jumps from lower then that opening, but I've never seen anything since that looked like that ryefield did at terminal at about 300', after you've pulled everything you can pull and it still hasn't happened.... Blue ones... Skypuppy BASE92 If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

There was a case in the old days in Ontario when the pilot stalled the jump plane on jump run... He was the first one out the door. The jumpmaster followed him, leaving a B-licenced jumper to dispatch the two students in the plane.... The plane recovered and did a slow descent till it crashed not far from the dz. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Just thought I'd mention that one of the first Canadians to pass a baton in freefall is still an active jumper - Floyd Martineau did the feat in BC with Darryl Henry in the late 50's. Floyd hit Daryl's canopy on opening and woke up in the hospital, but that was the first time it was done in Canada... Floyd was also the first Canadian to compete for Canada in a world meet - I was at a demo at Buttonville Airport with him this fall, looking at big Russian biplane... I said it would be neat to jump out of such a plane, and he said he had at the world meet... in 1958... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Maybe a little strong - but it's like riding white water - do you just want to go rafting in a group with a guide and someone to prepare dinner for you while you relax over a few drinks, or do you want to run the river in your own kayak, maybe with a few friends in their own boats - choosing your own routes and playing where you want. I like to paddle my own boat. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

BTW - I was a little concerned the chimpanzee might try to climb up the lines as he was floating down, thereby collapsing the parachute, but it was something I never had to figure out a hundred percent... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Well, after a few years we closed down the whole dz and took everyone to Bridge Day and put them all off... At the time I figured I could teach a chimpanzee to jump off the bridge pretty easy... and we were all using modified (just barely) skydiving gear... but we're not just talking jumping the bridge, we're talking about learning to BASE jump... Probably anyone can be taught to jump the bridge relatively safely once, but can they go on their own and decide what objects to jump next and how to do it? A first BASE jump at bridge day is, while a worthy achievement, basically a carnival ride similar to a tandem... If a person doesn't mind having everything done for them, and the person doing the stuff doesn't mind doing it for them it can be done with little experience, but if you want to do it on your own you need to start with a certain level of knowledge and experience... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

How about Franz Reichelt from the Eiffel tower in 1912... BTW he didn't make it - he figured he could land the suit itself... He did, but it didn't save him... The suit had a wingspan of about 15 ft., with wooden stays to keep it extended. Franz did one practice jump from about 10-12 ft to see if he thought it would work... He had permission to do a drop test with a dummy from the 180' level, but figured he might as well try it himself... Bad idea... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

When I started BASEing in '84 I had over a thousand skydives with a lot of experience at both CRW and accuracy jumping, a rigging rating, and an instructor rating... It still scared the s##t out of me... I had lots of friends that started around the same time, but none had less than at least 500 jumps. With the increased visibility of BASE jumping in media today, I think one of the problems is that too many people are starting to BASE jump with too little parachuting experience. Sure, you can get away with some stuff, but you really need to be aware of everything if you expect to come back again and again. I think people should still be taking tiny steps towards the goal of becoming BASE jumpers, rather than trying to take giant leaps to get there faster... Skypuppy BASE92 If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Forgive me if you think I'm crude, but - you must have big bazoobies, do you? That's the only thing I can think of that makes sense... You're right tho', you are too good for them!!! If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Yeah I remember that - 'You make me horny when you pull low like that...' Not that I'd advocate that kind of behavior, you know... Seriously tho', (actually that was serious too but) I took my gf to a formal banquet during an airshow - I got really worried when she went missing for a while 'cause she was actually too young to drink - but I found her over talkin' to the F-15 pilots.... LOL... Skypuppy If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Ted Strong and Robin Heid jumped just after me at Bridge Day in 1984, but there was another tandem jump made at BD in 1988. There was also one made from a bridge in Australia but it wasn't a real tandem rig, just something cobbled together from some old harnesses. I know it can be done, but I think I'd rather just Base jump by myself... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

I believe the faa nailed the pilot for this, didn't they? There was some talk about suicide, but the tape definitely showed him go for his handles to open, then pause and try again... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Wasn't the british guy named Richard an 'Arab Muslim'? That was my understanding... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Probably you should have one of Shipyard's Fuggles IPAs. Then later a Lighthouse. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Truth be told I actually brew my own beer and have for some12 years... It can be an acquired taste, and certainly the way I do it is not necessarily real consistent, so if I'm going somewhere I usually end up with some commercial stuff that travels better... I enjoy trying out the local brews when I travel. The best I think I ever had was in Cologne - called Dom Kolsch, I think. What I didn't realize was that I wouldn't be able to get it again after I left Koln (I was travelling with a rail-pass). It was named after the famous Cologne Cathedral - the Dom - (what a place for a base jump!). One of the best things about travelling is the gems you might find in the local pub...

Just look in the yellow pages under parachuting/skydiving.... The closest place is probably SWOOP in Dundas, but there's also Parachute School of Toronto, Skydive Toronto, Burnaby, and new place at Dunnville (close to St. Catharines), Simcoe, Gananoque and Grand Bend Sport Parachute Center within a couple of hours... The whole of south-western Ontario is your oyster! If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

What I noticed on my first s/l (a round) was the unearthly silence after the 182 flew away from me... It reminded me of being in church. Never really noticed the silence as much again, but it was one of things I most enjoyed. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Are we using Bill Clinton's definition of sex? If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

My first jump was a static-line jump, hanging exit from a 182 wearing a bellywart and all. I must have been slow climbing out 'cause by the time I got out hanging out there and looked in the jm was yelling 'GO!' I shook my head and and he yelled 'GO!' again... I yelled back 'I'm not ready!' A few seconds later I let go. I wasn't doing too well on my freefalls, if I didn't backloop off the strut, I was barrel rolling at pull time, so one of the instructors decided to take me up high for a buddy jump. I got on my back on exit and he couldn't flip me over - I spent the whole freefall on my back till he let go, then arched on to my stomach and pulled... I landed on the other side of the airport and got a ride back to the dz. When I got out of the car and walked over my first JM saw my face and said 'Well, you might as well quit school now... I think you're hooked...' If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

That thread about skydiving movies got me thinking about 'The Pursuit of DB Cooper'. Whatever happened to him anyways? The guy had a lot of balls... Is he still out there? If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone