Perry Stevens

For those who don't already know, Perry D. Stevens, D-51, passed this morning at 8:44 a.m., after a long battle with cancer. He was 84. Perry is the creator of the RSL and has saved many lives. He never patented his invention, preferring instead to let it be free to the world. Perry also owned Stevens Paraloft in Oakland for many years and Antioch Paracenter until he sold it and retired. He is one of the pioneers of the sport and will be sadly missed by those of us who knew him. I posted this here because he IS part of skydiving history. Anyone who sees fit is welcome to move it to other forums as you see fit. Rest in peace, Perry.

Perry was my FJC instructor at his Oakland Airport based Stevens Paraloft in 1968. 50 years later I am still jumping with no accidents or injuries. Perry taught me (and thousands of others) how to skydive safely and for that, I am forever grateful. Perry had me do so many practice cutaways and manual chest reserve pulls that I thought it was complete overkill. It wasn't.

In 1972 I had my first malfunction over Pope Valley CA. Perry's training all came back to me. I had chopped my 28 ft surplus cheapo and was under my Navy 26 ft Conical before I could really think much about what I was doing. Later he developed the Stevens cutaway System (an early RSL) that made cutaways even safer.

One thing that really impressed me was that Perry (politely) kicked one young woman out of the FJC and refunded her money. The guys were pissed at Perry because she was very attractive. This student consistently panicked when Perry put her through stressful (yelling at students was part of the drill) suspended harness cutaway training. Too often she pulled the dummy reserve handle before cutting away or did nothing as the clock driven training altimeter wound down through zero. She just couldn't get it right.

When I was learning to spot with Perry at the controls of his Aeronca Sedan known as THE RAT, he gave me tips on how to really see where the plane was in relation to where the target was. Thanks to Perry I became a decent spotter.

When I was repeatedly tumbling out of control on my early solo freefalls
(there was no AFF offered then) Perry counseled me to just relax and on the next jump I got stable.

Perry did a lot of IRs and rigging for me when I was a college student and always gave me affordable prices. He upgraded my double shot Capewells to shot and a half, installed an SCS RSL and did various harness and canopy repairs. I was the last up jumper still jumping surplus gear and he helped me keep it airworthy.

Skydiving and skydivers owe a lot to Perry Stevens. I sure do. May Perry rest in peace. He enhanced lives and saved lives.

377

I was a rigging student at Perry’s loft in 1973. He was a firm believer in discipline and listening. I had taken a bus & hitched hiked from New Mexico to learn rigging. I was “camping out”  inside a hangar at the Antioch airport due to lack of funds. Perry figured out pretty quick that I was broke. So he let me share his small camper w/ Mike E. The next day was also the 1st day in class, after his introduction & a no nonsense warning for good behavior, Mr. Stevens mildly says “taking notes is important”, the class goes on and we do a bunch of rigging stuff. The next day, his 1st remarks are, “let me see your notebook”. Neither of us had 1, I had no transportation & no extra cash, Mike was pretty much in the same situation but had a motorcycle and a broken leg. He warned us, in no uncertain terms, that we were dumb and should think twice about being riggers. Perry had a military bearing in his teaching style and Mike & I were just a couple of young “hippie-esque” skydivers. We needed to adapt and he saw fit that we did. The course was a 10 day event w/ weekends off. His final practical exam was thorough & fair, I repacked a pilots emergency chute w/ a 28’ flat. I knew he was going to pick this pack job apart, so I took extra care and 3 hours to pack it. All the while his “voice” is playing in my head,”the inspection is the most important part of your job!”. Mr. Stevens was patient, never rushed me and comes over to inspect my work. I had my inspection report/sheet filled out & signed. He is happy with the appearance, pulls the ripcord, the container opens and the limp A3 soft-top, falls out. He is still pleased. From there he goes to a specific gore seam, without looking, he asks for my inspection report and immediately informs me that I missed this 3” section of missing stitches in the suspension line channel. I am dumbfounded & embarrassed, and figured that was it. He deducts some points from my “score” & continues on.... Well I am pleased to say that I passed and so did Mike. Perry taught us well and we learned that discipline belongs in rigging. I learned more than rigging from him and I still have my notebook!  Thanks Perry 

A fun story by a jump pilot flying for Perry Stevens circa 1978. I believe "Crazy Jack" in the story was Steve Haley and "Snortin Norton" was Robert Thomas aka Norton an Oakland California Hells Angel. Steve Haley told me Norton used to say "hey jack" when addressing him. Norton later became an aerobatic pilot and rumored to be an attorney. Norton went missing while ferrying a Beech 18 over the Pacific Ocean and was never heard from again.

http://www.bushwings.com/texts/alaska.html

50 minutes ago, hangdiver said:

A fun story by a jump pilot flying for Perry Stevens circa 1978. I believe "Crazy Jack" in the story was Steve Haley and "Snortin Norton" was Robert Thomas aka Norton an Oakland California Hells Angel. Steve Haley told me Norton used to say "hey jack" when addressing him. Norton later became an aerobatic pilot and rumored to be an attorney. Norton went missing while ferrying a Beech 18 over the Pacific Ocean and was never heard from again.

http://www.bushwings.com/texts/alaska.html

Hi hang,

In your link it says:  Now, the Para Commander is a round chute with back panels lower on the stringers than the front to allow more maneuverability and forward gliding than just a round chute. The particular model was an eighteen-footer

Somehow, I doubt that this guy was a jumper.  Reminds me of some of the people I've met over the years in bars and their stories.

Jerry Baumchen

PS)  The ParaCommander has a skirt that is built higher up in the front than on the rear.

I have never known of an 18 ft P/C, much less the 15 ft model he mentions elsewhere.

Edited March 31, 2021 by JerryBaumchen

On 3/31/2021 at 3:35 PM, JerryBaumchen said:

Hi hang,

In your link it says:  Now, the Para Commander is a round chute with back panels lower on the stringers than the front to allow more maneuverability and forward gliding than just a round chute. The particular model was an eighteen-footer

Somehow, I doubt that this guy was a jumper.  Reminds me of some of the people I've met over the years in bars and their stories.

Jerry Baumchen

PS)  The ParaCommander has a skirt that is built higher up in the front than on the rear.

I have never known of an 18 ft P/C, much less the 15 ft model he mentions elsewhere.

If  you go to this site

http://www.bushwings.com/frontpag.html

there are more of his flying stories...although he may have made some jumps he was foremost a pilot and not a jumper so yeah he has no knowledge of what the specifics of the parachutes he jumped or saw other people jump.