patmoore

Jumpmaster was Terry Alford and he was really broken up about the incident. I knew Lyle and Tom Goodin pretty well back then. My memory is hazy but I'm pretty sure the husband who committed suicide had recently purchased a Corvette that had belonged to one of the astronauts who was killed in the Apollo fire - I think it was Chafee. DZGone.com B-4600, C-3615, D-1814, Gold Wings #326, Diamond Wings #152. If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room!

You folks have probably seen this before but it's new to me. I get chills down my spine watching it. Watch the video all the way through to see some astonishing footage. I know this doesn't belong in the history section but, as an antique myself, it's the only part of this forum I visit. DZGone.com B-4600, C-3615, D-1814, Gold Wings #326, Diamond Wings #152. If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room!

Good Lord, Howard, I didn't realize we were neighbors. I live in Newington. DZGone.com B-4600, C-3615, D-1814, Gold Wings #326, Diamond Wings #152. If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room!

I used to do an inverted Iron Cross under my PC flipping my legs up into the suspension lines and hooking my boots before letting go with my arms and spreading them wide. Steve Snyder told me he took a picture of me doing it at Indiantown once but I never saw the photo. Once during a demo at Lakeland, FL, I got the boot-mounted smoke bracket caught in the lines and barely managed to untangle it before landing. Could have proven embarrassing and painful.... DZGone.com B-4600, C-3615, D-1814, Gold Wings #326, Diamond Wings #152. If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room!

Okay, now that commercial is an attention grabber. Thanks for the lead. View it here DZGone.com B-4600, C-3615, D-1814, Gold Wings #326, Diamond Wings #152. If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room!

You know how certain dates stick in your mind? December 2nd is one of those days for me. 46 years ago today my Dad took me to Orange for my first jump. It was my 16th birthday present (birthday was actually 10/25). Hard to believe it's been 46 years. DZGone.com B-4600, C-3615, D-1814, Gold Wings #326, Diamond Wings #152. If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room!

One of the toughest feats in the sport was to catch Paul in free fall. I did it on my 500th jump. It was out of a DC3 and we exited last. I caught Paul and he immediately did a barrel roll. When he did one, you did one. I felt like a rag doll. When we opened we look edup to discover we had passed everyone else on the load. He always answered the phone with "The fastest man alive - straight down!". He was a big rig truck driver and a hell of a nice guy. Opening shocks were so brutal on his PC that he had me sew velcro right into the canopy. I never saw him on roller skates but I heard he was very graceful on them. Paul had a motorcycle with a beefed up frame and loved riding. I heard he collapsed in his bathroom when he died - his heart just gave out. The only photos I have of him are on color slides. One of these days I'm going to digitize those things. DZGone.com B-4600, C-3615, D-1814, Gold Wings #326, Diamond Wings #152. If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room!

I made my first jump out of that Norseman at Orange on December 2, 1962. Lew was my instructor and jumpmaster. I recall him saying I had the worst exit he had ever seen on a student. DZGone.com B-4600, C-3615, D-1814, Gold Wings #326, Diamond Wings #152. If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room!

Yep, I built custom rigs for Florida jumpers back in the seventies. That was a mismatched style rig I put together. When I opened an employment agency in Springfield, MA in 1981 I needed some startup money and sold my Singer 7-33 harness machine to Joe Smith in Pennsylvania. The Adler that I built the containers with burned along with everything else in my apartment in 1994. I do have an old Singer 31-15 left but it doesn't get much use these days. DZGone.com B-4600, C-3615, D-1814, Gold Wings #326, Diamond Wings #152. If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room!

With each retelling, the gap diminishes. Next time it will be centimeters! I'm going to repost the photo someone took of me with my back out the door of the DC3. It wasn't the same jump but it was the same plane and you can get a good idea of how close the horizontal stabilizer is. DZGone.com B-4600, C-3615, D-1814, Gold Wings #326, Diamond Wings #152. If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room!

Years ago at Zhills I hopped on a DC3 going to twelve five for a large formation RW jump. I was practicing style for the Nationals and asked the pilot if he could make a run over the DZ at 6600 feet. He said he would but he wouldn't throttle back. We were actually a little high when we reached the exit point so I decided to have a little fun on my exit. I'm a former gymnast so I stood with my back to the door and did as high a back flip as I could. I then got into my dive and did my style routine. When the rest of the load got down a few of them came up to me and said I scared the crap out of them. They said my head missed the horizontal stabilizer by inches! It never occurred to me that it would be possible to actually hit the tail on a DC 3 but apparently I came close. Scary when I think back on it. DZGone.com B-4600, C-3615, D-1814, Gold Wings #326, Diamond Wings #152. If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room!

It would be nice to see everyone again but I'm afraid I won't be able to make it south for some time. DZGone.com B-4600, C-3615, D-1814, Gold Wings #326, Diamond Wings #152. If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room!

One of my favorite photos (I wish I had been looking at the camera!) was taken over Zephyrhills in the early 70's. A window was missing over the wing of the DC-3 and someone stuck a camera out of it. I was first to go in a mass exit and was trying to give the folks behind me plenty of room. DZGone.com B-4600, C-3615, D-1814, Gold Wings #326, Diamond Wings #152. If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room!

Hi Roger, You have a better memory than I do.

Tuna, you really haven't changed. Amazing! Wish I could say that. My wife and I had a terrific two weeks in Europe. The day after our dinner with Hoop, we toured Paris and finally heading home last night. DZGone.com B-4600, C-3615, D-1814, Gold Wings #326, Diamond Wings #152. If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room!

Three decades is a long time. On Monday I had the pleasure of reuniting with my old friend Jim Hooper at his club in London. It had been 32 years since we had last seen each other. Way back then, Hoop was a pioneer in large formation RW and I was mostly a style and accuracy type. Jim did the majority of instruction of first time jumpers at Z-Hills and I handled much of the jumpmastering duties. Coincidentally we worked together at the NBC-TV affiliate in Hartford. I had lost contact with him years ago and it was a real treat to sit down with him a continent away and turn back the clock. He has had a fascinating life and has had a great deal of success in writing about the turmoil so prevalent in remote parts of the world. My years in the sport provided me with countless memories and friends I'll always treasure. Hoop is way up on that list. Attached is photo taken Monday. DZGone.com B-4600, C-3615, D-1814, Gold Wings #326, Diamond Wings #152. If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room!

Years ago, Jimmy Godwin told me about his first experience with a stop watch. He had seen Doc Gaffney with one and asked what it was for. Doc explained and Jimmy replied, "you can see in free fall"? Figuring the best way to see the watch was to place it directly in front of his eyes he took some angle iron and fashioned a mount that jutted out in front of his helmet. Unfortunately, he mounted the watch at an angle. He said the first time he jumped it he kept twisting his head to read it properly and went into a flat spin. Obviously he survived and went on to make a big contribution to the sport. With all the friends we've lost I almost hate to ask but is he still around? DZGone.com B-4600, C-3615, D-1814, Gold Wings #326, Diamond Wings #152. If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room!

I had a nice chat with Johnny Higgins and Lowell Bachmann at Ottley's memorial service. I hadn't learned that Lowell himself had passed away until I read it recently in this forum. My memory is fuzzy but I think The Chute Shop produced the first great style rig, the Mini System. DZGone.com B-4600, C-3615, D-1814, Gold Wings #326, Diamond Wings #152. If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room!

Hi Woody, My ex bought Susie's US Team Papillon. Believe it or not I still have it in my garage! DZGone.com B-4600, C-3615, D-1814, Gold Wings #326, Diamond Wings #152. If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room!

You mean this Susie? DZGone.com B-4600, C-3615, D-1814, Gold Wings #326, Diamond Wings #152. If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room!

I was a youngster when I earned it. August 24, 1967 - two months and one day before my 21st birthday. It was at the legendary Wolverine Tavern in Zephyrhills, Florida. I became known as "Pope Patrick the Minor". See attached graphic. DZGone.com B-4600, C-3615, D-1814, Gold Wings #326, Diamond Wings #152. If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room!

No doubt an urban legend I picked up a long time ago. The C-130 went into production December 1956. For some reason I thought it was 1953. Thanks for sharing the narrative above. Very interesting. I never met Jacques Istel but Lew Sanborn was my instructor and jumpmaster on my first jump, It was at Orange on December 2, 1962. I still have my framed first jump certificate signed by Lew and Jacques. I had a chance to chat with Lew at Bill Ottley's memorial service. He's a remarkable man. Steve Snyder was one of the most congenial and friendly guys I ever met. The products he introduced really changed the face of the sport. Ted Strong introduced some great gear too. I really wanted his style rig but couldn't afford one so I bought a Singer 7-33 and built a knockoff harness. At the Nationals in Plattsburgh in 1970 we had a number of weather holds and Ted asked if he could borrow my sewing machine. I used to travel with an Adler to do canopy and container repairs. After a few hours he came back with a miniature ram air canopy. Beautiful workmanship. In Spotter Magazine years ago someone (Dan Poynter?) reported that Ted had entered an aviation exhibit in a competition in Osaka, Japan. He had sewn metal stays between the gores of a PC so that it was permanently "open". The writer went on to say that the top award was named for a Japanese aviation pioneer named Setsakaya Tumae. Ted won the "Osake Tumae" award. If readers are too young to remember Laugh In it won't mean anything to them. DZGone.com B-4600, C-3615, D-1814, Gold Wings #326, Diamond Wings #152. If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room!

As I recall, The first baton pass was made in free fall by two Americans, Lyle Hoffman and James Pearson, over Vancouver, Canada. A month later, my friend Steve Snyder and Charles Hilliard did it over Ft. Bragg N.C. I think they did it out of two C-130s. They were thinking two jumpers from the same plane could never hook up! DZGone.com B-4600, C-3615, D-1814, Gold Wings #326, Diamond Wings #152. If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room!

Can't say for sure about 73 because I was finishing up graduate school then but I have the answer for 1971, 1972, and 1974. I was a judge there one year - might have been '74. See attached photo. DZGone.com B-4600, C-3615, D-1814, Gold Wings #326, Diamond Wings #152. If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room!

Ray was a terrific guy and highly respected by everyone who met him. Here's his writeup in Golden Knights Alumni Association website. I added a few more shots to the album including a picture of what became of the wheel strut that broke of Mac's 182. When you launch the slideshow, you might want to change the duration of each picture from 4 seconds to something like 7 or 8 seconds. Otherwise some of the lengthier captions are hard to read. DZGone.com B-4600, C-3615, D-1814, Gold Wings #326, Diamond Wings #152. If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room!