swovelin

Hey everyone, we finally have a date for Pat's services! Yeaa! Pat will be interred at Riverside National Cemetery on Monday June 11 at 1:30 pm. This is a military ceremony, so if you want to attend, get in touch with me (Jerry) and I'll get you on the 'official' list. Also, don't forget that the larger "gathering of the tribe" is scheduled for Sunday July 1 at Perris Valley DZ (let me know if you want to go on the memorial skydive). Blues, Jerry

Dear Friends: Thank you all for your wonderful support through this difficult time. Everything is coming together for a a fitting tribute to the Late, Great, Much-Beloved Pat Swovelin. (Pat would copyright that phrase, I'm sure.) The Celebration of Pat's Life will be on Sunday July 1 at Perris Valley DZ. EVERYONE IS WELCOME. Please bring your best 'Patrick Story' and join us for a day of memorial skydives, tandem jumps by his kids, Alanna & Preston, along with food & drink, speechifying & bad jokes, camaraderie & love. We hope that you can attend the Patrick Life Celebration in person; if not, please join us in spirit on that day. Please be so kind as to RSVP (even if it's a maybe) to jswovelin@sbcglobal.net. Potential lurkers for the actual memorial flower-drop skydives should likewise apply to that address (and get current!) Also, FYI, Pat will be interred next week at the Riverside National Cemetery. The VA has not yet provided the date (I'll post that as son as I know). NOTE: This is a military funeral and space is limited; close friends are welcome, of course, but we must get you on the official list prior to the event. Please contact the family and we'll see if we can work you in: jswovelin@sbcglobal.net. In closing, let me say once again a most heartfelt "Thank you!" to all of you. Your touching comments and support give honor to the memory of my brother, the Late, Great, Much-Beloved Pat Swovelin (Copyright pending ).

Dear Friends: I'm sorry that I neglected to include any details about Pat's passing. No much is known at this time, other than it was simply due to natural causes. Pat's wonderful daughter Alanna came to check on him last night (Monday 5/21), she found him in bed, seemingly asleep, but alas that was not the case. Services are being planned. Thank you all for your kind words. BSBD.

It is with great sadness that I must report the passing of Patrick James Swovelin, the original "Skygod." Pat was a brother, husband, father, a 40+ year skydiver, and a friend to many. He will be missed by all. Information on services will be forthcoming. Rest in peace brother.

Ok maybe I can get the photo to upload ... now.

It was a good day.

More details in this article from avweb.com: Lost Squadron Of Pickled Spitfires Found Email this article |Print this article By Russ Niles, Editor-in-Chief Aviation historians and warbird enthusiasts are drooling at the discovery of at least 12 and maybe as many 20 perfectly preserved brand-new Spitfire Mark 14s buried in Myanmar, which was formerly Burma. Thanks to the tenacity (and apparently considerable diplomatic skills) of British farmer David Cundall, the lost squadron of pristine fighters was found where they were buried by U.S. troops in 1945 when it became clear they wouldn't be needed in the final days of the Second World War. At least a dozen of the aircraft, one of the latest variants with their 2,035-horsepower Roll Royce Griffon engines replacing the 1,200-1,500-horsepower Merlins in earlier models, were buried without ever being removed from their original packing crates. It's possible another eight were also buried after the war ended. After spending 15 years and $200,000 of his own money, Cundall was rewarded with visual proof of the magnitude of his discovery. "We sent a borehole down and used a camera to look at the crates," he told the Telegraph. "They seemed to be in good condition." The aircraft were declared surplus when they arrived in Burma because the Japanese were in retreat by then and carrier-based Seafires were getting all the action. They were ordered buried in their original crates, waxed, swaddled in grease paper and their joints tarred against the elements. Cundall found some of the soldiers who buried the planes by placing ads in magazines and was able to narrow down the search before using ground-penetrating radar to confirm the burial site. The next obstacles to recovery are political. Myanmar's former military junta was under a variety of sanctions, among them an international convention that prevented the transfer of military goods to and from the country. Recent political reforms have led to the lifting of that ban effective April 23. Cundall will also need the permission of the new Myanmar government to unearth the treasure. He helped his own cause by making numerous trips to the country and earning the trust of government officials. British Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to seal the deal with Myanmar President Thein Sein during a visit.

Jim Fee was one of the best (& most daring!) jump pilots I have ever known. I'll bet he's barrel-rolling his angel wings now! RIP Jim.

Yep, I'll be there too. RIP Daddy Don Henderson.

Bill, I am so sorry to hear of your loss. You are all too right about the Big C being an equal-opportunity reaper, heavy sigh. As you know, that's how we lost Mom Swovelin. For now, you just need to concentrate on the good memories, try to recall all the good times Peggy and you had in your time together, and just hold her in your heart. Sincere condolences. Jerry & Barb

Manchuso: Here is the canopy I PMed you about. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3042696;search_string=double%20keel;#3042696

Oops, the photo didn't upload; I'll try again. J

Oops, the photo didn't upload; I'll try again. J

[FYI, this is a cross-post from the 'Gary' thread in Blue Skies forum.} Well, it has now been one whole year since we lost Gary, 9/3/09, but it seems like yesterday. To properly mark the date, I put on my very best 'Gary T-shirt' and did a little early-morning "Gary Memorial Flight" in my little light-sport airplane. (Coincidentally, today is also the one-year birthday for my little flying filly; I stopped by Gary's house that day on the way home to give him the good news. Sigh.) Anyway, I flew over Gary's old homestead in Lake Elsinore and I dropped some wildflowers I had picked by the airport. Then I turned back south and did a flyby at Skydive Elsinore, dropping more flowers over the DZ and airport. Then I headed home with a smile on my face. RIP Gary, you are still in our thoughts,

Well, it has now been one whole year since we lost Gary, 9/3/09, but it seems like yesterday. To properly mark the date, I put on my very best 'Gary T-shirt' and did a little early-morning "Gary Memorial Flight" in my little light-sport airplane. (Coincidentally, today is also the one-year birthday for my little flying filly; I stopped by Gary's house that day on the way home to give him the good news. Sigh.) Anyway, I flew over Gary's old homestead in Lake Elsinore and I dropped some wildflowers I had picked by the airport. Then I turned back south and did a flyby at Skydive Elsinore, dropping more flowers over the DZ and airport. Then I headed home with a smile on my face. RIP Gary, you are still in our thoughts,

Back in the mid-seventies, I used my trusty "unmodified" 26' Navy Conical as a main for several hundred jumps. I'd just track for the peas, pull low, pop the 4-line-release, and stand it up every time. (Well, maybe not every time. )

OHMIGOD! You're right! That fun jump on Aug 2nd was actually my first jump of my FORTY-FIRST year. (Or, maybe it was my first jump of my next 40 years of jumpin' depending on your perspective.) I think it was Gary Douris who explained an important truth to me, "You don't quit jumpin' 'cause you get old; you get old if you quit jumping!"

Bill: Thank you for your 'congrats' post. Coming from a man with your perspective on the sport, I appreciate it all the more. P.S. I have a slight connection to the later "chuteless" jumps. My then-partner, Bob Buehrer, was the freefall cameraman for Jimmy Tyler when he did his sans-chute jumps for "That's Incredible" and other TV shows. Do you remember the "Canopy in a bucket" stunt? (His canopy was in a bucket with a drogue, which was chucked out of the plane, Jimmy had to catch the bucket in FF and then remove the canopy and clip it on.) What a hoot!

of 1000 jumps, they were almost ALL on a 26' Navy Conical w/4 line release (no steering holes) as a main, I stood up all the time, and landed in pea gravel all the time (when I spotted). WOW, does THAT story bring back the memories! Thanks! I made about 975 jumps on rounds and, just like you, a large number of those were on a Navy surplus 26" conical 'emergency' canopy with no mods, no holes, no toggles, just a 4-line release! (All this time I thought that I was the only oddball jumping a Navy reserve for a main.) Also, BTW, just when I arrived at Elsinore last Monday, the Air Force group performed a wonderful (unintentional) "tribute to the old days." One AF guy was jumping a 28' tri-color round main and he had to deploy his round reserve! For the first time in MANY a year, I got to observe a "two-out" landing with DOUBLE ROUNDS! Some things never change.

Nick, that story is just TOO damn funny. (Said Jerry, the younger brother, the one who wasn't at Pitt meadows.) Thanks for sharing the memory!

OK, just so that it is "properly noted in the ship's log," I must mention that I made a fun jump today Aug 2 2010 at Skydive Elsinore with my wonderful wife Barbara. That, in itself, is unremarkable. What is of somewhat greater note, at least on a personal level, is the commemoration of a previous jump, my first-ever parachute jump. On Aug. 2 1970, a skinny high-school kid came to a place called "Skylark Field" in Lake Elsinore and paid $30 to make a static-line jump on a surplus 32' round. That kid was never the same again. I want to say a big THANK YOU to the many individuals who have contributed to these absolutely amazing forty years of skydiving and BASE jumping! Also, just to note it in the ship's log, I ain't done yet!

Let's see... In #5 from the left, Alan Richter, Mark Sechler, Anne Helliwell, Tony Dell... And, "down in front" is the poster, Mr. Nick himself. How'd I do boss?

So you want to jump a float plane, eh? You really should contact Tom Sanders at Aerial Focus because he has "been there, done that" and he has the photos to prove it. I've attached a tiny thumbnail FYI.

Happy Birthday Madden Travis Works!

[Bump.] Yesterday, March 3, was the 6-month anniversary of Gary's untimely death. It was also the 6-month anniversary of my first-ever airplane purchase. On that day, I stopped by Gary's house in Lake Elsinore to tell him the good news, knowing that Gary always loved to talk about airplanes. Alas, I arrived too late that day for a final face-to-face chat. (Heavy sigh.) However, as many of us are aware, Gary is still very much with us; his light shines through the smiling faces of all those lives he touched. So, yesterday I took Gary out flying for the first time ever with me as the PIC. It was just me and a photo of of a smiling Gary from his wake. We did steep power turns and wifferdills and we played with the clouds and we had a great time together. As you can see, Gary is still affecting the lives he touched, still putting a smile on people's faces. I'll see you around, Gary Douris.