SCR216

I always said wings were hot stuff!!!

Squirrels don't take to hanging upside down as well as Bats do. But I sure do like what the new squirrels on the block are doing for the sport these days. I always liked to track and it sure looks to me that the new wings can turn you into an F-16. I watched a large formation track at Elsinore last year. Even non-jumpers got big eyes and big smiles on that one.

A few more for ya...

One more for ya. SCR 216

Hello Jerry, The only thing that has changed is, those guys are now really, really, really old guys, and we are only old. These days, even if I see a hard landing on film it takes me two weeks to recover. My thanks goes out to the many engineers and jumping friends that put in the time and blood to bring us the modern gear we have today. But all their hard work in the past can be wasted if we don't take the time to learn how the hell to use it properly. Man, now that sounds like an Old Fart talking doesn't it!!!

Hello Steve, Looks to me to be normal landings for back then and even for today if you are going down wind. Most of the hard PLF landings in the video were controlled crashes going down wind for the the 10cm target. And most of the soft landings were into the wind. I can remember going down wind for the target at a Stilwell meet on a Delta II. Now, that was a dumb ass controlled crash. I was 180 lbs then. Now I am 230 lbs and I would not like to go down wind with my new rig unless I was running away from a bad spot. Remember kids on landing it's "eyes together, feet on the horizon". Or something along those lines... SCR-216

As you were Don. I'll let you know. That is, if I make it past the Saturday night stumbles. We have so many old farts coming to Taft now, it is going to look like a bunch of Model-T's in the air. Good think I can still track like hell after break-off. Great thing is, we all still look and act like kids in the air. The problems start 2 seconds after we land.

From about 1969 on Carl had two showings during the week. One at Jay and Garths' Gypsy Moths Bar and then at Frank Carpenters Rumbleseat Bar. It was a lot of fun picking our yourself on the film, seeing the old Fairchild, the old Howard, Big Red and others. Let me know if you find the Skydiver Rag articles. Lyle had me write a few articles for him back then. Sure wish I had them now. One had the title: "There I was at 12000 feet with a pocket full of quarters and not a pop machine in sight" I cleaned that title up a little to be PC, due to the day and age we are living in now.

Paul made ~1000 more jumps after he lost his leg. He also got into down hill skiing and won a few Para-Ski meets. I think he also won a few one legged ass kicking contests. For sure I know he kicked mine a few times. Dennis Henley

Thanks for the article Howard, I know a little about this because Paul is my brother. Both Paul and I got our training and first jumps through Ed Hutchinson. Mine was at Arvin. That is another story all together. Paul lost his leg at Elsinore during one of our SCR Stumbles meets. Kevin Donnelly and Curt Curtis came to the DZ to get me and take me to Corona to see Paul in hospital. Paul was on a gurney and I could tell right when I waked in what was up. Paul pulled the sheet off of where his leg should have been and said to me, "Well Dennis, I'll be ok walking on curbs, but I'll be shit out of luck when I get to a driveway". He told me to sign to have the rest of the leg removed so he could get on with planning his next move in life. That is just how Paul was all of his life. A few months after he lost his leg Paul and I went up together at Elsinore so he could get in the air again. On exit Paul was having a hard time finding the right position in freefall and was in a slow spin. Every time he came around I would slap him upside the head to stop his spin. I could tell he was getting real pissed off about this and then he found the correct position. We did a few 2-way grab ass things and pulled at around 1700. When we got down Paul sat on the ground for a minute and said, "That was hot. OK, give us a hand here brother". I answered back, "You wanted to jump again, this is part of it". Paul jumped up on his one good leg with the stump of the other leg bleeding and field-packed his rig and hopped over to the old Elsinore DZ jeep so Gary Douris could drive back to the packing area. Gary was real hot about our opeining low, but for some reason this time he didn't ground us. I know what I said and did to my brother on that jump sounds to most people to be a real jackass thing to say and do, but I lost full use of my left leg and foot when I was a kid in the 1950s and both Paul and I were taught by our Dad to never use our little problems as an excuse. Dad would always say to all of us kids, “You know what you have to work with, so deal with it and get on with your life”. Dad was right, so we always moved on, looking forward to the next new thing in life. Paul went on to make ~1000 more jumps before he departed this life. I still jump with one of Paul’s old stump socks inside of my jump suite pocket. I still like to spot for myself without the green light so when I am looking out the door to spot I am talking in my head to Paul and asking if the spot looks good to him. The answer I always get back is, “Looks good ta me brother, lets do this thing”. Sorry for making this so long. I just miss that prick. Dennis Henley SCR-216

Hello Bill, What I remember of IronClad is Lyle using a sewer pipe for the demo at the Rumbleseat. We would meet there once a week to view some of Carl's film of our jumps that week. Lyle would give a demo for anyone that requested it. But if you requested the demo, you were stuck with trying it until you passed. I made most Puff games, but IronClad was way too hard for me. I'll see Lyle Jr. this May at Taft and ask if he has the IronClad Mug. Regards, Dennis

If I can remember to do it, I'll inform Don what went on yesterday, tomorrow. No, no, I mean today’s events tomorrow. Or was it yesterdays today? I'll need to think on it for a month and get back to you or Don sometime in the future. I found some of Paul’s log books. It has your name in it under Demo. It says C-Puff Demo. Should I bring my Rumbleseat Mug to Taft in May so you can finish the Demo? Or would you rather drink out of an old prosthetic leg?

OK Paso Lisa, I'll say hello, but that is as far as I go!

Thanks Tom, I'll give it a go. I talked with Jean years ago about this subject, but could not get anything going at the time. There is still a lot to learn by watching Carl's films. There are a lot of people in them that will bring up great memories for a lot of us. It took seven years because I don't read fast. But I can still fall fast. Regards, SCR-216

Happy Birthday Bill. This will add to the special events scheduled for Taft next month. Hope you can stay up late enough to enjoy it! Dennis SCR-216

I "think" I heard something going on between Chet and Bill years ago about the subject. I'll ask Bill about it at the Taft reunion / Ash dives on May 29th. I have always been a friend of both Chet and Bill, but it would be real disappointing if I hear they did get into a fight. Both are small guys, but Chet was about 1/2 Bill's size. But after saying that, I remember getting into a real good one with a close friend (my brother) at SCR Stumbles at Elsinore back then. The only thing that disappointed me on that one was, I lost big time. It sound like you had a good launch today. I've been tracking the space program from as far back as 1957. When Sputnik (Spootnik) was launched our teacher brought in a radio to class so we could hear the signal as it was being tracked. These days I review pictures of Mars, the other planets in our system and their moons. I am one that thinks earth is not the only DZ in the area. I can remember hearing about Sky King driving down to see one for the first Shuttle launches. Too bad he didn't get to make it all the way. Keep up the great work Kevin. Regards, SCR-216

It might have been the same Fairchild. You are correct, it was a 71. The Stenson was another plane all together, but they both were about the same age. When I jumped out of either, all I could think of was that I should have a leather helmet on. Dennis

Sounds like Lyle. He knew how to talk to the Law. If I am not mistaken, he was a cop in LA in his early years. I worked out of Ely in Minnesota for a few years in the 60’s. I never got to jump there though. I loved it up there in the woods and on the river systems. Made several 2 and 3 week canoe trips out of that area. Did the Green River in Utah three years ago, which turned into 8 days of 107 degree clear weather. Not a problem if you drink lots fo water all day long. It was a real blast exploring all over those hills. I expected to see a dinosaur around each bend of the river. I’m thinking of planning another Green River trip. This time I want to start above Green river to get a little white water added to the trip. Also, from what I hear the jumping in Utah is real nice too. Talk to you down the line Pete. Dennis

Hello Pete, Lyle was uncompromising and committed when it came to that game. He came up with a version of it he called "Iron Clad Pope". He would bring in an "old" sewer pipe into the Hermosa Beach Rumbleseat and give a Demo of his new game just to pull you in. If he got to you and you were dumb enough to be the one to ask for the demo you were then stuck with going through with it. Lyle was hard and fast on the rules and never gave any slack. That pipe was hell to hold onto and lift without beer in it. With beer in it, most people were s*^t out of luck. My brother and I traveled all over the country with Lyle. We were never disappointed with any of our trips. I see Lyle Jr. a few times a year, and should be jumping with him at Taft on May 29th. I’ll pass your story on to him. Regards, Dennis

Ya got me on that one. Or I should say, I got myself on that one. Well hell, the only thing I can say is, I made it through the 60's so I always have it on my mind. Even when I'm talking about ash dives. He said with a little smile on his face and a bigger smile in his mind...

Hello again Skratch, I remember this one. I talked to Willy about it at the ass dive weekend for Gary Douris last November. Willy still looks the same. Hector was also there. I found a copy of Masters of the Sky that Carl had sent to Paul in the 70's. It has a very short shot of this jump in it. Dennis

Correct me if I am wrong Steve, but I thought Stevensville, MT was near where you live. Dennis

Ron Brissey, now there is a name I sure remember. In the late 60's my car was trashed and all of my jump gear taken (along with my log books). Ron Brissey, Lyle Cameron and others from the Oceanside DZ got equipment together for me so I could still jump that weekend and into the near future. I still have the helmet Ron gave me. If you ever run into Ron, please tell him hello for me. Regards Dennis Henley

Good one Sparky. If you have any pictures, bring them along to Taft in May. I got into a 5-way in Chile in 1970. The government gave us a DC-3 to use for training. At the time we were told that our 5-way was a first for South America. I have no idea if that is true or not, but it sure was fun. We had people from 3 countries in it and several others going around it. It looked like a large cow pie in the sky.

I first talked to Chet at the 1968 Nationals. I only got to talk with him for a few minutes and then had to fly back to Taft. A few years later I spotted his van at the Nationals in Oklahoma. I went over to say hello. I was sure he would not remember me from our last and only very short talk in AZ. Before I could say anything, Chet looked up and said with a big smile, "hello Dennis, I have that pin you were looking for in AZ a few years back". Now, that was a guy that liked people. And I have never talked with anyone that didn't like and respect Chet Poland.