rmarshall234

Not a jump per se, but an airplane ride which was the culmination of a weekend of skydiving at Eagle Field, south of Merced in the central valley of California, on June 21, 1981. It was a very heavily loaded Twin Beech and we were heading back to our home field - Yolo DZ - (now Skydance) after a weekend of camping and fun jumping at this private strip. Pre seat and pre seatbelt days.... The young military pilot (Mel) decides to buzz the DZ so we can all say goodbye. At the end of the low pass he pulls up sharply and the entire load of jumpers and camping gear slide aft. Towards the tail. Now, he has a sudden and extreme aft CG condition, and we are all in a world of hurt. As those of us that are now pinned against the rear bulkhead scramble and claw our way back uphill, the airplane runs out of energy and stalls and falls off on the left wing. We enter an incipient spin and Mel somehow, manages to recover and get us flying again at what my log book says...was 25 ft. We were all in such a state of shock and after the initial "holy shits", not a word was said for the remainder of the flight. (So how do you get a whole load of skydivers to keep quiet... well just try to kill them.) That weekend I also remember (and logged) a guy smoking past the base, in a no lift dive, and missing us all by about 20 ft. Pre Cypres days. Fortunately, the Reaper was elsewhere that weekend and the good Angels were flying instead. That's at the top of my "most dangerous jumps" list. If anyone was there that weekend, I would love to hear your version. The only full name I have in my logbook is Bill Rug. Which I remember as Ruggeveen. (I was the guy that in my youthful arrogance, pitched his tent in the peas and became a target for the early morning load :-)

Wow, that's beautiful. (the airplane not you ;-) The guy that asked me about Mr. Douglas also mentioned Sugar Alpha. He flew them both - back in the day. You've got a nice history jumping from DC3s. A lucky man.

>It's back to running exotic boogies and helping some folks get drop zones opened around the globe. Awesome! Good for you. (PM sent re: the second half of that sentence.)

>Everyone, does it really climb that slow Well, some might call it slow. Nirvana is the word I would use. When jumping from a DC3, it's not about the skydive.

>Mr Douglas is sitting on the tarmac at tullahoma. That's a bummer - sorry to hear that. We have two or three here in So Cal that used to fly occasionally but I'm not sure they do anymore. At Elsinore and at Hemet Airports. I'm sure it's expensive as hell to keep them airworthy and also the cost of operating them. To the OP -- here's one that is putting out jumpers on a regular basis. http://www.wwiiadt.org/

Sorry, I don't do Facebook so couldn't follow the link. But while you're here.... Best of luck with your next adventure! I've heard nothing but good things about your jump operation at Oceanside so I'm sure you'll do well.

someone asked me the other day and I didn't have an answer....where is Mr. Douglas? Anybody know?

>"able to build coherent, effective, and succinct lesson plans." Aha! I see you've also worked with Instructors that figured if they spent most of the class time explaining what a fantastic skydiver they were, then it would somehow translate into good student performance. Thread drift....

>does anyone have a good list of the skill set for Instructors? At the top of my list would be: A good listener.

>Does anyone have a source for #8 stainless steel grommets for a slider? I think I have a handful of them. PM me if interested and when I get back from Reno I can send them to you. Any reasonable offer should be acceptable.

I work around spinning propellers all the time. To be killed by one is a horrific way to go. I hope you all give Ted Mayfield a proper send-off tomorrow. As I'm sure he'll be missed by many.

>That canopy is a Butler HX series and was packed by Judy Celaya Wow. Now how cool is that... Judy and Bob Celaya are two of the best peeps out there. Peter Siebold surviving that experience - being blown out of a rocket ship - is one of the most incredible stories ever. I've been following this one closely.

Awesome. I was hoping you would comment. Thanks. I am in particular agreement with this.. In discussions with Dan T at Paraphernalia, he doesn't believe anyone would be able to get out of a crippled aircraft above 250kts. The deceleration chart shows that it takes about 1.8 seconds to slow from 300 to 150 kts, it should take a pilot that long to find the ripcord.

Thank you Jerry. So if I could summarize the comments and create a list of positive and negative traits of the C9, it would look something like this.. Postitives: It is STRONG Decent rate of descent Low cost Negatives: Heavy Bulky Snag prone (in the configuration I'm seeing them) May require modification to add deployment device 4-line Release System Opens hard Lands hard I suppose some of the items in the negative column are open for discussion. However, in the positive column I would consider item #2 to be a "push". Neither pos or neg. And as for low cost, when it comes to emergency parachutes IMHO you buy the best you can afford. If that means purchasing used instead of new, than so be it. It's been a great discussion everybody, thanks for sharing your knowledge. I'm not sure my mind has been changed at all, but I will say I have a greater appreciation for how strong the canopy is and therefore more suitable to those "big boys" out there.

>I think these two statements are the defining points of the discussion Agreed. And an excellent discussion so far. To be clear on one point....I'm not suggesting we refuse to pack this stuff when it comes into the loft. I just don't understand assembling a rig (with what I'm calling obsolete equipment) and sending it out the door when there are much better choices available. Much like, assembling that Javelin Odyssey with a Meyers Release System instead of Three Rings.

"I've got a slightly different opinion so I'll try to make an argument for the other side...." Excellent comments as well Lee, Thank you very much.

>I now believe that all PEPs should contain large, docile square reserves in the 200 to 300 square foot range, >similar to what we loan to first (solo) jump students. A very interesting comment. I'm not sure I would go this far yet, but it is certainly the mind-set I have. I just don't understand putting equipment out there in this day and age with no deployment device.

>My attitude towards PEPs changed radically when I live-jumped the Precision P-124A I've yet to see one of these in the flesh but am very intrigued by them. Can you comment on their opening speed? Faster, slower, or about the same as a round?

>I'm thinking you are comparing old C9 canopies What I am seeing is new harness and container systems but with a 16 year old (DOM) C-9 in them. No quarterbag - nor any other means to close-off the skirt during deployment.

For you Riggers out there packing pilot rigs I'd like to hear your comments regarding the C-9 and it's place in today's market. I'm not talking about older rigs that were assembled with this canopy years ago, but brand new harness and container systems being sold today with this canopy inside. To me, it is obsolete and should be treated as such. Anything with no deployment device, a 4-line release system, and anti-inversion netting is from a bygone era. There is WAY better stuff out there now. At least that is what I think but I'd like to hear from you. Full disclosure: I'm a dealer for Softie Parachutes I'm not interested in sparking a product war or even discussions along those lines, I'm just interested in the relative merits of this canopy in today's world. Maybe I'm missing something. (I do have personal experience ~ 100 round parachute jumps and one ride under a Navy Conical 4-line release as well as a Strong Lopo.) However, I've never jumped a C-9. Thoughtful comments only please but no product comparisons. Thanks in advance.

I commented on it here in 2011 under the subject line Risk Management and Patty Wagstaff. I would create a clicky to take you there quickly, but I didn't know how to make one then and still haven't learned.

It seems another hero (Larry Walters) made the same comment years ago even after FAA enforcement actions: "I have no regrets". Cluster Balloon Aviation...You've got to love the adventuresome spirit of it!! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Walters[url]

>where the director gave a Q & A at the end On the day we went Jean Boenish did a Q&A for the showing before ours, would have liked to have been there for that. It's been the better part of a week now and Judy and I are still talking about it.

I agree with Bill Von completely.

I saw it last night with my skydiving wife and friend. It was very good! If you started in the 70s/80s it's a must-see in my opinion. The writer/director did a very good job with what looked to me to be, a pretty challenging project. Lots of good video from back in the day. Jean Boenish comes across as very likeable and very admirable. Seems like a good egg. Great music and a good ending. A good movie for the sport.