Skydiving
Reunion :
7 March 2009
By Jeff
Ayliff D374 and Terryl Cliffe D342
Hi everyone
We’d just
like to say a belated “thank
you” once again to everyone
that took the trouble to join us
at Wonderboom for the SA Skydiving
Reunion. We had approximately 350
visitors during the course of the
day and evening, including many
of the legends of the past. Virtually
everybody was making contact with
friends that they had not seen
since they left skydiving, and
it was truly rewarding to see some
of the emotion that happened on
the day as former teammates and
friends reunited!
R17 000 of bar
sales goes a little way to telling
the story of the evening, and we
have confirmed orders for about
130 T-Shirts, so thanks again to
all for the support.
If I may have just
one small gripe, we had bucket
loads of promises for all those
amazing stories that were going
to be submitted for the history
book, but we are still watching
and waiting! So, an appeal again
folks, please set aside just one
evening, and write us your short
accounts of those great moments
in skydiving that you feel are
worthy of being kept in history,
with photographs where possible!
The “Bird
men” after their demo jump,
with Peter Hazelhurst who did
the first ever bird man jump
in 1956.
A reminder again,
the stories can be sad, happy,
funny, victorious, and can cover
any aspect of your career that
you feel was something that will
make interesting reading.
Please
send all information to only
one address: ralex@iafrica.com
If anyone
is still interested in purchasing
reunion t. shirts, please contact
me at the above email address
for an order form and banking
details.
Blue
Skies
Terryl
D342 and Jeff D374
Group
of the old boys who started jumping
in the Sixties ... possibly also
a few from the Fifties
The Seventies
The Eighties
Some stories to inspire
you to put pen to paper:
Submitted by:
Tania Garcia-Warner
a.k.a. “Spin
Queen”, Citrusdal
B2137
I had my Instructors
totally confused
because no matter
how hard I arched
I just seemed to
spin faster and faster.
Not that it bothered
me much, I was only
on my 10 second delay
freefall and because
it was the only way
I had experienced
freefall it felt
quite normal. The
only problem was
that the Instructors
were freaking out,
and I was disappointed
weekend after weekend
as they would not
allow me to go onto
the next level. They
really did try to
help me but all they
could tell me was
to “arch harder” which
I duly did. I remember
correctly I did about
10 or 15 ten second
delay freefalls !!
Many an Instructor
followed me down,
and once we reached
the ground, they
looked pale and confused
and I was grinning
with exhilaration.
So finally some
sparky decided to
follow me down with
a camera and what
we saw made even
my jaw drop. I haven’t
mentioned yet that
I was a ballerina – having
completed a 3 year
diploma at UCT meaning
I am (or was) very
supple. So, what
was happening was
that each time they
told me to arch harder,
my body bent further
back until as per
the video I was practically
bent in half, backwards …….I
was making myself
into a freefalling
spinning top …..I
was then told to “arch
less” !!
|
|
|
My Skydiving
career began
in the days of
the round canopies,
the C9 (alias
C Nasty) as well
as the old military
T10. The year
was 1983 the
12th March – the
day Pietersburg
Parachute Club
turned six years
old.
It was a few
dives later,
that my landings
became entertaining.
On one particular
weekend I had
to endure our
pilot, Trevor
Wilson asking
me “which
tree do you want
to land in now – I’ll
take you there
!!”…….I
had landed in
trees after two
consecutive jumps
!
My most memorable
being my hangar
landing …..late
afternoon … strong
wind …..C9.
Exited beautifully,
headed toward
the club..…Whoa,
What Club ??
Narrowly missing
the control tower
I prayed that
I would not land
on someone’s
car. I couldn’t
afford to pay
for damages!
The next moment
my vision was
filled with a
hangar hurtling
towards me. Miracle
upon miracle,
I landed neatly
in a sitting
position atop
the roof – the
nails about 2” long
(I know, my sisters
designer jeans
having a neat
tear on the backside).
As
I was thanking
my lucky stars,
the unthinkable
happened. The
wind inflated
the chute, promptly
pulling me off
the hangar where
I landed in a
cloud of dust
face down on
the ground !!
All I remember
is that I was
seriously winded
and couldn’t
reply to the
Pilot (the late
Johan “Dippies” Dippenaar)
asking “Is
jy alright?”
Ten o clock
that night, I
was ‘sipping’ beers
with my fellow
comrades around
the bar – still
hauling dirt
out of my ears.
I would like
to end this with
a fair comment
from our Instructor
Garry Wilkinson
(D295) leading
a group of whuffos
(potential jumpers),
he casually turned
to them and stated “Now
watch this landing …..this
is how you don’t
land !!”
|
|
|
