Guru312

[reply The one Guru is referring to is an AeroIndicator with the black wrinkle finish. They were the hot stuff back then. The picture is very close to what I had and the name you mention, AeroIndicator rings a bell. Very similar. My altimeter could have been even deeper than that pictured. After posting this I spent a few hours cutting grass and got to thinking...should I tell the world my "first altimeter" story? I decided to tell the story because I love self-deprecating humor...but, more important, some 6 jump wonder may learn something from my stupidity. I started skydiving with the XVIII ABN Corps SPC at Bragg in 1960. I acquired the altimeter when I was just off static line, maybe 5 sec delays. I decided to add some safety features to my altimeter by painting the face with bright red nail polish the way some other guys had done. Or so I thought they had done. Dumbness and being clueless, I painted the external surface of the "glass" protective cover creating a pie shaped red area from 0 to 2. On my first jump with the "new" safer altimeter, my J/M did a double take and said, "WTF is that all about??!!" I explained that I did it so I'd be able to tell when I was getting low because of the color. Did he ever laugh! So did everyone else. For days...maybe for weeks. This ranks as one of the dumbest things I ever did...not just in skydiving...and it was all because I didn't understand my gear and how everything worked. Don't tell anyone about this... unless you don't know why what I did was so friggin' stupid. :) Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

I've been around for a few years. EVERY friend who I have lost over the years has been killed on the way to/from the DZ or in some sort of a highway related incident...not from jumping. One student/good friend died in a motorcycle accident when he got hit by a drunken driver about six years ago. He had 7500 skydives and 150 BASE jumps. The risk in this sport is psychological. Like good sex, much of it is in our head. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

I've often thought the same thing. I had a huge instrument panel...can't recall who manufactured it...with an aircraft altimeter and a stop watch. The altimeter I had was surplus and 2-3 inches or more deep. Black wrinkled paint finish and sharp edges on the mount. A terrible thing to have on belly wart. I got smacked in the face by that mount a number of times with hard openings. I learned to cinch the harness straps until I could hardly walk. Yeah...those were the days. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

Your response confirms my assessment of current human nature. In the time it took us to write these two messages, dozens, if not hundreds, of people all over the world have died by the hand of another human. Curiously, our closest kin, the chimps, kill their kind for simple territorial domination. You are in good company. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

[reply... and the dating and relationship stuff only starts happening AFTER a whole lot of good sex?] Exactly! My point for starting this forgotten thread: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3300959;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread What I'm referring to is an animal attraction of overwhelming strength and enjoyment. I'm sure someone will step up and say, "Humans are not animals!" We are and we will always be animals. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

A bullet-proof alibi? I don't care what you said about me in that other thread. That's very funny! Thanks for a really good laugh. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

Whew...now that's the 'Twardo I know...so to speak. Your long post was the longest I've ever seen you post. But I knew you could do it. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

No. There is no way that her gender attacks deserve slack. If a guy wrote that way a greenie would be on her immediately. Her comments were sexist and way too broad for the responses received. The opinions were hers. IMNHO. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

Very possible but I make up for the difference in love muscle size. Which, in your case, is just the opposite. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

I make my living doing things before anyone else in the universe if you need to know. If Divot had not changed his sig line in the middle of this repartee you'd realize that my "insignificant" comment was meant as humor pointed toward him. [Put it back, Divot, so they'll know what I mean.] I don't know where your *humor* muscle is but mine is connected to my love muscle and I still have both. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

Thanks for your defensive comment but futuredivot is totally insignificant. I spent almost three years with the 82nd Airborne during Viet Nam I think I can hold my own when it comes to balls. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

Granddad here checking in with the senior citizen's perspective. Not! I do not have a typical senior's take on life. Would I be HERE on DZ.com if I did? The issue, Orchid, is that you make blanket statements with which I strongly disagree. Maybe this should be in Speakers Corner but you come across to my old brain as attacking men and our perspectives...and you do it with a very broad brush. You write this: And this: I've spent quite a bit of time reading things in the Woman's Section because I have a 15 year old daughter who wants to skydive very badly. I value the female perspective. I believe that men--men of all races and religions-- are fucking up this world of ours and women need to fix it. Where is Lysistrata when you need her??!! But...with blanket statements, totally unsubstantiated comments such as yours---they sure are OPINIONS, I grant you that---you are adding to the discord between us rather than helping. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

I hope my comments are not considered personal attacks; they are certainly not meant to be. Your attitude reminds me of the 1950s. Seriously! I thought an attitude such as yours went out with poodle skirts and saddle shoes. I grew up in the '50s and was in the 1959 graduating class in high school. I'm not quite sure of the year, maybe 58 or 59, Playboy came along. No pubic hair, no nipples in the first few months...years? Today, http://youporn.com will get damned near any porn anyone could possibly want...gay or straight, anal or oral. Times have changed. I could be old enough to be your grandfather and my take on sex is more "modern"...and realistic!...than yours. Again, not a personal attack. I simply think your perspective is naive. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

I second this comment. Wearing a wing suit is cheating a bit. We spent quite a few jumps wearing Sears coveralls attempting to maneuver our bodies to even see someone in freefall during the latter part of 1960-61. I can't remember when...sometime in 61-63... when I finally passed our broomstick with tire tape on the ends to another jumper. So long ago I can't remember to whom. Those were the days! Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

When the percentage of "Yes" answers in Orchid's recent "First Date Sex" poll reached 69% I decided it was time to ask about Cosmic Sex. Cosmic Sex is the best sex you've ever had. Well, at least the best sex since the last time you had Cosmic Sex. The sex with a Cosmic partner seems so special, erotic, tender or wild, and totally absorbing in body and mind that orgasms are almost a near death experience. Touching your Cosmic Sex partner, in reality--or in your mind, makes you wet or hard...depending. Every act in Cosmic Sex is better than any other sex you've had. Chances are, you felt the immediate erotic rushes and hot flashes from the first time you met. You felt that you "had to have" this Cosmic Sex partner... often before either of you spoke or, maybe, because of how your partner looked at you when you first spoke to each other: you knew. In the many years I was involved with jumping as a JM, Instructor, rigger and pilot I learned to intuitively tell which women were potential Cosmic Sex partners in a 3 second glance by her. [It's all a distinctive look in the eyes.] The connection that takes place--- with/in/during-- isn't a seduction process exactly; it's more like an unspoken agreement of mutually desired animal rut. Cosmic Sex can be gentle or wild or in between but it's always something special and separate from just 'regular' sex. DZs attract thrill seeking people and folks who want to have fun. At a few DZs, I was fortunate to often teach the aircraft exit portion of first jump courses in addition to being one of the jump pilots. During the interplay of teaching and practical mock-up exits I learned how to tell who could be a Cosmic Sex Sister. No, no wait...that reads wrong. But you get the point: when he or she is the one, you know. I was lucky enough to fly at a few DZs which were large enough to attract a dozen or more people on a weekend but small enough to allow considerable interplay between the students and staff. I have to admit that my position as both instructor and pilot gave me a much greater opportunity to meet people than the average jumper. After just a few years in jumping I realized that I was a addicted to Cosmic Sex. So tell us: Have you experienced Cosmic Sex? Have any stories you'd care to share? Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

Given my age, I should be reading and posting in SH&T but this subject is a favorite of mine. Putting any kind of "requirement"--such as number of dates, weeks known or any other criteria--on such an issue is, to me, laughable. One woman I met, and with whom I had massive mutual attraction--said to me, "I never have sex on the first date!" To which I responded, "Do you have sex on the last date?" Our mutual attraction was highly intellectual as well as physical. She pondered my question, seemed to recognize an intellectual disconnect, looked at me with a big grin, and said, "OK, smart ass" and began smothering me with kisses. We had sex on the first date and every date there after for a number of years. I'll never for get...ah, ah, what was her name? Damn, proper names are the first thing to go. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

I second this!! Very enjoyable. Except for hearing about Mac. I always liked talking to him and Master Chief Bob Kubler. Didn't they own that airplane together? Keep adding pics!! Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

First picture: Guy on left in red jumpsuit: Dave DeWolf? Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

I made up for an MA-1 being manufactured in your "Holy Land" by having "Atheist" on my tags while in the 82nd Airborne. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

A lot more than one tear for me; I'm astonished with myself for how moved I was by this video. Thank you, Jewels, for posting this. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

Here is a virtual world---similarly to Second Life--created by Google that you folks may enjoy. Check it out: http://www.lively.com/html/landing.html If you create a world let us know about it. Post your comments. I think it's almost a cool as an open parachute. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

Maybe not his body or clothing but we have evidence---the found rig that our resident agent displayed recently---to show that parts of a parachute could probably still be identified. At the very worst, hardware will still be identifiable. But so what? Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

I argued exactly this in the other thread. Working backward from the found money in time and place we can similarly assume that the bag was held together and closed for most of the life of the money. The integrity of the bag, meaning securely closed because of being wrapped tightly with 14 feet of 550lb nylon cord, is crucial to the money being found in the condition that it was. Anywhere up tributary within the actual flight path is where the money fell or was eventually washed into the water. I know this because I channeled Richard Feynman last night and he explained it to me. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

Often, when no confusion will be created, only the last two numbers or letters are given without any other read-back. Such as when a smart-assed jump pilot was flying Cessna 182 N69BS, the response was shortened to: BS. I got lots of laughs from controllers responding with only those letters... with a particularly voice inflection when I wanted to convey dissatisfaction with a routing. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

How true. I milked the perception of being DB Cooper for months. I made airplane payments, insurance payments and I bought food because people thought I was DB. Never once did I explicitly say, or even imply, that I was DB Cooper. But people seemed to believe it...all because of the advert that I ran only once. Similarly, I often said that I did not teach Jim O'Brien--a well-known East Coast jumper and Philadelphia TV weather man who died after a canopy entanglement--but people still occasionally ask, 25 years later, "Didn't you teach Jim O'Brien to jump?" I wrote to local newspapers debunking that I had taught O'Brien and they still thought I was his instructor. As P. T. Barnum supposedly said, "There's a Fool Born Every Minute." But me...I am not DB Cooper. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper