Douggarr

Roger, you're a hero! Thanks for your hard work. I recently had a couple of exchanges with Newell about the SCRs. He was on the DZ when I received mine and I got a patch like right after landing. I needed to update some material in my forthcoming memoir, "Between Heaven and Earth: An Adventure in Free Fall," due out in December. I'm an old fart -- SCR 442, SCS 202. Doug SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

Read the Globe obit. Thanks, Howie. Another piece of the puzzle in parachuting history; a grand man, I'm sure. Did you get to jump with him at all? SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

Some of this thread was already in the history forum, thanks to Howard White -- a year or so ago, I think. I was there at Watkins Glen, too, and I go into detail about the incident in my upcoming book. But in all the crowd and all the confusion, I thought Smitty landed safely. I knew it was him because I recognized his Papillon. I didn't know he died until the next day, leaving the concert, when my friend heard it on the radio. Chip Maury (D-865), big-time free fall photog at the time and an ex-Navy Seal (first team ever), told me that Smitty had showed him an "artillery simulator," which is what I assume you're all referring to. Chip told me that the detonation was exactly like an M-18 smoke grenade, or even a real grenade. You have a cotter pin and you bend in the ends, pull it out, hold the handle and then when you let go and the handle snaps out, it goes off in about 8 seconds or whatever. Maury told Smitty that these artillery simulators were powerful, dangerous, and notoriously unstable (the last two words a direct quote, btw). And you guys know how many times M-18s malfunctioned. Like half the time. I discussed the tragedy with Chip on many occasions, and we can only surmise that he had the thing in the bungee cord of his chest mounted reserve, and he intended to lower it on a lanyard after activating it. It probably got stuck in the pack because the coroner reported massive injuries to his chest. That's all I know. Postscript: Chip Maury was a member of Underwater Demolition Team 11 -- he did a couple of tours in Vietnam. This is a guy who knew about explosives. Smitty being Smitty obviously ignored his cautionary words. For those who didn't know him, Dan Poynter once famously nicknamed him "Bill you-pull-lower-than-me-and-your-dead Smith." That should say a lot about his skydiving. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

It's been over 35 years since Smitty died at the famous Watkins Glen Summer Jam rock concert (Guinness Book of World Records -- still stands; 600,000 people) on that August weekend in 1973. Smitty (D-2727) was my roommate at college, and he's the guy who got me into the sport. If you want write about it, he said, you gotta do it. He was right. He is one of the main characters in my upcoming memoir, "Between Heaven and Earth: An Adventure in Free Fall," due out in December (Greenpoint Press). Couldn't have done it without you, bunky. Blue skies. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

Oh NickDG, I feel your pain. I came up the hard way on the dope rope at a small place in central New York. We had a turbo Cessna 206 which was luxury in those days (1969). I bought a PC used and stuck in an extended military pack, borrowed reserve chest packs, packed rigs for free jumps. In those days, skydiving was still vaguely disreputable, and that's what you really miss. I miss that, too. But then everything grows up or grows old. Heck, I was on line for a legal jump off El Cap and it took outlaw BASE guys just two months to screw that up for the rest of us. Yes, I remember one-page liability waivers -- just signed one five pages long and initialed it in I don't know how many places. That says a lot right there, doesn't it? Despite what the USPA says about popularity, the sport is losing numbers. Membership is falling. I don't think it's possible to save a sport that never understood the word salvation anyway. I've always been attracted to lost cause sports -- amateur wrestling, squash racquets, and skydiving. They all have two things in common: they never grow dramatically in popularity, and they have a great sense of camaraderie. There may be no crying in baseball, but I'm happy to still see there's a lot of hugging in skydiving. Let's be thankful that squares and Otters saved our knees.... SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

You, sir, are in the wrong sport. Where I came from we were bunched in crampy Cessnas taking forever getting to 7,500 feet. You're in an Otter and someone leans on you for what, like 10 minutes to 13,500? Skydiving means close quarters in the plane. Be glad it's your brethren. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

As for the addiction skydiving is like legal crack. A lot safer, however. I bought a parachute after 3 jumps. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

Wow -- he's definitely the layoff and return winner in my book. I made a lot of jumps up at Pepperell in the early Otter days. Nice tight DZ. Once I landed in New Hampshire on a bad spot at 15,000 over the clouds. My comeback was at Jumptown. It was like riding a bike, I have to say, even the RW. I had a pretty thorough refresher and rented gear. They laughed at my old racer (1978) and Viking square (round reserve!). But I told them no way jose on the radio and no way jose on landing in the student area. If you can't hit the Orange airport blind, then you have no business skydiving. Both jumps were standups; second one right in the pea gravel. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

Howard -- it looked too raggy to be a Delta II which had a certain elegance on those rare occasions when it opened. I wold have guessed a malfunctioning Thunderbow. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

Sorry I missed this one -- glad to see Ted Strong and Howard White made it. The old farts still live -- most of us, anyway. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

I just made my first two jumps since 1982, up at Jumptown, Orange, Mass. That's a 25-year layoff. Does anyone know of a longer one? SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353