lodestar

Hey Roger, Thanks for the heads up, I'm thinking best bet would be the last of the week 24-27 th , is that when you're talking about? Looking forward to it....

Just checking in to see if anyone can confirm the Zhills "Old timers reunion" or the 50 year reunion supposedly happening on November 20. If anyone has info on the reality of that happening and/or correct dates please post that info.

Thought you all might enjoy this one... http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/03/us...cial-leap.html :salute

Since the door was opened....anyone up for a Cardinal Puff Surrogate?...... This should be good......

Happy Birthday Pat, glad you're still with us and doing fine....always thought of you as one of those Cultural Icons of the sport, it's been a genuine pleasure to have known you.

Hey thanks Pchapman, it's just simply nice to see an older rig in the air, brings back memories for sure.... Great pictures btw, somebody on the ground was on top of the sequence with a great camera..... How long ago was the reserve packed?

Depends...I was a rigger at Zhills and was responsible for packing student rigs and reserves. It was not uncommon for a few guys to ask for a main pack job on a casual basis. The rigs were just added to the pile and were ready the next morning for them to jump. Now and then someone would get the bug to make as many jumps as possible in a days time and everyone kinda helped pack those rigs, the "pay" was often a couple cold ones that night at the bar. If I had to guess on a date it would have been in '69-'75 years.

It was actually a Cessna 195, when they installed the P&W 450 in it they wanted to designate that installation and so it was dubbed the "196" to differentiate the two. There used to be a 196 just in front of the door on the right side. Thanks for the catch up story on it....it's looking quite beautiful these days not to mention the price tag.

Well John, only two hits.....Who what when and where?

Appears to be the Cessna 196 from Zhills, in that configuration it was past the time I was there. I've got about 1,000 hours in that aircraft, it's a hauler and climbs like no other. Just to hazard a guess I'd think the time frame would have been the early 80's maybe during Hooper's time there running the DZ. When I was flying it, it had a red cowl, red stripe down the side and polished aluminum finish, and I think the tip tanks were still in place. And, if I had to guess what happened, i'd say a groundloop, one wingtip lunched and the prop bent in that way.

Can't say I remember that incident and don't have any recollections of that happening in the time span I was there ('69-76) but it can be fairly common throughout the para world. Anyone wearing bulky gear and leaping out of aircraft may encounter the occasional snag here and there but relatively few (IMO) dragging incidents seem to happen. I can remember jumpers who pulled early and became snagged in the tail section of some aircraft and a few who, in moving around inside the jump planes, opened a reserve and either got pulled through the side of the aircraft or pulled out and tangled with the tail section, often damaging the aircraft extensively. Cutaways saved their beans. Personally I only had one incident of an early pull, jumper standing in the door of a 182 on a hop n pop, and pulling as she fell out the door, the pilot chute came in front of my nose and dangled over the steering column. Fortunately just as I picked it up, line stretch pulled it out of my hand and it did not snag the aircraft. It took about two weeks before I allowed her back in the plane with admonishments to never try that shit again. (Aero Park Airport, Menomenee Falls, Wis. 1965) Wisconsin Skydivers.

So true Jack, I learned to fly at Mitchell Field and lived in South Milwaukee, I can surely verify those Aldermen have the power and might to make shit happen...great story for sure....

I seem to remember that the 3's needed some kind of spar upgrade or modification, you might check on that before you get excited. Just a thought....

Happened on that old film Beach Blanket Bingo, I'd forgotten the skydiving theme to it, it was funny and interesting to see those old rigs being used, Looked like a lot of old 28' TU conversions with striped canopies being used to go with the red and white striped 182 they used for a jump plane. Several inconsistencies in filming, ripcord handles jumping from left side to right side in the same scene, jumpers entering and exiting the aircraft on the left side, at one point you could see the left wing had been removed to facilitate filming... My guess would be Elsinore as a DZ, there was a nice twin Beech in the background on several shots. Dies anyone have memories of that filming and who was in it, the credits were non existent so I've got no idea who may have been involved both in acting and filming. Some interesting sequences using hula hoops and passing oranges or balls back and forth, in all a wonderful look at the early days of the sport. Gotta love the bikers as well..."The Rats"....with a motley gathering or rat bikes including Honda, Harleys and one Triumph as far as I could tell... I'm left with the puzzling question of why I had such a crush on Annette Funichello....it must have been the "helmet hair" or something....maybe when she was a Mousketeer and slightly adorable....oh well....

Just a thought, but what's the consensus from the riggers on the board about how long a reserve can remain packed without a repack or inspection and still be good to go? This would be without any outside interference such as water or other liquids spilled or otherwise penetrating the container or any other outside exposure to any sort of elements. There may be a division between older style rigs and some of the newer modern containers so if you wish, give estimates for both styles.

Don't know if many of you remember a guy named Paul Healy, a jumper at Zhills. Flying a load one afternoon in cloudy/thunderstorm weather we saw a sucker hole and headed up with a load, Paul was behind my seat with two other jumpers on the starboard side....we tried to get the hole lined up with the spot but after several tries, were not successful in getting the load out so I elected to land. About five minutes into the decent, I felt a strange kind of strumming vibration in the aircraft, looked around to see what it might be, tried all the controls, nothing, backed off on the engine, nothing, but it continued until it almost seemed to be affecting the back of my seat. I turned around to see Paul, sweat draining down his face, a pale expression on his face and clutching the seat back with both hands and literally shaking in terror. I asked him if he was okay and he couldn't even reply he was so shook up. Just stuttered something about not liking landing in the aircraft. Once on the ground and in a few minutes he was okay again and I asked him what was going on. He related that he had this insane fear of crashing in the aircraft and absolutely hated to land in one. Paul Healy, the worlds fastest man, as he billed himself, was a key figure in most of the early base formation at the Hills, it wasn't until he met Bob Sprague that he finally found someone who would fall as fast as he did. And the rest is history.

I'd have to take credit for the "education" of Bill Burr, Moriarity as we knew him, He had been at the DZ for some time doing his first static lines and jump/pulls and was hanging around the loft after most had left for the Wolverine. He kind of hesitated and shyly asked if I could get him stoned for the first time....we did, had a smoke and iI finished up packing and we went to the Wolverine, he took off in front of me but had said a few minutes earlier that he didn't feel anything.... About half a mile from the packing shed, Bill in front, pulled up to a stop sign and sat there. After a few minutes I wondered why he didn't move and so got out of my truck to see if he was alright....he was...and totally wasted....when I asked him if he was okay, he just shook his head and said something like Wow man, this is sooo cool.... I had him follow me to the Wolverine and the rest is history. Bill was a good friend over many years and it was sad to see him go, he will always be remembered.

Roger, I lived in Indiana for a time, the quirky part of that law is that if you have a drink at the bar, and want to move to the table to eat, the waitress or the bartender must move your drink for you, you cannot carry it yourself.... Indiana is anal retentive and has the most archaic laws around drinking I've ever experienced....

All I can remember was some farmer showing up with the tail wheel in the back of his pickup truck over at Porter's hangar. Word has it he was out plowing his field on a tractor and saw it plummet down and thump in front of him, he dragged it back to his farm, loaded it up and brought it to Porter. Perhaps Bob or Richard can be more helpful in the true story of what happened. I know Porter called the jump center about it and they, probably Jeff, called the aircraft to see if it was them. It was. Apparently there is a large retainer ring on the tail gear, allowing the inside shaft to pivot for steering and that had given way and caused it to drop out.

It was at the Hills Jack, during the turkey meet I believe......the three climbed to altitude and released the jumpers but had to do a no wheel landing...it did okay until it lost rudder and slowly veered off the runway to the left dong a small and dusty ground loop before stopping. Manifest got all the jumpers to go over to it and actually picked up the tail, others on the fuselage and main gear and pushed the damn thing over to Porter's hangar where another wheel was installed so it could continue carrying loads....was likely in 70 or 71,,,,

Quick and certain ways to scare yourself shitless if you're a jump pilot. 1. Have the pilot chute from an eager hop and popper in the door come across in front of you while flying, drop over the control column and as you look out the door, you notice almost full line stretch and the pilot chute dangling over the column. Better think quick! And, as you grab the bottom of the pilot chute, lift it over the column and it is snached from your hand by full line stretch. FFFFuuuuucccckkkk 2. While flying a DC-3 load, you get a call from the DZ asking you if you have a tail wheel in your aircraft. Sending the right seat guy back to the back end to check, through 30 jumpers who don't know what the hell he's doing, and when he returns, there is no tail wheel....Better think quick. 3. While climbing to 12.5 in a 182 and doing big circles around the DZ suddenly in your upper windshield you see the rivets of a Cessna 310 flash before your eyes some three feet above you at cruise speed and is gone before you have time to react.. No time to think quick. 4. Landing at night in no moon conditions on an unlit grass strip with one set of headlights showing you where to put down and hoping the guy in the vehicle knows where the fuck to put you. Pucker factor 10. 5. Having an observer who was in the back of a 182 move forward to sit beside you on the floor, and as he passes the air door, catches a pocket in the door opening lever, and as the door pops openQuote rips his pocket and wallet off which go out the door as you instantly bank hard left to keep him inside the now gaping opening. Think quick. Any more out there?

KInda looks like a chastity belt !

I looked it up on Wicipedia and am absolutely in love with it....reminded me of the Cessna 196 I flew at Zhills for a time...one helluva climber and a wonderful sound first thing in the morning.... I still want one.....not many left though....

If you consider the length of the flaps and ailerons and the huge tail surfaces both horizontal and vertical stabilizers it's obviously meant for low and slow flight meaning it can get on and off very short strips....anyone know what the powerplant is?

Me want one, looks like one helluva bush plane....