Todd’s void is felt by all that were fortunate enough to know him, and could never be filled. He touched so many people, and was a mentor to me in many ways. I began flying jumpers at ISPC about four years ago, and started my skydiving career around that time as well. While I was flying, I could expect two things from Todd: a foul smell as he was exiting the airplane, and some critiquing on my flying technique. As he spoke the words “just a little….rudder/throttle/trim/etc.” he would rub his index finger and his thumb together. When he was shooting video for tandems on the way to altitude he would always try to get me to fake an epileptic seizure for the video, which used to be his thing when he was flying.
Todd taught me so much about skydiving, flying, and equipment in his free time, but never wanted anything in return. There is much to be said about him, and that is evident by all of the posts by those that knew him. He was such an extraordinary, selfless individual.
Contrary to the reports on his last skydive, it was a two way and I was fortunate to be on it with him. We launched a two way head down, followed by more freeflying. I shot video of our jump together, but it turned out poorly because my camera wasn’t set up properly, and it was only my 5th camera jump or so. I have attached two still images I pulled from the video: one is a shot of Todd before we exited the airplane, and the second one is a classic Todd- he has his pilot chute in one hand, and the other hand is busy giving me the finger- just prior to his deployment. A fitting farewell
Todd’s spirit will live on in me, as I am sure it will in all that knew him. I miss him greatly, and always will.
BSBD Todd
