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From: kas@hp-pcd.UUCP (kas)
Newsgroups: net.rec.skydive
Subject: Additional Boogie Tales
Message-ID: <41800036@hpcvlo.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 24-Sep-85 13:57:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: hpcvlo.41800036
Posted: Tue Sep 24 13:57:00 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 29-Sep-85 06:48:45 EDT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard - Corvallis, OR
Lines: 145
Nf-ID: #N:hpcvlo:41800036:000:9296
Nf-From: hpcvlo!kas    Sep 24 09:57:00 1985


     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!

Dane


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