ARmy Rumour SErvice

Only a sport jumper in my time, not wearer of beret ferocious, but some of mine stick in the mind. One was a three-way out of an Antonov AN2 at Weston with a University mate & an instructor I'd last met at Bad Lipp in the early '90s & first seen when I was a child & he was in The Trailblazers display team - D10,000 was a great bloke.

My favourite of all was also over Weston. It was the last lift of the day, the cloud was coming in and for some reason had left a big hole over the DZ. There was a bank of it from about 4,000-7,000 feet so on exit at 12,000 it was all bright & sunny, we then fell as if down a tunnel & then under the cloud it was starting to get dark & the lights were coming on on the M40. I swear when coming in to land I could hear the cans of beer being opened.

One which would have been memborable if winds hadn't gone over limit was supposed to be from the Hereford Hooligans' Augusta 109 which as I was still on front & back kit at the time so the despatch would have been interesting to get out of the door.

I try to forget the one when I was showing off on the flare & broke my scaphoid bone (although was allowed to keep on jumping in a splint when I showed I could use my cutaway) although that's a bit difficult as it aches ten years or so on!

Originally Posted by CaptainPlume

Only a sport jumper in my time, not wearer of beret ferocious, but some of mine stick in the mind. One was a three-way out of an Antonov AN2 at Weston with a University mate & an instructor I'd last met at Bad Lipp in the early '90s & first seen when I was a child & he was in The Trailblazers display team - D10,000 was a great bloke.

My favourite of all was also over Weston. It was the last lift of the day, the cloud was coming in and for some reason had left a big hole over the DZ. There was a bank of it from about 4,000-7,000 feet so on exit at 12,000 it was all bright & sunny, we then fell as if down a tunnel & then under the cloud it was starting to get dark & the lights were coming on on the M40. I swear when coming in to land I could hear the cans of beer being opened.

One which would have been memborable if winds hadn't gone over limit was supposed to be from the Hereford Hooligans' Augusta 109 which as I was still on front & back kit at the time so the despatch would have been interesting to get out of the door.

I try to forget the one when I was showing off on the flare & broke my scaphoid bone (although was allowed to keep on jumping in a splint when I showed I could use my cutaway) although that's a bit difficult as it aches ten years or so on!

I too used to enjoy civvie skydiving. I am sad to say this happened at the center where I often jumped when I lived in North Carolina---the epic tale of the importance of jumpmaster equipment checks. I quit the sport when it became inundated by the really "cool" people who jumped in shorts and flip flops.

Quoted here from the Greensboro
[NC] News and Record, April 6, 1988; p. C3:

PARACHUTIST'S DEATH RULED ACCIDENTAL

LOUISBURG (AP) - The death of an experienced parachutist who fell
10,500 feet without a parachute while he was filming another jump was
accidental, Franklin County investigators said Tuesday.
"We have gathered enough information to declare it an
accident," Sheriff Arthur Johnson said.
Ivan Lester McGuire, 35, of Durham died Saturday after jumping from an
airplane without a parachute, said Captain Ralph Brown of the
Sheriff's Department. McGuire had made more than 800 jumps.
McGuire, who was carrying a video camera mounted on his
helmet, was filming a student and an instructor at Franklin County
Sports Parachute Center when he jumped from the plane piloted by Mark
Luman of Louisburg. Luman couldn't be found for comment and had no
telephone listing, but Brown said the pilot "wasn't in any position to
see what happened in the back of the plane."
There was no answer at the parachute center. But Nancy Fayard was
quoted Tuesday in the News and Observer of Raleigh [NC] as saying: "No
one was aware that he got on the plane without a parachute. Of course
no one knew or they would have stopped him."
Brown said that there was no foul play and no indication that suicide
was involved. But, he added, "A man who has jumped 800 times ought to
remember his parachute."
McGuire's body was found in woods about 1 1/2 miles from the airfield.
The videotape showed McGuire jumping from the airplane and that the
jump was going smoothly until the parachutes worn by the instructor
and the student opened and McGuire hurtled below them.
" It kind of appears he reached for his parachute and he didn't have
one." Brown said. "You could see the instructor and the student
falling on the video. But the release for his parachute is on the
right hip, and when the right hand goes down, the left hand comes
forward and it comes into camera view.
"Then the pictures get to moving real fast because he's approaching
the ground at 150 mph. The only thing the camera shows is the ground
coming."
Brown said blood samples will show whether McGuire had alcohol or
drugs in his system and test results should be ready in about a week.
Although an expert jumper, McGuire could have forgotten to put on his
parachute because of fatigue or preoccupation with his video
equipment, said Fayard, wife of club owner Paul Fayard-the instructor
on McGuire's last jump.
Nancy Fayard said McGuire worked third shift at Northern Telecom Inc.,
a manufacturer of telephone switching equipment, and usually left the
club at noon to get to work. On Saturday, she said, he stayed until
2:30 to shoot the video.
"He's a real perfectionist when it comes to his video photography, and
he'd been working a lot on it," she said. "The best we can figure is
he became so preoccupied with the video, and then being fatigued, that
his mind was on the video."
A Federal Aviation Administration investigator said he was checking to
see if Luman knew whether McGuire was wearing a parachute when he
entered the airplane before the jump.
Walter L. Rigsbee of the district office in Raleigh said FAA rules
require that the pilot check to see that parachutists have on
parachutes.
Johnson said Tuesday the investigation showed the pilot thought
McGuire was wearing a parachute. But Rigsbee said the video equipment
may have been mistaken for a parachute.
"These parachute clubs have safety programs," Rigsbee said. "They
check these jumpers out depending on their experience."

Originally Posted by jumpinjarhead

I too used to enjoy civvie skydiving. I am sad to say this happened at the center where I often jumped when I lived in North Carolina---the epic tale of the importance of jumpmaster equipment checks. I quit the sport when it became inundated by the really "cool" people who jumped in shorts and flip flops.

I loved it, but sadly lacked any real talent so while I had a C-Licence (under grandfather rights) I never got beyond Cat 9. I fell like a homesick anvil & wasn't acrobatic enough for freestyle!

Still had some very happy times on the various DZs & met some very pleasant people before I decided to spend my cash on other things.

Only did a few statics and then a free as a civvi. All memorable especially the last one when my main chute streamed. My how I laughed later. NOT.

The opposite of the thread title. An entanglement (so I was told later) which I fixed but was rapidly followed by an epic container-heels-arrse-back of head landing. I woke up convinced I was back at school and if I was late stuffing the canopy into the green sack and tabbing off the DZ I would be beaten by the headmaster (again).No memory of the jump at all, simply being on the aircraft before standing up.Still robbed the final tie, tho.

Originally Posted by jumpinjarhead

I too used to enjoy civvie skydiving. I am sad to say this happened at the center where I often jumped when I lived in North Carolina---the epic tale of the importance of jumpmaster equipment checks. I quit the sport when it became inundated by the really "cool" people who jumped in shorts and flip flops.

I have'nt jumped for just over a year now and the intended week of lobbing in April was cancelled because of a broken hand, so it'll have to be October instead.

I know what you mean about flip flops, or rather Teva sandals, there are lots in evidence at Deland and Zephyrhills. But, I have seen the occasional old bastards wearing pairs of much loved and carefully cared for Para Saut boots - that you just can't get anymore.

My most memorable was at Hinton, in January, snow on the ground, three layers of clothing, two headovers on pulled right up, one coffee too many and desperate for a piss, 1500' up on the approach and got caught in a wind that was blowing me enough to hold me static'ish for a while. Produced instant yellow snow on landing.

Probably the one I never got to make in Russia, when the An-2 I was in had engine failure and we did a glide-landing that used up two-thirds of the airfield.
Another good one was when one of the lasses at the club did her hundredth jump, and passed a bottle of champagne round in the back before jumping. The pilot had a swig too, which would have given the CAA heart failure if it had been UK.
My first one was the best though - a straightforward 800 m static line jump with a D-5 from an Mi-8. It took me about a week to stop telling everyone about it, the adrenaline was coming out my arrse.

I never had a reserve ride, but it got close once. I had graduated onto a brand new rather sporty canopy (after using things which were a bit like giant sofas) & was used to very quick deployments. One day I picked up a rig which had the same type of canopy, just older. First lob of the day I pulled, went for the count, had the feeling of being pulled upright and on “check canopy” saw what looked like a large bundle of yellow laundry burbling away above me.

I was just about to cut away when with an almost audible pop the thing deployed properly & my arrse stopped doing sixpence/half-a-crown. The next time I had one of these a large hole had been cut in the slider – the canopies had got so old & porous they needed extra airflow to open.