SCS292

There was a song written about that back in 1970, before tandem jumps. Don't get pissed, just ignore. If it confuses an AFF student, go back to ground school. Sign, sign, everywhere a sign Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?

The patch looks like the one I got for my SCR in 1972. So it is not a logo, just a patch sewn on.

I posted this earlier in the Valley Mills thread but it is interesting how much variation there is in the price of gear pre internet. "(September or October 1971) The first time I met Pete Bandy he was still in a cast and Steve Hazen was trying to get me into skydiving. I'm not sure introducing you to someone with a broken leg is good salesmanship but I bought Pete's rig anyway. A note in my logbook says I paid $75 (there is a page to record your gear purchases in my old logbook). I got a 28' 7TU a 24' "hipo" reserve and an Army harness and containers. I also got his red and black jumpsuit with a hole in one leg. I patched it with a piece of white terry cloth and wore it till I quit jumping." Pete Bandy broke his leg when he went through a canopy of someone who opened below him. I bartered my upgrade to a PC and 26" conical reserve by giving free rent to a friend for several months.

Grandma and Grandpa were rocking on the front porch of the old homestead looking out a the pasture where the bull was servicing one cow after another. Grandma says "don't you wish you could still go at it like that?" Grandpa says "probably still could if I got to change cows every time."

Didn't we go head down into a power dive in the old days and then track out of it?

Do you remember the pilot in training Gary had flying the C-180? Paul Stall. I always thought that was a great name for a pilot. He was working on his commercial license so if you were on a load he was flying you just made a donation instead of paying for the jump. Funny how the donation amount equaled the price of a jump. The 180 had an air door on it which was really nice in the winter and I remember the ass chewing Paul got from Gary when it blew open and got ruined in a power dive after the jumpers got out.

A dollar for a six pack of beer was common even into the early '80s

I took my SCS patch off my jumpsuit and sewed it onto my backpack (with break cord) when I went to Europe in 1972. I thought there was a chance to meet some European or British skydivers if they recognized the patch. Sadly, no one ever did but there weren't as many of us around back then. I hitch hiked from Houston to NYC and all over Europe and back without one comment. I was still proud to display it though.

"In other words, I think the canopy had gotten a bunch of friction burn holes at one time. Plus one line had been replaced, being normal white instead of the yellow that everything else had earlier been dyed. So at some point a jumper had an exciting ride, perhaps on a high speed opening, burning a bunch of holes in their undiapered round reserve! " I had a what we called a garbage malfunction on my PC and cut away somewhat low and opened my 26' conical for the first time. I thought it was a perfect deployment since I had both ripcords in my hand (no beer buying penalty) and I saw my kicker plate frizbeeing off. I thought I would just follow the kicker plate and not have to buy anything. Just as I finished that thought I began to spin and when I looked up at the canopy again I had a May West and the canopy was full of silver dollar sized holes. About a quarted of the canopy was tucked in with two lines over. I didn't have a knife so I tried to do the burn trick but the ground was becoming an issue. I pulled in a similar amount of canopy in the adjacent quarter and stopped the spin just as I landed in a freshly plowed field. I never felt the ground. I weighed 150 at the time. I was really glad to see PCs third photo labeled "Wake Recontact". Back then, 1972, the theory was that the canopy "pancaked" and that the pilot chute looped under two lines and redeployed the whole canopy, pulling it under the two lines, thus causing the burn holes. Of course I always suspected the rigger and everyone else suspected I did something wrong, but from PCs photo I can see how it may have happened. Anyway, over 100 jumps and only two malfunctions isn't bad, unless you have them both on the same jump. My canopy was white but I sold it to a friend who used it for practice cutaways and I have no idea where it may have ended up.

If you can remember the early 70's then you weren't there.

It becomes a glider. If the problem is more serious, hope you are above 1000 and use your parachute. When I was jumping I was always nervous to 1000 and then I knew I could get out if I wanted to.

Dave was in my first 8-man in 1972. He agreed to let me on the load even though I only had 43 jumps. When I decided to sell my gear and go hitchiking through Europe he bought my PC and didn't squable about the price. He was a dude.

First Jump in 1971 and Private Pilot in 1979. I flew in business and got a multi engine and instrument rating. Also got a lighter than air rating in 1990 flying hot air balloons. When I was jumping there were several pilots who jumped. Gary Lewis ran the V-Mills DZ and had his SCR & SCS, Mike Mullins flew jumpers in a twin Beech in Austin and had his SCR, Dave Boatman ran Houston Metro Airlines and flew on many of my jumps and was also in my first 8 man, Don Walker flew and jumped. I'm sure there are lots more.

There was no internet to share experiences on. No cell phones or email to communicate upcoming boogies. And a long distance call cost as much as a jump. No wind tunnel. No video review after each jump. Maybe someone had a super 8 and if a projector could be found you might get to see it a few weeks later if you happened to be in the right place. There was a grapevine but it had some serious gaps. There is no way you could get 400+ experienced skydivers at a dropzone, much less in the air together. When I got my SCS in 1972 only 291 people in the whole world had gotten in to a star 8th or later (and bothered to send $15 to Bill Newell). I don't know this for sure but my guess is that 20% of the 10 man team members at the Tallequah nationals in '72 didn't have their SCS. The base and pin guys back then tended to be fast fallers which was an advantage for us skinny guys who floated. As a star got bigger it slowed it's descent. I can remember going out 30th from a small door DC-3, getting head down, thinking small and not even peeking for the first 30 seconds to see where the formation was. Some of the guys were getting custom jump suits and smaller backpacks, but a lot of us jumped great big Army surplus rigs. We just learned how to make it work just as skydivers today make the new sleek gear work. I haven't jumped in almost 40 years but from what I read, we may have had more fun doing RW back in the old days.

Guilty

I was only out from the hips up. You know a skydiver would never do anything as dangerous as that guy is doing.

I've been having fun looking back at my logbook for the first time in a lot of years. Were any of you old timers, or as John Mincher more politely calls us "Pioneers of the sport", at Doc's on 3-12-'72? It was my first jump in Dickinson. Until then all my jumps had been at Angleton, V-Mills and a couple in Austin. We had a short spot with a 15 knt SE wind and I held as long as I could before I decided the pond north of the DZ was about to be in my future. I made a quick turn to the north, flew over the pond and a bunch of brush and made a hook turn onto a driveway that went to a little house north of the pond. It would have worked out OK but I didn't see the power lines going to the house along the south side of the drive. I went through the power lines and my PC collapsed on the wires causing them to cross and short out. I hit the driveway a little harder than planned and sprained my ankle (thank God for Frenchies). It was a good thing the wires just supplied the one house and were not any higher above the ground. The wires burned in half and fell in the brush starting a nice little fire. Fortunately my PC wasn't damaged by the wires or the fire but the power to Don Gay Pontiac and to the shopping center across I-45 was knocked out. My friends came and got me and we made a hasty retreat. The police came out to the DZ to find me after the fire was out but some quick thinking skydivers told them that it was some guy from California that nobody knew who was visiting and he was so embarrassed that the last time they saw him he was headed north on I-45 in a green Chevrolet. Thanks to whoever it was who put them off the scent!

Krip, I see you got your SCR back in the same era I got mine and I have always been proud of mine too. I think I heard Biden whisper in my ear that it was a BFD!!!!! Not so much now I guess but for the pioneers of the sport it was an important milestone.

The Summer of '72 in V-Mills, Tx was a magical time for me. I quit my job in Houston in early May and moved into my VW van at the DZ in V-Mills full time. Steve Hazen followed as soon as school was out and we had some others make extended stays as well. Larry Gossler from Z-Hills stayed in his VW camper for a while. Jess Hall brought his Airstream and split his time between there and Houston, Matt Farmer and the Kansas bunch came for at least a week. And of course the population on the weekends swelled with people from all over coming to camp out and jump from the Twin Beech and the DC-3. The Texas 10 man team was practicing every weekend for the '72 Nationals in Tallequah and there were some exciting garbage loads that followed them out. We did lots of great RW with jumpers from Kansas, California, Louisana and all parts of Texas. But when the weekend was over and things got quiet, Gary Lewis couldn't fly so he started dreaming up projects for us lay abouts. There was a spare bedroom in Gary and Elaine's trailer where the engine for the J-3 Cub lived. Gary found an A&P to rebuild the engine in exchange for free rides in a glider Gary bought and brought to the DZ. That worked great till the guy stalled it and nosed in, breaking both legs. The glider then became a gathering spot to indulge in some herbal therapy and swap stories. Gary borrowed Alvin's flatbed painting truck and we went over to McGregor airport to pick up Gary's clip wing J-3 and bring it back to V-Mills. The wingspan of a clip wing J-3 is 28' and Gary didn't want to bother with anything like a permit and escort so we travelled the back way on the dirt roads. The Cub wings were well off the ground and above all the barbed wire fences and we were able to weave around the high gates but occasionally we came to a place where there was a tree in the fence line on both sides of the narrow road. We simply sawed the smaller one off at the top of the fence and kept going. At one point I had to get on top of the cab and cut a huge liveoak branch that overhung the entire road. We hoped Alvin wouldn't notice the dent in the roof that one caused. We made it safely back to V-Mills without any trouble with law enforcement or irate landowners who had their trees cut. I left before Gary got the J-3 back in business but Gary's plans for the hanger we were building had doors wide and tall enough to fly the J-3 through. I wonder if he ever did?

I just saw a post on a new thread about a young lady getting her A license after her 68th jump. I know a lot of things have changed since I made my last jump almost 40 years ago but I was just wondering if this is normal? I never got a license nor aspired to one back in the early '70s but I did jump with a lot of people who had them. With money in short supply I figured I could send in money to join USPA and get a license or I could make 5 more jumps. My logbook from that era says you could get an A license with 10 jumps, a B in 30, a C in 80 and a D in 205. I know those numbers have changed since then and I wonder if it is mainly due to the square canopies used now? Just for fun I had a look back at what I was doing on my 68th jump and had to grin. It was a 2-man kiss pass (yes, with a girl but it was still a 2-"man" in those days) with a female jumper who was new to the V-Mills DZ and wanted to do RW. I had a double malfunction on that jump that ruined my 26' conical reserve but I remember that I did get lucky later that night.

Many years ago there was a grocer in Houston, Jamail's on Kirby Drive, who didn't allow anyone to touch the produce. Everything they sold was perfect and they had an attendant sack it for you. You just told the attendant how many. It cost more but there was no waste when you got home with the goods. Unfortunately their real estate value outpaced their margin on groceries and they sold out in the late 80's.

If you had followed her to where they sell the CDs up by the register you might have seen her jivin' too!

Hi Wendy, I am in NW Arkansas now but I get down to Houston and Galveston frequently. My son lives in Houston and also has a house on Tiki. I had a nice but too short visit with John last time I was down there in April. First time I had seen him in almost 40 years and except for the white hair he looked just the same. I'm coming back to Galveston in late July and I might make a trip over to Spaceland just to do the wuffo thing. I'll try to get John to come along too. I might even luck out on a free beer if there is a SCR ceremony and it is not past my bedtime. I do hope they still let the old farts participate. John has promised to keep me posted on the next reunion. There was an Old Spaceland reunion going last time I was down but none of the participants on the list were from my generation except John so I didn't go with him. I jumped in Dickinson and Cleveland but quit before the Old Spaceland DZ got started. We did leave from there a few times when the airstrip in Dickinson was too muddy to fly but always jumped into Doc's.

I got my SCR 1339 & SCS 292 on my 44th jump in Dickinson, TX 4-22-72. I was 3rd out of the chase plane in a C-180 & C-182 formation. John Mincher followed me out but beat me to the star so I lucked out on the SCS. "Spiderman" Bob Vincent got his SCR 1338 on the same jump. My thanks to Tom Sanders SCR 776, Sean Ferguson SCR 939, Dave Boatman SCR 877, David Bottrell SCR 774, Robert Bottrell SCR 423, Spiderman SCR 1338 and John Mincher SCR 422 for building the 7 man and for letting a low time jumper on the load.

I spent quite a few hours standing up with my torso out the top of my friend's VW squareback sun roof in a big arch on the frequent trips between Houston and Valley Mills in '71 and '72. I give this low speed (65 mph top end in the VW) wind tunnel training partial credit for advancing my RW skills. I'm sure it was hard on the gas mileage but at 30 cents a gallon it wasn't that big a deal. Did anybody else use this technique before the vertical wind tunnel came along? Thank goodness it was pre cell phone days so we didn't get reported as crazies by the other motorists.