steve1

I wonder how many jumps Mr. Henley was able to make on one leg. In 74, I had a friend who started jumping with one leg. He'd lost the leg to bone cancer. (Cancer killed him years later.) He was rough and tough, but he just couldn't take all those brutal landings on one leg. He finally had to quit after twenty or so jumps... If I remember right he was jumping a t-10. A para-commander might have been a little easier on his body to land....

I've also had the longer grained powders hang up, delivering half a charge.(In the RCBS powder measure) It takes a lot longer to check each charge with a scale, but that's what I do on rifle reloads. I'll have to look into buying one of those electronic scales.... I've been using an electric drill for years to trim my cases. It's cheap and works well. I've been so darn busy the past few years, that I haven't been doing much reloading or shooting. I need to start up again. My shooting skills have really fell down. I can really see the difference at hunting season.... Thanks for the advice....

. '50s and "godless" communists is the right answer. Of course, that was silly, but so is any country that thinks they are the only ones that are correct because they have god on "their side." Well said!

Quote I've never seen Red Skelton talking this seriously about anything. He was a good hearted person....But I don't really go along with his ideas about God though. This seems like a narrow minded perspective. Not everyone is a Christian in our country. I wonder why this needs to be in the Pledge of Allegiance..... reply] Maybe I didn't word that very well. What I was really trying to say is that many do not believe in a creator. Why should my children be forced to recite a declaration in school that has mumbo jumbo in it?......I don't mean to tread on anyone else's beliefs, but I'd hope that people are open minded enough to see that many people are not believers in a god of any sort.....

John, I've never used the electronic measurers. Maybe I should give one a try. I know the balance beam scales can hang up, ever so slightly. I've got in the habit of pounding on the table till the scale settles in for a measurement. Are the electronic scales more accurate? I guess I need to do some more reading on the subject.... I set my powder measure a little light and use a trickler to get the final measurement. I don't like the RCBS powder measure I use now. Sometimes it will cut grains of powder in half. I think there are better powder measuers on the market these days. ................................................................... Wolf River Joe, That sounds like a good idea to blow out your powder measure with air. Putting the powder back in the right can after use is important too. Did I ever tell you the story of how I got my 4831 powder mixed up with 4064. I guess I'm lucky to still have both of my blue eyes....and face intact!

That video looks like a sure fire way to blow you or your gun up. On a more serious note, I don't think there is much wrong with that cheap little lee loader. I heard they are very time consuming but that you can get a decent reload out of them. I still use the same RCBS junior press that I was given for Christmas 45 years ago. I reload for precision accuracy as well as saving dollars.....

I grew up watching Red Skelton. What a funny guy! I enjoyed his shows immensely. I think Clem Cadillyhoffner was my favorite character. I've never seen Red Skelton talking this seriously about anything. He was a good hearted person....But I don't really go along with his ideas about God though. This seems like a narrow minded perspective. Not everyone is a Christian in our country. I wonder why this needs to be in the Pledge of Allegiance..... I respect your thoughts if you are a Christian, but I'd like that same respect, since I'm not.... What are your thoughts on this?

I'm not sure what kind of AAD they used back in the day. Nobody I knew had one when I first started jumping. In 1970 I remember sitting in the Green Beret Parachute Club bar, downing a beer. We were supposed to be on detail but we ghosted out. Our sargent was awaiting orders for Nam, and I guess he didn't give a rip. He was a skydiver and he was trying to talk me into joining the sport. He even had a para-commander to sell me. I guess he figured he wouldn't need it where he was going. At any rate, he started telling us some skydiving stories. I was a newbie Army jumper and I was in awe of anyone who did freefall. One of the stories he told was of himself doing a style series. He was in the middle of a back loop, with plenty of altitude left, when his AAD fired. The openning shock about ripped him in half. When he got on the ground he ripped this AAD off, and threw it as far as he could throw it. So, I guess they may not have been too reliable back then....

Actually that is my home town. I went to school there. The Silvertip Skydivers moved from Missoula to Stevensville in the mid 70's. Insurance problems closed the club down in Stevensville, about five years back. There still is some jumping in Hamilton. Hod moved his operation to Ronan....

It's hard to believe that a five way could be considered big. Things have come a long way since back then. When I started jumping in the early 70's an eight way was considered big. We were lucky because the smokejumpers would rent us big planes to jump. Skydivers would come all the way from California just to jump out of those DC-3's or twin beeches. Those were the days of combat relative work. Twenty people might exit and we'd only get a five way. Collisions were common. Someone with 300 jumps was considered an "old salt". 300 jumps might mean five or six or more near death experiences. Having an SCR or SCS patch was big doings back then. I wore mine with pride....B.J. Worth, Fred Sands, and Dave Tousey were some of the local yocals who were on those loads.

I hope Walt is still around. He was a great guy. He flew loads well into his late 70's and was our best jump pilot. He had to quit flying because of a heart murmur. I know that was hard on him. I posted a picture earlier of our club with Walt. I'll see if I can find it....Last I heard he was living in Stevensville, Mt.

I double clicked on it, and that did the trick. I asked Bob about living in Alaska. Bob was an adventuresome guy and that state fit him well. Bob's comment to that was that Alaska is a young man's state. That's probably very true. When you get to be an old fart (like me), a state like Arizona makes more sense. I almost started skydiving in Alaska in 1969 while living there. They used to jump in the center of Anchorage (in a big open area)....A good friend of mine later burned in there....

Has anyone heard from Walt Mercer? He used to fly for Hod Sanders in Stevensville....

Can you make that a little bigger Howard? I can't quite read it....

Bob gave us a tour of his bus several years back, down in Arizona. One of the things he talked about was this bandit jump into the Rose Bowl. We also read a news clipping of a demo jump from a bi-plane in Palmer, Alaska. Bob jumped out and the biplane looped around. It ended up cutting all his lines just above his head. He had problems getting his reserve out. He actually fell below the line of sight, and the crowd thought that he had gone in. His reserve openned, barely above the river. He landed in that river. Luckily it wasn't too deep and he didn't drown. Anyone else know any Bob Sinclair stories. I'm glad he's still alive....

Statistics can be twisted in a variety of ways to prove different points. Maybe if I knew more about scuba diving my words might have more impact. I know almost as many scuba divers as I do skydivers. I have had five friends die skydiving. I know noone personally who has died scuba diving. My daughter is an advanced scuba diver. She had dove over a 100 ft. in Hawaii. I'd worry about her more if she was a skydiver. I just feel it is more dangerous. How many people do you know who have had broken backs, legs, or other serious injuries from landing. I know a lot. Yet I don't know anyone who has been hurt scuba diving. My best friend and I started skydiving together in the early 70's. He quit after his second jump. It scared the hell out of him. He later became a scuba diving instructor. It was more to his liking. He has many tales of near death stuff, but he always was kind of windy. He even takes his young kids out scuba diving. Two friends have had trouble diving under the ice. One couldn't find the hole to get out. He started swimming in bigger and bigger circles while kicking up mud off the bottom, so he could tell where he was at. But I wonder too, if this was exaggerated to make a better story. Maybe I'm misinformed, but skydiving just seems more dangerous to me than scuba diving...

You don't have to worry about getting a reserve repack, when you go low....

I have to agree with you in terms of alcohol being deemed better than marijuanna. With all the terrible things that come from alcohol use, I have to wonder why is it legal and marijuanna not. I disagree though, when you say there are absolutely no ill affects from marijuanna use. Brain scans have proven it can have a very definite affect on a person's cognitive abilities..... I haven't read all the posts on this one, so maybe this has already been discussed. I work with all kinds of kids who smoke a large amount of marijuanna. Many of them are doing poorly in school and don't give a rip about much of anything. But at the same time, maybe this use is helping them cope with a crazy home and crazy world...

Happy Birthday Pat! You don't look a day over 40...

Or we could eat people too. There's way too many of them, so why not

Those are the only towers I know of....I'm not sure if they still use them or not. I had one of my hardest landings off of one of those towers back in 1970....

Good video! Everything looked pretty athentic. I think they were jumping t-10's. The WW II para-troopers had T-7's. I guess the opening shock on those was brutal. No wonder they aren't jumping them. I knew an old hermit who lived in the mountains of Montana. He was my hero when I was a kid. We hunted out of his cabin. In WWII he jumped into Normandy. He didn't return unscathed by all that. That was probably why he lived all alone. He was more than a little shell shock, even years later. Every morning he put on his jump wings. He died last year. I'd like to say thanks!

If you didn't know what you were eating, it would probably taste just fine. I once ate some horse meat. It tasted good. I have to admit that I did feel a little like a cannibal though....

There's lot's of people who think they can end a conflict by showing off a weapon. Sometimes that works, sometimes not. It can also get you locked up. I remember one time when a guy pulled out a knife to stop someone who was harassing him. That did work well for about 30 seconds. Then somebody grabbed his wrist (that held the knife), and smacked him a good one. About then the police showed up. I'm not sure how that turned out in court. My brother told me of a retired parole officer who was out camping. He'd had a drink or two. A couple guys camping nearby started harassing him, so he pulled out his pistol and pointed it at them. That did end the conflict, but he got ten years for each guy he pointed his weapon at. He's now in a prison. He hopes that noone finds out he once worked law enforcement, so he doesn't get killed in the pen. Not a fun way to spend your retirement years. Another guy I knew was a stock contractor for rodeos. He was worth quite a bit of money and had quite a bit of land. One day he confronted some tresspassers and pulled out his gun. He's now serving time in prison, for that mistake. Years ago, we were out hunting antelope. We drove down into a place to camp for the night. We thought it was public land, but it wasn't. A couple younger guys pulled in with a jeep. The one guy in the back of the jeep threw back a tarp and brandished an AR-15. He didn't actually point it at us or we would have taken him to court. I felt like slapping the hell out of him. There was no reason for such theatrics. I'm not sure who he thought he was at that moment. He had probably watched too many John Wayne movies. I can see how people get themselves into trouble with guns. It probably all boils down to not having the right kind of training. I have two daughters who grew up with guns. I don't want them to ever be victims of a violent offender. They shoot a fair amount. They both own pistols and rifles. I've trained them to pull their gun if their life is threatened. That means anyone who breaks into their home. If the person doesn't stop they will shoot. I hope they will be able to do that. I'm confident they will. I guess none of us know what that day would be like, unless we have been there. There are police and soldiers who can't actually pull the trigger, when they need to. I think proper training should kick in, but it may not. I hope my daughters will take an acredited defensive shooting course. So far it's just been Dad trying to teach his daughters how to defend themselves. I was once a special forces weapons specialist. But I too need to take a course on defensive shooting. I sure don't know it all...

I'm pretty much going to put a target on my back and show how little I know about this sport's history. Who is Andy McFarland...? I doubt if anyone on here knows Andy McFarland. He was just another wild skydiver in our club, back in the 70's. He was one of my heroes when I was on student status. Maybe I should have mentioned B.J. Worth. He was another one of our club members...."Back in the day!"