chuteless

Ive always been very particular about keeping my log book up to date, with everything from the registration of the aircraft to Altitude, to weather, to ....you name it. I have always tried to log each jump within a half hour after landing. Didnt always make the half hour, but it was a goal. My log book is full of info which tells stories about who, how high, what happened...even broken bones. Bill Cole D-41

VERY GOOD Riock. I am so glad to hear that you've perservered and made it. Now the sky is really yours. You take good care, enjoy the blue, and let me know how you make out with giant formations and the like. All the very best. Bill Cole D-41

I recently visited a great DZ, which was run by a man who would not stand for stupid drunkeness, drugs, foul language or nudity . This man is Jim West, Owner of Skydive Green County, and a jumper's jumper all the way. How nice to visit a DZ where morals are important. Bill Cole D-41

Well, Phillykev, I imagine the Palestinian murderers are upset because of the reduction in their atrocities. If they cant send suicide bombers in to kill and maim innocent womwen and children, it must be terribly frustrating. Bill Cole

There is no need to keep the Canucks out....just stop Canada from exporting terrorists. Bill Cole

The World Court, and Kofi Annan and the UN have all said that Israel should tear down their illegal wall that keeps the Palestinian murderers out of Israel. Prime Minister Sharon has told them all the wall stays righty where it is, It is said that the suicide bombings have been reduced up to 90 % in places where the wall is finished. GOOD FOR ISRAEL Bill Cole

Well done....congrats to you. Now the sky is yours, and you can enjoy it to the fullest. YOU are a skydiver in every sense of the word.. Take care...stay safe, and enjoy the blue Bill Cole D-41

Perhaps Kerry/Edwards think all the bald people will vote for them. I still say Kerry has as much Charisma as well burnt toast. Bill Cole

I personally think all the "beer rules" were written by a bunch of people who should have long ago attended Alchoholics Anonymous. They have managed to sucker people into feeding their drunkeness by telling them they "owe beer" for everything from their 1st jump to their grandmother's birthday. Bill Cole D-41

The best was in southern Ohio, SGC The worst was in northern Ohio AE....... (not so much the DZ as the arrogant attitude of the DZO. Bill Cole D-41

Congrats to you. Make all your jumps safe and sky friendly...take care of yourself and enjoy the blue. Bill Cole D-41

I attended the boogie at SGC in May of this year. Before going to Xenia, I visited an old friend Gary Freeze, once known as the Buckeye Gypsy Moth. Gary would often come to Ontario and make demos with me and I would go to Greensprings Ohio and make demos with him. I hadnt seen Gary for 30 years (1974) and when I visited him in May, he told me he had had both hips replaced "twice". This was the result of a demo back in the mid 1970s. He is now in constant pain and waddles like a wounded duck when he walks. It was a local jump in the Greensprings area, and he had a main chute malfunction. He quickly cutaway, and pulled his front mount reserve chute, and it stayed in the pack. Gary drove it with his fist, and it came out somewhat reluctantly, but the canopy although it was a streamer behind him, refuse to inflate. He grabbed the lines and shook them, and the reserve finally opened close to the ground, and began to osscillate wildly. Gary hit the pavement flat on his back, and was hurting badly. He later made a few more jumps, before finding out he had cracked his pelvis, and for some medical reason, the blood flow wasnt getting to the hurt spot, so it wasnt healing as it should have. When I was at SGC, I met a mutual friend, Paul Nineinger, a man now 68 yrs old. He and I sat on the porch of SGC and we were discussing Gary's malfunction, and Paul told me that Gary had left out one key factor when he related the story to me. A few days before Gary made the jump and had to use his reserve, he had made another jump, and landed in some water. Being as it was February, his reserve was frozen shut, and that was the reason both the container and the canopy refused to open when he cutaway a few days later. When Paul told me this truth, I laughed for a week, and vowed to visit Gary again and kick his butt for using a frozen reserve. On a night jump many years ago, one of those nights with no moon, and no light from any other source, Gary jumped carrying a flare inside his jumpsuit which he intened to light after opening, and let hang on a 15 foot line below him when under the canopy. This would give him some light as he approached the ground. . Since the night sky was as black as the insides of a bruised crow, Gary couldnt see his instruments, so guessed he had fallen long enough and opened his chute. He pulled the flare from his jumpsuit, and struck the ignitor, and the flare burst into a red glow. Gary threw it hard beneath him, and the flare bounced of the ground, just as he hit the earth himself. Close....but close dont count.

congrats to you. You are now able to enjoy the sky wih the rest of us. Take care, stay safe, and fly... and may all the landings be soft . Bill Cole D-41

I am not writing my memoirs. Although someone is supposed to be....I doubt they will be written...certainly not any time soon. Bill

Yes I wear one all the time. I did notice on my recent trip through the USA that few Americans were wearing watches. They were constantly asking me what the time was...thats what drew my attention to them not having watches. Bill Cole D-41

I'll trade you for a partially healed broken ankle. Bill Cole D-41

I just got home from a trip of 8293 miles, across the United States from Rhode Island to Californa, and an opportunity to visit quite a few DZs. After 42 years of jumping, I think I have the ability to tell a good dropzone from one of lesser worth. I met a lot of great people, and a few not so great , and both affected the Dropzones they were active at. Although I wasnt able to get to every DZ, I did manage to get to enough to form a solid opinion as to whether they were a great dropzone or a place I wouldnt ever want to visit again. Oddly enough, the best and the worst of all those I visited were in the same State.....OHIO. Bill Cole D-41

Come on Quade.....The chance of any politian telling the truth is so small.....you might as well expect Cheney to tell the world that Halliburton lost money last year. They get voted in on lies, tell lies through their mandate, and lie right to their grave. Do you really expect anything else?????? You are smarter than that, I hope. Bill Cole

I hadnt jumped for 4 years, and in May of this year I went up and made a total of 8 jumps in three weeks. Now its true, Ive been doing it for a long time, but you are no different...you've done it before, and to do it again will just be nothing more than repeats of your past jumps. Have total confidence in yourself...tell yourself, "Hey, Ive done all this before...it worked for me then...it will work for me now"> Get your butt into the airplane, and GO man, you canm do it.....you have proved that....so do it again. I have every confidence in you, so why shouldnt YOU have the same confidence? You have been there....done that....enjoyed it....and proved to everyone that you are a skydiver, so stop wailing about being afraid...there isnt anything to be afraid about....you proved THAT too, didnt you. Now go get em....and let me know how much you enjoyed the next jump, and the next one, and the next one....Hopefully, you won't have to contend with a DZO like I did in Northern Ohio, who didnt know what he was doing, was stupidly sarcastic, and attempted to make some kind of reputation for himself by showing his ignorance to me. Fortunately, those DZOs are few....so good luck. You are a person who belongs IN THE SKY...so do it. "again". Bill Cole D-41

In the sixties I never liked the term "skydiver", because I considered it to John Wayne-ish..... There were many who wore big crests on their jackets so everyone would know they were "skydivers"...and they only had one or two jumps at the time. I preferred Stunt parachutist, or sport parachutist. Bill Cole D-41

I finally made it home again. I drove 8,293 miles, met a lot of good people at many drop zones (many D.Z. Commers) and except for breaking my ankle, it was quite a trip. I enjoyed the jumps (except for 1) and wish I could have made more, but after 4 weeks, my ankle is still swollen. I would like to have stopped at a few DZs on my return, but on crutches, its just to much hassle. I would like to thank everyone I met for their hospitality and friendship....you are a great "family", and I'm proud to be a small part of it. Thanks one and all Bill Cole D-41

I finally got to Perris....and hope before I leave here to get at least one jump. I feel sort of lost amongst all these people having sky fun Bill Cole

It may have been better if I was less hard headed, and more hard ankle.... Thanks God for percodan. Bill

As if it wasnt bad enough to break my left ankle 2 1/2 weeks ago, I slipped and fell in the shower at a motel, and feel hard, hitting my spine on the ridge around the bottom oif the shower.No, I did not do a PLF....but it could have been a PSF (Possible spine fracture) I just pay there until I realized my spine was still in one continous column, and I got nothing more than a badly bruised vertebrae. Damn....I have to stop doing these bad landings....so I can get airborne again SOON. Bill Cole D-41

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