It's something that younger skydivers say to show how cool they are, and that they don't fear the possibility of death in the sport. They usually quit uttering this phrase the first time they lose a friend in the sport, because then it no longer feels cool anymore. I started skydiving in , around the time to phrase was coined in Ghoolidge, Arizona. Back then, guys like Skratch Garrison were learning - the hard way - how to modify military surplus gear for skydiving, learning why it was unwise to wave off with a pilot chute in hand at 2, feet, etc.
They learned a lot of lessons the hard way so that we do not have to. I avoided serious injury through almost 31 years of skydiving, then separated a shoulder in a forced landing last week. Lately, I have been signing off with "Blue skies, black death!
From: Pat Works Newsgroups: rec. Jumpsuits were small. Most skydivers wore boots. Belly reserves and ripcords were the norm. Of course, good inteligent, cool skydivers never got caught dead. Poof, the myth of the right stuff vanished. We noticed that it was not that He screwed up but rather that fate is the hunter and there is a real element of chance in skydiving. Unsafe practices, as a group were termed black death. Sport parachuting became Sport Death. It found it's roots in the Desert sands of a place called the Gulch.
Many folks from all those states he listed It was a time of round stars. Diving and swooping was the way. Gips on wrists was the only way. Our innocents was gone. Stories of a bony arm holding a ripcord and teams walking around with one red eye started to filter in.
A traveler by the name of Captain Smooth sat me down and told me of sport death. It wasn't as Black as one would have thought just by hearing the phrase. Folks had a belief that skydiving was safe and when someone with more than average ability bounced it shook that belief to the core.
So phrases like "You're a dead man til you pull that ripcord" started to bring a new vision to the true reality at hand. Gear was changing at a very rapid pace and some, if not most, of the changes were tested literally on the fly. When someone saw something dangerous it was called to attention but saying" Hey man that's sport death" It was a safety thing.
You could die if you keep going in that direction. So where did Blue sky Black death come from? Blue Skies has had a contractual relationship with the Port of Bremerton since April , and the contract was renewed last spring.
The port operates the airport, which is feet above sea level. Under the terms of the contract, Blue Skies is allowed to use the airport for skydiving on weekdays, days when the general aviation airport isn't as busy as it is on weekends. On Tuesday, Port Executive Director Dick Brandenburg was recounting how one of those killed, Walter Yoho of Port Orchard, appeared before the port commission earlier this year inviting port officials to participate in a jump.
According to a Blue Skies schedule on file at the port, the next event for the group is set for Sept. Monday's crash closed the airport from to p. One plane that was low on fuel was allowed to land.
Brandenburg said the accident did not damage any of the airport facilities, and that its aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle manned by port worker Ed Draper was the first to reach the scene. Draper was notified of the crash by a pilot.
Upon reaching the scene, Draper employed the vehicle's foam and chemical fire retardant to extinguish the aircraft fire and a small brush fire it touched off. At my drop zone, we hop and pop at 5, feet and it still made me very nervous, even though I had loads of time to get stable and deploy. It is a different psychological game. You think about different things. Stupid Hurts: This is self explanatory.
When you do dumb things in skydiving, you can hurt yourself. Prolly will hurt yourself. Take it seriously. Sunset Load: This is the last load of the day, which unsurprisingly happens at sunset. This is a fun load for a number of reasons. It is beautiful! Skydivers love the sky and really appreciate the beauty of a sunset.
It has a more relaxed and playful atmosphere. People do interesting things like jump naked. There is also the Sun Done Set Load , which is when the sun actually sets as you go up due to bad timing and then you jump in the dusk. I was on this load recently by accident. I jump in sunglasses and once you get under canopy it is waaay dark.
So, you take off your glasses for the rest of the ride. Target practice: I think this is unique to my drop zone.
We have an extremely dog friendly drop zone and there are usually five or more dogs wandering around on any given day. They are not allowed in the hangar because that is where we pack the chutes. She also loves to swim in the pond and then wander around wetly, looking for someone to shake off near. She might as well have a bulls-eye painted on her butt. As much as she loves it there, I try to only bring her when I really need to because of a super long day or an overnight.
Love Sac : The love sac is a giant, very soft, very comfortable, bean bag thingy. It sits in the hangar all day and many naps are taken there. It is extra nice because it is so big, two to three people can fit in comfortably. The brand name is lovesac. That is not why it is referred to as the love sac though. Enough said. I crack myself up Hope you learned something. Tags: blue skies , first time , Mary's story , skygod , sunset , terminology , wuffo.
Thanks for the very funny and informative post. Nicely done. I worked in Vietnam, I learned all I know about rigging in 3 days of training at Ft. Ustes, Virginia. I never, ever, again, never ever packed a chute for real and installed it in an aircraft. It was a special 4 week course on the Martin-Baker ejection seat. Just a little frosting on our real training as fixed wing aircraft repair-men. The plane was designed in such an odd configuration, well to put it bluntly, jumping out was not an option.
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