Scary stories from the old days?

Wow, what a great thread!

That would be Norton, he and Steve Haley from Antioch were great pals who did lots of crazy CRW antics together. Norton was also a commercial pilot, as well as a bona fide member of the Hells' Angels. His plane disappeared over the Pacific ona flight to Hawaii and he's officially presumed dead. Norton is mentioned in Ralph "Sonny" Barger's autobiography, Barger calls him Norton Indian, because Norton liked the old Indian bikes.

The scariest thing I ever saw was at the 1978 Nationals in Richmond, during the boogie on 4th of July weekend. There were no winds, so everyone was getting out almost straight overhead, and on this one load somebody had a really obvious streamer malfunction. This person was just thundering earthward and we were all yelling "cutaway ! cutaway!", but the jumper kept falling, lower and lower and people were screaming "pull !". We got that sickening feeling you get when it dawns on you that you're about to see a fatality, and because of the spot being overhead, she was going to smack in right among us. And then, when all seemed lost, probably around 500 ft or so, we actually saw her THROW OUT A PILOT CHUTE, which lifted a bag off her back and deployed a Strato Star, which opened probably about 50 ft. off the deck. She landed seconds later without ever taking off the brakes. Everybody sort of went, "wait - that's a hand deploy, that's a main canopy, what's going on here ? - OH MY GOD !"

The poor woman was hysterical, she just sat there crying, but was unhurt. She'd been unable to pull her pilot chute out of the pouch, so she gave up on it and pulled her reserve. The reserve had exploded on opening, the canopy looked like somebody had run over it with a lawnmower. All the way down she'd struggled to get that pilot chute out and finally found the adrenaline to yank it free at the last possible moment.

If anything, this incident taught me the value of NOT cutting away a perfectly good main. If she'd have pulled her 3 ring she would've died.

Murray
I wonder if I could talk Sport into doing a little CRW this
summer? (I got some bad ideas and need the pics for my web page).
...mike

Mike,

I don't remember if Sport was ever into doing CReW...I don't think we could ever get him to grab nylon.

For everybody else, Sport is a Canadian skydiver that likely had one of the wildest PFF experiences of all time...so this Scary Stories thread is maybe a good place to share it. This happened in the mid-80's.

Sport and his fellow dz owner, John Addison (who was just killed in a motor vehicle accident a few weeks ago) took this guy up for his first PFF jump. (Cessna 182) Sport was secondary, John primary. They launched off the plane...Sport told me, "You know, he was kind of a big guy, but it seemed we really had to give him a jerk to get him off the airplane...then we realized why...."

One of the student's risers had snagged the jump door handle and ripped the door off the aircraft. It immediately started beating John and Sport as it whipped around above the student. Sport let go and dove to opening altitude so that he could order the ambulance as he figured this was going to have a very bad outcome. I believe John then dumped the student out.

The main opened and started spinning. The student tried to cutaway but the cables were impossible to budge because the riser had a zillion twists in it. He eventually pulled his reserve...a round reserve....which snaked out and opened. He landed under the round reserve towing his main and the aircraft door.

Aside from some bruises and minor cuts he was fine.

Get Sport to tell you the story this summer...it'll be much better than my description.

And the moral of the story, "You break it, you buy it" ok that was dumb. Anyway, funny story, poor guy

I remember seeing a video from Russia in the 80's where a jumper with a double mal is coming down on top of the packing area. You see some of the jumpers grabbing a big plastic "sheet" (used to pack on) run like fire fighters when catching people jumping of buildings, and actually catching the jumper and reducing the impact enough for the jumper to survive. (sounds impossible but it is true). If I remember right (it is many years ago I saw it) - a lot of nylon out (reserve and main) but entangled - so probably "medium" speed.

NFW! That would be something to see, if you can dig that vid up, you gotta post it. Until then, I don't believe you

For all of you who don't have this classic book, here is the picture:

True story....but I think it happened before the 80's as I saw stills from the movie in a book about the time I started jumping in 1980 so I think it happened earlier. Good thing the spot was right overhead!!

Just a foot note. For anyone interested in skydiving history and wants to get a picture of the time when Parachuting became Skydiving, i.e the 70's - then get this book (Skies Call2 - Andy Keech - ISBN 0950334111) It has amazing pictures and so many "firsts" or nearly firts. Base (the first from El Capitan), Tandem, large CREW stacks, large formations, first throw out PC et. etc. Really, really interesting book.

I found Skies Call 1 and 2 available from some eBay booksellers, used copies for a fairly reasonable price. (I already had 3 but had lost 2 somewhere in my travels.)

As you point out, 2 covers a transition period when many new things started happening...1 is the end of the beginning...S&A, rounds being replaced by RW and squares. They are all great books.

Murray
This weekend I drank beer,swapped war stories,and even skydived with Sport. It was a good time!

P.S. re: CRW. He said something about using a gun to defend himself , if I ever came near him with an open parachute!

Quote

For all of you who don't have this classic book, here is the picture:

Mikkey
Thanks for the picture man. I am looking at photos
taking from the movie by Gennadi Ikonnikov, featuring Yuri Belenko's double malfunction and landing on the tarp stretched out by his fellow jumpers. Very messy looking mal with high rate of decent!

you gotta post those!

Casch
I will scan them when I get the scanner hooked up again. There are some other wild photos in this book too!
...mike

Nice, I may just have to break down and buy it

Casch



clicky clicky

...mike

Dear holy shit.

Oh man. Oh shit.

Nothing else to say. Except thanks for posting that.

Ciels-
Michele

Michele

Glad you liked the photos. click again?

...mike

I had a Strato-Star in 1977, that was a "reefer," meaning that it had a reefing line that ran through rings, all around the underside of this early square. This line terminated at the top center of the canopy, at the bottom of the (spring) pilot chute.
So you would pack as a usual square but this reefing line had its own place on top, yeah, maybe 35 feet of it above the canopy. It was in lieu of a diaper, I kid you not.

At 7000 feet, on my hundredth jump, one pin from my main container let go, releasing the pilot, which wagged happily at me, at the top of that LOOOOng line. That was all that came out! And I had a belly reserve. Falling feet first and rapidly.

So I grabbed that reefing line with everything I had, and pulled it aside to the left into some kind of parody of a gymnist's Iron (half) Cross, so that I could dump the reserve with my right hand... handle in the center, pulling UP. I can't believe it was possible to hold that line with my left arm out straight like that, but there was no choice, I HAD to get the line out of the way of the reserve. So I held it somehow.

The reserve snaked by that long reefing line & opened as usual.

When I landed, one of the guys said to me,

"Well, why didn't you try pulling the MAIN handle? It would have pulled out the other pin from the main container and let the Star out."

Well, I never liked round numbers anyway.

What kind of container was it?

I had my 'rings & ropes' cloud stuffed into a 'stylemaster' ...but that was a 3 pinner!

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Glad you liked the photos.

HOLY BALLS !!

[I must have this book]

As a rookie - "This Thread Kicks Ass"

Not really a scary story but a memorable one for me....

I was living in San Diego, going to make my first BASE jump that night from atop an building to remain nameless in Los Angles.
Rode my motorcycle up to Elsinore to see some friends and get some positive energy, midmorning I headed into L.A.

I stopped for some refreshment at an establishment near LAX, you know, the kind of place that requires a lot of dollar bills...
As fortune would have it...this happened to be the day that the Rodney King softball team was found
" Not Guilty "
To the sound of gunshots and the smell of burning automobiles, I ascertained that perhaps this was not the best place for a small town midwest
white boy to be cruising the streets 1/2 toasted on a motorcycle...

Back home to my beach front condo, watching the news that evening, I get the " Where the hell are ya!?!?" call. "It's a go man...all the cops are busy tonight!"

...On the road again....

I find myself on a roof looking out over what can only be described as Armageddon...sirens and red lights flashing, fires burning, gunshots ring out constantly in the distance. Since I was # 3 of 3 going, I had a few moments to stand alone on that tiny corner of concrete overlooking the chaos that is...
"? The End Of The World ? "

The sights, the sounds, the smell...the thoughts going through my head at that moment are forever ingrained in my being.
Stepping into the abyss... for one precious second, I had never felt so alive !

I was Chuck Heaston and this was Omega Man.

Then it was...Oh Shit! Get in the game!! Head up, knees bent, get ready to throw........ Oh wow, look at that, -my accelerating reflection in the windows next door....... OH YEAH!!! THROWWWWWW!!!

The plan was to open high...check canopy, left turn over the wires, middle of the near empty, dark street, flare and land as close to the awaiting 'getaway' van as possible.

What happened was...
Opening shock...reach for the zoo handles while glancing at my suddenly, remarkably beautiful 7 cell....BAM------ball o' dirt !

OUCH........Where'd that come from?! Oh, Yeah.....Planet.

Sitting there on my soon to be bruised ass...
Running quickly through my " Aw Shit" checklist :
5 times 5 equals 10... no 20... no...25 ...fuck it, I hate math,
both eyes working, teeth intact, toes wiggle, fingers grip....balls still situated front and center, no unexpected solids or liquids in their vicinity...
Oh yeah...BREATH!

From the darkness behind me, I hear in sultry sexy southern belle drawl,
" Are you OKAY? That was fantastic! You're incredible! Can ya do that again?!"
(....words I often hear from women this time of night.)
and then-
" Ya want me to help ya?"
(...ahhh, NOT words I EVER heard, -Honest!)
Turning around I lock eyes with a 6 foot tall, cropped haired, too well muscled...' woman in comfortable shoes ' as we refer to ladies of her obvious sexual orientation where I come from...in an LA County Sheriffs Department uniform....

Aw Shit checklist #2 ;
I wonder if a bailbonds man will take American Express?!

As Ms. Dixie helps me gather my gear, she says- " Yer buddies are over yonder wait on ya, bring 'em back I wanna meet 'em."
...Oh...sure...okay...I'll be right back, I mumbled over my shoulder as I jogged to the van.

"What took you...the cops will be here any time now" my 'buddies' chastised....
Nah, they're already here, I said...we gotta roll!

After celebrating back at that 'Dollar Bill" place...green bottles on me!
I was sitting on my Super Glide at a stoplight a couple blocks from an on ramp....405 south.
I raised the visor on my helmet, looked into my eyes with the rearview...
Pondering the reflection with satisfaction, a car pulled up along side me...
Several young 'gentlemen from the neighborhood' were looking at me, though admiring my bike, they seemed unimpressed with it's paint job, I'm sure I heard something about the ' Wrong Color!'....I guess they were up early so they could go deer hunting, they were well enough armed.
I looked to the driver, ( hopefully the 'alpha male' ) and gave a quick nod.

I heard him say to his crew, " He awl rite...he cool. "

As the light changed and we both went on our way, ......I couldn't help but agree with him!

One of the best days of my life!

Airtwardo,
Great story! Tell us another one......Steve1