We used to watch my dad every weekend jump out of a Cesna, back then it was five bucks a jump to 9k'. We had a blast running around the desert near St. George, Utah. I had two brothers and two sisters but it was usually the boys who liked to watch him jump and each of us got a pair of bino's for xmas. We would lay on our backs and watch them exit the plane, freefall and then usually end up miles out in the cactus somewhere, depending on the wind that day. It was our job to locate the jumpers and point out where we thought they landed out in the rolling hills of the desert. Sometimes it would take hours to find them.
One Saturday my mom woke us up yelling, "Boy's, your dad is jumping into the golf course. Let's go surprise him". We jumped in the truck and off we went. It seemed like it was a secret mission, my mom told us maybe they didn't have permits to land there. She wasn't sure why our dad hadn't told us about the jump, as she found out about it from a friend of a friend that was on the load.
We arrived at the golf course on the North side of town and waited around for an hour, or so. Finally, we heard the familiar engine of the Cesna circling above, the sound of it cutting and we quickly located four figures falling through the sky.
"AAahhh, they formed a round 4/way", we exclaimed with excitement. Which didn't happen all that much back in the day, when 100 skydives meant you were an expert at the sport. My dad just upgraded from a round to a square green and blue 7 cell, and we were just getting used to the new colors. Some of the other guys had just bought new gear, as well. So, it was hard to identify who was who.
"There he is", I yelled. "That's dad's colors". I was sure I had studied his colors on the ground well enough to recognize them floating three thousand feet in the air. But, as he got closer to the ground, my confidence wavered.
He didn't have his green jumpsuit on, I thought. Is that him? He has a tan or brownish suit. I scoped the other jumpers. What the hell? They all have tan jumpsuits on. I started to wonder if they formed some kind of skydiving team and ordered all matching suits. COOL!!!
A few minutes later they landed and us boys blasted through the 6th hole towards our dad, excited to hear about the new team he was on. From behind us we hear our mom screeching in the highest voice I'd ever heard.
"KIDS, GET YOUR BUTT'S BACK HERE"
We scoffed, but turned around and obeyed. She had the doors of the truck open and was herding us inside, slammed the doors and peeled on out of there. I looked back just in time to see my dad and three of his friends running across the golf course, with their parachutes wrapped around them like togas and piling into a getaway car.
I was always puzzled by what had happened and when I asked questions, it was a subject that, "we don't talk about". I was seven years old, so it took me a few years to put the pieces together but it was like a light bulb going on when I figured it out... I started an uncontrollable laughing fit.
Awesome story Ammon, and thanks for adding this to the thread. My jaw about hit the desk when I saw that shot in the other thread. Some of the old mods were wild for sure - buy a surplus canopy and tear into it with pinking shears until it worked for you.
That story about the Spit pilot was amazing. Really appreciate that being shared, and that he got back into the air.
Good find, TGT! I've never heard of the Brits being in Murmansk. The first
thing that popped into my head was how the bloody 'ell they got those Merlins
started in the cold.
"‘It was absolutely freezing. Our aircraft and transport vehicles had to be started
up every 20 minutes to prevent them from freezing for good."
ElCapPirate, that's a great shot. Classic surplus canopy mod. I made my first one in '63 on my mom's Singer, a 7 panel TU. Single pilot chute, eh? Those were the times !! TFPU
I wasnt anywhere near the experience of the average here 70 some jumps when climbing sucked me forever away, but i did ride a mal to the ground once- on a 28" surp with a 7 panel TU mod, which one side had been CLOSED somehow on deployment. I tugged like a bastard, on the cinched shroud to no avail, and was turning constantly in a 10 mph breeze. I PUSSED out on cutting it away cuz that idea skeert me. I nearly cut it three times or so for the first few seconds. I was getting dizzy,,i could barely hear guys at the dz screaming something and then it dawned on me, make a LEFT turn, which WORKED and stopped the spin but then,, of course started stalling a bit, so i did that the rest of the way down-just kept rotating stopping stalling rotating lmao! Geez the guys that were my "jump masters" were giving me the CRAP! They had been screaming "cut it away"!
my answer and it WAS a classic: better than ridin that (24' two vent) pos reserve! On that they said,, hmmm hes got us there. Thankfully that was my only mal. a shroud had girth hitched around a fold of the skirt at the edge of the right vent and was tight as rock. i packed it, oh well...
it could have been the SAME RIG as Ammons PA up thread lol! big ass chest resrves ya had to unclip one side to see the ground good.
I was out flying today, but didn't get any photograph; it was simply way too smoky from all the forest fires. I flew from Casper (KCPR) to Gillette (KGCC) and back, but couldn't see very much beyond 5-7 miles even at 9,500 feet. I was hoping for a lovely view of the Big Horn Mountains...sadly, no joy. I got a late start, so it was a bumpy ride!
Bad one was jump #6 for me. Was watching a MiG land at Stead while I was under canopy, and flew right into a dust devil, at about 70 feet off the deck.
Next thing I know, I'm looking up at the bottom of my canopy and the ground PAST it, and thinking "well this sucks, I'm screwed." As the canopy snapped into a hard spin, I did the only thing I could think of, which was bury the toggles. Was under a nylon overcast Titan 260 main, and I weighed all of 160 lbs at the time. Big chute saved my ass, which is why I've never been a fan of these nylon napkins most of y'all jump. I like CrW anyways.
Luckily, the chute spit out of the devil into flare at the last second, and I hit hard. I laid there for a minute going "ow. Ow." and then remembered "Oh, right, I'm supposed to stand up and tell them I'm ok!"
I stand up, wave and stumble back to the LZ and packing area. Drop my chute, and everyone is asking me if I'm ok, and I'm like yeah, yeah, I'm fine, as I'm flaking my main out. Then I feel a breeze where I normally don't, look down and my shirt is torn open and I have about a 14in light cut down my ribs bleeding pretty freely...
Took me three days before my stubborn ass went to the hospital. Hyper extended about everything tendon wise from the waist down, hairline fractures in both ankles, both wrists, and right hip. Two broken ribs, messed up left shoulder. Had my knees in braces for several months and still feel it every morning, but could have been a lot worse.
About 5 months after I got back in the air, I had the scary one. Jumping an old Pegasus main, I toss the old leg pocket hand deploy and seriously got my bell rung on opening - felt like a reserve and then started shuddering like an old dog. I looked up and saw blue sky through the center cell, and fabric coming off in shreds...
No question on that one, chink chink bloop, and I'm under my black and scarlet Pioneer T28 reserve. All good and dandy, but being stood up and starting to accelerate under canopy scared the hell out of me. Stopped jumping for many years after that, and got really good at packing and running the ground stuff as I couldn't get away from the DZ by then...was just too tied up in the life. Eventually got back in the air long enough to prove to myself I could still do it, and then hung it up. Almost 15 years off and on rigging, and nothing to show for it to speak of - other then amazing people and fun times that is :D
Still wander out to the DZ from time to time, but now it's just to watch like any other whuffo.
Thanks for posting all the awesome shots lately Snake. Looks like you are getting after it hard, and I wish I was in Europe right now myself. Blue skies!
Let us know!