patworks

Std. B4 container, Adjustable to fit crew 5' to 6' +. It'd loosen up over time. Meaning, you'd want to keep your arms down on opening to stay in. My reserve D-rings were hand-sewn to the outside of the harness. Single shot capewells... floating ripcord swedged. Hand-soldered center-pull ripcord on the reserve. Only tried to use it once. Demo jump. Cut away at about 1,500' AGL. Got open about 100' AGL. Soldered reserve ripcord pins bellmouthed on hard yank. Rice field saved my life. Spectating Aunt was not happy. That was the only time I heard her curse fluently. . . . Yes, the ground gets BIG when you get low. Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

Pre vaccine, had polio? Some 50-60% of childhood polio victims relapse. No joy. Poliomyelitis has no cure. At the peak of its devastation USA 1952, Jonas Salk introduced a vaccine to prevent it. Folks like me and SCR 216 were hit pre-Salk. Now old post-polio old farts get a replay. Called Post-Polio-Syndrome, it awards bad news. Meaning if you had it, recurrence is a coin-toss. Exercise digs your hole deeper; you get feeble. That's all I know. Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

Texan, I over-blither; Parachutist Mag trimmed out some jabber. This is uncut. Suffer. :-) -------------- Name: Pat Works [Madden Travis Works, Jr.] Nicknames: “Pat” for being born on St. Patrick’s Day; Texas skydivers called me “Crazy Pat”. Now it’s “2-Cats” as in: “Works, you got more lives than two cats.” Age: 68 Height: 5 ft., 11 in. and shrinking Weight: 170 lbs. Birthplace: Houston Nationality: U.S.A. Texan Marital Status: Married 41+ years to Janet Children: none Pets: 0 Occupation: RWunderground Parachuting Publications (newsletter & books), 1970 to present. Chief Technologist, Northrop Grumman Aerospace. Adjunct Professor, the Claremont Graduate School. Recently retired and loving it. Education: BA in English, University of Houston, 1967 MS in Information Systems, Claremont Graduate University, 1992 MBA, Executive Management, Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management, 1995 Post Graduate Studies, Ph.D. School of Information Science, Claremont Graduate University, 1992 - 1996 [all coursework for Ph.D. in the Management of IS] Transportation: ‘Z51 ‘Jake’ Corvette (and over 200,000 motorcycle miles) Pet Peeves: dimwits and the U.S. Congress Pre-Jump Superstitions: Eyes-closed touch handles hand-jive Hobbies: Tai-Chi, art museums, poetry, philosophy, shooting, reading, being …. Favorite Food: I try it all … leads to new taste treats. Rock, Rap, or Country? All, plus Alternative, Blues, Electronic, Jazz, Latin American, Pop, R&B, Rock, Metal and Classical. (5,000+ tunes on my iPod.) Life Philosophy: Be Here Now. Hold it tight. My route charts luck-blessed pathways with vistas God touched. My escort is Mind-Music. A Skydance medley composes an enlightenment symphony. Ten thousand MP3s of life-song melodies repeat at random whilst life unfolds, petal by petal. Hard opening or line twists? Not a problem. Neat packer or a trash packer? Doesn’t matter. Parachutes don’t worry how they are folded. Me neither. Parachutes are bred to deploy and I’m averse to reversing that process by trying to close ‘em back up. I use a packer. Did you start out as an AFF, static line, or tandem student? My Static Line 1st jump cost me $15.00. Would you rather swoop or land on an accuracy tuffet? I don’t swoop. Low-pain landings allow multiple jumps where neither the paramedics nor the coroner need be called. Jump Philosophy: Pull prior to impact. Team Name: Many … team party practice robbed my memory, but a few that stand out: The Wallace’s Outlaws, Texas A&M Parachute Team, University of Houston team, James Gang, Terminal Chaos, Godfrogs, Perris Skydance, Solitary Birds ESPN Freefly. Sponsors: Many generous sponsors … chiefly, Skydive Perris and the Conatsers who have been friends, patrons and supporters for 35 years. Container: Reflex Reserve Canopy: PD AAD?: Yep. Cypress Discipline(s): Fun jumping, RW, Formation Skydiving; Big Ways; Freefly; Skydance Home Drop Zone: Skydive Perris Main Canopy: Spectre Year of First Jump: First Jump 1961 Houston 1st Para Commander jump 1965 Houston first 5-way star 1964 Houston SCR-561 1970 Z-Hills; SCS#1 1971 Hinckley Licenses/Ratings: B-1513 (1962 Texas A&M) C-1798 (1963 Texas A&M) D-1813 (1965 Houston) Championships/Medals/Records: 1966 NCPL National Champion, Team Event, National Collegiate Parachuting League, 1966 (Univ. of Houston Team) 1970 SCR-561 - Z-Hills 1970s My 10-way teams won the California Rumbleseat Meet three times. 1971 Founder of the RW Council 1972 SCS-1, Hinckley 1972-78 Competed in 4-way, 10-way and 8-way RW at the USPA Nationals in ‘72, ‘73, ‘76, ‘78 1972 Founder of the CG GodFrog Good Vibes Award 1972 Founder of the National Champion of Combined RW Award 1972 Instrumental in introducing 10-way RW to USPA and competed at the first 10-Way Nationals 1972-74 Three-time Conference Champion in 4-way and 10-way RW 1974 Founder of the RW Council’s Certificates of Merit Mid-1970s Team Captain of many skydiving teams, including multiple wins of the Chute-Out at the Gulch, a meet that featured free-form sequential maneuvers of your choice. 1976-77 Two-time Conference Champion in 8-way RW 1976 North American Sequential Sweepstakes, Original 8-way meet in Ft. Lewis, Wash. 1976 4 stack (#663) at Perris 1980s USPA National Director, three terms 1994 1st Exhibition Event of Sit Flying, Team World Skydance, Eloy Ariz. 1995 1st American Championships of Free Flight, Skydive Dallas, ESPN X-Games test event. (Entered on 2-teams: Perris vRW & World Skydance) 1995-97 Competed in the SSI Pro-Tour, Freefly X-Trials for X-Games in ‘95, ‘96, ‘97 1996 Perris Free Fly Championships, Solitary Birds, 3rd place, Perris, Calif. 1996 Pro Tour Free Flying X-Trials (Pre X-Games) event, Solitary Birds, 1st Place, Perris 1997 Pro Tour Freeflying, Monterey Calif. 1997 Universal Skydiver Award No. 2, Perris 1997 X-Games Judge for ESPN 1998 1st Place, National Championships, USPA Freefly US Nationals Competition Trial Associations/Club Memberships: SME Certified Manufacturing Engineer CMfgE (Life) AIAA (past), NRA (current), SASS (current) USPA, Number #189 GW, #845 DW, #358 12HR, #233 24HR, #118 Brian, I don’t recall #s for my XX-hour clocks, or #n- Diamonds Wings; can you look it up? ……………………………………… Total Number of Jumps: 8,200 est. Freefly: 2,700 est. RW: 5,500 est. CRW: 15 est. Camera: 250 est. Tandems: 0 est. Accuracy: several hundred est. Demos: 50 est. Wingsuit Jumps: 2 est. Balloon Jumps: 0 est. BASE Jumps: 0 Total Number of Cutaways: 35-40 Going back to student status - what was your canopy progression? Over 1,500 jumps on round canopies starting with the 28-ft. “TU”; then PCs for 10 years: B4 harness, floating ripcord, sleeve, and double pilot chutes. In 1972 I switched to a piggyback. Went square in ‘76……I didn’t jump a square reserve until 1993. Most people don't know this about me: People think that I am a dinosaur. However, in real life I am a fossil, and perhaps as much a myth as a legend. Out of All of your skydives is there one particular jump that stands out the most? Yes – it was my first introduction to skydiving’s extraordinary eye-candy. Sunset jump, early ‘60s, Cessna climbing through flat-layered clouds interconnected by towering columns. Each respective layer had both floor and ceiling of cloud marble supported by alabaster cloud columns – a sky cathedral. Blazing sunset ignited endless chambers in enchanted light. That sun disrobed, exchanging her golden gowns with burning oranges in exploding red hues. In her glow, my airship toiled up, dwarfed in God’s crimson glory. My eyes inked phantasmagorical tattoos on my brain. How long do you plan on skydiving? ‘Til death do us part – with a proviso that my polio relapse backs off. What do you like most about the sport? Flying the wings I’ve won myself. What do you like least about the sport? Parachute packing Who, if anybody, has been your skydiving mentor? NA – My guide is sharing flight poetry. What are your future skydiving goals? Fun jumps with good health. What safety item do you think is most important and/or most often neglected? Remembering that safety is a religion and survival is an art. How did you become interested in skydiving? Riding bulls at the Houston Rodeos paid $15 per ride. Easy money my high school buddies jumped on. Not me. Taunted, “Works got no balls…” Bulls are bad-ass mean and plan to gore and stomp you. Parachutes are dumb with no ill will. “Shoot,” sez me, “I’d rather jump outa an airplane than onto a Brahma bull!” So, I called every airport in the Yellow Pages, found a place to jump, signed Mom’s name to the age waiver, and leaped. I skydive because… It scratches my itch to touch the poetry of perfection. Any suggestions for new students? Have you jumped into the arms of earth-pushed air and snuggled there, lazy, letting the fall just happen? Most “make” a skydive. Can you simply “take” one? Relaxed in mind and body, give yourself over to wind and gravity? Relax totally into the air. Let the wind cradle you. Letting the wind give you a position is to accept a gift. Allow the wind to configure you into your natural shape. Drift along on the arms of the wind so that intensity used to control flight is freed. Released from the chores of flight, your self-awareness has energy available to let you sense feelings that were before obscured by your fixation to do. Thus, by not-Doing and exclusively Be-ing, you earn a treasure. You receive a boon – enlightenment about an aspect of the air which, like a love, you can call on as you need. What's the most bad-ass thing you can do in the air? I can teach you to nail a head-down position in one jump. What is your favorite jump plane and why? Super Otter: a reliable comfy elevator that facilitates low-stress egress. If you could do a "fantasy 2-way" with anybody (living or deceased), whom would it be with and where would it take place? Ummmn…. Fantasy 2-way…. That’d have to be with a drop-dead gorgeous woman in heat in a $5,000.00++ per night hotel suite on the French Riviera. Were you a hard child to raise? No, although I did have polio in the third grade. If you could make everyone on the planet do something to make earth a better place to live, what would it be? Make the children of our Abrahamic religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – share mutual respect. Most embarrassing moment while in freefall or at a drop zone: Shucks! Always thinking it to be the norm, I recently realized that I began as a Low-Puller! As a student, Ed Fitch (D-89) had us opening at 1,000 ft. AGL and at 800 feet for 20+ jump “experts”. Recently, Dr. Fitch’s dear friend, Lenny Potts, affirmed that our DZ’s BSRs were nonstandard. (Today I open by 3,000 feet.) Someday I am going to own: A chunk of the hereafter. The toughest thing to do in the sport of skydiving is: to keep having fun with it. Once the fun goes, every sky jumper moves on. What kind of skydiving student were you - the typical flailer or a complete natural from jump number one? Jump number one was emotional overload, but I quickly caught on. Out of all your thousands of skydives, is there one jump you would like to do over again? Please explain for your fellow jumpers: There is one jump I wish I hadn’t made at all. 1963: Jumping my too hot 28-ft. “TU” flat circular canopy (Scissors mod) on a windy day, gusts deflate my canopy. Eeeek!! I’d drop 50-70 feet and it’d pop open, and then snap shut again. Bam! OUCH! Injuries kept me ground-bound for months. What do you consider your most significant life achievement? My triumph is that I am still alive. While in freefall, what has been your strangest thought? That the ground was covered with phosphorescent green worms wriggling in a morass of bright purple muck. Suggestions for the USPA: Keep on keeping on sustaining jumping for skydivers. Continue to keep our skies free. Best skydiving moment? Getting back in the air after recovering from the car crash that paralyzed me chest-down at the 1980 Nationals. Notes from that reentry jump: “Landing is a piece of cake …The smell of the canopy as I gather it in my arms is like being with a lover from long ago. I bury my head and sniff. It’s nice to be back.” Greatest competition moment? Winning the NCPL Nationals in ‘66; also winning the X-Games Freefly Xtrial at Skydive Perris in ‘97. Worst skydiving moment? Ground rush: free falling so low that your impact point explodes up at you, the horizon looms above you, and the landscape bursts out and rushes away instantly, replaced by sick fear, knowing death is here. Weirdest skydiving moment? Doing formation skydives inside clouds gets weird and wonderful as cloud wisps strobe your vision on and off; you get the freeze-frame herky-jerky that strobe lights give to disco dancing. Time for me to ask the impossible - explain "Pat Works" in five words or less: Outrider seeking mind-food, eye-candy, enlightenment. What is your perfect day like? To pass the toe-tag-test. On awakening, check your feet. If your toes do not display a mortician’s toe-tag, it is a perfect day. What drives your competitive spirit? Competing within myself to attain perfect speed, perfect flight, and perfect position. Relaxed aggression. Being good … being fast … being there. What quirks do you possess? (Examples: “I like peanut butter on both slices;” “I jump only in Cessna aircraft;” “I partake in road rage;” “I fancy orange underwear, but jump in only pink boxers:” etc.) I am a black-belt Space Cadet. If aptitude conferred rank, I’d be a general. What makes Pat tick like a cat with fresh catnip? New and different flight challenges that extend our borders and ignite our imaginations with new dimensions. Flight that tests us in the air and turns pages in our book of skills. RW formations – now Skydancing – is that. Skydive becomes Skydance when the flyers choreograph the levels, presentation and proximity to present aesthetically pleasing visuals. Any multi-person skydive having rhythm and choreography is a Skydance. In Skydance, flying movements are an end in themselves. Vertical, spherical and 3D air moves are involved. Beauty in motion is linked to rhythm so that the concepts of group aerial dance, video, and music merge. In traditional formation skydiving, the flying is a means to a grip – completing a formation with grips is the metric of goodness. In Skydance flow is more important than taking any hand-hold. (specialty question) 50 years of USPA Membership! What are your thoughts on your membership then and now with all the growth in between? Hmmm… Back then, there was no organization to oversee the national scene. The old Parachute Riggers and Jumpers Association had a loose affiliation with low influence. In the mid-1960s, Dr. Ed Fitch and Gunby et al. created and then linked a federation of area-specific Parachute Councils: an example was the Texas Parachute Council (TPC) which was a federation of Texas Parachute clubs. These federations were organized groups of affiliated clubs who met and drafted constitutions to promote the health and well-being of parachuting. The same things were coordinated in other parts of the USA and as a result, the PCA became not just a small clique of individual sport parachutists but a nationwide federation of unified state councils that we now call USPA Regions. That move broadened parachuting’s influence as a bona fide sport and began to transform what had been East-coast fraternity into a nationwide organization predicated on the thought that all parachutists don their gear one leg at a time. A schism developed in the early 1970s … “real” parachutists versus fun jumpers … and at that time I got involved. (specialty question) “The Art of Freefall RW” has been to skydivers what Ben Hogan’s “Five Lessons – The Modern Fundamentals of Golf” has been to golfers. Looking back to when you were writing it, did you think it would have the profound impact on the sport as it has? Yes and No. NO! I was oblivious to anything but getting the book published. The worldwide adoption of my 1975 The Art of Freefall Relative Work (2 editions, 6 reprints and translated into four languages) startled me a great deal. The international respect and attention I was accorded as the master and professor was a surprise and honor. I was elated my books led to extensive world travels and a succession of training camps, including the first USA RW training camps. I was proud to have both the SEALS and the Army Parachute Team as my students. I had a knack for training by sharing discoveries: no-contact, Skydance, relaxation and attitude as sure paths to flight for the joy of flying. Unwittingly, Jan and I became jump-celebrities. But while it is agreeable to be respected, celebrity can be a less-than-pleasurable thing for this Texas boy. Admiration and high regard is hard to accept and tough to adjust to when all you’re doing is “your thing”. YES! On the other hand, I’d expected some effect on our sport was assured because I had preceded my prescription for the “art” of flying with years of groundwork constructing a nationwide congress of RW alpha dogs to legitimize our pursuit. I called it The RW Council, and began publishing RWunderground, a subscription newsletter for which we had many contributors and that Jan and I produced on our kitchen table. The newsletter became a vehicle for articles and discussions surrounding the development and then promotion of formation skydiving as a competition discipline. Eventually the newsletter and its articles by various contributors around the country evolved into United We Fall, my second book. To my mind, United We Fall has had more relevance and impact on skydiving today because of its influence on the genesis of formation relative work. http://users.cis.fiu.edu/~esj/uwf/uwf.html The Art of Freefall RW was successful because of good timing. In the 1960s-early 1970s, an infant RW was disrespected and disdained as “just Fun Jumping, certainly not authentic parachuting” with a conviction that real parachutists did style and accuracy (S&A). All parachuting competitions were S&A events; fun jumps were not on the dance card. There wasn’t a word for relative work until the mid-to-early 1960s. Contact freefall parachuting consisted of baton passes or aerial grab-ass, and the lone book on parachuting technique was Russ Gunby’s “Sport Parachuting - a basic handbook of sport parachuting” (1960) which described the two basic-stable positions and how to make turns. Contact RW remained elusive. At any parachute club that you traveled to, finding enough fun-jumpers to make a three-way was a Big Deal indeed. One of my goals with RWunderground and then The Art of Freefall RW was to describe how to do relative work skydiving, make its participants feel like part of a fraternity, and promote it as a legitimate competition discipline. The book, being the first recipe book which told would-be flyers how to be RW skydivers, evolved into “The Bible” for performing those skills. I am pleased that it has done much more than I originally anticipated. (specialty question) What has been your primary motivator for 50 years (and counting) as a skydiver? FUN and sharing it, i.e. “the communication imperative.” What goes around comes around for me. Learning what others know and then passing it on is a good path to keeping the fun in skydiving. Listen, learn and share with skymates, because learning skydiving in isolation takes a long time and costs a lot of money. More importantly, it can be downright dangerous. Honor the Communication Imperative by being open to learning new things and then sharing what you’ve learned with others. (specialty question) How did you cope with periods of burnout? Any advice for your fellow jumpers? Focus on skydiving’s fun and its glorious visuals; that’s the key to jumping continuity. Please disclose five people worthy of a "Profile" that have not been previously "Profiled": The Perris Conatsers (Ben, Diane, Pat & Melanie). Also, a salute to PCA’s founders and our chronology linking them. Off the record - do you read "Profiles" each month or is it just a monthly piece of crap? I’ll always read a profile covering one of parachuting’s personalities. They aren’t crap, though a few “Joe Jumper” types are dull. Any closing comments? “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” Of all skydivers, scribes are but a splendid few.* Recall and respect those who capture our history with their words and art. Hail our scribes or else our history is but dust in a wind. Honor our traditions else respect disappears. Say your story else the world is dumb and trees fall silently in our forests. * These writers, plus all emerging wordsmiths: J. Scott Hamilton Lyle Cameron (RIP) Skratch Garrison Dan Poynter Uwe Beckman (RIP) Matt Farmer Roger Hull Carl Nelson (RIP) Roger Nelson (RIP) BJ Worth Howard White (RIP) Bill Ottley (RIP) Bud Sellick Russ A. Gunby (RIP) Tamara Koyn John Schuman (RIP) Brian Germain Charles Shea-Simonds (RIP) Michael Horan C.W. Ryan A.C. Keech Gene Hunnell Kevin Gibson Brian Giboney Robin Heid J. L. Seagull Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

'obvious' safety imperatives are era dependent. Emotion about safety transcends time yep, still Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

As a parachuting teen in the new 60s I was keen on having my gear function. Like everyone, I had two-shot capewell canopy releases. Just pull down the cover, squeeze dinky two buttons together, and your canopy would release sometimes. 2-shots purpose was to allow downed air crew the option of cutting away a canopy after an emergency over windy terrain. The GSA having determined that getting dragged across Tera firma to death after surviving a bail-out was counter productive and messy, added 2-shots as a back up canopy release to the hook knife and chaff in riser pockets. - Me, being serious about function, pounds 2-ten-penny nails in a tree limb as a coat-hook for my risers. Saddled in. I mime a mal + cut-a-way which would drop me on my ass. No release. No drop. So, an engineering sort, I polish and file the release tabs. More failures albeit smoother. Whilst one side cut away the other didn't. Counting out-loud (i'm a student) ONE-THOUSAND: TWO THOUSAND: etc. etc. I'd get to big numbers before I'd get release. On one side, if any. That concern resolved, I determined that circular 28' C9 flat canopies did not warrant a cut-away noway and proceeded down the yellow brick road to Emerald City. Years thereafter the introduction of the PC was joined at the hip by nasty spinning Hi-G malfunctions. Then there, in those days of "Reserve Pilot-Chute Removed for Sport Parachuting" shot-and-one-half capewells functioned better than the no-cutaway boogie dance of, "PULL! PUNCH! THROW IN DIRECTION OF SPIN! SHAKE LINES: ASSIST OPENING. . . " ... hope for trees. Having about 15 cut aways on shot+1/2 and 25 -30 more on 3-rings has reinforced my confidence that sport reserve parachutes work well. Howsomeever, methinks that the USAF still uses shot+1/2s.... this is cool cauz they got no reserve. .... do they still jump rounds? Hope not. Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

Yep. Mike and Schafer ran a Gulch outfit with the logo, "We Fly; you die" .... After interesting times, Capt. Larson retired from NW Air and got hisself a cherry C-195, polished out bright with red cowl and accents. They camp under its wing sometimes. Epoch making jumps over Cassa Gulch included Monty & Link's 2-way crater (only 4' apart at impact) and the early sequential formation jumps that were born as 'WINGS' ... later the USFET and 8-way. SKR was a flyer there and everywhere a sky dance might lurk. SKR is the most significant figure in the history of skydiving. Was & Is. The Gulch's 'LodeStall' was more exciting than most aircraft care to be. Gulch parties still hurt my head. Now daze, the Larsons live out a life Richard Bach would fly for. Me too (195 is a tail-dragger) Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

The origins of Freefly. Skratch launched skydance in 1964 . He says he got the idea from a Texas move "hovering" (Now called no-contact RW). I did "upsidedown" (backflying) at my Europe RW camps in 1976-on. Freak-Brother flying (USA) was sporadic around 1978?. The origins of Freefly. Working DRAFT Comments, corrections, and inpus solicited! The formal organization of air pose routines was codified in 1985 by Deanna Kent (Norman Kent). At about the same time Mike Michigan was developing similar but kinetic air gymnastics routines. Both Deanna and Mike are featured in the 1987 N. Kent Flick 'From Wings came Flight. In France, the first published mention of "Chute Assis" is in the March 1992 issue of ParaMag. Olav told me that he, Scotty Carbone, and others started doing "Screaming Bullet" very high speed head down in Florida 1n 1986. From what Olav said, the first RW headdown came in 1991 when he entered a Freestyle event and had to slow down his fall rate to be filmed. Freeflying first blossomed in 1994 as elements of sit fly and freestyle were combined for the “First Exhibition Event of Sit Flying” at the USPA Nationals in Eloy. It was my 1st FF competition. Hosted by the World Freestyle Federation, competition was based on Tony Uragallo “Tony Dive Pool. ” Today's Freefly was launched at P. McKeeman's 1995 1st American Championships of Free Flight, Skydive Dallas, ESPN X-Games test event. (entered on 2-teams: Perris vRW & World Skydance) Freeflying bloomed in 1995 when P. Mc McKeeman’s SSI Pro Tour added babe-in-arms freeflying to ESPN's Destination Extreme series (X-Games). The first USPA Freefly Nationals was at the USPA Nationals, Elsinore, 1998 where we garnered a win. ....[ still researching... ] Input from Pete McKeeman, Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

SCR-3, Wild Willie has gone off and got himself a free ash-dive. We know he is pleased to avoid the hassle of getting SRA. . . . Wonder if his last dive qualifies for SRA? - - - If heaven needs a bongo drummer, Bill has that slot covered with a blanket. ---- Bill has been/is a friend forty some years. Together, we did some good and some crazy things. He lived hard and went fast. My heart and sympathies to his friends and family for standing by at the last. His memory and memorial was set in stone long before he past. His days and his deeds echo towards forever. God be with you SCR-3. Sometime later, we'll all fly with thee. Godspeed wild Willie. XO - - -Bill does certainly love to fly. After today his flight hours and fuel are covered. .... I'd like to see him sporting big white wings. We could ruffle his feathers! Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

Excellent Inputs... I'm gonna use it for a National Skydiving Museum "Timeline" Thank You Sir Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

SKYDIVING, term, First Known Use: In September 1953 a French-American parachutist named Raymond Young wrote an article for the April 1954 issue of Flying Magazine. Young described his feelings about the sensations of free-falling. He used the term "Skydiving" for the first time to describe this sport..." (Source: Michael Horan, Index to Parachuting, 1979, p. XXV) Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

Jump #380, 1970 with 'The Family" Hinckley, Ill. Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

Pat Swovelin got planted and is cast off with pomp and circumstance.... Nice silver metal casket that clashed with his style contains remains. Still, that was the quietest Pat I've heard in our 39 years of knowing. Military pomp and circumstance with 21 gun salute, flag, and honor to a Vet, a friend, lover, and family. Graveside that tribe gathered. Sky people were balanced by military, bikers, Hollywood, and 360 camera freaks. Folks dressed up nice. Life ends ...Taps' ethereal call graced us with peace Day is done, gone the sun, From the hills, from the lake, From the skies. All is well, safely rest, God is nigh. . . . At the ceremony Interesting cross cut of disparate folks from time eras. Example, 7' tall "Lurch" (Adams Family butler) pal of Pat is taking on Pat's projects in 360 photo work. Pat's kids mature and poised carry the flag. Visuals of hordes of folks I haven't seen in 30-40 years reinforced notions that age is unfriendly albeit friends are ageless. Lots of Film and kids friends balanced the last supper into a good mix. Swovelin family did/is super. Great ceremony blunted the pain and eased the passing of a touch stone who illuminated our time. He now carries his light to shine across a dark river Styx to capture follies beyond our ken. God bless and love my friend, you and your kin. Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

Ed Miller I am sad to say he left this earthly plain . . . An exemplar of being and health is snatched from our arms. Oh, durn it all. A fine man. A good friend. Mostly the good die young. But Ed was the better of good excelling at awesome. Squared away, a tight ass, he was so together that he made most else seem apart. XO Reminiscing on Ed Miller with Linda Miller carrying a hole in her heart. “Pat, He was my first real love and we stayed friends over the long years after. He was truly a unique individual with courage, honor and integrity that was far above most.” Amen that. Although divorced, they remained very close. An uncommon accomplishment. Over the years Jan & I Jumped with Ed. More recently he and I would find ourselves together in line ups for big ways. Frequently as slot mates. We had big fun. I found that to like and respect him was reflexive + comfort to feel. I share part of your loss. We all collectively lost more. Ouch! Damn! A role model for life. A archetype for friendship, Ed epitomized Semper Fi Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

Q: the Whuffo conundrum --On first learning you’re a skydiver, what stimulates non-skydivers to proclaim their individual emotions Re. jumping from airplanes? Some react like you’ve touched a nerve. Why do folks describe how they feel about skydiving when they were not asked that question? Any ideas? I’ve wondered for 50 years Whuffo they say that anyhow? . . . Anyone? Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

MILESTONE: Birthday boy - - 2011 heralds the 50th year since my first skydive. Remembering when I was there then: Years are a river whose times flow to now and beyond. From back when to here now maps Happy trails! Memories abound to tickle my giggles, head-shakes, and grins. My here now is Old fart: Mind: a warped time-machine; Body, a worn-out crash-test-Dummy. The Route from Then: Pathways blessed by luck. Vistas touched by God. Time-thread by risk-led. Mind-Music is my travel companion: Over a half-century learning an enlightenment symphony: songs of sky vistas, 3D-visuals, events, pain, loves, and friendships. A whiff of black-death adds spice. My Life-song is akin to 10,000 MP3s. Hear life-melodies resonate as her songs repeat on “Random” Whilst life unfolds her robes to the sun, petal by petal. Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

More BSBD Info. Yep, We palyed with the mummy-arm grasping a ripcord (BSBD). Yes, a tour of the bounce-craters was a wind-day outing. .... We'd get wasted & pile on the DZ Truck. Zing or whoever would narrate. "Monty and Link have dual impact craters that are only about 4' apart!... we think that is a world record." YES!! The radial-engine 'LodeStall' stalled on Jump Run... Heavy G's...Very exciting!). Later, It killed about 20 jumpers in a horrific crash.

yep. The Latin Skydivers started in 1961, 50yrs. ago... Old for a USA Parachute Cub. Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

Super Joe was a mainstay when Jan and I jumped there in '69-70. Jan Started there. We credit Jim West for getting her over the little-jumper, BIG HEAVY rig roadblock roadblock by building her a 3-pin B4 and AFF-ing her. Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

In the late-night weekend weirdness of Casa-Gulch jump parties Dead did his "Dance of the Flaming Ass-holes"..... He'd mummy-wrap in toilet paper with a long trailing tail, douse himself in a can of lighter fluid, light up, and dance like a crazy man until the mummy wrap morphed into a birthday suit... I think he still flies big multi engine fire-bombers in the out-where. Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

repack cycles are an artifact of silk canopies. Over time, Silk will take a 'set' and sometimes fail at the fold. Military experiments with long-packed emergency rigs,incouding some soaked in sea-water for weeks, concluded the is little-to-no rationale for repacking outside of placating the Feds.. Silk canopies are beautiful in the air they have a mother-of-pearl luster that is lovely to see. Malfunctions usually blew them into a pile of rags. Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

All white 28 ft. "flat" round x-miltiary with a sissor-cut 5-panel double "L" ($60.00) Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

http://www.latinskydivers.com/ ! Viva Los Skydivers Latinos, VIVA! Perhaps the oldest parachute club, the Latin Skydivers are Celebrating their 50th year Saturday September 17th! ... We'll be there! ...50th annivdersary, a birthday we share...( I started skydiving in 1961). The club is certainly one of the oldest, best-known and respected of any -ever! Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

In case you haven't heard, Kevin Donnelly passed away last Saturday. He was 70. His funeral will be on Friday May 6 and a memorial jump will be held on Saturday May 6 at 5:00 pm at Elsinore DZ. He died suddenly on Saturday after not feeling well on Friday. He will leave a large hole to fill. Kevin started skydiving in 1965 and was still active in the sport. He told me that he kept seven rigs current. Kevin attended almost all of the Pioneers of Sport Parachuting Reunions for the last eight years and was a favorite storyteller of the adventures of movie skydiving and flying stunts. He was one of those that inspired me to start jumping again. Kevin was well known for many things but especially for his movie making involving skydiving and airplanes. He said that he was a movie maker before he was a skydiver. He was the stunt coordinator for the movie Point Break where he managed the skydiving and flying scenes. He did many other movies including Gypsy Moths. If skydiving movies helped get people into our sport, then Kevin did more than most to grow our sport. He was also one of the pioneers of RW and was a US team member for accuracy and style in the 70s. He will be missed. Cliff Davis D-1594 USPA I/E 970-281-2390 cliffdavis@rkymtnhi.com

News: Just heard From Brian Williams, SCR #8. SCR awards launched 46 years ago when Brian entered the first-ever 8-man-star. ( At present 26,000+ have earned their Star Crest.) Sorry to say our SCR #8 is ailing, saying, "My lungs are in bad shape. I just have no energy whatsoever. With any luck, I'll be around for a bit longer." .............. Bad news travels like wildfire. Good News travels real slow. Lately, I'm hearing bad news, everywhere I go. - - - . - - - Blue Skies with black clouds.... . . . Everyone is a one-person star - if you want to build something bigger, you gotta do RW.