fastphil

I've done orange tosses in freefall; they fall about the same speed as a jumper so can be tossed without the usual "arch" of land based tossing. The earth's population was much less back then so there was little chance of hitting someone on the ground...

One of a kind hoop dive T-shirt. Here's pics of a hand painted T-shirt of the first NSCSA. This was painted in England (Scotland?) by a friend of Sandy (Sanity) Spence from a mere description of the jump, made in Spaceland TX, and depicts the dive with uncanny realism...

But Wendy, you were holding yourself back if you didn't try the "I'll hold yours if you'll hold mine" line...

A lotta people think that the SCR is a big thing in Texas but it is not; it's a big “thang” in Texas. Hard to describe how proud you feel, kneeling in the peas, facing west, enjoying a beer shower and a hymn at sunset, but the SCR does bring a sense of family to the DZ (as well as a good party). But the SCR was not an end; it was a beginning, as the “number” chase was on. I got my SCR, then my SCS. We used to do a lot of night jumps so next naturally came the NSCR. And of course, once you got yours you had to help others get theirs, that way there were numbers bigger than yours. The SCSA was fun and was a good one to aspire to, and then there were off the wall numbers from issuers besides Bill Newell like the WSCR (women’s), NWSCR (night women’s) and the BASCR (bare assed), all of which I earned. These took not only flying and organizational skills but also involved certain disciplined social skills. We finally set the bar to a new level at Spaceland with the NSCSA in 1978, that’s the jump Mike Branch mentioned above.

Sorry Tuna, but Wendy's right; although I do have some alcohol/waterbed experience...

I guess the kiss pass is relegated to skydiving history...

As I remember, I made about 350 PC jumps in my first 8 or 9 months of jumping, so I probably jumped in most conditions Mother Nature presented. However, I was 21 at the time and could jump off a two story building and do stand up landings and could run about twenty five MPH or so (I used to run and jump over cars at the DZ just for fun). I landed mostly with a hook turn even in no wind conditions, but they can backfire on you if done too early. At Z-Hills one Turkeymeet (76 or 77) I learned about spotting for the reserve. One jumper landed his reserve in the loading area and was dragged so far and fast that they were chasing him with the truck, and a friend backed into a tree landing with his reserve and was caught about twenty feet up. I progressed on from the PC to the Starlite, where we had enough speed for CRW…

Her head's bigger than her butt, that's just not right...

Oh well; but now you can claim a number under 30K, that's kinda cool...

I'd recommend not messing with the pilot...

Good thing you weren't wearing penny loafers...

whuffos are always whuffos

A week is a long time considering time practicing the sport is measured in seconds...

I made my first jump at Spaceland 33 years ago today (Juneteenth 1976). Time flies, and so do we...

With fate being what it is, I would accept the inevitablity of the situation but would go for the last kiss pass. On a similar note, me and a Buddy used to practice CRW with round canopies and other less than usual behaviors, including quartering away from each other and pulling while only a few feet apart (yes, I've been inside an opening canopy). We had well discussed EPs to land under one canopy regardless of the situation...

...and it's affected your spelling.

Guess I’m the opposite kind of freak, but I didn’t like to stow anything. My experience was with stratoflyers though, but I had great reliability for 600 or so jumps by just coiling the lines in and folding the canopy on top. My pilot chute was attached directly to the canopy bridal with no extension and I used the SST Racer so openings were brisk to say the least, with the canopy mostly inflated at linestretch. I loved the opening sequence, which was very direct and to the point. Most of my openings were at terminal but a few were very low hop and pops. I packed for BASE the same except for a longer bridal with a curved pin and handheld pilot chute...

Maybe you're gritting your teeth too hard from excitement...

from an ex...

...and with a Starlite you didn't have to wait for landing to break stuff, you could break stuff at opening too.

I like that train of thought...

"decision to kill yourself" seems a little too dramatic for this instructor. Prior to AAD's, we used to say "you're a dead man 'til you pull." These days, it's more like, unless you really screw up, you'll probably live. I have trouble with that line of reasoning also. Skydiving is not particularly dangerous, however, each individual is totally dependent on there own situational awareness. The trouble with skydiving is anyone, regardless of talent or training, gets to start out on the high wire with no net…

Here’s the Lodestar we jumped at Cow Palace (pic), which was near the current Spaceland. At that time the population base was primarily cows, hence the name Cow Palace. Jumping was invitation style, and we usually just brought enough to fill the plane for a few loads…

I would take the road less traveled...

And don’t forget the NWSCR for after dark, when women are naturally more interesting. The starcrest awards were once rites of passage, indicators of experience and talent and a good reason to buy/drink beer…