lekstrom10k

It is ibvious you clowns have never tried to run a DZ. If you hear a tandem asked about their first jump and they say We didnt even taxi away from the loading area and they started farting. How was your jump ? They started farting so bad they opened the door . How was your jump ?Then my tandem master fell asaleep drooling on my shoulder, and his breath could melt paint, I was ready to puke again.How was your jump ? AS soon as he tightened the harness, he started farting again I could feel the puke coming up my throat. How did you like the jump? Be proud guys they are going to bring all their friends back to make more jumps so you can jump at the rates they paid for you .Consider you are only jumping that cheap because of them so fart on the golden goose ,then bitch when the DZ goes out of business.

You were close except for Good night Mrs kalabash. That was Jimmy Durante. What about Tonight here in our studios We have the dancing bears from Russia ,the Flying Wendellas high wire act and the Beatles. My favorite was from F-Troop when coperal Agarn told the sargeant' The bar is going broke and the only way to stay in bussiness is to raise the price of the free lunch'

Maxwell Smarts Ghia was the export model and better looking than the european model. The other car he screeched to a stop was a Sunbeam Rapier It had a260inch V-8 from a small Ford Fairlane in 1962.It was the first Ford with stamped steel rocker arms . It eventually was the second primary engineof the Mustang behind the inline-6 The engine eventually grew to be the 289 with four barrel.The unique thing about the one Maxwell had was the fact you had to take out the floor pan to change the last two spark plugs.So much for throwing in a new set for something to do.I regards to the 57 chevy I drove one in 1958 my sister had. It was with the standard brakesthat would fade so bad you had to arm wrestle the steering wheel to come to a straight stop. Panic stops would put you in the next lane or into a parked car. Any one out today has already had a disc conversion to it. Does anyone know what was totally unique to the1955 T-Bird. It was the only 6Volt one made .As far as the 1953 Corvette it was only a truck engine on a truck frame thus the open drive shaft and king pin front suspension with three side draft carbs. The fiberglass body was inspired by the World War Two technology as was the Kaiser Darrin.I loved my 85 neon with 41.5 miles per gallon ,498.6 cruise range right up until I fell asleep on a centerline barrier with it.165000 miles on itQuote

TheTricycle Twin Beech still had radials it would have been in 1974 at the Windsor Air Show ,We really impressed the crowd as we taxied off trailing the pogo stick. We got to the hold short line and removed it .What a way to star a demo

We used to jump a Howard at Kiski PA in the early 70s.It took off down hill and landed up hill no matter what as the state park took over the other runway. The owner would see the 180 we flew in knowing we brought wine from Put in Bay ,and would come to us with warm IronCity beers . It tasted like it was strained through a bucket of rusty nails..Anyway about Elsinore,Didnt they have a convoy of Norseman Noordunes fly in from Orange MA back then. You got out the rear left side on to a large step to drop off . the Howard had struts and steps all over, and were reasonable climbers. the Norseman rarely went above 3500 and took forever to do it.I recall it being refered to The Flying Garbage Truck

I spotted one of the few loads that made it on to the airport.Tthe kid in the right seat came back to me to say only give 5 degree turn changes with a hand signal I asked what the signal was for 90 right. I then told him I jumped DC-3s before his dad was born,and try to do what his was told , he finally went back up front, we had gone on a 8 mile go around still climbing . The floater bar and step remind me of Daves king air 200 room enough for a picnic table and chairs.Great plane hope its back again

I was there when Paul made his 1000 jump he went to 2000 and pull at 1000. drop his gear for the kids to pack and get back into the 170,s and up again . I dont recall the no beer can rule .If you sat on the floor student style and the pilot pushed your head against the dash better keep it there because a beer can would be flying by . Then the pilot would reach into a cloth cooler under his seat crack it and take a drink before putting it into a swivel holder like on boats . We jumped Sweets Lodestar there there was a B-25 set up for crop dusting too Dont know if it was jumped though. Ah yes iremember it well

The plane your refering to was a Coursair. It was like the ones you saw in the TV series Baa Baa Blacksheep The camera was an N-6 gunsight 24 volt 16MM that was installed after taking out one of the four machine guns. It had acartridge that you sent in for processing ,and you got to see it in a week or two. that was if the projector was availble etcetc.. I have two in my garage The original power system was a pistol belt like those for shot guns a "D" cell battery was put into the pouch with a wire soldered to the top and bottom, a total of 16 were required then, wired in series eventually to the camera to an on/off switch. the sight was a bent coat hanger in the shape if a crude rectangle bolted to a beat-up motorcycle helmet. I took my first photos with a Brownie Hawkeye with the spring wind up model. It was sewn on the top side of a glove,all you did was reach across and push the button ,got three or four shots easy on every jump I had amotorized Nikon-F it only weighed 14 lbs but you got up to 36 pictures on 35MM film . The thing on Bob Boquor was that he was shooting a 35MM movie camera. He didnt drown but drifted into the ocean slumped in his B-4 harness with a broken neck.

I will be 64 on august 8 . I have 65 tandems so far this year 2006. I made 14 in a day last year[ damn sundown] and hope to up it this year. My highest combined ages was 138.Ialso did 14 in a day at 57.Anyway Mikes name is surgeon with a p adde ,I jumped with him at the Lima Leapfest, just after he left West Virginia, The last time I saw him was at the bridge in 87.I still get messages from him "say hi to that old guy from michigan".Please say hi back the only way we keep in touch is seeing each others names in the awards section of Parachutist. I am 22 shy of 11000, and hope to do it by 4th of July 2006 weekend.Got my 144 hours two weeks ago .

Thats when you are asleep and they fill your front lawn with flamingos and hang abanner with" Jan is 50"or something you really didnt need others to know/ People drive by beep their horns etc etc until you finally look out and see your new friends. Its a nice thing to do to your neighbor away on vacation for two weeks to see . even if you only put them up the day before always say" since you turned the corner leaving."You havent spent much time in a trailer parkhave you we have one on the north west side of Detroit called Flaming Trailer Park and has two twenty foot tall guarding the residents. It is a oroven fact 95% of all flamingos purchased are going on someone else lawn, usually when they arent home .Nothing wrong with a little gaudy and tasteless,unless you bought them on purpose.

Theoretically DC3a were the civilan version of the C47 . A B-18 {Beech 18] was the same to a C45 The model designations in letters up to maybe I or J .I believe an H model was a conversion to a tricycle gear .An E or F had the eye brow windows over the main front windshield etc etc. I had the privelege to jump Barrons West-Wind before it departed to the big airport in the sky. It really flew with one hell grin on the pilots face flying it. Hope this help with the designation.

Just for clarity a Para plane never had a slider or stabalizer panels. It had 1000 lbs lines with heat shrink red collars around the clove hitches with two half hitches, external brake loops, ropes and rings A paraplane Cloud had 1000 lbs micro stretch finger trapped lines and stabalizer panels . Varations of a slider were coming out then, people tried to put them on the Clouds but the cascades were to big and the slider would hang up. The only solution was a reline with 750 or so lbs lines . Another fun job was detaping all the seams .If you were really lucky it only took 8 hours .it would yield a two quart sauce pan filled with 1inch tape .Now the canopy would fit in a container for a PC with not to much swea ring Seems to me Strato Clouds had a reinforced hole thru the canopy and detached top seams for the stabalizer panele to .allow a stable sink for accuracy.Ah yes the good old days I hope this helped Ihad ababy plane and three paraplanes..

The RSL wasnt attached to the cable but to the housing as it left with the left riser it took the whole housing with it thus the four snaps on the reserve housing . that meant the reserve could fire with the handle still in the pocket if you werent fast enough to do it yourself.Sherman did a similar thing with a bull ring at the Jump Shack 1973 or so. As far as Blast handles they indeed for ejector seats afer them the rig was already in the plane and the riser were attached to you by your crew. My first Wonder hog in1976 had one it worked great .It made it possible to not have a rip cord pocket on the main lift web at the beginnig of boy or girl harnesses,. the throw out pilot chute was on the belly band.. I switched mine to BOC back then because of the swing wing jump suit in 76 . myRSL was on a 1965 cross bow The one in the picture seemed to have the sail boat snap like the Vector tandem system, so you could disengage it if you wanted. As far as the jesus string goes there was another one on the Strato-Star right frontriser to pull the slider down that went through hole in the canopy . it was a X riser witha 5/8 tubeular webbing that became the bridle on top for the pilot chute .As the slider came down it retracted the pilot chute to be on top.Needless to say it needed some convincing. I had an old B-4 that pull sequence was pull then hook both thumbs under each riser and push out to get the sleeve of your back , sometimes an elbow was added like karate defense stuff . I knew how to drill and tap Blast Handles for replacement gear shift knobs on buddies cars .I feel sorry for all the nubies that never got to know that just because you got the RW over with fun was just starting Especially with a ropes and rings Paraplane or Unit .

Things are slow like everywhere else. Hold on to something your not going to believe this .Ready we dont have to take the peddle blocks and three telephone books out for real pilots to fly .someone is actually shorter than Weinie [Mikey Pelzer ]. Hard to believe huh Jeff the new pilot was from San Diego, origionaly from Memphis Richmond ,Romeo area.Naturally a better pilot and has a personality not at all like Mikey what a relief eh.Other than that same old same old.NNow that I work for MARVIN I have more time to dink with this stuff No I dont have apocket protector with 15 pens and adhesive tape around my glasses .Ihave 10961 today and have my 11000 dive planned in afew weeks .or sooner.Come on by and be on it . After the usual drunk disorderly probably nakedness partytimes

I recall going to Freeport and Roger Nelson driving around passing out jump tickets to the msot gaudy and tasteless camp grounds . If you only had a pup tent it required at least 10 flamingos ,you would be comfortable with 25. At quincy one time a guy even had a plastic picket fence and alittle guy with the ahorse tie up ring The best was the bird bath .I took some Mountain Dew and poured it in with a Baby Ruth candy bar [all lumpy looking ] and toilet paper .If you have seen Dew in a clear glass you would understand better. It was thrown out after we came down from our next jump , dont know why it had a nice affect.If only Rantoul got smarter. My wife got mingoed on her birthday by proffesional company and got to keep the banner.

He was sort of smart to come up with the idea ,then it ended He made them get him some parachutes A PC a rag and an unsteerable emergency pilot rig showed up with the money he re packed the emergency rig in side the plane . He told the pilots to fly at whatever speed and lower the air stair. they increased the air speed gradually so much they were amazed it didnt crumble the air stair They never knew whe he got out and wouldnt be any where near his spot with the increased speed . No one knows how he attached the money if at all . the reported ground winds were over 40 at night with an unsteerabl badly oscillating canopy somewhere over the national forrest If the opening shock didnt kill him at that air speed the tree landing sure would have , or getting dragged would.if he hand held the money suitcase it would be long gone to .Do you remember how long they questioned the kid that found the money as a conspiriter even though it happened 20 years before he was born. I live about 30 miles from where they think Hoffas body was supposed to be buried. Another fiasco they should stick to finding Donut shops. Thats the way I remember it and I am and I am sticking to it

I still have a ste of toggles from my para plane I brought out for show and tell no one guessed what they were and they were indeed plastic. there was a cross drilled hole and one from one end to meet a diagonal hole from the center hole. you fed the steering line through the center hole and put a knot to set your brskes then you fed it out passed the ond and tied aloop for a handle to extract it from your floating brake loop . That was sewn on to your steering line up above anywhere near you could bring the lines past the ring in a flare nice huh if you didnt like how your canopy was opening you just tied a few knots in brake line until it opened ok, really pissed of riggers that do you a favor by taking them out only to have you tie them in again. I built a machine to reline para planes .The 1000 lbs line with heat shrink and the 1000lbs micro stretch would never work when converting to sliders. Well enough said about Para Planes other than never did a cutaway until them my rigger loved ma after that.

The one you were talking about was owned by Steve Felloes of detroit .We used to jump it Marshall and Lima Ohio , when it was still running. It had taken a few one way trips for boogies. then broke down . You hoped someone would let you cram in their van for a ride home. Steve flew it solo from California and landed instrument conditions in Denver with a student pilot ticket . It had sat for years on runway 25 at Detroit City airport waiting to be used at the A&P school .Fellows told me some of the other guys already loaned him money to buy it . Not checking I loaned him some to find out later iwas the only one, of course that was 30 years ago and I stiil havent got it all back.There is the Yankee Air Force museum in Willow Run Airport Michigan that had it on display in side for years until last year a fire destroyed it along with other jewels . I have been to Wright -Patterson to see alot of planes that are type I have jumped out of. How many can say that was the actual plane ? Nate Pond was the pilot flying for Fellows. I remember him standing on his head on a bar table with his feet on the ceiling ,which was pretty astounding for someone his height. The Lodestall was17G [Garbage] but Nate did his job and we survived . Ialso jumped Sweets at Indian town Florida at Poppenhagers. I also jumped it at Stormville NY,where you were told not to land anywhere near the prison. If you were at Sturgis it was probably Branches DC3 from Indiana. It was also at Athens, but the other Locheed was a 12 owned by Doug Kelly not an 18 there. Zipper hills had a 10Ethe same style as Emelia earharts. I made a few out of the Super Connie at WFFC at Quincy I also have some out of regular and stretched C130s. Never did a Hudson or a 14. So all in all I never had a bad Locheed jump

I think about 90 but I am going to change the theme a little . What is the most unusal plane you did RW from ? Mine is a Mooney , tough waiting on the wing for thr second guy to climb out. I did quite a few twoways out of AT6s in the late 60s. My locheeds are 10e, 12, Lodestar Connie and C130 regular and stretched.I have jumped Howards and a Norseman Nordune,Also a Breezy while wearing a big wing jump suit Iwould stick an arm out and the plane would turn ,the pilot sitting below and in front didnt know why it was flying so bad. to this day.MY share of Cessna include 150 straight tail 150 slant tail 152 170A 170B 172s 1750 no 177s some day 180 1850 190 195 205 206U 206P 207 208 befre the caravan .The caravan 208 grand caravan 208 and the cargomaster with no windows208. At Richmond a few years ago Steve put an ad in Tradeaplane for a Caribou pilot to fly the one he got for us to jump . The guy that got the job was astounded when he got there to find it was the same plane he flew in Viet Nam.He showed us all the bullet hole patches and got alittle teary eyed . Damn good pilot too. Iam going to go over my list to see exactly how many planes Ive jumped , so I dont Solar count them . Any one from Michigan knows what that means ,30000 to 40000 for sure. Until next time

If you are going to TIG make sure you have the biggest tungsten you can get in your torch handle also the biggesat collar that fits your cinditions { fillet , flat or butt .A green painted identifier tungsten works best over red 2% .get copper bar stock to strike an arc on to ball the tip round ,aim the tip towards the thickest metal strike your arc and wait until it starts to flow dip your rod in and let it fill the gap then bring the torch down the line asyou go . easy huh if you are welding 3/8 ti 1/4 you can preheat with a propane torch some .Ihope this helps ,my son wants to go to bed, good night.

The first ones I remember where in the late 660s . It was held on the chest mountedfeserve by the top opening bands {bungies }You had aplate with an altimeter face it had a pointewr knob you set for the activation altitude , after opening you turned it off until your next jump .I gave the one I was given to Mike Horan in Dayto Ohio. for his Museum years ago .It was for the side pull handle .Sentinal was the manufacturer . I have old Parachutists back to to the early 60s Ican dig up and try toscan an ad for you ,I am new at confusrers and might get help to do it. By the way the replacement handle had a powder charge that fired that propeled a shuttle sideways to extract both pins at the same time. I hope this helps

I only had one cut away on PCs and that was at night. Did you ever jumo a Paraplane . No slider just ropes and rings no stabalizer panels and brake loops that hung off the steering lines by2feet. If you did you would know about 1 in 20 was a cutaway . did you ever jump a Unit all white and number 26. I had back to back cutaways four times and carried my own roll of suspension line to patch it and jump again . I now have more than 9000 square jumps .I went 4968and 19.5 years without a cut away on my pack jobs . While having 13 cutaways on tandems, with one back to back during the same time period packed by others

What you were refering was mostly old Airborne drops you would just walk over to the nearest edge and slide down .They at one time had steerable PCMark11s , they were taken away because it only increased the problem. As long as everyone was drifting aimlessly to land on earth some where because of gravity with the grace and dignity of a clown falling out of a tree it was OK.Ihad a chance to go Airborne in 1962 but turned it down to finally jump surplus 28 footers in 1967 about 150 total along with my 1500PC jumps and 50 or so round reserve rides .

I assume you are refering to the Delta 11. Imade 125 jumps on one that big Bill Weber had owned 3trades ago .I heard that he never landed it so I would do stand-ups in the peas just to piss him off . Itook out the steering panel and relined it to paradactyl line lengths ,never did fly good after that.There was also asingle and double keel Paradactyl, with sliders and OSIs for awhile .There was also aPolish-commander half PC and half Delta11, complete with an arrowsewn into the pattern so you would know which way you were facing . I could out fly Strato-stars with both my delta11s THe front keel line was 27 feet long and you couldpull down on a toggle and get a canopy below you spin.I still have it in thegarage but as I said it was real slow now.It would fit in a container made for a PC. I hope this helps.If you find one let me know and I can talk you through the OSI modification and packing to open good.

lekstrom10k aka larry ekstrom, ill be ther early monday morning until last jump friday. idotandems at napoleon skydiving center on ththe weekends . I can also come sooner if needed .looking forward to being there. iwas working for Djan when she could come.