Nick DG's suggestion; Frank Donnellan stories

[aj4218 0]

NickDG suggested I post some Frank Donnellan (BASE 12) stories after a thread I started in the General section. So here goes, all in one go!

I first met Frank at Devil’s Dyke, a popular hang gliding site in south England in the spring of 1980. He was acting as a UK sales rep for a new reserve for pilots and we got chatting and hit it off immediately.

I’d recently returned from 2 years in Spain flying and had spent some time with some skydivers who’d turned to hang gliding and managed to do some observer and photo loads and really got into the idea of jumping but had no interest in static lining and there wasn’t any AFF so I just had a gut feeling that Frank could help in some way.

We became good friends and he took me to Netheravon DZ very regularly throughout the summer. I basically had a bullshit story that I’d done about 40 jumps while I was in Spain but it was all ‘unofficial’. In retrospect, I don’t think he believed it for a minute, but as I found out a lot later, Frank had managed somehow to get into skydiving with no formal training so I reckon he just saw an opportunity to do for someone else what someone had done for him.

Having spent about 6 months learning how to pack, understanding freefall principles, watching endless videos, reading countless magazines and doing a lot of talking, October came and off we went to Perris.

Frank had been to Perris at least 4 times that year already and was well known and liked. His ex-girlfriend, Sheila Baigent, was there permanently now and living in the ghetto. We put 38 fake jumps in a logbook and I only had a BPA membership number. We managed to scam the manifest and get me a ticket. I borrowed Sheila’s rig and up we went. On the way up I’ll never forget Wayne Stevens who leant over and said ‘Don’t forget, every time you go through the door of an aircraft, your dead – until YOU do something about it’. I think Frank may have let the cat out of the bag!

Anyway, out we went at 14 grand and he immediately let go of my chest strap. It was fine; he pinned me, geeked like an idiot and let go and head dived about 200 feet below and then gestured to me to come on down. I got nearish and he pinned me again and fruit-looped me! Dumped OK and landed in the pit. Fantastic!

Later in the day he comes over with 2 girls, Robin and Lesley, gives me another ticket and says ‘we need to dirt dive’. We dirt dived a 2-way exit, girls to make a 4-way, a wedge, a unipod, Danish-T and a diamond. After we’d dirt dived I pulled Frank and basically said ‘you must be f…..ing joking’. But as usual he just said go for it, relax and use my imagination. We did the 5 points from 14 grand.Amazing.

In 1981 Frank started to show a lot of interest in BASE jumping as El Cap had been opened up for legal jumps. His problem was he didn’t have 200 jumps, so no D-Licence and couldn’t qualify. He jumped his arse off and finally got there and Bob Harman signed him up.

He became El Cap #250 (I still have his postcard and a bit of the cairn) and there was a fantastic exit shot of him published in the BPA Magazine (I’ll post it if anyone asks). He was totally hooked. I can’t remember if it was the same trip, but I don’t think so; anyway he’d made contact with Carl and was mad keen for a BASE number. He met up with Carl and they went and jumped a building in LA. Carl said he was a natural. They also did some experiments with low altitude jumps in mind by jumping off a sixty foot bridge over water, static lined. Hysterical, but they got bottom surface before Frank got wet.

So, 2 down 2 to go. He was back in the UK and by this time there was a group of probably no more than 20 interested jumpers (I guess a lot of this history is already known via the various forums). An expedition was organised to jump a tower – a thousand footer in southern England. There was Frank, Nigel Slee and Mike McCarthy and myself as ground crew. Andy G was supposed to meet us but was late!

I helped get them on the tower and then waited near the car. It was about 1am. Nigel didn’t tell me he’d taken a camera, so when I saw flashes I thought they were getting fried! At the top they gave me the signal and off went Mike, very head down. No other problems. Then Nigel goes (the picture I took of him he uses as his avatar on the forum) and then Frank. Everyone’s safe.

We’re just packing everything in the boot of the car when a policeman turns up by car! He can see bits of canopy sticking out of the boot but we convinced him we were on our way home for a party. He disappears.

About half an hour after they’d started climbing, I saw another figure climbing the tower about 400 feet lower – Andy G had arrived! We couldn’t hang around so we went into town for breakfast. It turned out that workers in a nearby milk factory had seen everything and the police turned up again later when Andy was near the top. He was jumping free-packed round reserve with the canopy in the main tray and the lines in the reserve tray. The wind had picked up and a police woman was loud hailing him to come down – so he did – he jumped. The wind took him some distance away so when he landed he just hid and the police gave up.

The rest of us came back and out jumps Andy with his eyes on stalks. Fantastic.

Not long after this Frank static-lined a bridge and that was it – BASE 12.

He jumped another building successfully in late 1981 with Mike McCarthy, who was dressed as father Christmas, for a newspaper.

By the spring of 1982 I’d suffered the usual problems of British weather and only clocked up 91 jumps in total. Frank thought I’d be ready for a Base jump. So on the eve of my birthday, Ian M., a well known and extremely experienced CRW jumper, packs my rig in a pub beer garden. Off we go to a 228 foot block of flats in SE London. There were initially 4 on the load, with Ian M not jumping. I jumped (see my avatar) at the stroke of midnight with Frank singing ‘Happy Birthday to you…’ behind me. Having seen all this, Ian M decides he wants to do his first Base jump so repacks a rig, goes back to the top and jumps with a cigarette hanging out his mouth. He lands in front of us, still with cigarette and announces ‘I declare this drop zone open!’.

Frank wanted us to go back and do the 1000 footer together and I was up for it. We did standard skydiving pack jobs and got there at about midnight. When we got to the top I didn’t want to hang around so we checked everything and I launched and took a 3 second delay. Off went the pilot chute and it seemed to take a bit longer than usual, but the canopy opened OK. Immediate big problems – loads of twists above and below the slider. Canopy starts a slowish spin. I know I can’t cutaway (24’ round reserve) so I’ve got to do a canopy transfer. I let a bit of speed build up in the spin to help the reserve clear the main and open quicker and pulled. It deployed fine. I was just trying to get my legs up over the main risers to stop the main getting involved with the reserve when I landed! Seconds later Frank lands, walks up and says ‘F..k man, I thought you were dead!’ Both Franks wife and my then girlfriend, slept through the whole thing.

Later in the year tragedy followed as we all know. Frank got married just 3 weeks before that jump and his wife was pregnant with their child. She asked me and Mike to be his God-parents and I’m pleased to say that I managed to contact Rob last year.

The phone call from his wife was devastating. She asked me to go straight to the police station to see the rig. Waiting for me were 2 senior member of the BPA and I’m sure you can imaging the fairly frosty reception I got. When I saw the rig and the pull-up cord still in the loop I was nearly sick.

There was a beautiful ashes dive done at Netheravon one summer evening that was on and apparently from the ground it looked amazing. We had a pit party immediately afterwards and as there was almost no wind, Frank started raining on us a few minutes later! He always had to have the last word!

All in all he was an extraordinary person to know and I have a lot to thank him for. I’m sure there’s a lot of other people out there who’d say the same.

edit for site names by request of original poster ~TA

[unclecharlie95 3]

Awesome post, thanks for sharing Al.

Would be interested in seeing the exit shot of Frank
I heard some of this story about 9 years ago from AG. The stuff of legend.

Mucho BASE
James
#880

BASEstore.it

[JaapSuter 0]

Thanks Al! Great post. I can never get enough of base history.

[NickDG 23]

Thanks, Brother, "we" needed that . . .

NickD BASE 194

[SkyMissy 0]

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...and jumps with a cigarette hanging out his mouth...

Not to derail, great stories; but that one line just made me think of JH. I never BASEd with him, but he was always a friend at the DZ. Anyway, all the video /pics/ and stories about him usually involved a cigarette.

________________________________________________
Mike

[cpoxon 0]

Thanks for posting a bigger version of that pic Nick. Do you know the details of where it was taken? When I saw it in the smaller format on the fatalities list I'd always imagined it was some sort of caving picture?! Funny how one gets a picture in the mind. Now it is larger I can see the three ring on a rig...

Skydiving Fatalities - Cease not to learn 'til thou cease to live

[nigelslee 0]

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Thanks for posting a bigger version of that pic Nick. Do you know the details of where it was taken?

I supplied the pic to Nick for The List. It shows Frank sitting on the platform level we exited from the antenna - minutes before the jump, as described by Alan. I cropped out the other jumper. The expression on his face is pure Frank.

I think the name location of the antenna should be removed from Alan's otherwise excellent post.

I'm long off the scene but I imagine that place is still one of our 'low' scene's cherished high place and it can't be good to have it displayed here.

Nice one Alan.

Another Frank story. Before he bounced he'd get hold of friends log books when they weren't looking and sign off future blank jumps. After he was gone these pages became very special.

Nigel

BASE 28

[BASE813 0]

Nice! I like reading about old skool UK BASE.

I also know Ian M - and that whole fag in the mouth thing really is him! I laughed!

Thanks for that! Anymore you or NS want to post would be recieved with smiles!

Thanks!

[aj4218 0]

Here's Frank's El Cap launch. Beautiful.

Al

PS I've requested site names to be edited from my original post. Apologies for my poor Forum etiquette.

[unclecharlie95 3]

Thanks for that Al!

do you know by chance what gear he was jumping?

BASEstore.it

[aj4218 0]

He had a Comet 228' in a rig made by Chuck Embury but I can't remember the name of it. Throwaway in leg-pouch; round reserve.

Before he jumped he took the top stone from the cairn and replaced it with another. When he got back to the UK he split it in 2 and gave me half. I still have it on the mantlepiece.

His story about the walk up and camping overnight with the other jumpers on the load was always funny to listen to - especially the sleepless night and all of them waking up every 5 minutes at the slightest sound and taking it turns to say 'What the f..k was that?'

[NickDG 23]

>>'What the f..k was that?' <<

That is so BASE . . .

Hey Al, when we go, and they stuff us for Tom Aiello's Twin Fall's BASE museum, I want you right next to me . . .

NickD BASE 194

[kleggo 145]

Quote

He had a Comet 228' in a rig made by Chuck Embury but I can't remember the name of it. Throwaway in leg-pouch; round reserve.


Fisrt let me say thanks for sharing this and bringing back memories.

A Comet was THE shit back ~ '80 / 81, at least until Bill Gargano started making the Spirit and Mike Fury manufactured the Pegasus. All were far better than the dreaded Viking Superlite.....................

AFAIK Chuck did not manufacture production style rigs, or did not make many. His neighbor Jim Handbury (sp?) did make a popular rig at the time.

Chuck was active in Hangliding and Rigging. I believe he made many hidden parachute rigs for "hollywood".

be safe

kleggo

[NickDG 23]

I put some skydives on a Comet with a side pocket and no deployment bag around that time. This was essentially a tail pocket sewn to the outboard center section of the stabilizer.

I can't believe we thought that was a good idea . . .

And that "was" most likely a Handbury Rig Frank used at El Cap. It was the hot Southern Californian rig at that time.

NickD BASE 194

[fergs 0]

I supplied the pic to Nick for The List. It shows Frank sitting on the platform level we exited from the antenna

[unclecharlie95 3]

That may actually be #14 AG ?

BASEstore.it

[BASE813 0]

Not sure that it is TTower, as in the pic the B is sat on the river, and I am pretty sure TTower isnt , but then again I have not been to TTower for a couple of years so I may have a fucked memory of it......


Nice pic though..........

[fergs 0]

Quote

Not sure that it is TTower, as in the pic the B is sat on the river, and I am pretty sure TTower isnt , but then again I have not been to TTower for a couple of years so I may have a fucked memory of it......


Nice pic though..........

Heck, what would I know? Not being a Londoner (or Brit for that matter) my memory cannot be relied upon.

fergs

edit for site location ~TA

[nigelslee 0]

Hi fergs,

Yes that's BASE 14 earning his number in December '81 on TT. View looking East towards centre of London with the canal below.

Nigel

BASE 28

[fergs 0]

Nigel,

nice to hear from you. Where are you? I've finally returned to Oz - life is good.

fergs

[BASE813 0]

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Hi fergs,

Yes that's BASE 14 earning his number in December '81 on TT. View looking East towards centre of London with the canal below.

well looks like its "what the fuck do I know" hehehehehe

I have only been their once to look around and cant for the life of me remember a canal........but as I said - my memory is pretty fucked.............

best I go and have another look, I wonder if the phone number of the shading looking geezer I met at 1am outside who lived on the top floor still works??

[aj4218 0]

Those 'hot' canopies!

A shot I took in June 1980 of Frank with his Comet and rig he used at El Cap. Picture later used on cover of 'Sport Parachutist'.

Yours truly with my Spirit. 11th July 1982. Like the Comet, the Spirit came with a 40" collapsible PC which had come in very handy a few days earlier ...

[Sean621 0]

out of interest why would you get off that side of TT?

dood those old timers were hardcore...at least you had the canal as an out.

http://www.extreme-on-demand.com