steve1

What does it mean, when you can recall all of them? Does this mean I'm really, really, an old fart? (with a good memory).....Steve1

Dave, don't go! I may now be the only "Redneck" left on here. I think most folks appreciated the advice you gave.......Steve1

For what it's worth, the bulk of guys with whom I served would be rejected for enlistment these days. The average IQ was like room temperature, and these kind of bonehead incidents were the norm. Winsor During the Vietnam days it was hard to find people who wanted to be cannon fodder. Much of the time anyone with a heartbeat and a reasonable I.Q. was accepted. That is one reason I chose to get out. Don't get me wrong there were also lot's of great people who served back then, but it may not have been the norm. (particularly in the grunt outfits). One of my MOS's was 11-B and I would have hated to go into combat with many of those guys, back in the early 70's that I trained with. Lowering lines were sometimes a problem. Ours were held in place with two rubber bands and they could come undone. The biggest problem I saw with lowering lines was that sometimes they weren't fastened to the main lift web properly. I saw one guys equipment bounce because the buckle on the end was too large for the smaller webbing of his lowering line. It was fastened but came undone when he dropped it.....Steve1

I heard Ralgh has some new hornets in stock, but I also heard they were over a $1000. Don't quote me though. Someone at our DZ told me this last weekend.....Steve1

Being an old fart, my vision has turned bad. I realized that I needed to improve this situation after failing to see another jumper who opened his canopy below me on breakoff. I now where glasses under my Z-1. This is just my opinion, but I think good vision is vital for safe RW. But my vision isn't the only thing that is failing. My hearing is really crappy also. I've never had trouble hearing my audible unless the batteries were dead. That is until recently..... I started wearing ear plugs when jumping. I couldn't figure out why my audible didn't work. Then I discovered it was the damn ear plugs. I couldn't hear my audible when they're in......Audibles are great, but don't get over reliant on them.......Steve1

I think Hook was kidding about getting a lousy deal. Sounds like you did well at that price. I love my hornet. It flies great in my opinion. Mine does open hard sometimes though. I'm going to try a different pilot chute and maybe a pocketed slider to tame the occaisional slammer opening. I bought mine new for $400. from South Africa, about a year and a half ago. Prices have gone way up since then, and they are no longer made now.....Steve1

Skratch, I agree. I skydive to have fun and enjoy the freedom our sport has to offer. Having others put a guilt trip on you for messing up isn't what relative work was meant to be, (at least in my mind). This is way off the subject, but I talked with Hod Sanders the other day. He enjoyed telling me of the old days when you and B.J. and Hod went to Europe and jumped with the Russians. He said that you were some of the first Americans to jump with the Soviets back in the 70's. According to Hod it was hard to communicate, because they spoke a different language. He also added that after a hard day of jumping, out of strange looking Russian aircraft, a lot of vodka was drank, and then everyone communicated quite well, speaking the international language of "Drunkese". I also mentioned your name to Walt Mercer. His eyes lit up when he talked about old times with you and Jerry Bird. Walt is having trouble passing the flight physical now, since he is in his 70's, but he hopes to be flying jumpers again this month. He's grounded right now, and I'm sure it's hard on him. Come to Montana if you get a chance. We'd enjoy jumping with you.......Steve1

I kind of miss the old days. Every jump you did some swooping unless you fell base. Coming out of the swoop is a critical time. Flare to late you may go too low. Flare too high, you may waist time getting down. This is also a dangerous time. Beware of other jumpers. Collisions can be fatal. Aim to one side of the formation and away from the other jumpers when coming down, just in case you flare too late. Listen to the experts for advice on this one. I'm no expert......Steve1

I talked to a jumper at Eloy who also owns an ultra-light. I may have misunderstood him, but he said this practice is illegal, yet many still jump them. He said that many times he has been up at 10,000 ft. in one, without a rig. He said his biggest fear was getting hit by another plane. I'd like to get one for hunting caribou in Alaska. If you had a two seater you could pack the meat out. It might be a whole lot cheaper than buying a Super Cub.....Steve1

I jump with a guy who is a dentist. I'd say go for it. Schooling costs a bunch, but they make big bucks. I don't know how hard it is to get into a program, but it would be worth shooting for. This is way off the subject, but a good story. The Dentist I know was at a boogie a while back. Another jumper was complaining about a bad tooth-ache. Everyone had been drinking too much. So finally he told the jumper to come with him. They made a quick trip to his office and quickly came back to the boogie. He had a mouth full of cotton where they had pulled the tooth out. It's good to know that there are dentists out there who can still do their job drunk......Steve1

Tonto, Have you done a lot of rifle or shotgun shooting? This too leads to left ear hearing loss. I have high frequency loss in both ears, partly from firing weapons without ear plugs....Steve1

A bunch. I lost track years ago. I have problems with authority figures....Steve1

My daughter sent me a birthday card yesterday that has this really cool saying on it. I think it fits well, for all us older folks who still jump. "We don't stop playing because we grow old; We grow old because because we stop playing! Never be the first to get old!" Makes sense to me.....Steve1

Sebazz, When I jumped with you at Lost Prairie I could have sworn that I was almost twice your age and that you had about a thousand jumps more than 180 jumps. Little did I know but you are actually three years older than I am. I'm just wondering what your secret is to longevity?......Steve1

I feel much better now!.....Steve1

But I'm only 52! My wife says, I'm still cute in a homely kind of way. Maybe I need to rethink things....Steve1

I guess she is a chip off the old block....Maybe I will get some clip on rings for my nose and eye-brows and ears, and then maybe hook them together with a couple of chains. (I'm too chicken to get the actual piercings.) At any rate I may look a little different at Lost Prairie, next summer.....Steve1

Don't tell me. I don't want to know!......Steve1

I'll be 53 tomorrow (April 12,). Mentally I'm about 12 though. I can't even remember what it was like to be 19. Half the time I can't even remember where I left my rig. But I still like to jump......Steve1

There was a bush pilot in Alaska who flew sight seeing tours at MT. Mckinley, (years ago). His son came home with really long hair, which bothered him. So he wanted to make a point of how having long hair wasn't appropriate. So he shaved off half his own hair (down the middle) leaving the other side long. Then he shaved off half his beard, leaving the other side long. This sounded like a good plan, until he had to fly some clients from Japan. He came walking out to his Cessna with his hair and beard shaved half way off and then introduced himself as their new pilot.....Steve1

I just realized that this isn't the talk back column. Anyone know how to move this post. I'm not awake yet this morning. Sorry!.....Steve1

My daughter came home from college the other day. After a couple days home she said she had something to tell me. When she stuck her tongue out and showed me this big shiny thing, she immediately noticed this big frown on my face. I could tell she felt pretty bad about things after this, so I tried to act like it was okay. I couldn't help but put a dime on my tongue for a while to make fun of things though. I did my best to raise her up to be a "Red Neck", (like her old man), but I guess I failed! Oh well, I guess she doesn't have to wear it all the time. If you were a parent in my shoes, what would you do??? I guess things could have been worse. She could have told me she was pregnant. Or she might have showed me a big tatoo of a battle ship on her chest. It's not easy being a parent.........Steve1

In a hot place like Perris, I'd go with the motorcycle. That reminds me, I should buy one too......Steve1

Cool pictures. I wonder what altitude they went out at. Snag points in the military static line jumps are less of a problem than in skydiving, but can still pose some problems. I went through Army jumpmaster school, way back when, and I don't recall much emphasis being placed on snag pts. Maybe more emphasis should have been though. The important part was checking that the static line was routed correctly and everything was fastened properly (in terms of gear, harness, helmet, weapons, and reserve). Years ago soldiers were jumping M-14's with the muzzles up, over their shoulders. Some static lines would wrap around these on exit causing problems. I jumped M-16's this way lot's of times. They were less of a problem because they were shorter. Now I think most weapons are placed in a container. Correct me if I'm wrong on any of this. Being an old fart, my memory is about gone. These pictures do get me pumped up to make a military jump again though!.......Steve1

............................................................... I'm sure you could probably replace this yourself if you had the right part. Sometimes it's hard to remember how to put everything back together though. One trick I learned in the military is to lay each part out in order. So if you took one part off first, lay it down first, 2nd, and so on in order. Then put everything back together in reverse order. When you get done hopefully there are no extra parts. Most weapons have pins you can push out to disassemble them. If it looks too tricky take it to a gun smith......Steve1