BLee52

There you go Wendy knows what shes talking about too.

OK, I am a grumpy old,grey bearded, southern, good ole boy. I have made a living as a full time rigger, I got my senior in 79 after 3 years packing for others, my wife thought it was just another merit badge while i was studing, or driving across town to pack for someone on there apartment floor. But since then I have worked for NASA as a rigger, packed the first two shuttle ejection seats, was a ACEs II tech rep for F15's, worked for the Saudi Air Force, traveled around the world, I now do it part time at my house. I have never even once thought that a woman could not do this job, nor have i ever intertained an idea other than equal work for equal pay. I did come from a town of quakers, they all looked like the beach boys. there were two curly black haired kids in town. the other was my brother, let us just say when it was time to kick ass or look down on someone they knew where they were. There is a danger in thinking that you will not be excepted because of what you are, or who you are and it will beat you down. Show up, Be there when your there, do your job, keep interested in it. don't get caught up doing bad to others no matter what "there doing" and try to do the right thing even when no one is around. you will do fine. Best of luck to you.

Hey Mike I'm NSCSA 6

I had fond memories of my starlite, I put my throw out on my riser so i could follow the pilotchute and put myself in a better position. still it opened like iI hung it on a telephone pole. An LPD was a diaper like thing. It was a strap that went around the skirt, but instead of a rubber band and bite of line. A nylon loop and steel pin were employed. the pin was attached to a line shorter than the others. Idea being that the canopy strings out, and the pin is pulled just before line strech. At the other end the line was attached to a stearing toggle, so you could pull it manualy. but, i think the problem came from a line half hitching around the pin and causeing a streamer.

Wendy Probably remembers the diaper on my cheapo i had when we both had a couple hundred jumps. It was also short lined 4 1/2 feet and the lines taken out from the insides, to enable it to fit into a strong starlite container, I made it (the diaper)out of cotton to reduce friction (i thought). After that blew up, i had a tricon cut a little higher on the two outside holes with a pullie on the apex to pull it down after opening,(I cut it off shortly there after cause it didn't help much)and it used a sleeve but to get it to open slower, I took a boot tounge off an army boot sewed it around the last line to flake, then wraped it around the lines and slid it up by the skirt. i would sleeve the canopy flip up the diaper on the sleeve with the boot leather wraped around the lines underneath, on deployment the lines would unstow the sleeve would pull off, and then the boot tounge would have to unwind before the parachute opened, worked great. As far as starlites go the first ones were opening way to hard. my first jump on a stalite was a two second delay out of the 182 going as slow as he could, i pulled and the next thing i remember i had two canopys out and had to cut away the starlite landed a 26 navy. later i bought a starlite with the diaper, i was dropping students at the time and didn't like the slow opening at subterminal, so i took it off. the best way i found to deal with it, was to follow the pilotchute and scrunch my head into my neck. that seemed to work for me and i spent the next 500 jumps on that canopy, that i still remember as being very attached to it . It may also be the reason i have 4 bone spurs on the front side of my neck. The diaper for the starlitre was invented by a guy named Chris Russel in a letter to Ted Strong dated 5-25-76 he gives complete instructions on and his tests results of the slider. and to end his letter he states "I am not interested in patents, copyrights, commissions, or royalties, only recognition and glory If someone fraps because of a slider, I'll be interested in anonymity". so here you go Chris for inventing the starlite slider Him-Him------- and as far as the first diaper type thing on a round i remember the line over prevention device (LPD)from pioneer first. or maybe the opening shock inhibiter (OSI)on the delta II

Boys and girls, I have no idea of the inner workings of Jimmy's mind. I grew up dpwn the street from him, I knew his older brother, he has been a friend of mine for like ever,we have Knowledge of some of the same women.(small town) and i know I have no idea whats going on in there .but i know he can do a lot of things and people will spend a lot of time figuring it out. only to find there was nothing to it. BUT he has bought a rig and with some type of "sucess" completed a "refresher jump " at doc's place. god help us all

LAP there you are, glade to hear from you. hope your doing well, after your bad landing. I'll lend you something big when you want to jump again.

wendy, You were at the jumpmaster /instructor cert. course when,Jerry Sobeski got his rating. Maybe 1981.I remember cause, I had eaten something dead two days before that would not come out, I was backed up to my eyeballs, after getting through my lecture portion, I felt so relieved I didn't screw up, I relieved myself at the facility, as I was walking out you were going in, I remember rthinking she's going to remember this. Remember?

OK since everyone has lost intrest the girls are picking off crabs, this is what the yankees brought to spaceland one winter

We called him that too. Only his highscholl buddies called him Andy Honda. This is the beechcraft we jumped that maybe MarkDs back behind Ron Rice the pilot. For extra points who is this famious 10 way speed star guy in the sunvisor and just what are those girls doing in his lap

I'll look Buck I think I have a news paper articial of me and Andy. Interesting, I met Andy when i was a sofmore in highschool. He was called Andy Honda back then cause he had a honda car with a 4 speed on the dash a 600cc motor and a honda 750.I was dateing this girl (thats what it was called back then ) today it would be called hooking up I think. She had a twin sister and this guy took her out, got her totaly drunk, and dumped her on the front lawn, in the middle of the night. Well it was Andy, and my girl friend asked me if I would go and stomp him for her, I was a Varsity Noseman and guard at the time and would do that for a small "reward". Well when I met Andy and heard the story about this girl, jumping in his car, drinking everything he had, as fast as she could, and attemented to sodamize him,I realized it was not his fault (it's why I liked her sister)and dropped it there. 5 years later I run into him again, he had 7 jumps and I had about the same.We spent our student times together,been friends ever since, Hard not to like Andy I may, if I have some time (and andy says it's ok ) put the story of his last solo 20sec dive on the scarey jump stories thread and look at Pauls windblast handle. Lando has a plastic r/c too, I think his rig came with a blast handle. Maybe Windy could tell us an Andy storie I would like to hear one wouldn't you?

Buck were you not out at the NBL??? I went there for my chamber renew and you were gone.

That was my I'm not scared of a Static Line jump look. I sent that in for my USPA life member photo

Gret to hear Kenny doing well. I'm sure whomever he's flying for is lucky to have him Here's my last belly wart jump it's a 7-TU C-9 in a bag. It was going to be Suni's, this was the test jump and a S/L eval for someones jumpmaster rateing

I remember a 10 way speedstar/formation meet And the cajuns+Beaumont had brought some women with them,they were a fun group.The first day we were holding our own,we were the home team and if we didn't screw up would be the winners. After jumping, a party started and the girls from louisana were real party hounds. I remember thinking this is great, it's 3am (first loads at 9) I've half a bottle of El Presidente in me and were all going for naked beacon rides. All the Beaumont and Louisana jumpers went back to there hotel at 8pm what a bunch of light weights. They missed a great conga line. I don't remember what happened after that. don't remember much of anthing. But i do remember thinking those guys are pretty slick or I'm pretty stoupid or both This is what happened to Phils Starlite, after a malfunction that tore it up, I fixed it, and the idea was it was going to be Suni's, But we went to Saudi Arabia and turned it into a Parasail, in the back ground is the compound we lived in outside Taif. we were waiting for the goats and sheep to pass before towing it with a Land Cruser. I left after 2 years but the toy stayed, scraping knees and terrafying sheep.

Yes Suni was older than 15 But not much,she was two weeks short of 18, I was her first jump instructor and I was lurking that hard. That man with his back turned is her grandfather who is still alive and in his 90's he was sure proud of her that day. Here is a pic of us now, and us back then,as you can see Suni is still a babe and I have been lucky enough to become old,My daughter got ingaged to a skydiver this weekend, so life is pretty dang good right now. this Otter picture is the 500th Otter made. Metro airlines turned it loose for only one weekend that first year, it was my first ride in a Super Otter. The guy in the T shirt is Ron Rice the pilot, next to him ,the blonde is his wife Susan, Bruce Bickford is to the right, jumping a light weight racer(container flaps made of ripstop)to the left is two guys from louisana,Dywane Bruette is the one on the left,I forgot the other guys name. Jessie Hall is hideing behind the rig you can see part of his head.

Well I may have been jumping longer, but with my computeing skills (my daughters boyfriend taught me how to up load these attachments) I musta forgot how long it's been. how about these pic's

Ok this was over Spaceland the year before Mike and Linda Smith started operating the DropZone for Boatman Kenny Colman was running the place. I worked around the DZ packing and me and Jimmy Heffernan would pick up the trash for jumps. We were on our way to 12.5 the world record was 32 way round, we were going to try to break it with 35. from right to left first row Mark Schlater,Jimmy Heffernan, row 2 Andy Smith,me,Kenny Colman,3rd row,David Botrell,standing Dave Boatman,and Robert Botrell. After that I'm not good with the names, they were from Austin area and I don't want to miss name. I know Captin Death was flying. This could have been 1976

This was me teaching PlF to 3 students 1977 two weeks later Suni made her first jump

how about this old spaceland pic

Bought my first gas one (propane) in 1979 for a converted school bus. Moved it into my house when I built that. It gave up the gost in 97 and I've been operating on a newer one since. If the water is cold coming in the flow will slow down, but it will give you hot water till it runs out of gas, or you get tired of hot water. I've never liked the idea of tanked water heaters turning on and heating water when I don't need it. Also to get the hot water out of the tank you got to pump cold water into it. sumptin nut rite bot dat They cost more, but if you add up all the costs/time may come out pretty cheap

I've had many over the years. I never seemed to buy one that did not have over 100,000 miles on them. By then they would need the regular things,brakes/ the rubber boots need to be replaced about then, I had a brat, loved it too, my wife has a new forester now. she had an 88 turbo 1.8liter 4 door we liked, but down here (houston)it gets too hot and the stuff under the hood would go bad faster, to say nothing of the paint on the hood above the turbo turning color, I think the new ones have a scoop for that now, I had to put my own on. Ive replaced the motors in half the time it would take to replace many others.I would recomend them to anyone, just figure out what you want to do in the car and buy that type subaru, We would be in the baja now, except that I have an 88 gmc 4x4 to haul/pull stuff. Now every time i go out and see the crap my Bride is hauling around,in the new car, i wish i had gotten her the truck,and dumped the guzzler

Someone named Nick tryed it in the mid 60's. after a number of attempts something went wrong at 50 grand he sucked vacume and died a few months later. It put a dampener on the rest of the jumps I guess

it shoulda been ten