dks13827

some colleges have parachute clubs ( at least in the old days they did !!! ) Get you logbook, USPA card all in order, etc. IMO your new DZ will help you finish up, no problem.

does anyone think 'they' will fix our broken femurs and pelvises 'for free' and just say.. 'oh, no problem' good luck on your next jump, too !! yeah right. come on !!!!!!!!!!!! everyone has been screwed or mistreated by a government bureaucrat. this time, the consequences will be most dire !

in many ways a dream job for the right person !

John Combs C-9774 finally arrived ........ i have not seen this name in a long time, is he among the living? John B. Combs,, attorney in Edmond, OK !!! you betcha !!!! in the phone book, too.

try this, know his age, middle initial ? spouse name? http://preview.ussearch.com/preview/ala/newsearch?

advice: go hang out at the dz,, new friends instantly.. watch, listen, you will learn a lot. watch youtube aff videos !!! ( later, watch malfunction videos,, really !!! )

i bought the movie used on amazon for 5 bucks.. used to rent it from blockbuster, in the 1980's. that is how I showed my daughters what skydiving is like. my oldest made a tandem when she was a senior at AZ state university !! the movie is a great glimpse of jumping 20 years ago... hard core RW !! make no mistake,, those guys and gals were good ( as are jumpers today ).

anyone think 'they' will be happy paying doctor / hospital bills for us dummies on motorcycles or dumb skydivers ?? think about it.

Last I heard, Terry was married and living in Houston. We OK jumpers were buddies with Terry, Ed Christy, and Jim Copsey. They were all great guys !!! Terry had moved to OK and showed up at the Stroud DZ. He was a jumpmaster and since my sorry assed jumpmaster didnt come to the DZ much Terry took over and put me out on my 4th, 5th, and 6th ( 1st FF ) jumps ! We later did many RW jumps together.

In 1973 while stationed at Ft Sam Houston we jumped at the little San Marcos airport just south of I-35. DZO's were Larry Van Horne D-2117 and Norma Van Horne C-6057. Norma was the widow of Rick Burke who went in because of a ripcord stop on his main ripcord which entangled with his reserve after a cutaway. Local jumpers included Jerry Guildner B-9224, Mike Harris A-3528, Mario Garza C-7349, Homer Hudson, Tom Manchure. Charlie Robinson D-3188 was a visiting jumper from FL and Terry Chavez, from Albuquerque, NM.

Larry Church 1949 - 1973. In 1973 while stationed at Ft Sam Houston we were jumping at the little San Marcos airport right next to I-35. DZO's were Larry Van Horne D-2117 and Norma Van Horne C-6057. Norma was the widow of Rick Burke who went in because of a ripcord stop on his main ripcord which entangled with his reserve after a cutaway. Larry Church was visiting from NC and went on a load with us. He was blown backwards under his Para Commander into the power lines just south of I-35 and the canopy pulled him up higher towards the wires. He cutaway and fell to the pavement below. He later died of his injuries.

The Wild, Wonderful World of Parachutes and Parachuting (Paperback) by Bud Selleck (Author) yes, Bud is from TN, I bought his first book, SKYDIVING, in 1963 !!!!

IMO, if he is motivated he can buy gear if he has to and do S/L training, if nothing else, it works !!!

get him into S/L training,, not too costly,, and dont knock it.. it works !!!

Intentional water jump, Ft Gibson, OK, August 1975. We were jumping the club student gear wearing helmet, bathing suit, and tennis shoes. The first load got to fire the CO2 cartridges and inflate the water wings while the rest of us weenies got to blow up the water wings after we opened ( mistake ! ). The wet T-10 I jumped slumped in the sleeve, opened very very hard into a complete ball of trash. I pitched that ripcord away and went for the risers and then that baby started to spin on me. I thought, no way I am playing that game, I am outta here and cutaway within a half turn of the spin. Pulled the wet belly reserve open and it showered me with rain drops as it opened quickly ( thank you ! ) although with line twists ( who cares). Pitched that reserve ripcord away and I remember thinking, I am in a pickle but if I do everything right I can make it. I frantically blew up the water wings, kicked out the line twists then went into the water downwind ( zero time to steer the reserve ) although I had checked to make sure I would land in the lake, not in the trees or houses. Could not easily get free of the harness but luckily I was not dragged at all by the light wind. John Combs C-9774 finally arrived in his 14 foot boat that was swamped by the first jumper's wet T-10, that boat could hardly move and we had no backup boat ( mistake ). Back on land pilot Dave Pitts D-2359 said, "hey Stephens, after the first one did that, what did you think the second one would do ?" I had to laugh but I said.. " yeah I thought about that, but I had NO CHOICE !!" Still here !!

where are they at now ? where was it filmed ? a. young guy in DC-3 in opening scene, short hair, red jumpsuit b. 2 ladies docking on camerman's feet in scene 2 c. guy with mustache, white suit, docking in the next scene d. 2 guys flying horseback ( this was before that "2 Cowboys movie" e. the musicians in the band f. DC-3 pilots g. the gang dancing in the DC-3 to freak brother, and who is the blond lady with glasses h. cute lady side docking on left of screen, white jumpsuit i. guy sit flying out of the Cessna, red jumpsuit j. lady kissing the camera, red helmet k. guy and girl in 2 way canopy dock l. guy docking,, blue suit, white hat, dark goggles, mustache, big grin for the camera m. keith, white helmet, mustache, red suit n. guy with big ones doing intentional cutaway and landing his lopo o. lady DC-3 copilot, formation of 3 over So. Cal ( I know Roger, he's in there a lot, that was nice to see). Just thought it would be fun to put names on some of the jumpers in that fine Norm Kent movie !

http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19830821-0

no pattern name,,,,,,,,,,,,,, it was called solid black............. or red........... or yellow............ or...........

dont laugh too hard at me,, I havent jumped since the 70's. Strato Star and pop top navy conical, that was great gear, safe !! I came up with my dream rig for now a days,, strato star type container with a PD Pulse 253 main, capewells, steel ripcord, pop top reserve with diapered lopo reserve, and add on there a good AAD......... to me that would be good safe gear !! no joke !!!

those PC pictures are great, thanks for the memories...... great colors !! there was one pattern that we called the pizza pattern, in Oklahoma, early 70's. i have to say, PC's were decently reliable, never killed you upon opening, you could hook turn the hell out of them and stand up in 20 mph winds in Oklahoma..... some pretty good times back then. Dave

when I stopped jumping I signed up for flight school. ASMEL, Instr, and private pilot rotorcraft, that was the most fun of all flyiing. Mostly Schweizer, (easy to fly, actually ) and 1 hour each in Bell 47 ( real easy ) and a Robinson ( watch out !!)

Note the 'state of the art gear'. Paracommanders, Papillons, and new Pop Tops. This was very, very good equipment, too !!! 4 months later (Jan 1975) we ordered our Para Flite Strato Stars and believe me, that was a huge deal. Revolutionary !! Just like the Para Commander in 1963 got folks off of cheapo's and lopo's.

1975 at Guthrie, OK

Bob Stroud D-4230, Astronaut Fred Leslie STS-73,D-4154, Dave Stephens SCS 2477 Pop Top reserves with Navy Conicals, they worked great. Bob was our fine rigger and the first to pack Pop Tops for us. They were a bitch, and some guys only packed them once then quit doing it, but Bob took it all in stride and did a great job !!