thegirlnextdoor

Yeah, me too, because I think that is Norton with the orange and black canopy -- those were the colors he jumped. When Norton first started jumping, he came in R&J a lot (The Altitude Shop in Vallejo, CA) where I worked. He was about 50 or more pounds overweight, and he bought a huge orange jumpsuit. Betty Tavalero and I called him "The Great Pumpkin" (but only behind his back -- we knew he was a HELLS ANGEL!) (Wherever you are Norton, after that "oil slick", sorry about the Great Pumpkin crack!!! We love ya') Norton was so enthused to be jumping, he lost all the weight so he could fly better. He also made 600 jumps in his first year in jumping... and that with 6 months out for a broken back... (of course he "worked nights" LOL) TGND

I can vouch for this, not a joke... I used to watch Steve and Norton do this a lot at Pope Valley... It was very weird looking, and very scary, to see Steve peeking out of the center cell of Norton's canopy... like he was in a sleeping bag! Hi Steve!!!!! Long time!!! TGND

"If you're going to get STD's, you're most likely going to get them from the girl next door." Hey, not true, and stop libeling me. hahahahahahaha TGND

"...I still don't know why the one guy jumped out when we were only 12 or 15 feet off the ground..." Maybe because he didn't want to "live through the crash for the fire?" LOL Maybe because -- like most jumpers -- he wanted to be "Master of his own Fate"? By doing so, he might have been the only one to live -- or the only one to die. He was by the door, so he did SOMETHING. That was what he told me. His broken leg was bad, but it could have been a lot worse (either way). He did miss the rest of the Nationals, LOL. TGND

"Mike was an amazingly good gymnast too and helped our team win a lot of competitions. He was a nice guy in high school, not stuck up like some of the star athletes." One time Mike told me he got pulled over for DUI and the officer asked him to "walk a line" as a "sobriety test" -- Mike's response was "Sure, Officer, I can do that on my HANDS" -- and he proceeded to do so. So the officer let him go. Mike always said he could walk on his hands better drunk than sober... RIP Mike TGND

Hi Petey! Actually jeannie drove a Sky Blue Morris Minor, complete with license plates "SKYQN" and with pinwheels attached to the antennae. (I had a '67 cherry RED VW bug (plates: "TGND" :) jeannie traveled with her two little Shih Tzu dogs, wore little jingle bells on her tennis shoes, and she wore a bikini with pride in her fifties... jeannie was funny, irreverent, classy, and "one of a kind"!! RIP jeannie. (Did I mention "tough"? jeannie was Captain of The Stardusters All Women Exhibition Team, and one year at the Reno Air Races she was sporting broken ribs, but she had people wrap layers of duct tape round and round her chest so she could suit up and do the exhibition jumps anyway --) TGND

When the plane went in at Richmond, the prop came THROUGH the side of the plane. The prop lifted up Swoop's leg and PINNED it by the cloth of his jumpsuit leg, about head high on the inside wall of the plane. As I recall, it broke his leg. They cut a swatch out of the leg of his jumpsuit to get him down. I went in the plane by myself that night where it still lay in the cornfield, and I saw the scrap of Swoop's jumpsuit pinned BY THE PROP to the wall. It was a sight I shan't forget. TGND

I recognize the first picture. It is a young Byron Black, of Jump Hawaii (RIP) TGND

The jumper who exited the plane into the cornfield was named Pete Levy. He broke his leg badly in a spiral break, and had to have it pinned in about 17 places. I visited him in the hospital, so I know. And no, I did not know him. The jumper who wrecked his arm was Ray Catlette. It was a terrible injury, and he loss the use of his arm. Dennis Murphy actually sued USPA in a long and expensive legal battle to be reinstated to USPA so he could return to Competition, after he was banned from USPA for LIFE for jumping off of El Capitan without a permit. jeanni Mccombs (RIP) was also banned from USPA for LIFE for it. It was "cruel and unusual" punishment. And ridiculous treatment of 2 people with a lifetime dedication to skydiving. TGND