howardwhite

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Everything posted by howardwhite

  1. From "Urban Dictionary": 1. Sepo American. (Australian cockney rhyming slang.) From: Yank --> Tank --> Septic Tank. Is he a Canadian? No, he's a Sepo. 2. Sepo Americans fucking sepos 3. sepo A name given to Americans that talk a lot of shit, have monstrous horse teeth and complain about everything. HW
  2. Attached is Allen Silver's press release, from his web site, including the reference how the change comes into effect. Some of the info in the release is a bit out of date, but the newer stuff I posted earlier is current as of last Sunday. HW
  3. At the PIA meeting this past weekend, Allen Silver of Silver Parachute Service reported the 180 Day Repack cycle is now "on the 10th floor" of the FAA building -- meaning it's on the desk of the Administrator for a signature and is essentially a done deal. After the signature, the change will appear one more time in the Federal Register giving the exact date it'll become law. This is normally 90 days from its appearance in the Federal Register, but hopefully it'll be less time. This all should occur by the 1st of November when the Federal Register will shut down for (he believes) the entire month of November for the elections. As to when it affects your current repack, it doesn't. In other words, if your reserve hits 120 days the day after the new regulation takes effect, it's out of date -- it doesn't get an extra 60 days. In other words, the 180-day cycle applies only to pack jobs done after the new regulation takes effect. Allen, who is chairman of PIA's Rigging Committee, is almost single-handedly responsible for getting this change process going, and is closely following its progress. HW
  4. I just voted again -- 25 minutes before the deadline. Skydiving is well ahead. I think we have a winner!!!
  5. http://www.faa.gov/library/reports/medical/oamtechreports/1990s/media/9811.pdf will download it as a PDF. HW
  6. He "borrowed" the brown 206 and disappeared; due back this month, I think. He didn't fly any loads and didn't jump, at least while I was there. HW
  7. Well, I remember a trip to Elsinore when the lake had flooded the DZ area and jumping moved to a small airport several miles south. Does that constitute "closing"? HW
  8. On what do you base the assertion that the NTSB is "going to make recommendations to FAA"? HW
  9. At the same "very large well-known corporate drop zone in New Jersey" somewhat earlier, a jump ship of the same family had engine trouble at 2,500 feet with a load of static liners. The jumpmaster immediately left the plane. Another jumper on the plane -- on freefall, but not yet off instruction in the days when you got off instruction after three 15-second delays -- proceeded to put out the seven or so static liners before jumping himself. The plane landed safely. He went on to be an instructor and is still a well-known jumper in Southern California. The "jumpmaster" was never heard from again. His son, a jumper, showed up in Massachusetts a few years ago and proudly told me about his old man. I didn't have the heart to tell him the story. HW
  10. orlandoskydive.com is Skyride. It's from the friendly folks in Kennesaw, GA. From their home page: "The Skydive Orlando experience is the safest skydiving adventure that you can have in the Midwest."
  11. "Capt. Crotch.." was a mostly-Massachusetts team. It came in 7th out of 71 ten-way teams in the meet. Attached, from the Nov.-Dec. '75 Spotter, is a picture of one of its leading members, "Fast" Frannie Strimenos. Though no longer jumping, Fran is the very hands-on DZO at Pepperell, MA. Among other team names from the same meet: -Captain Paranoia and the Plummetting Necrophiliacs"; -Sphincter Brothers; -360 and Track; -Cunning Stunts (an all-female team); -Commander Qualude and Company; -Uncle Tyler's Child Molesters; -Slow to Come. HW
  12. Here's Doug checking my state-of-the-art back at Orange Sport Parachute Center, sometime in 1966. HW
  13. The Orange Sport Parachuting Center opened May 2, 1959, and was the first commercial dropzone in the U.S. It cannot claim to be the oldest continuing DZ, as it shut down in 1984. Operations resumed in 1996 as Jumptown. The Mass. Sport Parachute Club, which now operates Jumptown, is an offspring of the club which started at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in about 1959. HW (writing from the scene)
  14. John Sayle or George Krieger, maybe. It would be a huge burden. But I'll think about it. HW
  15. It's just been sitting in my garage for about 30 years. It was right next to the Volplane hydraulic reefing system. Next jump plane story will be on Caravans. Got any cool Caravan stories? HW
  16. I have a DVD of Lakewood movies of that vintage taken by Mike Winnick...Lots of people you would know in it. Some early Volplane jumps, some cool bellyflying. HW
  17. I think the USA Today folks have the fix in. It's twice as big as the other pictures and is on a page by itself. But it's pretty, so I voted for it. (Can I have your old camera?) HW
  18. Here's mine. I took it for an Otter ride today (I doubt it's ever been to 13,500 before.) The guy that held it (didn't jump with it) said it stopped indicating at about 6,000 feet. I guess I should put it on eBay and test the market for such a valuable collector's item. HW
  19. Doug was my FJC instructor and I later worked for him at PI; I made a couple of jumps at his DZ in New Jersery (he was still using T-10 rounds and belly reserves into the early 2000s.) I remember both the parties and the Cutaway, but I don't know the recipe (it came in a pitcher, and was deadly.) As far as I know he's still living in NJ, but closed his DZ several years ago. HW
  20. The Thom Lyons pages are interesting but full of wild inaccuracies. I emailed him several times asking that he either correct stuff (like reporting inaccurately that someone was dead), or let me do it, but he said he was not interested in doing anything about it. Last I knew, he lives in Australia and has been involved in politics there. HW
  21. By utter coincidence, I discussed this subject the other evening over dinner with a guy named Jacques-André Istel (some of you may have heard of him.) He's currently at his summer place 40 miles or so north of where I'm sitting). He says he witnessed the Hillard-Snyder pass at Ft. Bragg. He knew Raymond Young and Joe Crane well. So I've just sent him the NPJR stuff in the hope he might be able to add to the story. HW
  22. Johnny Higgins lives in North Carolina. I saw him at the PIA symposium in Barcelona in February as well (I think) at Lowell Bachman's memorial event in April. I didn't ask him about the others because I didn't really know them. HW
  23. Ask the folks at Byron, CA. They seem to live with lots of wind turbines. (Attached picture stolen from Flickr.) HW
  24. Now there you go again, spoiling all the wild-ass speculation. HW