rmarshall234

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Everything posted by rmarshall234

  1. rmarshall234
    Or as my buddy Joe Miller so eloquently says..."the furniture goes in the middle of the room".
  2. rmarshall234
    Wow. That to me, is a spot-on and well-articulated summary of what's going on out there. Nice work, Top.
  3. rmarshall234
    I don't know much but it seems it was a base jump off the Perrine sp? Bridge in Idaho and he took it a bit too low. I found some info on basejumper.com
  4. rmarshall234
    Oh geez.... Bud LaPointe and now Jim Hickey... Two of the very finest.. I remember when Jim walked onto the DZ at Elsinore and insisted he didn't want to bother learning how to skydive, he wanted to learn how to Base Jump. All of us (on staff) just kind of chuckled but Matt McCarter said "I'll go talk to him". Matt - in his usual exemplary way - explained the ABCs to him. Jim Hickey went on to become one of our best friends and a hero of mine. It wasn't necessarily easy for him but he had grit, and determination, and an incredibly positive attitude. I _loved_ seeing that guy out there. Rest in peace, Jim Hickey.
  5. rmarshall234
    Yep, should have made that clear. There is nothing like an _analog visual altimeter_ for simplicity.
  6. rmarshall234
    I wonder how many of these "my audible failed" situations are actually instances where it worked but the jumper didn't hear it. We can call it task saturation or sensory overload, but in times of high stress your brain will start to prioritize what it thinks is the most relevant information. That less recognized and somewhat annoying beep in your ear can get filtered out. In a sport such as skydiving where altitude awareness is paramount, it seems foolish - and somewhat dangerous - to relegate that task to your hearing. And especially as others have pointed out - to your friends. Consider also, that an audible device is inherently less reliable than a visual altimeter because of its increased complexity. (including batteries and such) If I look at my altimeter and it has failed (because it stuck or the needle fell off) I will recognize that immediately and move to a backup source. Not so with an audible.
  7. rmarshall234
    Comments from another old timer.... Your *primary means of altitude awareness should be *visual. Looking at your altimeter and the ground. One reinforcing the other. Your *secondary means should be audible. And third and hopefully never, mechanical (an AAD). I'm sure there are people much smarter than me that can explain the physiology of it, but I suspect in times of high stress your hearing will shut down (fail) before your sense of sight does. I know when my wife was learning to skydive it took her about 50 jumps before she could even *hear the audible in freefall.
  8. rmarshall234
    The best days (or years) for me were 79 thru 81. As was the case, my younger and next older sister were jumping with me at that time - at Yolo and at Pope Valley. It doesn't get any better than that and yes, I realize how fortunate I was.
  9. rmarshall234
    'that is so pretty, they're all going to make it" Do you have anything else to report?...
  10. rmarshall234
    Shoot me a PM. I have some extras of tools I use and can hook you up. Not a lot, but it will get you started.
  11. rmarshall234
    Check with Allen Silver 209 532 7070. He's about to retire and that knowledge will go away soon.
  12. rmarshall234
    Has anyone heard how Peter Siebold is doing? The press report of a "shoulder injury" is a pretty vague description after surviving a catastrophic airframe failure at Mach 1. Wishing him the best.
  13. rmarshall234
    Peter Siebold is a really impressive guy. Not a military test pilot, he came up through the civilian ranks. And he's been there since the beginning, making these Space Ship I/II test flights. Now he has this, possibly the most amazing tale of survival in aviation history. My hat is off to that guy.
  14. rmarshall234
    Yep, great story. William H Rankin is The Man That Rode The Thunder. Although he ejected above 47K ft his automatic opener deployed his canopy at 10K ft. Went for a hell of a ride after that though. The rapid decompression seemed to be one of the biggest problems. I suspect Peter Siebold had a similar experience with rapid decompression. It's amazing that he survived "being blown out of a rocket ship". Sure would like to hear that story over a beer someday.
  15. rmarshall234
    Most excellent, my man. Thanks for sharing. Skydivers are, a very unique subset of our society.
  16. rmarshall234
    >National: retire after 15 years Is it 15 years for National? I thought it was 20. That's what the manual says so now I'm curious.
  17. rmarshall234
    >In my experience, 4) is very, very rare but there are a few out there. I guess I'm one of those rarities. From the very beginning, the most basic appeal of this sport was that when you left the airplane you were a dead man unless you did things right. Your actions have consequences. It was a fun 35 year run and I'm done jumping now, but that philosophy has permeated my life ever since.
  18. rmarshall234
    >a premature deployment of the reserve at over 100,000 feet would have been very bad and need to be cutaway. After the explosion, I'm not sure there would be anything left to cut-away :-(
  19. rmarshall234
    >Sparky was cool back during the early 1980s And he's still cool.
  20. rmarshall234
    Most excellent! What a great story...very well written and a great tribute to your friend. I'm sure he'd be proud.
  21. rmarshall234
    He said it was a Strong.
  22. rmarshall234
    Not your usual bread and butter private pilot... www.danmarcotteairshows.com A hell-of-a-pilot and a hell-of-a good guy too. Nice work, Dan
  23. rmarshall234
    >People like this (including our own mjosparky) Yep. And lets add...the late, great, Joe Crotwell.
  24. rmarshall234
    Its a different world out there now....but when I bought my first brand new parachute in the early 80s - a Pegasus from Mike Furry - he stood behind his equipment and name to the extent; that he built me a brand new canopy and refunded me a few jump tickets when I started having problems with the first one. Custom colors no less, and with a nice apology note. The man will forever at least in my eyes, be the epitome of costumer service and integrity in our sport.
  25. rmarshall234
    When I read your post this morning I asked my wife Judy, if she remembered him and her immediate response (with a big smile) was YES. I guess he kind of had that effect on people. There should be others here as well. Wishing you the best also.