faller

POST JUMP “trauma”. Stormvile NY 1972, my 1st year of jumping, it’s Sept & I’m off student status maybe 20 jumps or so & finally jumping out of the Big Plane, (Bobby Sweets, Lockheed Lodestar). I’m doing a solo w/ some other novices, we’re out 1st so the experienced jumpers can get their Big Star done. An older JM / pilot is spotting,(Woody).I’m at that stage where I still have questions about this sport & the new breed of people who jump out of planes. The jump is great,10,000’, high speed exits, wind blast etc. A beautiful Blue Sky, light winds and I’m lovin it! Everything going smooth, nice opening, my 28’ 7-TU is handling like a sports car. I realize making the DZ isn’t happening but I’m only about a mile or so away and landing off is part of the game. I can see the airport & the end of the runway, so I maintain my heading, facing the direction of the airport and PLF into brush & weeds. Still smiling and diggn’ the rush as I field pack my rig for the hike back. Things are going slow as I work my way through the brush & weeds but nothing is wrong. As I get closer to the airport the terrain changes to just high weeds & some mud, my sneakers are getting heavy & my pace has slowed. I have to pick my feet up a bit to clear the mud but I trip on something and fall. As I gather myself and look down I see a skydiver in full gear, jumpsuit & all, face down, motionless & half buried in the mud. (I just kicked him while walking and fell over him). I’m scared as I reach down to see if he’s alive, I yell at him and shake his shoulder, no response. I’m sure he’s dead and I’m too scared to pull him out of the mud. There’s no sign of breathing or life and there’s no one else around. I’m really shook up and can’t help but think, “these F’n jumpers aren’t looking for this guy, they just left him here” I’m feeling sick to my stomach and give one more try to check this guy out, nothing but a heavy, cold, wet body. It takes me another 10 minutes to get to the airport, I marked my path so we could find him again. When I get on the airport, I dump my gear at the edge of the marsh, I find the DZO, he sees my face and asks what’s wrong. I tell him the story and he just starts laughing, (now I know these people are crazy). He looks me in the eye and says “settle down, it’s a dummy, we lost it about a year ago”. WHY?: The DZ was having some issue w/ a neighbor who was calling local troopers when jumpers & wind streamers landed off. The neighbor was telling the police that jumpers were injured and needed help / ambulances. The troopers were getting annoyed responding to these calls and the DZO was getting tired of the troopers complaining to him. So the DZO’s response was to dress this dummy in a complete rig, helmet, boots & an old B-12 and drop it near the neighbors house BUT they missed. The neighbor didn’t see this “accident”, the troopers weren’t called and as far I know the dummy was left there….. Go figure?

Thanks HOOP for not grounding me, the low pull was necessary, Carbone had me on the next load. Jim was a pro, always had thoughts about his goals, improving things and implementing them. A true adventurers’ spirit.

Walt; 100% energy ALL the time. Much smarter than he looked or acted,(Herd requirements). THANK YOU Walt for keeping fun in the forefront and the “years” of work in doing so.

Exitus! I can remember them lining up on the way to altitude in a DC-3 to practice that exit, frequently & usually below 2000’. Always surprised that they never lost anyone! My sincere wishes for you Nancy & family. It’s been too long between hugs. May God continue to bless you & family and celebrate the Sherman legacy in a life well lived. Love ya! Joey D

All too sad, and you are correct! Guys like him made this sport possible.

I try to miss clouds when they’re wet, at least the really big gray ones. But I have to admit I love the walls on those tall, fat “Cumies”. “feel the need for speed”. This thread did go off course, probably avoiding some clouds.

I’ve had a few “dangerous jumps”, most from self inflicted stupidity. But this one is weather related. Herd Boogie mid-late 70’s. Sky Van jump, weather was bad most of the day, solid low thick clouds and windy, occasional holes and some low jumps. Then a long hold for about 6 hours. A very large break in the clouds was coming our way, so everyone is looking to jump. The manifest hustles a few loads and 1 plane takes off. Our group figures a 20-way makes sense and now it’s our turn. As we’re climbing, the clouds roll in FAST, we’re in dark solid clouds at around 7K, we decide to split into 2 10-ways. The 1st group huddles near the door and literally disappears into the clouds, we can’t see the ground and decide to wait. The pilot has been descending and now we’re below 5k after a brisk go-around but still in clouds, we split into 2 5-ways and our group exits. We are immediately engulfed in dense clouds and never see each other till we break out under 3. To our surprise we’re right over the middle of the airport, YEAH BABY! I know it’s windy so I pull low, (for safety of course), around 1300’ w/ a Strato-Star. Canopy opens nice and I do a turn to check ground speed. I’m backing up & ascending, I go up to about 1500’, backing up as fast as I’ve ever gone downwind. I watch the airport quickly fade away & start looking for alternates. I now see my jump buddy’s doing 360’s looking for places to land, except for Al Jacobs jumping a Starlite,(round PC like canopy). He’s just backing up and goes by underneath me. We are fortunate that it is open country w/ lots of farm land. I turn downwind to look for a field and there’s a big one waaayy ahead of me and on my wind line too. I know this is my spot, I’ve now descended below opening altitude w/ some hard 360’s and “running” towards the field. I’m watching smaller fields on either side of me whizz by and I’m overtaking cars on the highway below me, I see Al in his Starlite going almost as fast. The field is huge and looks level, I figure this is cake! I’ll do a Qtr turn, crab into the field and then a deep, smooth 270 for landing. I’m now under 500’, start my crab before the upwind fence line and lose some more altitude. Thinking; this field is long I can’t miss it, there’s high trees and fences at the back end and I don’t want to mess w/ those. I snap a couple hard 360’s, losing more altitude and about half the field and now I’m low & going backwards really fast, plan A is scrubbed. I see Al off the field in the trees, I cheat a tiny turn to see what’s behind me and It’s fences and trees. I use the ol’ accuracy trick, deep brakes and full release. My canopy dives into ground slams me down face first, (despite a good PLF), then re-inflates goes back over my head and starts to drag me, twisting and bouncing me over 200’ into the fences,(split rail). The canopy starts to look like it’s gonna take-off but now I can at least cutaway. I’m beat-up but no serious injuries. My jump buddy's landed in the trees about another 1/4 mile downwind of me. We landed 5 miles away from the airport after we opened LOW, right over the top. The other load that took off just before got to 5K and aborted, landing at another airfield. The 10-way managed to land on the DZ/airport in high winds, most got dragged but had ground help and all OK. The 5-way behind us never jumped and the SkyVan had to land at the alternate airport. The winds had gone from 25 knots to 50+ when we exited / opened. No one got seriously injured but we all got beat-up pretty good and had repairs to do on our gear. Big Al finally bought a square :)

Were you jumping with or near others, it’s possible you may have gotten “on top” of another jumper and had your air stolen(?).

LOVE that bird! Mr D, was the “Cream of the Crop” among the jump ready DC-3’s of that era,(70’s-80’s). That clean paint job made it look sleeker & the tiny passenger “competition” door for No-show exits. I think my last jumps from that were in Deland, (mid 80’s). The DC-3 is still the best jump aircraft,(IMO). Maybe a bit slow climbing but just being in them was cool. The smooth rumble of those big radials, gentle drama free rotation and Big Fat huggable props. Standing up and running down that aisle when you got to go last. But especially the Fire Breathing sunset take-offs and landings. These aircraft had unique personalities.

The USA has the FAA regulations ,(aka FAR’s). Very easy search.

Read this: Bird Base Blues Bros..& THE CATERPILLAR FROM HELL

How very sad, what a GREAT person, rigger, jumper and friend. We worked together for a couple of years at National Parachute. Test jumps, design refinement, PIA booths, rigging and lots of fun too. She was a truly liberated woman, long before the “activism” became fashionable. She was the “balance” in the Herd, (if that was even possible). ;(

I’m beginning to dread logging-on anymore, too many friends being taken away. I first met John at one of the Para-Ski meets in the Northeast, probably mid-late 80’s. We would meet at various meets and boogies in our region. Then again (90’s?), while he was taking the AFF instructor course, I was one of the examiners and John was an impressive guy to meet. A tall, good looking and confident man. We both got involved as DZO’s in the same conference and of course stayed aware of each other. Whenever we met he always welcomed me w/ genuine respect and I felt the same about him. He was not an average jumper or individual. He worked hard, his efforts bore a lot of “fruit” and his accomplishments were widely known. He contributed a lot to our sport, elevated the quality of Drop Zone “life” for many transient skydivers and helped lots of young jumpers find a place to call “home”. My sympathy and prayers to your fine family, may God continue to inspire them w/ your life, so well lived. Blue Skies! (joeD)