zoobrothertom

Wow skybytch! So you were there at the same time! My memory's a little fuzzy on all the names, but we probably shared a beer or two after jumping. So Karen made the Knights?! You know, about 10 years or so ago Karen's name started popping up in the winners column for style and accuracy in Parachutist(I think it was S&A). I often wondered if she was the same Karen I knew from Germany and California. That makes her the second person I turned on to jumping who made the Knights! What really sucks is that they both now have thousands of more jumps than we do! Thanks for the info on Karen. I'm really happy for her! About the speed trap and hot pink "Paso Robles" stickers... We put one on our roof and never got a ticket coming down the valley from Monterey. But, honestly, we never had a pilot say anything to us personally. There was a time or two when we knew we were kinda of speeding and nothing happened. I think it was kind of our urban legend. I still tell the story too! Take care lady and blue skies ____________________________________ I'm back in the USA!!

Yuri, That just seems wrong.....it may be that by diving for 1000 ft the generated speed is lasting for the another 2K or so but to think that this extra speed will last for another 10K seems wrong. Also, how many objects allow the extra 10K. Just a thought about that "barrier." Is it possible that a burble created by the wing prevents it from accelerating through the barrier. The dive builds the speed high enough to push the vortices/burble far enough aft of the wing to almost ride it like a surfboard stays ahead of a wave by riding the "burble?" Just kinda guessing here, but maybe that is what is happening with the extra speed from the dive. Any thoughts? Kris. ____________________________________ I'm back in the USA!!

QuoteHey k_marr08, Just take what we tell with a large grain of salt. Quote Well said... A grain of salt and double check... ____________________________________ I'm back in the USA!!

Dude! The leading edge on that Cessna looks like something out of Fandango!! ____________________________________ I'm back in the USA!!

I'm pretty sure it was 1986. He was friends with one of the NCOs I worked for, and I can remember her being upset about it. All of that happened before I went to PLDC in December of 1986. Do you recall what her name was? I left Ft. Bragg in November of '85. ____________________________________ I'm back in the USA!!

Chris was still recovering from his self described achievement of becoming "Ground Plane #1". (Survived landing a down plane) He was jumping in cold weather with heavy gloves and a CAST on one arm. He went in San Antonio with nothing out. Took out part of a house too. _____________________ About the Downplane #1 and #2 Yep, Chris "landed" a downplane with Tod Cudnohowsky (SP?) at Raeford in June of '86. They were smoking one low over the landing area when they encountered the infamous "leg-grip death-lock" at break off. They fought/kicked to unlock but they were too low. Anyhow, Chris wound up with some serious upper body injuries like broken wrists and arms. I'm not sure of the total extent of his injuries. While in Germany, I returned to the States for training just after it happened. On July 4th, 1986, I went down to Raeford to see the old gang. That's when I learned about it. I heard first hand reports from eyewitnesses. I met Tod about 10 days after it happened at St, Mere Dropzone on Ft. Bragg. He was knocked out during the landing, but other than bruises was and jumping already. He didn't remember any of it. ____________________________________ I'm back in the USA!!

Sad, but true. Chris died in either late '86 or early '87. I have his incident report from Parachutist in my log book somewhere. I also have the report from the Stars & Stripes newspaper. But I didn't write the date on them. Oddly, I learned about his death when I walked into work one morning in Germany while in the Army. One of my men handed me the Stars & Stripes newspaper and asked me, "Hey, Sarge. Did you know this guy?" I was a little shocked. It was a one paragraph obituary about Chris' death and military service. Since the Stars & Stripes isn't distributed in the US, most of the skydiving community didn't know that his death was literally reported around the world to every base and ship outside the US. Sad, but I felt honored to have been his friend and found it only fitting that the world should know of his passing. I know when I go, a million people won't read about it. ____________________________________ I'm back in the USA!!

It may be old, but the t-shirt is really cool. Little sperm dudes exiting a DC-3 swooping on an egg. ____________________________________ I'm back in the USA!!

I've seen a lot of good replies to your question, so I thought I'd throw in one more (.02 cents). Your question is pretty general as you've seen in the answers. Just a guess, but I'd say your asking about a student canopy or something similarly docile. A flat packed student canopy, or any other F-111 canopy, is pretty steady at around 325-400 feet unless you really play with the nose. There are a few exceptions, but on average this is probably true. Even pro packed isn't too much slower, maybe +50 feet or so. ____________________________________ I'm back in the USA!!

Having crashed in one and bailed out of at least 4 other inflight emergencies..... I personally liked the sign at Skydive Houston on the wall at the rear of the otter that said, "If you must smoke, please step outside!" or the classic (cock your head with a grin to the ladies) "Remember when sex was safe and skydiving was dangerous?" ____________________________________ I'm back in the USA!!

PS - I did a white pages search on just his last name in Texas and, in the phone book at least, there are only 13 people listed. A couple were in the age range to be a brother or sister. 3 are in San Antonio. ____________________________________ I'm back in the USA!!

What a surprise to see Chris' name pop up after all these years. I was one of those early CRW dogs with Chris at Raeford along with a few others. It's a long shot, but does anyone know how to get in touch with Chris' parents or any family members. If I recall, his family lived in San Antonio, Texas. His log book and log book bag was an art collection in itself. He illustrated many of his jumps in his log book. He's got me in their doing a 2 stack with him. Good luck and happy hunting. ____________________________________ I'm back in the USA!!

The first canopy I owned was a starlite in a starlite container. I used to rear riser flare at landing for a nice stand up. Without the flare, you HAD to PLF it in. I learned the hard way not to swing your legs when you flared! My first flare I swung my legs out in front of me for the extra leverage and landed flat on my back. Wrapped my neck pretty bad over the reserve container. It's still a little sore sometimes to this day. Oh happy daze! ____________________________________ I'm back in the USA!!

At Freeport again, '83, I remember Norman Kent premiered that little known film called "Freekbrothers Convention." I also distinctly remember Roger announcing over the PA something like, "Jumpers! Please put your beer cans in the trash before boarding the aircraft!!" He was a little (maybe) upset. Great fun!! ____________________________________ I'm back in the USA!!

Yo, Doogie. I think we've got two or more jump stories intertwined here. Trust me on this one. My story is 100%.

Hey Nemo. I wish I could have jumped more in Bermuda. It's a beautiful island. The Ah-1 jump is kinda off-thread but since it's your thread, I'll give it a try. It's been about 21 years! I noticed skymonkey is a moderator. If he votes to move it to another thread, that's fine with me. Well…., I waited a couple of days and no comment. So, here goes. Ok, there are probably a few of the actual jumpers still around that can give fill in a couple of blanks. Namely, how they got caught. But, I'll do my best. If anyone can add to this, please do. I have a feeling this has probably appeared in another thread somewhere. The exact date slips my mind, but it was between October '84 and early '85. I was a Sgt. in the 82nd and on the 82nd Demo team at the time. I think I was already living off post with Jim Wooden, CW2, and Paul Jackson. I was a crew chief in 3rd Platoon, Dco., 82nd Combat Aviation Battalion. D co. was the attack helicopter company. Our platoon had 7 AH-1S cobras and a couple (3?) of OH-58 scouts. The jumpers were SSG Ron Wescott, SP4 Mark Leipold (Fridge), Lecil Conner-Hill (Grett Dalton's girlfriend) and Maj. Hondo (Scott Hallick - SP?). The AH-1S pilots were CW2 Grett Dalton and Cpt. John Hays. Both were pilots in my Platoon. Grett was an active jumper, too. The UH-1H pilot was Jim Wooden, my roommate (or soon to be roommate), and I don't remember who his co-pilot was. Jim was in our Battalion in another company. The idea probably started with Ron or Grett because Ron had a previous Cobra jump and Grett was fun loving crazy jumper! I’ve seen the picture. It showed Ron exiting and was taken from a camera on the ADS boom or the 20mm cannon. Doogie, this might be the source of other rumors that conflict with the facts of this jump. So, here's how it was put together, if I remember correctly. We were jumping on the weekend at St. Mere DZ. Not me though, I was recovering from a broken leg and only spectating that day (or I might have been one of the ones busted!). From St. Mere to Raeford is only a stones throw by air. Jim was flying jumpers in the Huey just like any other weekend club operation. Grett and John had scheduled some weekend "training" in one of our platoon’s AH–1Ss. They flew from Simmons Army Airfield over to Raeford and set it down. Meanwhile, Jim picks up a load of 10 and heads for altitude, 10.0. 6 jumpers exit and Jim does a rapid descent into Raeford with our 4 jumpers still on board. BTY, Lecil was jumping my brand new Fury 220. My new parachute’s first jump was from an AH–1 without me!! Jim landed the Huey and the jumpers opened the ammo bay doors on the Cobra and sat down 2 to a side. The plan at this point was for Grett and John to fly the jumpers up to 10.0 and then fly by St. Mere and drop them. Grett would descend outbound and after a few minutes Jim came swooping low from the Raeford side of the DZ as if he’s on final from his descent. The jumpers landed and, as far as I can remember, no one commented on the odd delay between the first 6 jumpers and the last 4. Hell, it went so smooth that I looked around and the guys and gal were already on the ground in the packing area with their rigs off. That’s about how I remember it. As to how they got busted, I don’t really know too much. Only rumors and, anyway, the real trouble came many months after the actual jump in late 85, I think. Doogie, I wonder how this version compares to the urban legends you've heard? ____________________________________ I'm back in the USA!!

Hey there skymonkey. Got a quick question. Is it cool to describe the AH-1 jump in detail or would that piss someone off? Just checking to be safe. Thanks ____________________________________ I'm back in the USA!!

Hey Skymonkey! Boy do I remember it! I'm over in Korea right now so the time zones are way off. If anyone is interested in the logistics of the jump. Let me know and I'll type it up tonight. ____________________________________ I'm back in the USA!!

Hello, Nemo. I know this thread is a little old, but I just read it today. Here's another story about jumping in Bermuda. In summer of '84, I was in the 82nd Airborne on the demo team. Not quite sure how it was organized, but a group of us flew in an Air Guard C-130 over to Bermuda for a three day weekend. Bob Surrell (sp?)from the Navy invited Dave Bullen, our club manager, to bring some of the team to Bermuda to jump with the navy EODs. I remember we took Ron Wescott, Rick Liepold (fridge), Paul Rafferty, Grett Dalton(?), and maybe a couple of others with us. We drove up to Norfolk, VA and boarded the plane. My gear was completely unassembled. We hooked up my reserve (26' Phantom) and packed it in the aisle. Then I hooked up the main and packed it on the ramp. We landed and picked up Bob and his guys, took off, dropped the door over Bermuda and jumped out. Nice! We also jumped a twin engine Huey from 13.0 grand. On the second day we had a mass water landing. We were drifting so fast that guys on the ground said it looked like we falling sideways. That date happen to be 30 days after an air force jumper from Pope AFB drowned off the coast of NC jumping with the navy (his nickname was Fly). So, we called it the Fly Memorial Splash In. I landed the closest to shore at about 400 yards and swam in. The 2 or 3 guys farthest out actually turned down wind and landed across the bay on the other side! It was a great time. I still have a big stain on my old logbook from a bottle of Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum that broke in my kit back on the way back. Blue Skies, Blue Water! ____________________________________ I'm back in the USA!!

Hey Dumpster, I think Fritz the Cat, an animated porno from the late 60's or so, was a satire of what the real Felix the cat should have been like. Worth checking out sometime for a good laugh. I'm a little hazy on what kind of plot it had...... ____________________________________ I'm back in the USA!!

Yo! Sky Bytch! Sounds like your reply brought a lot of Paso Robles people out of the wood work. Did the CHP still let the hot pink "SkyDive Paso Robles" stickers on the roof slide by the ariel (sp?) speed traps? I was there for a short time when Tom & Carrie Place still ran the place with Al Stepehns. I came over from Germany in March '90 to do my A&P license and my buddy was working at the FBO next door fixing choppers part-time on the weekends. I had a blast during my 3 months there. Every weekend sleeping in the "loft" on the floor in my sleeping bag. Taught a bunch of people some CRW while there and Tom & Carrie comped my last weekend plus a hooded "Skydive Paso Robles" sweat shirt that I still have! Al was great and I remember a guy named Craig who was kind of their up and coming gopher and jumper. Sorry to hear about Al. '94 I think it was. Dave "Bonz" Alterie (I can't spell his last name) who had Brown Dog Productions showed up while I was there. We knew each other from Ft. Bragg. Karen Berling ring a bell? We brought her up as a student one weekend. Did Kyobo helicopter flight school last very long? I remember we shared the hangar with CHP and the school. All Japanese students because it was cheaper to fly to California than train in Japan. I remember one weekend I arrived and found a craked up R-22 helicopter pushed off to one side of the hangar. It seems that the student autorotated whithout a substantial flare right into the ground! After that, we started calling it the Kyobo Kamakazi Flight School! I also have a picture of 4 of us dirt diving under the wing of a CHP Cessna. Let me know if you want a copy, it'll take me a while to find a scanner. Okay, so much for now. Oh well, off to drinking and bed. Let me know how the reunion jump goes.... Later Daze! ____________________________________ I'm back in the USA!!

Hey John! Long time no see... I've been following your thread about lowest D without a round jump. I would venture a guess at around D-9000 or maybe a little lower. At the 82nd Airborne club we switched from the MC-1B (T-10 with toggles) to PCs in early '84. Ironically, we did it because we thought squares were too hot. Soon we discovered that our students were hooking it in and we had a rash of ankle and wrist injuries. Our students were primarily (95%) airborne troops who were used to honking hard a toggle with no repercussions. Towards the end of '84 we went with squares, stratoclouds, and the injuires dropped way off. No radios; just good training. Anyhow,... why maybe D-9000 or lower? I'm D-9397 and received my number at the end of '85 with 500 jumps. I remember for sure that we had at a couple of new guys with over 200 jumps by then. I don't know if any of them actually got their license, but it's possible. Let me know if we find someone who fits the bill. Oh, BTW, I had around 50 rounds jumps when I switch over to squares. Later Daze! ____________________________________ I'm back in the USA!!

A lot of old parachutes listed here. My first jump was a t-10 in airborne school. My first round was a starlite in a starlite container. My first square was a stratostar in a wonderhog with a belly band. ____________________________________ I'm back in the USA!!

Looks like he's just checking the oil! ____________________________________ I'm back in the USA!!

Ah, Ft. Campbell. I was on the 82nd team back in the early 80's. We commuted up there for the annual Chinook boogie a couple of times. Around 84, 85 if I remember. We drove up in Dave Bullen's van; packed to the gills. Paul Rafferty was one of the other guys I remember that came up with us. It was a great place. I jumped with Steve Koonie at Bragg and saw that later on he was involved with the 101st club. I jumped with Billy Cowell back when he was still a civilian with the club and later ran into him in Germany when he was a 1st Lt. flying Hueys in the unit next door. That was around '88 I guess. It's really sad what has happened to military clubs around the world! Blue skies and thanks to all the guys for sharing their memories. ____________________________________ I'm back in the USA!!