Xskydiver

Sounds like you have it pretty good. I wish I had retired 5 years ago. If everything is paid for then get out of the rat race. Of course if you have no stress at work then may as well stay put. I'm finding I have too little time to get anything done now that my week consists of 6 sundays and a saturday. One of these days, when I have played with all the stuff I've collected either fixed or thrown away I'm gonna get myself further south where I don't have to put up with the snow. I bought a '83 XLH a few years ago to putt-putt around town but pushed it too hard last year and hole'd a piston. Another thing to fix one of these days. I got 5 bikes crammed in the garage with only the XLH not rideable - never see to have a day with nothing to do. I may be Xskydiver but jumping is still in my blood. Now Bikin' on my '79 BMW R100RT & '05 FJR1300. ~harald B7280 / D2768 xskydiver@WestBankMC.org www.westbankmc.org

Hi Jeff, very long time no see. I remember you well. I also think of Chris often - mostly when scooting into or past Osceola. Was at the Cascade just 2 weeks ago. Nice biking weather. Those two phrases are still burned into my memory and serve me well running around the Wisc. roads on my FJR or BMW R100RT. Art would utter 'It's not the Sky Diving...' right about the second case or 5th pitcher. That's probably why I slept in the hanger many a weekend. Are you still working - I was forced into retirement by the last layoff. After 88 weeks on unemployment I got used to not working for someone else and decided to continue with my 6 sunday and a saturday week. I still think I may have to make another jump or three (after loosing a gob of weight) but then jumping on one of my bikes takes the craving away. See ya around I may be Xskydiver but jumping is still in my blood. Now Bikin' on my '79 BMW R100RT & '05 FJR1300. ~harald B7280 / D2768 xskydiver@WestBankMC.org www.westbankmc.org

Still looking for the '10 Man Nude Pyramid'? It's here: [this is the best copy I have. don't remember if I took more than one picture - I think I took the picture...] http://westbankmc.org/photoalbums/funstuff/harald/10Man%20at%20Apollo.jpg I may be Xskydiver but jumping is still in my blood. Now Bikin' on my '79 BMW R100RT & '05 FJR1300. ~harald B7280 / D2768 xskydiver@WestBankMC.org www.westbankmc.org

Not sure if you know but there is an "In Memory of..." plaque at Baldwin. It was dug up when the new slab was poured but will again be placed somewhere near the landing area (as I understood it). I dropped by there last week and took a picture just in case you do not have one of the plaque. I may be Xskydiver but jumping is still in my blood. Now Bikin' on my '79 BMW R100RT & '05 FJR1300. ~harald B7280 / D2768 xskydiver@WestBankMC.org www.westbankmc.org

Glad to see you're still around. Heard rumor Matt Brockway may have been keeping contacts list but have not been able to verify. Are you still in the area? I may be Xskydiver but jumping is still in my blood. Now Bikin' on my '79 BMW R100RT & '05 FJR1300. ~harald B7280 / D2768 xskydiver@WestBankMC.org www.westbankmc.org

True in that the front wheel smacked into the back of the little pickup cab. The couple in the back (JQ & ?) had just gotten out after I strongly suggested that the truck should be moved off the centerline of the runway. Took a couple of tries to get them out. We had just seconds before started backing off from the truck as the plane got lower and lower. The plane cleared the fence, about 10 feet behind the truck, by about 5 feet. Plane was landing to the west. My car was about a wing span and a half to the south of center line, another was to the north and JQ's truck right on center line - front wheel right into the upper part of the rear window. Couple of minutes before they were atanding up against the rear window watching the plane come in. Very lucky no one hurt and no fire... I think the plane softly flipped but can't picture it right now. Will probably remember now that it has come up again. Just another normal day at Art's farm... That's my story and I'm sticking to it - although there may have been some refreshments involved that I'm forgetting about. I may be Xskydiver but jumping is still in my blood. Now Bikin' on my '79 BMW R100RT & '05 FJR1300. ~harald B7280 / D2768 xskydiver@WestBankMC.org www.westbankmc.org

Fuzzy memory has it as Scott S. (more in a PM) He's hiding out on Cedar Lake, at Meisters Grill & Bar (Near Star Prairie, WI). I ran into him last year and gave him my email and web address but haven't heard from him. I believe he said that Matt B. has been in contact by email with some of the St. Croix Valley Skydivers Club members and may have started an informal newsletter/contact list a while ago. I'll be getting up there 'real soon now' and leave a note at the bar for him if I do not run into him while there. I may be Xskydiver but jumping is still in my blood. Now Bikin' on my '79 BMW R100RT & '05 FJR1300. ~harald B7280 / D2768 xskydiver@WestBankMC.org www.westbankmc.org

I don't think it was Ernie alone. I always thought he was pretty safe (by my standards at the time) - of course those times I had to land with him... Well, let's just say the sliding it in at a 45 degree slip, 60 degree down, for a short field landing on the grass... Butt pucker time. I do remember saying I'd rather jump. I think it was more the whole group. Maybe being mentioned a time or few to many at the town meetings. Someone breaking the toilet at tommy's because we locked the door on someone and they put feet on door and pushed back on toilet tank... guess what happened next. We did fix it up - latter in the week. And then there was also lots of spilled beer and laying in the street in front of the Cascade after just the right amount of Black Russians. Then there was the always 'funny'... [maybe latter] Moving from the airport to Art's farm may have slowed the jumping down and people started going other places. Internal disagreements moved a bunch of people to Baldwin. Can't beat that runway and open area. Moving back to the airport again... Who knows. I felt Ernie was as safe as most small field jump pilots. Of course I was only around from '68 to about '83 when the family duties, kids, job travel worldwide for weeks at a time, bad knee, too many high wind/low cloud days go me back on the motorcycle if I felt bored with normal life. I may be Xskydiver but jumping is still in my blood. Now Bikin' on my '79 BMW R100RT & '05 FJR1300. ~harald B7280 / D2768 xskydiver@WestBankMC.org www.westbankmc.org

Tommy's (Cascade) has almost as many stories as the drop zone. Don't forget Curt, Rod & Deidre - Black Russians. My getting the ticket for passing on the right in town on my '68 Triumph Bonneville. If I wasn't wearing my jumpsuit I'm sure I wouldn't he wouldn't have stopped me. Remember jumping at Charlies with the uppers at 30-40kts into the 'clearing'. Next jump the winds went 180. I think I was pretty good putting the PC between the trees. Me and Mason playing the 'gay' couple in a number of Superior and Thunder Bay bars always makes me laugh. Would probably be funny even today. Others would need to know just how big Mason was to get the humor of him doing a 'limp wristed' Hello there big guy. Jumping off the balcony at the Thunder Bay hotel during that winter meet - what was I thinking... Will have to get the old log books out one of these days. Also planning on looking for the slides I've got from jumps and doings on the Osceola airport nad at Art's farm. Remember the beacon ride and the local cop coming in and asking if we were the one's up there. Wonder if he actually believed me when I told him it couldn't have been us - we're skydivers and wouldn't do anything as unsafe as that. The sight of only a tree or two above the fog, the light sweeping over the fog making them look more like clouds was such a great sight - I want to do it again; right now, right after I grab me another beer. Who's coming... I may be Xskydiver but jumping is still in my blood. Now Bikin' on my '79 BMW R100RT & '05 FJR1300. ~harald B7280 / D2768 xskydiver@WestBankMC.org www.westbankmc.org

Yup - you got the right place. This thread got me poking around and I already found a bunch of pictures from '69 to '71 of Crash & Burns (anyone still remember those), jumping in the snow, meets and my first freefall photo's. Most are slides but there may still be enough winter left to get them scanned in. Also got shots of Souix Falls meet which reminded me of 'the Roach' (Bob Roach that is). What does a keg of beer (punctured) in a pool do to the water; did having a lawyer in the club help get you out of jail when 'accused' of running across a bridge naked (not me). And the Beech 'Oops' on the heavy cross wind attempted take off (kind of a crash) was 15 Oct 1977 which should have been my 799th jump. Now it's on to the interesting runs to Eau Claire after a long day jumping and heavy partying. Climbing one of those very high gas station towers at 3am just because it was there. That young station kid was so scared we'd fall... Hard to believe we survived this foolishness. Kids - don't try any of this; Times have changed. I may be Xskydiver but jumping is still in my blood. Now Bikin' on my '79 BMW R100RT & '05 FJR1300. ~harald B7280 / D2768 xskydiver@WestBankMC.org www.westbankmc.org

Remember them all and many more. The boat works is still there in Stillwater. Thought Robbie hit the side of a mountain. My memory is getting pretty fuzzy these days. StickMan is hanging out at Meister's Cedar Lake Bar & Grill in WI. (1176 County Road H, New Richmond, WI‎ - (715) 248-7012‎). He's working on getting his belly as big as mine. I've seen him a time or two, has his own stool with a great view of the lake. We stop there a few times a year as there are some good motorcycle roads up in that area. I may be Xskydiver but jumping is still in my blood. Now Bikin' on my '79 BMW R100RT & '05 FJR1300. ~harald B7280 / D2768 xskydiver@WestBankMC.org www.westbankmc.org

So you were the one blocking my exit. After A quick look to see that Ernie was moving I tried to swing out of the co-pilot seat and got bounced back when I hit a backpack still in the doorway. I believe we only had one person hurt - a twisted ankle. Towing that plane off the field with my Camaro almost cooked the clutch. Lots of really fun times up at Androsky's (Charlie & Bev) - remember the 10-man nude pyramid in the bar... Nice tight, wooded, landing area. Lots of woods... I got the picture up on our web site at: www.WestBankMC.org/photoalbums/funstuff/harald/index.htm Are you in the picture? Got lots of photo's, mostly slides, that one day I will scan and get posted - soon after all the motorcycle stuff... I may be Xskydiver but jumping is still in my blood. Now Bikin' on my '79 BMW R100RT & '05 FJR1300. ~harald B7280 / D2768 xskydiver@WestBankMC.org www.westbankmc.org

Oh the fun times. My first jump there was on 9/29/1968. TT with T-7A. JM was Bob Larson D1900. Comment: "Natural Frog" - Well what did you expect - I was a paratrooper. 173rd & 101st Airborne. I was there, next to the pickup when it was obvious the Ernie (the pilot) was going to hit it. We were really lucky in those days. I was also in the Co-Pilot seat of the Beach, Wonder Hog on my back, stomach sucked in as far as I could, when Ernie pulled back hard on the wheel, lifting off way too soon in a heavy cross wind. We twisted hard to the right and then hard to the left as we dropped back on to the runway. What a scramble to get out as I watched the smoke from the right engine - hoping that it was not going to turn into flames. Getting a full load out was like the multitude of clowns exiting that tiny car... Climbing and spinning around on the beacon; explaining to the cops that it couldn't have been us. Late night leaves to run up to Superior or over to Eau Claire. Sleeping in the hanger for a few hours and jumping again. The bar was Tommies (aka Cascade - still there) and P.Y.'s which really didn't want us in there. Still there and much friendlier to bikers now. Watched JQ (Jon Quist), when still a little 'rigger rat' fall off of the bar above the main door and break open his head on the floor. Didn't think he would make it to jumping after splitting his head open. Very sad to have lost him in such a senseless accident. Art Steffen also passed away a couple of years ago. Have run into a couple of old timers as I stop in to Baldwin every so ofter as I ride through there quite a bit on the way to ansd from the good Wisconsin twisties us bikers love to much. Almost as good as jumping. I may be Xskydiver but jumping is still in my blood. Now Bikin' on my '79 BMW R100RT & '05 FJR1300. ~harald B7280 / D2768 xskydiver@WestBankMC.org www.westbankmc.org