kas@hp-pcd.UUCP (kas) (09/24/85)
Well folks, here's some more Boogie Tales that I said I'ld post. These
pick up where I left off under the heading "USPA Boogie Tales", response #6.
Ken Scofield
******************************************************************************
Welcome back Dane,
I thought it was kinda quiet out there. Sorry to hear about your ailment,
but I'm happy to hear that your wife feels alive again.
I'm with you on your comments about the risk takers. It really ticks me
off when I see the "experts" doing stupid things, especially in front of
whuffos. It is exactly that kind of thing that keeps the notion alive that
we are all a bunch of foolish daredevils.
I think the worst injury incurred during the boogie was a compressed (or
broken?) spine. I just happened to be looking at the right place at the right
time to witness the whole thing. There was a jumper very near the ground, just
beginning his flare (I'll call him #1). A second jumper hooked a sharp turn
just above and behind #1. Now thatge to get everyone in.
I think one of the POPS loads made it.
By far the most fun jump I made was a "tube" dive. What a blast! Have
you ever tried it? We did it with three, but it would be more fun with four
or five. I was the "bottom" man -- laying on the floor, with the other two
straddling me. When the two rolled out the door, I was literally peeled off
the floor and dragged out the door! We stayed in a perfect tube for about
3000 feet, at which point the tube flopped over sideways. We each released
our top-most grip simultaneously, putting the three of us on our backs with
a one-handed grip. The "flattened tube" began to spin like a pinwheel, and
within a few seconds the centrifugal force pulled us apart. We were all
flung away from each other at HIGH speed, and independently spinning like
hell on our backs! It took a few seconds to flop over and stop the spin,
after which I tracked a couple hundred feet to one of the other guys and
made a momentary two way (it was breakoff time). The whge to get everyone in.
I think one of the POPS loads made it.
By far the most fun jump I made was a "tube" dive. What a blast! Have
you ever tried it? We did it with three, but it would be more fun with four
or five. I was the "bottom" man -- laying on the floor, with the other two
straddling me. When the two rolled out the door, I was literally peeled off
the floor and dragged out the door! We stayed in a perfect tube for about
3000 feet, at which point the tube flopped over sideways. We each released
our top-most grip simultaneously, putting the three of us on our backs with
a one-handed grip. The "flattened tube" began to spin like a pinwheel, and
within a few seconds the centrifugal force pulled us apart. We were all
flung away from each other at HIGH speed, and independently spinning like
hell on our backs! It took a few seconds to flop over and stop the spin,
after which I tracked a couple hundred feet to one of the other guys and
made a momentary two way (it was breakoff time). The whole jump was just
outrageous! I'm going to see if I can get some of the jumpers around here
interested in doing it again.
The biggest load I was on was a 12-way, which never completed. I got
in, though. A 9-way was the largest successfull formation I was in. We
broke the 9-way into three groups of three, then rotated and flew the wedges
back together into a different 9-way formation. It was real neat, but I
don't remember now what the two 9-way formations were. The biggest problem
we kept having was planning a too-complicated dive. On most of the loads,
the most experienced person(s) would organize a three or four point dive
with a dozen people who've never seen each other before. More often than
not, these dives turned to junk before the first point was ever completed.
Usually there was a wide range of experience levels on the load, from
75 to 2000 jumps. I think it would be better to keep garbage loads like
this fairly simple, so everyone can get in. Oh well...next time. I found
that I got a lot of flying time, because I usually chose a slot near the end
of the lineup. I rear-floated on a couple of loads though, which is quite
an experience on a DC-3! I also had the dubious honor, at least once, of
being responsible for a funnel. There were four of us, I think, flying base
for an 8-way. Some of the others had fallen low, so we tucked up tight to
try to get the base down to them. I made the mistake of tucking too much,
and dragged the base down the proverbial toilet. Nobody's perfect...
Oh, by the way, I exercised a little poetic license when I said the
"team" names were Shiite slams. They were actually just group names for the
boogie loads, not competitive teams.
Geeze, I'm beginning to run out of things to write about. What have
I forgotten?
Ken
******************************************************************************
To: rice!hp-pcd!hpcvlo!kas
Subject: Re: Chapter Six
Status: RO
Hello again, Ken,
Well, six chapters of information isn't a bad report! Howev might also be interested. Unfortunately,
I don't have time to do it well right now, so I'll reply briefly.
The original article discussed carbon-14 dating rather than other,
longer-term radioactive dating methods, but I grant you that the
question of the one method leads quite naturally to the others.
There is an important qualification which it's necessary to keep in
mind when discussing variances in C-14 deposition over time. The
rate of *decay* of carbon-14 does not vary, rather the rate of the
*creation* of C-14 changes as the flux of cosmic rays changes. Once
created, carbon-14 -- and all other radioactive isotopes -- decay at
a constant rate. (Radioactive decay stems from the "weak" nuclear
force, which so far as is known, is affected by practically nothing.)
Unlike carbon-14, the other radioactive isotopes such as uranium
and radium all derive, with the exception of a trifling amount of
matter which arrived on meteorites, from the origin of the Earth.
Either elements are left over from of the year.
So, you haven't tried a rodeo dive. They are really fun -- you need to
give it go. 2 years ago, everybody was trying them out at Muskogee -- the
good guys were doing 16 way rodeos (8 man star with 8 female riders). To
do one out of a Cessna, launch a four way from the step (for the sake of
saving time). Transition to a 2-man star, with the "riders to be" docked
on opposite sides of the star, each with a shoulder/hip grip on their
"horse". When the formation is falling nice and stable, the two riders
simultaneously swing over and mount their horse -- horses hold grips
for stability. The formation will fall like a stone -- need to watch
your altitude. The two riders typically take a grip for fun (3D?). Now,
the two horses break their grip, turn 180, and track off into the
sunset with their riders still aboard. Riders with good spirit will
have a hold of their reigns (neck line of horse's rig), sitting
straight up, and digger their "spurs" into their horse as they track away.
At 3500', the riders slips off the horse and tracks away a safe distance
before openning. It is not that hard to do, and is VERY fun, especially
if there are female riders. The technique used on the larger formations
was to build a star for the horses, and the riders initially docked on
the legs of their horse -- then simultaneously all mounted from the rear,
and would take grips among riders. Lots of fun. Give it a try. I have
always been the horse, since I am pretty big. We're talkin' 'bout 200 mph
fall speeds here!
You mentioned that you found it interesting to rear float from a DC-3.
I found that those outside positions just seemed to be a bit scary the
first couple of times I tried them -- with the biggest fear being that
of getting blown away from your grip without anyone seeing you. That
has never happened, but I have found that FRONT floating out a DC-3
door is the more difficult. In our group, most people would not take an
outside exit position, so I found myself out there on most of our dives.
It actually is pretty fun to be out there, once you figure out that you
really can hold on!
OK, now to jar your memory, how about so poop on some of the non-jumping
activities. Did you eat most of your meals at the on site restaurant?
Did you find the food acceptable, or did the smell of the nearby johns
spoil it? Did you try cooking your own stuff at the campsite? Did you
go into town much to get some real food? Were there any good seminars
that you attended, maybe for RW or CRW or something? Did you go to the
USPA membership meeting? How about night time activity? Any new
skydiving movies get shown? Was there any good partying going on? Or
were you too worn out to do anything but shower up and hit the sack?
Oh, I was also curious how the conversation went between you and your
unintentional CRW friend. Did you guys talk much -- anyone upset with
the other's actions, etc? Did you make any more jumps with him? How
much experience did that guy have?
There, that should scrape up the last bit of information out of you.
Now, don't forget -- go try a rodeo dive, TODAY!
Danekas@hp-pcd.UUCP (kas) (09/26/85)
Dane,
I remembered another adrenalin-pumping "jump" story. On one of the DC-3's,
one engine seemed to be developing a slight miss. It wasn't bad, but it was
noticible. We made it to altitude with no problem, however. On a later load,
I managed to get on the same plane, only this time the engine began to miss
VERY noticibly shortly after takeoff. Within a minute or two, the engine
threatened to quit altogether! Everyone on board began saying their prayers
while putting on their helmets and gloves (it was so hellishly hot in the
planes that most of us didn't put on helmets and gloves 'till we got to ten
grand or so -- admittedly not a very smart practice). We were just barely
struggling through 1500' when the word was spread to prepare for an emergency
exit. Hearts were a-poundin'. Then, to make matters worse, the pilot yelled
back, "NO, DON'T JUMP! WE'RE OVER WATER!" Seems we were over a lake south of
the airport. By the time we cleared the water hazard, the pilot had gotten
the engine running a little better, so he announced that we should all sit
tight, and he would head back to the airport. We all squished up real tight,
leaving the back half of the airplane empty. Surprising how "small" you can
get when all your cards are on the table. Nobody could breathe, but that was
OK, 'cause we were all holding our breath, anyway. Well, sure enough, the
pilot made it back to the airport, and made a perfectly smooth landing to boot!
We all crawled out, breathed a sigh of relief, and got in a different plane.
Later, the tale I heard was that the pilot had intended to run one of the fuel
tanks dry on a previous load because of a suspected leak. He forgot that the
tank hadn't run dry yet, and that he hadn't switched to another (fuller) tank
for takeoff. It took awhile for all the air to get sucked out of the fuel
lines when the tank ran dry, and he suddenly remembered to switch to another
tank. By the time we landed, I had noticed that the engine seemed to be
running just fine.
Hey, I just got your message with the rodeo dive description, and the
memory joggers. I LOVED your rodeo dive ideas! Sounds like more fun than
any one person is entitled to -- so I'll have to try it! I haven't jumped
since the boogie, because I sent my (new) canopy back to the manufacturer for
repairs. It has always had a built-in left turn which could not be removed
by simply adjusting the control line length. While at the boogie, I talked
to the Precision Parachute representative in the equipment tent, and he said
they would fix it for free. That was several weeks ago, now, and I still
don't have it back. Hmmm...I wonder what's taking so long.
Well, I gotta go rescue the babysitter from my kids, so I'll answer all
your memory joggers in the next chapter. Bye for now!
Kenkas@hp-pcd.UUCP (kas) (09/26/85)
Greetings Dane,
Thanks again for your memory joggers. They oughtta be good for another
chapter or two.
Lessee, how 'bout some more comments on tube dives. You mentioned the
"dual ferris wheel" with two 3-man tubes. It seems to me that there was also
a recent picture of three 4-man tubes linked side by side. They called it
"Rolling Thunder". Maybe we're thinking of the same thing -- I don't know.
Anyway, you're right that it would be tough to lauch one from a C-182, but I
think it could be done from a twin beech with no problem. We have one of those
at the local DZ, so I'm going to talk some folks into it when my canopy comes
home.
I still can't get over your description of the rodeo dive. I keep re-
reading it and breaking out in smiles and giggles. People must think I'm nuts.
Floating on a DC-3 -- Yup, front float is definately more difficult.
That's why I refused to take that position. All but one of the '3s had no
handles for floaters, so I couldn't figure out how those guys managed to glue
themselves to the fuselage. Oh well, I can practice the same sort of thing
from our twin beech, when I get brave enough. We have handles though, so it
won't be as much of a challenge.
Ok, now some news on the non-jumping activities you suggested. When I
pulled into the camping area on Wed. afternoon, I shut down the ol' tin lizzy
and never fired 'er up again 'till Mon. morning, when I left! Thus, I ate
all my meals at the airport restaurant, which wasn't bad, and the prices were
reasonable. No, the port-a-potties were nowhere near the concession areas.
They were way over by that small building on the East side of the camping
areas. There were "real" restrooms and showers in the same building as the
restaurant. I was told that they were "improved" since last year, but since
I wasn't there last year I don't know what was different. With 800 jumpers
and at least as many whuffos, you could forget about taking a shower or
brushing your teeth in the morning or evening hours. Zoo city. I waited 'till
about 11 pm before attempting to shower, and even then I was never alone.
Anyway, I didn't attempt to cook anything on my own. In fact, the only
time I was near my tent was when I was sleeping in it. During the day, it
was like an oven inside, so I just stayed under the video tent when I wasn't
jumping. After all my plans to attend seminars, USPA meetings, and so forth,
I ended up doing none of it! When the days jumping was over, I would stash
my gear in the car, maybe go chat with some of the jumpers I had jumped with
that day (different ones every day), then go get something to eat in the
restaurant. By that time, it was dark, and the beer kegs were opened up, so
I would go have one or two (I'm not a big beer drinker), and watch the days
videos on the three TVs they had set up. I didn't see anything that would
qualify as a "movie", but they did have some film of various competition
teams going through their paces. Some pretty impressive stuff. After that,
I would head for my tent, read a magazine by flashlight for an hour or so, then
head for the showers. Sometime around midnight I would start sawing logs,
except when I was kept awake by thunderstorms (July 4) or loud bands (July 6).
I'm not into heavy partying, either. I tend to be anti-social when I don't
really "know" anyone very well. If you had been there, I probably would have
hung around you like a bad smell untill you got sick of me. So, count your
blessings.
Ok, you wanted to know more about my wrap. No, neither one of us got
mad at the other. I think we both realized that it was fate, not stupidness,
that got us into trouble. The only thing I could have done differently would
have been to track a little harder or longer. But when I saw his pilot chute
go, I figured our vertical separation would keep us out of trouble, if the
horizontal separation didn't. I figured wrong. The probabilities of the
whole thing happening are mind-boggling, but it did. I don't know if he could
have done anything different enough to change the situation, either. Hindsight
is always 20/20. We were together for approximately a minute before he cut
away. We really didn't talk that much, because we were both busy trying to
figure the best way out of this situation. Our conversation went something
like this (with several seconds between most exchanges):
Me: "You OK down there?"
Him: "Yeah, can you drop me?"
Me: "No way, its a mess -- cut away!!" (I'm rustling through his
canopy trying to get a view of mine).
Me: "My canopy looks OK, do you want to ride down with me?"
Him: "Can you untangle?"
Me: "No, I can't see anything -- cut away!" (I'm still messing with
his canopy, trying to clear my toggles).
Me: (After finally getting to my toggles, and clearing a view ahead
of me) "I've got control of my canopy now, and my brakes are
released. Are you going to ride this mess down with me? I think
I can land it OK now."
Him: "Try moving your left leg to the right to clear some lines."
Me: "There's no way I can get out of this! Either cut away NOW or
you're riding down with me!" "You're running out of altitude!"
(I had just looked at my altimeter for the first time, and
realized we were at 1500').
Him: "Do you want me to cut away?"
Me: "YES, YES, cut away, cut away!!"
Him: "I'm gone!" (And he was).
He was a relatively experienced jumper -- that is, he claimed to have
had over 250 jumps. But I found out (I don't remember if it was before or
after the wrap) that he doesn't log his jumps! I jumped with him several
times, both before and after the wrap, and he always seemed to demonstrate
a level of proficiency that supported his claimed number of jumps. The only
"odd" thing he did was his hesitancy to cut away from the wrap immediately.
As I said before, I think he was just hoping that he would slip off and
reinflate, so he waited until the "last minute" to cut away.
Well, believe it or not, I think I covered all of your memory joggers.
So, I'll sign off for now. Can you think of anything else? Bye!
Ken
**************************************************************************
To: rice!hp-pcd!hpcvlo!kas
Subject: Re: Chapter Eight
Status: RO
Ken, boy,
Yep, I think you have covered the bases -- the only thing I seem to have
missed was actually being there.
The thing about front floating out of a DC-3 is that you don't actually
push yourself out there. You just get in position with your right hand on
the door frame and your left hand and foot on the fuselage, and just lean
against the air. Then, let the guy who backs into the door at the front
of the line-up actually push you out as he backs into position. He will
hold you in place -- all you have to is be sure and not get lazy and let
that left hand or foot off that fuselage until it's time. We actually
worked out a very reliable 4-man launch that started with a rear float,
front float, back in, and his facing partner. We were able to work out
a series of grips that allowed us to put out a quick and stable 4 man
star that could transition into what we needed for the base.
The "duel ferris wheel" that I saw was at least a year ago, maybe two.
I don't seem to remember the triple 4-man tube, but I'm sure that it was
much more recent. That does sound like a jump that could give one a
few jollies.
I forgot to reply to your "Chapter One" which described your USA tour.
I was going to mention that I have spent some time in Rocky Mountain
National Park about 4 years ago. We also drove (and later hiked) down
that Ridge Road and it was a wonderful sight. The hilite of that trip
was our hike up Long's Peak -- the highest peak in that area at 14,400'
or so. We did not actually make it to the peak, but we got up to spot
called the key-hole, which was just above the boulder field. We were
pacing ourselves to use up most of our energy to get to the top. We
did not realize that it was more fatiguing to come down! My shins and
knees and feet took a real beating as we lumbered down the trail, trying
to beat some weather that was threatining to nail us. That whole park
was really wonderful. I'm sure that you would have enjoyed spending
more time there.
Well, I guess we have milked this event to the max. But if you think
of any new material, pass it on. Was the whole experience worth a
repeat -- i.e. do you think you will return? That is such a major
trip for you that I'll bet you won't be back there for at least a
couple of years.
... hope you get your rig back soon, and get it aired out. I hoping
to sneak out there this weekend myself.
Danekas@hp-pcd.UUCP (kas) (09/28/85)
Hey Dane,
I remembered one more (short) story that might be worth telling. As you
know, I took delivery of my new gear back in January of this year. A couple
of weeks later, when I finally got around to jumping it, all the other jumpers
at the DZ oooh'd and aaaah'd over it, until someone noticed that my break-away
cables were not threaded through those flexible housings. In fact, there
weren't any housings! The cables were just threaded through the channel sown
into the container that the housings usually reside in. When the DZ operator,
who is also the resident Master Rigger, saw it, he was much surprised and
wondered if it was safe to jump that way. My argument was, "Hey, it's brand
new. Maybe they figured out that the housings serve no particular purpose, so
they don't use them anymore". Against his better judgement, he agreed it must
be "right", because the reserve packing card was appropriatly signed, with the
notation "Assembly, Inspection and Pack". He allowed me to jump it, but said
he was going to check with the manufacturer to make sure all was kosher. Well,
we both promptly forgot all about it. Over the next few months preceding the
Boogie, I made several jumps on the rig. On a few jumps, I noticed that the
break-away cables had a tendency to work their way part way out of the loops
which hold the 3-ring release together. It was a bit unnerving, but they
never came completely out and jettisoned my main.
Anyway, when I got to the Boogie and went in for my gear-check, the rigger
just about puked! He said, "Why did you take out your cable housings?". I
told him I didn't, and that the rig was new and had arrived that way, so I
assumed it was right. He said no dice, I couldn't jump it that way, 'cause
it WASN'T right. Then he pulled out the packing card and had a cardiac arrest
on the spot -- it was HIS signature!!! HE was the rigger who had assembled my
rig! Well, after he blubbered and mumbled and cussed alot, he said he would
try to find some cable housings for me. None of the riggers had brought any
along, so he finally decided just to cannabalize the housings off another rig
(a demo rig, or something). He had them on in about 15 minutes, swore me to
secrecy, and we all lived happily ever after.
*
/ \
|---/---\---| Ken Scofield C-9355
| Gone | Hewlett-Packard PCD
| Jumpin' | Corvallis, OR
|-----------|
{ucbvax!hplabs, harpo, ogcvax}!hp-pcd!kas
****************************************************************************
To: rice!hp-pcd!hpcvlo!kas
Subject: Re: Chapter Nine
Status: RO
Ken,
Boy, that is absolutely amazing! What a coincidence to have the assembler
of your rig discover his own problem. As I was reading your story, I didn't
think that the missing cable housing would have caused any problems. But
that sure would be a nasty suprise to have maybe one side release on it's
own and leave you in a spinning function. Anyway, you would have been
mildly irritated if they had shut you down all together due to this problem!
We must not be living right or something! Just about the time that I
recovered from that case of menangitus, my wife had a severe nausea attack
that required a trip to emergency as she got dehydrated. This developed
further into severe pains in her lower right abdomen -- yep a bad appendix.
She was rushed into emergency surgury (remember, she's 5 months pregnant)
and had the offensive organ removed. Surgeon said that the appendix would
have lasted another 2 hours before rupture! Chances of losing the baby
was 25% under normal conditions, 80% if there was a rupture. Luckily, the
baby made it ok. Donna was in miserable pain for a few days, but is
doing much better now.
So, I have not been able to make any jumps lately -- and it looks like
I may have to wait a month or so until Donna is feeling well enough to
look after Brad while I jump. Sigh.
I'll keep my ear on the wire ...
Dane
*************************************************************************
Dane,
Geeze, some people have all the (bad) luck. Your wife must be wondering
what she did to deserve such a fate. I have a pretty good idea what you and
your wife are going through. My wife (Donna) is missing a significant amount
of her innards, too. All three of our kids had to be delivered by C-section.
After the third one the doc did a hysterectomy (sp?) and an appendectomy all
in one fell swoop, since she was already opened up. The hysterectomy was
preplanned, but he took the appendix out "because it was there".
Believe it or not, I got to watch the whole thing! For the last few
years, our hospital has allowed fathers to "participate" (i.e., watch) during
C-section births, but family members had never been allowed to watch any
other kind of surgery. It used to be that the mother was knocked out cold
for a C-section, but nowadays they can be awake from the waist up, so they
can see the baby immediately, etc. The one drawback to this is that the mother
is fully aware of what is going on, even though she can't feel anything. This
causes some women to get a little "hyper", knowing she's being sliced open.
The nurses have devised a little scheme to get the father out of the O.R. asap
by handing him the newborn, and taking him to the nursery to weigh and measure
the baby. What they didn't count on was a curious husband who wanted to see
what a hysterectomy looked like. After depositing the baby in the nursery, I
turned around and went back to the O.R., fully expecting to be kicked out.
As it turned out, Donna was in fact going a little hyper, and when I walked
in, the doc immediately sensed that she calmed down. So, he didn't say a
word. I just sat down on a stool, and chatted with Donna while I watched
the proceedings. It kept her mind off what was going on. The doc actually
commended me, saying that my reentry to the O.R. was a better solution than
putting Donna completely "under" with general anesthesia. Interestingly, I
just about puke whenever I see those movies depicting all the graphic details
of childbirth, such as are shown in pre-natal classes. But watching the real
thing, including the hysterectomy, didn't bother me a bit. In fact, it was
fascinating, and I kept inching closer to get a better look.
Anyway, I also wanted to make another comment on the missing housings.
As you mentioned, the lack of housings didn't seem to effect the operation
of the break-away cables. I practiced a couple of times (on the ground), and
they worked fine. The rigger that repaired it said, however, that with a
very hard opening it is possible for those cables to get partially yanked
through the grommets on the risers, thus crimping them and making them
difficult or impossible to remove. The ends of the housings are equipped
with smaller grommets to prevent that from happening. They also protect the
cables from being snagged or wiggled out, which is probably what was happening
to mine on those occasions that I found them partially extracted.
If you can believe it, I still don't have my main canopy back! The folks
that do the repairs on those things can only test jump them on weekends, and
the weather back there has been lousy lately. Maybe this weekend...
Ken
*****************************************************************************
Well folks...
That is the end (finally) of my Boogie Tales and other (un)related subjects.
If anyone else out there in netland has gone to any boogies (like Freak Bros.,
etc.), I would be interested in hearing any good stories you may have.
P.S.-- I do have my canopy back now, as is evidenced by my story about the
beach jumps I recently made (see title: "Beach Jumps").
*
/ \
|---/---\---| Ken Scofield C-9355
| Gone | Hewlett-Packard PCD
| Jumpin' | Corvallis, OR
|-----------|
{ucbvax!hplabs, harpo, ogcvax}!hp-pcd!kas