Smokejumper Magazine, July 2001 National Smokejumper Association
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Eastern Washington University EWU Digital Commons Smokejumper and Static Line Magazines University Archives & Special Collections 7-1-2001 Smokejumper Magazine, July 2001 National Smokejumper Association Chuck Sheley Chuck Mansfield Jeff R. Davis Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.ewu.edu/smokejumper_mag Recommended Citation National Smokejumper Association; Sheley, Chuck; Mansfield, Chuck; and Davis, Jeff R., "Smokejumper Magazine, July 2001" (2001). Smokejumper and Static Line Magazines. 32. https://dc.ewu.edu/smokejumper_mag/32 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the University Archives & Special Collections at EWU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Smokejumper and Static Line Magazines by an authorized administrator of EWU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The National Smokejumper Quarterly Magazine SmokejumperAssociation July 2001 Inside This Issue: Kickin’ Cargo with a Bum Pilot ................................................................... 3 The Log of a Rookie Smokejumper .............................................................. 9 Smokejumper Training Thwarts Hijacking of Pan-Am Clipper ................. 30 Check the NSA Web site 1 www.smokejumpers.com CONTENTS Observations Observations from the Ad Shack ........................... 2 Kickin’ Cargo with a Bum Pilot ............................. 3 Source to Sea ....................................................... 5 Downside ............................................................. 6 From the Ad Shack Letters .................................................................. 7 NSA Seeks Info on Jumpers Killed in the Line of Duty ...................................... 7 you may have noticed. The NSA Sounding Off from the Editor ................................ 8 The Log of a Rookie Smokejumper ....................... 9 Board and Executive Committee Can You Help Me and the NSA? ........................... 10 now include members from nearly A Reunion of Old Friends ................................... 11 every base. We now have sufficient Smokejumper Magazine Thanks Melody Martinsen ..................................... 11 funding for Smokejumper magazine Memoirs of a Lookout ........................................ 12 and it has increased from about 20 Who We Are, and Where We Come From ............ 13 Historical Notes on the Beginnings pages to 48 pages in length. Fred of the Alaska Smokejumpers .................... 14 Rohrbach and Steve Smith, the two Down in the Salmon ........................................... 14 Book Review ...................................................... 15 primary movers on our Smoke- A Steve Nemore Update ....................................... 16 jumper Video Project, have been Uncovering a Hero’s Story .................................. 18 able to sell video clips to other film Procedures for Handling Donated Historical Smokejumper Items ................................. 18 producers. The sales of these clips, The Race at Wilderness Lake .............................. 19 which many of you saw on Discov- Checking the Canopy .......................................... 20 First Jump .......................................................... 20 ery and other channels, provided Member Profile Philip B. Stanley ........................ 22 additional income. The Board and Member Profile Mike Kreidler ............................ 23 Executive Committee have met at Touching All Bases ............................................. 24 by Larry Lufkin Featured Life Member Gregg Phifer .................... 27 nearly every base and hosted jumper You Can Find a Jumper Anywhere! ...................... 28 (Cave Junction ’63) socials that have been met with Smokejumper Milestones ................................... 28 PRESIDENT Items from the Fire Pack .................................... 29 enthusiasm. Smokejumper Training Thwarts Hijacking We are now at a point where THE NATIONAL SMOKEJUMPER of Pan-Am Clipper 73 ............................... 30 we need to begin thinking about Member Profile Doug Sutherland ....................... 33 Association needs to start long range our future. We have a graying Odds & Ends ...................................................... 34 planning today to prepare for Jerry Williams to D.C. ......................................... 38 membership and need to establish a The Legend of Toolbox Springs “Anything for a decisions that will be made five or Jump” ...................................................... 39 ten years from now. Your Association plan for recruiting younger jumpers Future Home of the NSA Exhibit? ........................ 41 has grown rapidly in the past year as members and officers of the Off the List .......................................................... 42 NSA. Our total assets have in- Dickenson Named Base Manager and a half, we have solved the most creased from about $75,000 two at North Cascades ..................................... 43 immediate issues, and we need to Jump List—January 2001 ................................... 45 years ago to about $125,000 and we NSA Member Offers You a Chance to See start looking to the future. need to start planning on how the Reunion 2000—All of It! .......................... 47 About two years ago, member- NSA Guestbook ................................................... 47 income from these assets can be Blast from the Past ............................................. 48 ship stood at 1,100 and we were having trouble maintaining even that used to provide improved services to number of members. Also, all our members. To address this issue, I am positions on the Executive Commit- asking for volunteers who will serve SMOKEJUMPER, ISSUE NO. 32, JULY 2001 tee became vacant, new officers had on a long range planning commit- Smokejumper is published by: to be found and installed, and we THE NATIONAL SMOKEJUMPER ASSOCIATION barely had enough annual revenue to tee, and one volunteer in particular ISSN 1532-6160 who will serve as the chair of that The opinions of the writers are their own and maintain minimum operations. do not necessarily reflect those of the NSA. As of April 2001, our member- committee. If you would like to NSA e-mail: [email protected] help out the NSA on this or other ship is nearly 1,900 members. These NSA Web site: http://www.smokejumpers.com projects, give me a call or send an e- new members mean that today we Managing Editor: Chuck Sheley mail. Copy Editors: Melody Martenson and Wendy have an additional $16,000 per year Nichols we can use to provide more and Editing: Chris Sorenson, Cameron Lawrence, better services to members. Last year, Deadline for articles, Melody Martinsen, Ted Burgon, Jim news and features for the Budenholzer, Darren Marshall we had about 44 life members. As of October issue of Profiles and Features: Jim Budenholzer, Carl April, we had 61 life members and Smokejumper is July 15 Gidlund and Pic Littell Illustrators: Nick Holmes, Chris Demarest, Dan another four are in the process of Send all magazine communications to: Veenendaal and Eric Rajala becoming life members. Chuck Chuck Sheley Layout/Printing: Larry S. Jackson, Heidelberg Sheley reports that he is grossing 10 Judy Ln. Graphics, Chico, CA about $4,000 per quarter from Chico, CA 95926 Cover photo: Herb Hidu coming into the Squaw (530) 893-0436 Creek Fire on the Okanogan National Forest in merchandise sales. [email protected] 1956. (Courtesy of Bill Eastman) Here are other recent changes Check the NSA Web site 2 www.smokejumpers.com Kickin’ Cargo with a Bum Pilot by Jeffery R. Davis (Missoula ’57) t was the summer of 1961, the biggest fire season I ever the noise around the open door prevented communication I enjoyed as a smokejumper. I flew a lot of cargo missions anyway. In those years, our airdrop safety procedures were in addition to the many runs I made dropping jumpers and far looser than they are now. Pilots didn’t wear parachutes, jumping myself. This day I had a C-46 loaded with cargo of course, and kickers didn’t wear tether-straps on cargo for a large fire in Idaho’s Salmon River country near the drops. For some reason I wasn’t even wearing my emergency Forest Service’s Shearer Airstrip. parachute and neither were the other kickers. A C-46 crash As a new squad leader, it was my first season dropping would take a lot of explanation, even if I lived through it. men and supplies. The chief pilot of the C-46 was green, Further, I’d just begun my drop and the equipment we too. He’d just been hired by Johnson Flying Service as the carried was needed on the fire below. intense season depleted the number of regular mountain All these thoughts were running swiftly through my pilots on Johnson’s staff. He was basically untrained in the mind as I grabbed the big emergency knife mounted aft of smokejumper/air cargo operation. So, an inexperienced crew the door for situations like this. I reached out the door as far sallied forth. as I could to cut the offending static line, trying to leave the We arrived over our fire some 40 minutes after takeoff, other lines undamaged. Without them, I couldn’t complete and I quickly realized I had a poor pilot. His drop patterns the drop. I carefully determined what I thought was the were too high, and worse, he was flying too fast. “The faster culprit line and sawed it in half. Nothing happened; I’d cut the safer” is the code of the inexperienced airdrop pilot, but the wrong one. And I wasn’t far enough