lekstrom10k

Bob was at Richmond last fall where he showed me his staple line scar from a cyst removal. He was living in Michigan with his sister around Grand Rapids. He said I could give out his address if anyone wanted it. He cant get E-Mail in his Van. His sister has Cancer and bed ridden so phone calls wouldnt be a great idea. but not impossible. He jumped with us at Napoleon last May or so. I didnt know he was around until coming down with a tandem. I saw his accuracy pad wondering what it was? Duh Bob is here. I havent heard anything else, as the saying goes about no news

If you flat pack you are laying it on its side nose right or nose left then stacking it. Your rig is set as though you are lying on your stomach. how can it not turn on opening to be relative to you .

A flat pack has to turn to the same heading as a pro pack to open anyway. Why not eliminate that from the start. You can always stick your hand inside just before wrapping the tail for line check do that on a flat pack.I have done them all but stick with the pro pack

I went to a nearby Chevy dealer to look. They had a 2001 Prism Four -door sedan. They told me it was bought at an auction at the GM Tech Center motor pool four miles down the road ,Ok I asked what mileage it got compared to my Neon, which got 40.5 on the higfhway. After looking it up I was assured it got 39 to 40 easilyOK I took it. I got a real surprise when I opened the fuel door to see a "HERTZ" HOTLINE number It was the first lie. The second was the mileage About 29. They looked up the 5 speed stick not the 3speed no over drive. After calling GM they said they allow their dealers do what ever it takes to make a sale. The "Indian" salesman said he doesnt speak english very good. I must have misunderstood him. Needless GM has sold the last car ever to me. If your sales staff wont at least split the title search with you buy else where. It also shows accident history too. Look out for new paint a poorly aligned doors and fenders. {accident} If the seat , arm rest and lower rught corner of the brake pedal, its more used than the odometer says..Alot of cars are turned in leases. It is probably safe to get a car from down south. Was it under water after Katrina

Remember the higher number on the gauge the thinner it gets. Also the higher the number on the Stainless the better it gets. As far as some of the money spent . Do you want this to outlast your great grand children or great great great great grand kids that wont know you even in pictures

A friend left a New Years Party a few years ago around 10:00AM. He plowed into a patrol car from behind at a traffic light. He was startled by the tap on the window by the officers club. He rolled down the window and said "Boy it didnt take you guys long to get here". Hope it qualifies for #16. PS the guys from Skydive Wayne County{ Richmond IN. told me one "Ask the cop how many Donuts he can fit on his gear shift lever" It seems to get you out of a warning ticket to a shiny pair of bracelets with that cute little chain that joins them so they dont get lost like mittens.

I some how ended up on their website. Look at the tandem Pagr . Have you ever seen a right door Twin Otter especially with green paint were the black exhaust smudge paint usually goes. I called and the guy said they dont have to know about the airplanes they "OWN" just how to book passengers. I call our DZ and ask if they have weather and terrorist insurance too. They say of course I can also get sniffles and no farts insurance too.Beat that Skyride. USPA has Junes calendar Photo with a right door Otter and a right door DC-3. Maybe they buy from the same plane dealer. I have jumped a right door DC3 before but not an Otter . They must make them for England they put steering wheels on the wrong side too.. I did call USPA and after 6 or 7 people thet finally agreed the negative was backwards. Thet must get attitude lessons from Skyride. I have checked corrections and as expected it was ignored.

The brake loop is relative from the tail to the "A" line canopy attachment. My sabre II is about 2 1/2 inches . If you get line lengths from the manufacturer It will also tell you your lower steering line. Mine was 105 5/8. After 600 jumps it shrank to 101.That meant my tail was over 4 inches lower than specs. It would open and slider stays up. If much lower you get a rocking that will usually have the nose catch the pilot chute., etc etc. I had a Unit# 26 and got a notice to move the brake loop 3 inches never said up or down . I un finger trapped the loop and did a magic marker dot. I would let the dot be up 3 inches, from the steering ring then daisy chain the rest It would open OK sometimes the dot was on the ring and sometimes 3 inches below. It worked better below on hot humid days and above on very cold dry days.If the tail is to high your canopy charges and slow openings again. Glad they arent around any more but a Vector High Lifter 360 reserve will not stop rocking until the brakes are released. It scares the hell out if the student

I agree with the bright colors. If you have ever been a FART Pilot "Free-bag Aerial Recovery Team"you would appreciate it. With the long bridle it might be on top of the corn or soy beans that ate everything else.It works on the main and reserve too.

' After being in the sport a few weeks now I read a lot of responses. No one ever mentioned what plane was used. I got my jumpmaster rating in 1968 and noticed a few things. In a C182 ,C180 with a step and a P206 All the static -lines are at the jumpers 9o'clock position at least sometimes 8 or7 . When they drop off if it swings to 11 for opening its a miracle. Watch the canopy following the dope rope.. If your exuberent pilot kicks a left rudder for go- around or closing the door it only intensifies the problem.Good body position always help. Packing and nose position on the canopy helps too. Does the canopy still do the same thing went packed for free-fall on delays ? Its always easy to blame the student but there can be contributing factors

RWS made a rig 80-s with the leg strap tensioner on the backside. You had the pilot chute pouch on the front and it was like putting your hand in your own pants pocket. We had a guy at a POPS meet in Sandusky Mi that was shriveled up at 80? that when his wife tightened up his leg strap it threaded through the buckle and choked hie pilot chute. He almosted went in and pulled his reserve at 300 feet or so. He didnt want to jump his brand new rig for the second time

It was said that one was a Para-Commander, in a B-4 style container. DBC didnt use that one He took a 28 ft Un modified round in an emergency container . He was said to repack it on the floor tied to seats for tension. They dont know where he got out and inched the speed up to where they were amazed the Air-Stair didnt crumble. They calculated the ground winds at night were 40 mph. To jump somewhere over the world and land by gravity.backing up at 39 oscilatting doesnt seem to good an idea. The original one was kind of neat then went to hell. I jumped into a party after that and we were greeted by the police as other hi-jackers. before we landed.

I never liked the stiff legs in front trick. We had both student and TI almost pole -vaulting until her legs collapsed. I tell mine its like coming up a chair lift. Keep your heels down toes up thighs horizontal. , heels forward of the knees You wouldnt let the tips of your ski's down and flop youout of the chair. If its stand-up time "it.s like coming off an escalator .step off you wouldnt lock both feet on the step as it disapears into the floor. I got where i rated the jump by the putting on the frappe hat . If they are baffled by that the jump might not get better. Now its all about make it work Just some thoughts

I started jumping in Michigan on Sept 8th 1967 Last month and Februrary of 2006, plus one time around 1984. Those were the only times I didnt make a jump in every month of every year for 36 of almost 40 years in the sport. I wore shoes one time for a demo jump into MIS Nascar track, otherwise wearing Tevas the rest of the time all year for 18 years.I have pictures landing on frozen lakes and such. Its always fun going to a bar before Super Bowl to see drunk guys on their 4th football game not knowing who is playing any more making comments. "Hey Bill remember when the son of a bitch threw the ball the other guy and those bastards intercepted. Naw John what game was that in. Im not sure but you have to remember it dont you " Have burger and a few beers, do my log book then drive home before they leave with a grin glad I am not living their life . I posted a comment about jumping at minus 20 for a winter carnival. We were supposed to jump all day for free food and beer etc. We went inside to pack and 13 pitchers later they decided we didnt quite fill our obligation and had to leave. It took forever to pre-heat then warm the engine than the trip to the DZ.

I jumped with Sam Brown at Rantoual last summer with his son .Also the year before . He has been to Napoleon a few times and swears he is going over to Midwest at Romeo to jump with Cliff Alfiche ,I dont know if it ever worked out. Rocky sold his C-182 to Randy Allison at Midwest. It was origionally from the Todd farm at the Silver Eagle DZ north of Port Huron in Crosswell Mi. It went to Flagler Fl for a while then back up to near Romeo about 30 miles from where it started from, now with a carb C206 engine and 3 blade prop .new paint and much more. Rockys brother was airport manager for Three Rivers south of K-Zoo Rocky and Tom Orielly did AFF and PreAffI courses there for a while. Most of those guys ended up on Excite - Us 10 way team After winning the World -Meet in South Africa

" Who is base Again" " Is a compressed accordian and a two-way donut the same ?"" "I'll pull first No way I'llpull first". "One-half 4 -way Team" " Square root sign of 4 team." " The other Guys are fishing." "We met on DZ.com"." Both other guys reserves are out of date".how is that for a big pile of nothing

OLd B-4 type rigs had solid saddles . If you bought a Style-Master it had a semi split saddle. You could hot knife the cross connector webbing off. Most people did as a split saddle was more comfortable. As far as the RSL My 1964 Cross-Bow rig had one with One-Shots. The best thing ever was the slider over ropes and rings. You could actuallu get 20 jumps in a row without a cutaway.

We were supposed to jump into a winter carnivalon above Lake St Clair at Detroit Mi, as often as wecould for the ice fishing tournamwnt. We also would get banquet tickets with the band and gambling too. Only problem it was minus20F out side. It took forever to pre heat the plane then start it ,then wamr the engine. We finally made one jump at 4000. We then went inside to repack. Someone gave us a beer , Then 13 pitchers later we got thrown out for not jumping enough. It was still fun and no need to be repeated. As this is Super-Bowl Sunday Party the out-door portion will be in 6F weather at the bon fire. As usual no one knows who is playing and a designated quarter watcher will yell the score out. It will be replied with" So what whos square won."I am getting crabby as I did not get to jump in Michigan in January and this month isnt looking much better

As our DZ is just 6 miles north of MIS NASCAR race track I got to take Kasey Kahen for a jump on a Saturday before a Sunday race. I have made a few with Bob Sinclair and his buddies. As regards to Paul Williams long hair at the time. He let it grow because it was to embarassing for a man his age to sit on a board in the barber shop chair. I got to jump with Roger Nelson using a short lined rag in a bag bare foot in 1972 at Hinckley 8-man scrambles with his brother Carl too.

In picture #2 the bent Martin-Baker seems to be a replacement for the white plastic or fiberglass center-pull handle. That was in case of a DC-3 door-jam or other exit problem. The R-2'son the Style Master was a nice touch .I used mine many times, never had R-3's I went to round bottom ring three-ring system.I will go with the Green Star in picture #1Seems the 24ft reserve doesnt show much hint of the usual pilot chute. The Pop-Top container only stayed in place by the belly band after a pull and was not connected to the risers. It was eventually mounted on your back when the Jump-Shack made it into an SST. I have met as many people who have invented it as there are people who invented AFF. everyone got their idea stolen.I had a jump-suit like the red one ,the velcro collar got my beard more than once I cant see the altimeter well enough for the yellow quadrant on the dial I still have one red only from 1968, it works great. .

I assume you are looking for one for a U-206? I know Des at Central Michigan Skydivers has one on his. You could E-mail him for the info. It easier to convert an exrta door for C-182's than convert the original. You will have a replacement to reattach thats already painted if it ever came to that..Dont forget to update your seat belts for each jumper.I know USPA had a list of current STC's. Like C-182 seat belt mods for about $20.00. cant beat having someone else doing all the paper shuffles I also agree Paul Fayard would be the best place to start.

Either get in touch with Paul Fayard at Carolins SkySsports Louisberg South Carolina. or Joe Webber at Sky dive Oregon, At the DZ directory in any Parachutist. They know everything. There is one on a U-206 in michigan that is one piece. It pure hell to put up in the winter. A paneled one like otters and caravans can even be closed by the pilot on the way down. It wont be cheap but will keep jumpers wanting to go back up in cooler or damn cold weather . Usually just in time for the winter payments IF its a U-206 they have floater bars and I imagine STC's for seat belts for six jumpers

The Pinto that got hit on the ohio turnpike was driven by a girl with three friends at a gut wrenching speed of 20 mph. She never sped up from the toll gate.The guy that hit her was in a full sized Chevy van. He was doing over eighty at night as the speed limit was 75 pre embargo. He had dropped his doobie bent down to pick it up in time to see the rear of the Pinto. Basically having a closing speed of 55, like hitting any parked car it would explode. Not saying it was a great car but to put some rational behind it. Immediately Ford said the Corvair and VW Bug would explode with their front mounted gas tanks into a brick wall. Problem solved. PS no one has mentioned tho Ronco Pocket Fisherman or Chia pets and pet tocks

Get the rest of the guys in on singing Happy Birthday On the climb around 8000. It is also mandatory to sing as baddly as you can. Then do it a second time to the dirty word version. It will usually loosen them all up. I can supply them if you dont already know them. You dont always want your tandem freaked out.

I agree with "The Star Spangled Banner" At Rantoual in the morning you can tell who the veterans are as they are the only ones standing up and quiet, Simone and Garfunkles "Like A Bridge Over Troubled Waters" isnt fair at your best friends funeral. Men arent supposed to cry. TAPS doesnt make it any easier, at a flag draped coffin.