Parachutes!!
 

Who's still jumping??

I went to a '70s-'80s Skydiving reunion last weekend at Spaceland, southwest of Houston, and have drug my '71 MK1 32" Shortlined Paracommander out of the closet and just finished packing it!! Soon to be Knees in the Breeze!!

Later
Martin

Oh no....here we go......

ALERT: People of Texas, please stay inside and lock your doors...we have a SOG Vet taking to the skies! :D

I raise my glass to you, and Blood On The Risers, my friend. :cool:

o5

Not me,, butt I B Jealous...

Martin,, please land on the NORTH side of the river.

We do not want to read about an international incident involving American Special Forces Mercenary VFOG's invading Mexico while liberating a truck load of Dos Equis Gold..

Stay Safe..

Martin

I still jump. The best thing you can do is donate that rig to the museum. It is way too old to use. Time to get a new one so you will come back to earth nice and soft.

Good luck. SF_BHT

Still jumping ...
 

Yeah, there are several of us OFC that still jump, but I'm not sure I'd want these 57 year old knees landing under a PC, or even my Delta II Parawing that's still in the garage.

http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/...ad.php?t=23714

Go for the big ram air.

Better make sure that reserve is new! ;)

Richard's $.02 :munchin

I think I have my old Papillion lying around somewhere, along with a 23' Tricon reserve.

I do not think I want to experiment with the tensile strength of 30+ year old nylon.

Blue skies, hermano.

TR

If anyone has old gear they would like to donate to the National Skydiving Museum you can go about donating by clicking HERE

I got a 7 cell Flight Concepts 265 sqft Main and a Para-Flite Swift Plus 225 sqft Reserve this past weekend. They're in a Talon 2 Rig with a Cypres that's good for 18 months. The main supposidly only has 50 Jumps on it and the Reserve has never been used. Got the whole rig for $1500!!!

Later
Martin

Sold all my skydiving stuff in 94 and made my last jump in 95. Had my first spinal fusions in 07. :D

For me, jumping is now a spectator sport.

Last jump: DZ Humor at Ft. Huachuca, AZ from a Huey, late November, 1982!

For me, jumping is also a "spectator sport" - save for an occasional dream! :D

Martin:

Congrats!

Big rig for your size. Should be nice, soft landings.

Enjoy and be careful.

TR

Is this the one that saved your bacon at Beaumont?

Pat

The spirit is willing but the knees are weak.:p

With a properly applied flare and some low winds working for you...get in the front riser, build some speed and .........surf's up! (knees not required) :D

Negative, I had it on, but I deployed the Tricon (Reserve)!!

I used to have a Russian Paracommander. That thing was both cool and scrary. It was inclined to open after coaxing. Then I bought a 5 cell Parafoil 180 sq ft. That was FAST! After that I bought one of those Units. Nice, very responsive, but would flair after you were about three feet in the dirt. My last rig was in a talon container. I had a black strato cloud with a unit 2 reserve. Finally sold it at a discount - the darned guy didn't think he should have paid fair dollar because my name was embroidered on the main lift web. Those were the days.

Full disclosure: that's not my parachute - but I'm reasonably sure that's a Russian PC.

Remember to steer for the deuce and a half's so you don't have to carry it so far. :D

I received the Rig today!!!

It is as advertised!! VERY clean rig!!

If the WX allows, I'll jump it on Sunday!!

Later.
Martin

......wait.........I see something in the sky. WHAT IS THAT? :cool::cool:

Went down to Stephenville this afternoon, got a basic block of instruction on packing the rig, packed it twice before the jump. Hung in the IA Drill Harness for about 1/2 hour while being shown all varieties of pictures of malfunctions and I responded correctly to them all. Went up to 6K and was flat, stable, and maintained heading down to 4K, then the FUN BEGAN!! When I went to grab the Pilot Chute, I dropped my head slightly and found myself entering into a "Front-Loop"!! I pulled my left arm down, completed the Loop and when I went to the "Stable" position, I had the Pilot Chute in my right hand, gave a wave off and LETER RIP!!! Positive opening, made a few turns, various Brake positions and I couldn't get it to stall, Winds were 15-20 steady with higher gusts, so when I got below 100 things really got squirrely, but I kept it flying and did a PLF just as a precaution!!!

Will be back down there shortly!!!:D :lifter

Later
Martin

Congrats Martin,, We need pictures?? :D:D

Especially the smile on your face! :D ;)

Pat

Well, since I didn't land on the DZ and I was "in the sun" during descent, we didn't get any "Canopy" pics. That Jump suit was from the early '70s when Doc, the "Pilot", and I were on a 4-Man Team together!! He was 1/2 owner of Houston Parachute Service back in the '70s & '80s and the Team was made up of the 2 owners and two of us that worked there (GOOD evening job!!).

Later
Martin

Obviously you have to do it again for the DZ photos! Sorry. ;)

Pat

Of course!!! Either next weekend or Memorial Day weekend or maybe both..... several times!!!

LMAO!!!
 

Is this what you call a "mid-life crisis"?:D

Or

Do you miss the adrenaline rush?

Either way, does your spouse know about this extra curricular activity?

Stay safe.

Last Sunday was HER BIRTHDAY and I gave her, "me jumping out of an airplane" as a present!!!:D:munchin

Not a Crisis yet, but when WM and his crew come to town in October..............there may be issues!!!!:D

Hopefully I can get proficient before October and be able to make a few leaps with them at AFW!!!

Take care Brother!!
Martin

HILARIOUS! Maybe for your July 4th birthday she can do a tandem jump with you? :munchin By then you should be able to do a front loop AND hit a DZ! (ok, running and ducking for cover)

Way to go Ambush Master!!!

The Marine Instructors here had to make a Jump the other day. They had to show up at 0400 for a noon time jump. Nope, don't miss it one bit.

Wife started skydiving at age 48. Her chute of choice, becuase of her small stature (5 feet even) was the 7 Cell Raven IV. Because of a disagreement with a M-151 before its rear suspension modification, I was relegated to DZSO/casual observer.

Went down there today and made 2!! On the second, I landed in the "Ps" about 2m from center!! Here's a pic of the canopy..........IT"S FREAK'IN HUGE!!!

The guy that I jumped with has an altimeter that is a computer. He couldn't believe that on a 45 sec delay I was only falling at 107mph!!! He jumped with me 2 weeks ago and went by me like a rock, so today he put on his "Wing Suit" and was still amazed!! They now understand what I meant when I told them that I got my SCS going out of a Twin Otter as First Floater and closing #18-20!!

GOOD DAY!!!!:D

Made #s 4 and 5 today ( after a close to 30 year Hiatus) which brings my total up to 991!!

Each Jump is feeling more comfortable!!

Weekend after next it's 4-ways!!! Then VRW!!!:D:munchin

Later
Martin

Made a "Premier" Jump yesterday (#6 since May 2) with a "Helmet-Cam"!! Go to My Videos on Facebook, Link to follow:

http://www.facebook.com/video/video....5843&comments=

This was # 992!!


Later.
Martin

whew, my team ran the airborne operation for our JCET, 3 lifts, 13 passes, 130 jumpers to include 33 MFF. My boys jumped MFF and I got to pin two E-5's to E-6's (Jr. B and D) and have my jr D bust his cherry MFF jump.

I love it :D

Good work, Martin! The camera looks great.

Pat

Congrat's Martin...

This thread is making me happy.

Now I am planning on a roll of duct tape to wrap my knee

Drop 40 pounds so I don't have to hit like a 400 lb sack of potatoes. (sacks of potatoes have limited flair)

A motorcycle (sold the last one to pay child support)

A convertable

And a girl who is way too young for me (but comfortably legal)



I need to make a list......