Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: notesfiles - hp 1.2 08/01/83; site hp-pcd.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!oliveb!hplabs!hp-pcd!kas From: kas@hp-pcd.UUCP (kas) Newsgroups: net.rec.skydive Subject: Re: USPA Boogie Tales Message-ID: <41800024@hpcvlo.UUCP> Date: Fri, 16-Aug-85 23:00:00 EDT Article-I.D.: hpcvlo.41800024 Posted: Fri Aug 16 23:00:00 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 20-Aug-85 21:08:50 EDT References: <41800023@hpcvlo.UUCP> Organization: Hewlett-Packard - Corvallis, OR Lines: 128 Nf-ID: #R:hpcvlo:41800023:hpcvlo:41800024:000:7782 Nf-From: hpcvlo!kas Aug 16 19:00:00 1985 To: rice!hp-pcd!hpcvlo!kas Subject: Woe is Me Cc: Meyer Status: RO Howdy Ken! ... thought I'd put a little mail in your mail box for you to read now that you are back from the boogie. As you now know, I was not able to swing the trip, even for a couple of days, as Donna had her worst time ever on the 4th. She barfed 7 times in a 12 hour period -- came very close to having to head into the hospital. Although I am discouraged at not making the boogie, I was most certainly needed home on the ranch this time. She is doing a bit better now -- back to only throwing up once a day. Ok, lets have it. I want a blow by blow run-down on the highs and lows of your vacation to Oklahoma. I'll bet the worst of it was the long drive home. It looked like it was hot out there, but not as bad as it could have been. I thought I noticed a bit of stormy weather moving through there on the 4th. In any case, it looked like you probably got a ton of good jumping weather -- the question is, did you get a ton of jumps? Did you bump into the Texas cronies? (how could you miss them -- they dominate attendance). Did you get a chance to see some of the hot competitors? Did you have any problems getting out the DC-3 (like the 4-7 slot that I described as difficult for me)? Isn't Mr. Douglas a gas? Rock and roll all the way to altitude. Certainly there must have been some new films being shown at night. Did your jumpsuit (and fall rate) work out with the general crowd? Did you try out a couple of dives with the "load organizers" that USPA provides? Do your kids still love ya? So there -- see if you can handle answering all that. Again, many apologies for not being there. It just wasn't in the cards for me to go this time. Hopefully, we will get a chance to meet and jump in the future. I'm not sure when we will get a chance to get up that way, but I do have a couple of good friends that live in Seattle that I plan on visiting some time -- but probably a couple of years off, as our kids will need to grow up a bit. I was up there about 5 years ago and jumped at Issaquah -- a very pretty and talented DZ. Well, gotta go. Dane Meyer ********************************************************************* Hi y'all! (read that with a drawl...I picked that up in Oklahoma!) Ok, lets see... before I tell the detailed stories, I'll first answer your list of 20 (?) questions. > Ok, lets have it. I want a blow by blow run-down on the highs and lows >of your vacation to Oklahoma. I'll bet the worst of it was the long drive >home. It looked like it was hot out there, but not as bad as it could have >been. I thought I noticed a bit of stormy weather moving through there on >the 4th. In any case, it looked like you probably got a ton of good jumping >weather -- the question is, did you get a ton of jumps? Did you bump into >the Texas cronies? (how could you miss them -- they dominate attendance). >Did you get a chance to see some of the hot competitors? Did you have any >problems getting out the DC-3 (like the 4-7 slot that I described as difficult >for me)? Isn't Mr. Douglas a gas? Rock and roll all the way to altitude. >Certainly there must have been some new films being shown at night. Did your >jumpsuit (and fall rate) work out with the general crowd? Did you try out >a couple of dives with the "load organizers" that USPA provides? Do your >kids still love ya? The weather -- "Hot" is probably too mild a description, but it will do. The temp. was into the high 90's every day, and the humidity was probably 30%-50%. It could have been worse. I sweat (and thus drank) GALLONS of liquids while I was there. We had a humdinger of a thunderstorm the night of the 4th. The wind blew down a lot of tents, but my little dome tent survived intact. I was relieved to discover that my tent is also rain-tight! Tons of jumps -- I made 17 jumps between Wed. night and the following Mon. morning. I don't know -- is that tons of jumps? How many do you make when you go there? I COULD have made lots more, but frankly, the afternoons were so ungodly hot that I actually lost the desire to jump until evening and morning. Texas cronies -- Yes, I did find a couple of guys who knew you, but now I don't remember their names. I'm terrible at remembering names! And yes, the Texans dominated the attendance! I jumped with several, but most were not your "cronies". Hot competitors -- Yeah, I was on some loads with the Golden Knights, and others of their calibre. Some of the videos (they had air-to-air and ground- to-air video cameras) were impressive indeed! DC-3 exits -- No problem. I managed to fall out every time. Like a leaf in the wind. Actually, I can't say that there was any real difference, no matter what slot I was in. My "technique", if you could call it that, was to go out the door with my arms high, to try to catch the wind and keep me from going head-over-heels. After about a second or two, when I was out of the prop blast, I would slam my arms to my sides and assume the dive position. I was generally not very stable at this point, as I would teeter back and forth like a pendulum. After a few seconds, the motion would smooth out, and I would find myself in a nice fast dive. One exit that I found worked surprisingly well was to jump out facing FORWARD, not towards the tail. By presenting myself to the wind blast in the standard "hard-arch" position, I would be stable almost immediately, and could transition easily to a stable dive. The only problem is that it is nearly impossible to do this in a tight exit, when the folks behind you are pushing you out the door towards the tail. Try to get in the LAST slot sometime and try this, or do a no-show-no-contact exit and be the first out (or last). Mr. Douglas -- What a ride! Wow! Seats and everything! I only managed to get on Mr. Doug a couple of times though. There were four DC-3's, and I seemed to draw Sugar Alpha more than any of the others. Fall rate -- No sweat. I'm a flyin' fool now. I found that I could match fall rates with damn near anybody, no matter how fast or slow! It was just a matter of learning how to "fly" my jumpsuit, and compensate when needed. I am firmly convinced now that I do NOT like the new skin-suits the skygods are buying. They don't give enough speed control, so you are forced to jump with people that have the same fall rate. And if you get low, you'll NEVER get back up. I'll keep my Flitesuit, thank you. Load organizers -- I only utilized the service on Wed. evening when I made my first jump. After that, I would get back together with at least one person from a previous jump, and we would scour around for more bodies 'till we had a load. I could have (maybe should have) got on a few organized loads, because there were times when I sat around alot waiting for someone I "knew" to wander by. The kids -- Yes, I think they still love me. In fact, they had a good time visiting cousins and friends, etc., so I doubt they even missed me. My brother brought them out on the 4th, and they all enjoyed watching the mega- blob jumps on video, and stuff like that. At dark we went down the road to a park and shot off all our fireworks. Oklahoma allows some neat stuff! Here in Oregon, sparklers and smoke bombs are about all that is legal. (Ed. Note: I took my three kids with me, and drove to Oklahoma where I farmed out the kids to various friends and relatives while I "Boogied" for a few days. Dane was convinced my kids would disown me.) Well, I think I covered most of your questions, so I'll close this here. Don't worry, more stories and gory details will be forthcoming soon! Ken