Douggarr

Thank you for enlightening me, Robin. I guessed that it was either a) Leo piping the story to something sensational, b) the writer hearing it wrong, or c) the Esquire fact checkers not even raising an eyebrow when they read the text of the transcript. Either way, it's not really that important. We've been explaining ourselves for years and not too many people ever get it. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

I point you to the March, 2010, issue of Esquire magazine, where on p. 97, in a profile of the actor, the following quote can be found: "I know it's a cliche, but I'm happy to be alive. I went skydiving and my chutes didn't open. Two of them." I suspect he was putting the writer on....does anybody know anything about this? SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

Heartiest congrats to one of our sport's most enthusiastic cheerleaders. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

Next summer, August 16, 2010, will be the 50th anniversary of Joe Kittinger's famous skydive from a helium balloon at the edge of space, 102,800 feet. (If you're interested, he wrote a terrific book about it, called "The Long, Lonely Leap.") i got the wacky idea that we might plan a commemorative jump from say 20,000 or 25,000 to acknowledge the feat and raise money for the National Skydiving Museum. We'd need a major sponsor (or several) outside the community like Honda or Red Bull to foot the bill for such a project. Those two companies seem to be thrill sport-friendly. Any leads here would be welcome. I'm spreading the word now to see what people think of the notion. it will take a lot of planning and work. Could we get Perris's DC-9 (or the equivalent) filled up? High-altitude jump training? Would we do it in Florida, at Deland, whos DZO is already interested? Kittinger said he'd be there and supports the idea. Jumpers, please weight in. I'd also like to hear from skydivers who are interested in making such a leap; it would be a once in a lifetime kind of jump, I imagine. And not cheap. But for a good cause. We already have a documentary producer interested in doing a 30-minute TV special. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

This comes with bias; I know the DZO -- Ray Maynard -- from the early days and we competed in Para-ski meets together. He's a first-rate skydiver, pilot, and knows how to run a drop zone as well as anybody. Finding the old Grumman field and getting the FAA and town fathers to agree to skydiving here was nothing less than a miracle. He's built it up into a place any skydiver can respect and call home. I've jumped all over -- including other countries -- and after a very long layoff, I made a couple of skydives here. It's a great place for students, first-timers, and sky gods alike. You have to love the two turbos, and Ray fires them up to make sure nobody waits too long for a load. Oh, and by the way, the views of Long Island from altitude are absolutely breathtaking and compare with any other place in the world.

i read the string starting with White, and I wondered, where have I seen this before? Howie Martin sounds right, as I made a bunch at Ovid and Seneca Falls and i remember somebody having a one-pin container. It wasn't used for static line-student jumps, if I recall correctly. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

Thanks to all who replied, btw. Also, the Beech D-18 made the stars possible -- totally aware of this. We on the east coast could never get anything together because 1) we couldn't get two 180s or 182s on the same airport, and 2) we didn't have that great California weather. If you check the SCR site you'll see all the first numbers are California jumpers. Wasn't till Hinckley got one to break the string. SCR-442, SCS-202 SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

Hoop -- read your series last year. Newell told me offered SCS-0 to Brian when I mentioned that he was the first unrecognized soloist. Will contact you later to catch up.... SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

So who is the most famous member of the Caterillar Club? Charles Lindbergh George H.W. Bush Neil Armstrong SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

I interviewed John Frankenheimer, the director, several years ago, and I told him that after The Train and The Manchurian Candidate, Gypsy Moths was my next favorite of his. I remember Parachutist doing a feature article on the stunt jumping for the film -- I think Rouillard or someone else broke a wrist on a hard landing (which made the final cut, if I recall). Frankenheimer relished the fact that Burt Lancaster insisted on making a jump himself -- the producers were against it for the obvious reason. Still holds up today. Good movie, not great. But you gotta love the skydiving. Of course when Gene Hackman tells Burt not to be late for dinner when he jumps the cape, you know he's going in. I had a rubber band ripcord stop on my main, btw, and as soon as I read about all the horseshoed reserves, promptly removed it. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

Landing a PC downwind in an accuracy meet was challenging to say the least. You had to be young and daring and somewhat stupid to jump in winds over 15-18. I didn't have a steerable reserve until about 150 jumps, and I had a non-steerable reserve ride before that. But we had those thick Paraboots and a lot of pea gravel. If you made the peas, you pretty much were okay. My rule of thumb was if I saw someone backing up while making an upwind landing on a PC -- go directly to the bar. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

it is refreshing to see the very experienced jumpers check in on this thread and say what was immediately on my mind -- what in the world is someone with 114 jumps doing jumping such a high-performance canopy? This is like someone who just learned to drive getting behind the wheel of a Ferrari. Postscript on the RSL isssue: In the old days, a few jumpers had the big bulky hog backs with one-shot canopy releases (the old Capewell system). Many had RSLs attached by riggers. But since you had to pull both covers all the way down to jettison the main, there were incidences were only one riser would be cut away during a malfunction. This could certainly be spooky (or worse) if the riser with the RSL went up and the other one didn't. The piggybackers disconnected the RSLs. Today, this isn't much of an issue given the very reliable 3-ring canopy releases. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

Parachutist has asked me to write an article about Bill Newell and the SCRs for an upcoming issue. I'd like to hear from anyone -- low numbers especially -- with a good story about his/her first eight-way, etc. I've interviewed Bill, and I've seen Brian Williams' string on this site from November, but I'd really like some more first-hand stories. I actually did a stand-up in front of Bill at Stormville, N.Y. in September, 1970, and he gave me my patch before I took my gear off. You can post or write me directly at douggarr@yahoo.com. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

Bill Booth's power line story has to be the best, weirdest. Before he was killed at Watkins Glen in the famous rock concert bandit jump, Bill Smith nearly went in on a demo at a VFW Hall. I had already landed and watched him smoke it down to about a ground. His PC streamered and when he finally cut away he got his reserve out just in time for maybe two or three oscillations. Hit the sloped shingles of a one-story building, slid into a snowbank, and popped up as if nothing happened. We figured he had opening shock at about 75 feet and had only a few seconds under canopy. Surely there have been closer calls, but this happened right in front of me. I had only 76 jumps at the time and it scared the bejesus out of me. Read about in my book, "Between Heaven and Earth: An Adventure in Free Fall." SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

is there a Ripcord marathon in the works for Jumptown? I think I saw every episode as a kid. And Howard, I know you have all of them! SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

What the hell -- if you've got gray in your hair you're an old timer. I just turned 60 and can brag that I'm SOS-1353. You have to love a sport that takes so much pride in having a low number anything. At the Raeford Pioneers fest, I was in a three-point 7-way where Al King (59) and I were the youngest in the formation. Everyone was hoping we'd just nail a round. The old farts can do it once in awhile. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

I just borrowed one, a 170 after jumping student rigs of 230 (long layoff guys, after 25 years, went through recurrency, etc. etc.). Everything I've read in this thread seems to be true. I'm an older jumper (60) but prefer the "positive, fast" type openings compared with the slow-it-down-for-the-old-farts to 5 seconds. I hate watching the end cells inflate while the slider daintily works its way down the suspension lines. Terminal dump was right up and out there. Performance was great, nice turning, very responsive. My flare was off but I think this takes a few jumps to get the correct feel. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

I was waiting for something like this to occur. Even if the deceased landed under an open parachute and the cause of death was affirmed by a coroner/medical examiner that it was a heart attack or stroke, you will have a very difficult time fighting an insurance company with a claim. Even a specific exclusion -- if you die while skydiving -- would be hard to contest. The insurance company lawyer can argue that the jump itself contributed to the cause of death by inducing the stroke or heart attack (stress, etc.). Think about it. Suppose it goes to a jury trial. It's a toss up. An objective juror would have to be convinced that the deceased would have died at that moment had he been sitting in a coffee shop. Very tough call. Unfortunately, either way, it won't bring back Doherty. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

Hey Emmie! It's like riding a bicycle. I am the king of layoffs, or at least close to it. Time between jump 849 and 850 was 25 years. After the second one, it was like I never left. Did RW, landed standing in the peas. Just go through a very thorough recurrency training with an instructor you trust. Read the last chapter of my book, "Between Heaven and Earth," for a full account. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

I doubt that he ever jumped, but from the tone of the story, it's obvious he spent some time around DZs. He picked up a lot of the vernacular. Part of the problem with writers who sort of survey a vast field is that they know a lot about one thing and a little about the related disciplines. I'm guilty of that as well. I once did a piece for The Village Voice, once NYC's most widely read weekly, called "A Skydiver Hangs Out," about going hang gliding. The point of my piece was to say that wow, from a skydiver's point of view, this looks really dangerous. Dan Poynter, who needs no introduction and was heavily into hang gliding at the time, read the piece, and wrote me a nasty letter basically telling me how full of shit I was. I have and always will have great respect for Dan, and that letter really stung me for quite a while. I doubt he even remembers it. Oh well, let's just keeping adding to the literature. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

Thanks for this post, Howard. I did get a little exercised about that Slate article. I hope you thought my reply was worthy. I know my book gets out there when it comes to risk assessment, etc., but my feeling is if you're going to talk about it, talk about it honestly. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

When I was in France in 1974, I stopped in to La Ferte Gauche, the drop zone about 40 km out of Paris, if I recall. The first question every skydiver asked me: "Do you know who Jerry Bird is?" He was a legend everywhere and probably did more for the advancement of large formation skydiving than any single other person during his prime. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

Greene, N.Y. Shawanga, N.Y. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

Roger -- obviously I had a long layoff as you surmised. My book covers 1969-1983. I renewed my USPA membership and made a couple in June after 25 years away in order to finish the memoir. It was a gas going through refresher/retraining with Al King (who was a static line student with me during our college days). As Ken Carville, another old timer told me, "It's like riding a bike." He was right. You don't forget how to free fall. And on the photo jump, I did a standup in the peas. I know I could get a disk after five or ten practice jumps on any canopy. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

Just discovered this thread. I think I kinda qualify as an oldie. SCR 442, SCR 202, 4-stack 870, CCR 1830. Jumped with Newell; met Istel; was flown by Sanborn at the '71 nationals in Tahlequah. My first reserve ride was on a non-steerable 24-foot round. I read some of the posts on dropzone.com and am in absolute wonderment that there are so many wussies. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353