wartload

Not all that scary, but ... Some years ago I dropped by a DZ that I visited from time to time, but hadn't gotten up that way in over a year. Two guys were packed and ready when I got out of the car, so we decided to make that a load for the 170. None of us knew each other, but I knew the pilot well. One of the other jumpers was from a university club--he and I decided to do a 2-way. The third was a visitor from the UK who just wanted just to make a solo freefall. As we got to the plane, the college guy asked what licenses we had. I didn't have one, so he (with a B) announced that he would be jumpmaster. Ok, I thought ... and the pilot grinned at me. We got to 12,500, over a broken (generous use of the term) layer of clouds at about 6,000, and the pilot told college guy to open the door and see if he could see anything. He did, and the guy from the UK immediately left the plane. College guy's face turned pale. I wiggled up to the door and there wasn't anything showing below but white. "Want me to spot this one?" I asked college guy, and he nodded. Through a crack in the clouds I luckily caught a quick glimpse of a drive-in movie screen that was pretty near the DZ, made a good guesstimate as to where the DZ should be and gave the pilot a slight correction (big fields, even if we were out a bit). College guy and I got out, hooked up, and held it through the layer of clouds, then broke off and opened. The spot turned out to be (luckily) right on. We landed ok, as did the plane. The pilot and I were laughing about the "jumpmaster" looking so scared, and then we remembered the guy from the UK. It was a definite "oh sh**!" situation. The DZ owner sent cars out in all directions, but couldn't find him. About 2 hours after the jump a local farmer showed up with our friend ... he'd planted his canopy in a tree, had to leave his whole rig there, lost his logbook, watch and altimeter climbing out of the tree and walking out of the woods. He found a road after over an hour of bumbling around in briars, but didn't have any clue where his gear had been left. He wasn't at all happy. It turns out that he wasn't paying close attention and, when the pilot told college guy to open the door, he assumed that we were over the spot ... so he departed expertly. I think that they spotted his canopy from the air a few days later and were able to get it back for him, but no sign of his other stuff.

For years (since they began the vanity plate program, I think) Jim W. had SKYDIVE in NC. Haven't seen him in awhile, but suspect that he still does.

You bet your sweet ass that I am, too!

Yeah ... I read the thread title. The point is that they didn't always sell those nice big rolls of paper just for making WDIs, but the "Five and Dime" store sold packs of it for decorating the high school gym, etc. You bought a pack, cut it across the middle (width) with a box knife, and that would give you the material to make two WDIs. As for farm machinery, our agreement with our local DFDZO (Dairy Farm Dropzone Owner who also often provided the welding rods) was that we'd retrieve our WDIs unless they landed in the trees. He wasn't so worried about the farm machinery as the cows trying to eat them. Besides, it gave bored students and the kids of jumpers something to do. To keep on the thread, though, maybe we should add: -- Made jumps when "shooting accuracy" meant avoiding the cow pies -- Remember when the closest thing to someone keeping a manifest at most DZs was, "Hey ... anyone besides me packed yet?"

We a) knew how to spot, and, b) knew how to make an accurate WDI out of half a package of crepe paper and some welding rods for weight. Jeez ... you kids these days ...

Nemo - I don't know about jumpers, but I taught Bermuda Ultralight Pilot #1 how to fly. He was a very pleasant fellow by the name of Michael Abbott (hope I spelled that correctly). He used to work at the Eastern Airlines desk there, I believe. Happen to know him? (I later taught two other citizens to fly, but I won't name them at the moment, lest they were on an incognito holiday.)

I wonder who has the first documented jump from an Ultralight? I took Rudi Krenz up at Orange, Va (Rudi's now in NM) during the summer of 1982 and let him climb out of an Eipper MXII. We also talked about trying to do UL/CRW, but some manner of good sense got into the way as I contemplated a canopy wrapped around the tail feathers. I'm sure Rudi logged that jump. Anyone know of an earlier one? (Anyone remember Orange being a li'l tiny club?)

Geez ... were you at Louisburg then? That's the first place I heard the potato count, but I think it might have been before the 80s.

Like PCs, they weren't really all that hard to stand up. Unless something unusual was going on (like really high winds, reserve ride on a flat/circ 24, or stretching for the disk) it was a matter of pride for non-students (off SL) to stand up rounds -- but the cumulative effects on the knees started to show up years later.

Also, you remember: -- Why the Thunderbow was called a "Polish PC" -- What the "Snyder Wrap" was and you know what it was used for -- Griping about how much space in the USPA magazine was devoted to the Jose Cuervo Para-Ski competition every year -- Aircraft altimeters that were mounted to the bungees on your chest reserve -- Cotton twill reserves -- "Wuffos" -- $2 Hop'n'pops from 1800 to 2000 -- Papillons -- Reading about something new called "The Flying Mattress" -- Baton passes -- HAGALO jumps -- "Zapping" -- Single-shot and shot-and-a-half releases (or a single-point release in the center of the chest) -- Watching "Ripcord" on TV and wanting to be like them someday--and wondering if one of the guys used to be "Chester" on "Gunsmoke" -- Thinking the guy with over 200 jumps was a Sky God. -- Knowing that the DZ was about the only place in the country where crew-cut military and long-haired hippies were comfortable around each other -- MA1 pilot chutes -- Doing your first "exhibition jump" before you had 25 total jumps -- Knowing the correct answer to why you jump out of "perfectly good airplanes" -- Squares being the canopies that gave the HARD landings -- Piglets, wonder hogs and warthogs -- French "Waffle Stomper" boots