howardwhite

Let me add to Joe's post (on behalf of the Parachute Industry Association): The video will be distributed (free) to all USPA Group Member DZs sometime early in 2008. Though they will not be authorized to edit or modify the content, they will be able to select any of the several subsets and add local content for showing at the DZ or to local groups. They can also provide it to broadcast and cable outlets and even to local movie theaters for advertising purposes. It will also be available worldwide from PIA. In his proposal to PIA, Joe wrote "I'd like this video to motivate the viewer to come skydive." It will help him create that motivation if you can tell him why you skydive and why other people should, too. PIA is an international association of parachute manufacturers, dealers, materials suppliers, dropzones, riggers and others associated with military, government and sport parachuting. Its members voted this month to commission Joe's video project. HW

Yea, I knew it was Texas, But be nice to my old buddy Jerry. It's only his second post here in the six years since he registered HW

Well, in the first picture, leaning against Al Gencarelle, that's me. I don't remember the dates of the Mansfield, MA, DZ for sure, but it was also open much earlier (late '50s and early '60s) as the home of the Cambridge Parachute Club. Lots of the early mostly non-PI jumpers hung out there. Ted Strong would know about those days. The rest of the folks are basically locals from the Boston South Shore area; I don't think any of them still jump. HW

That is approximately my story as well, but I can perhaps be more specific. Albany, NY, area DZ, summer of 1976. As I recall, the DZO and DJ were not not happy with the lack of response to their request for military aircraft -- which they were already advertising -- so went to their Congressman. Instead of being helpful with this constituent request, he complained to the Army about the idea, and that was that. HW

I think we need a Zing filter which blocks his answers for 24 hours after the question is posted. Anyway, it is a Navy plane (original attached) and it is Lakehurst, but it is not Navy personnel. It was published in Parachutist September '71. The cutline: "From Lakehurst 'Super Meet'. Members of the Long Island Skydivers exit the C-37 at Lakehurst NAS, New Jersey. Pete Ibarguen, Bill Busch and Bill Martin. Photo by Mike Efstration using a helmet-mounted Robot-Royal." (The C-37 reference is not a typo, at least not my typo.) Which leads to the observation/question. These are civilians jumping out of a military aircraft. I made a fair number of jumps from Army Hueys both at the West Point Cadet DZ at Wallkill and at Pepperell, MA. When and why did the military stop civilian jumping from their aircraft? (I have my own "answer" but would welcome others.) HW

And who's jumping it, where and when? HW

sprtdth and Mountainsky1, how 'bout meeting in the middle; it's a PTCH-7. The picture is from an Omnipol ad in the November, 1968, Parachutist, headed "The latest competition parachute for exacting sportsmen and experts has furnished a convincing evidence of its superiority." The ad notes that this Czech canopy was used by three first-place winners in the '68 World meet in Austria. For more, see http://www.parachutehistory.com/round/ptch.html I'm happy to see that I've provoked Mountainsky1 to make only his fourth post on dz.com. By utter coincidence, the cover of this issue of the magazine shows USAFA cadet team members exiting a C-123K over Colorado. (And the back page is a Pioneer ad with my picture in it.) HW

You would be thinking of the UT-15. You would be wrong. HW

Nope HW

Hint. It's not a PC HW

I remember most of those guys too -- though I was long since a civilian. There was a jumper who was also a WO Huey pilot, and he would occasionally bring it to Pepperell for free Huey jumps there

I have already made a .mov file from Nick's DVD, edited out some "interesting" but irrelevant footage at the beginning, and done a little cleanup of some of the video. The whole thing now runs ~22 minutes (it was a TV show), and I have put it back on a DVD. I'm going to mess with it a bit more, maybe include some "subtitles" to identify the participants, and figure out how to share. It's a lot of fun, particularly for those who ever jumped at a PI center and especially at Orange in the 60s and 70s. I also just got yesterday a VHS copy of "A Sport is Born," the Oscar-nominated short subject from 1960. It features what is probably the first freefall footage ever shown to a general audience -- shot by Lew Sanborn. Again, it's all shot at Orange SPC. I'd rather have a copy of the original film if I could find one, but this will have to do for now. The color is awful and it was shot in Cinemascope, so on a TV screen it shows up horizontally compressed. I think I can fix this but need to spend some time on it. Anyone who took (or taught) an FJC at any PI center almost certainly has seen this movie. HW

The DVD arrived today. As so often happens, my memory of my importance in the show is not fully supported by the facts. The instructor and guitar player is Condon McDonough, who was one of first instructors at the Lakewood, NJ, center but was back in Orange when I started there. I saw him most recently at the July 14 thing in Orange. The 10-way team was not a local one, but consisted of blow-ins from New York and New Jersey (you can tell by their accents.) They normally jumped then at the New York DZ which is now The Ranch. They came to Orange because it had that "big" airplane, a porthole door Beech 18. The jumps into the small target in a small field were at the famous Inn at Orange, the restaurant/bar/dormitory that served as the after jump scene. But I am in the show. Two pictures attached. You'll just have to take my word for it. (The airplane is a Noorduyn Norseman.) Thanks for the memories. If other people want to see this, PM me. I might make DVDs or just edit it a bit and put it on a server as a .mov file HW

From that ever-reliable source, Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Sutton_(skydiver) As the page was last modified only a week or so ago, I think it is safe to assume he still lives. HW

I sent a copy to Daryl. He says Jacques Istel was driving a blue TR-3 at the time but probably planted the seed for the pictture. HW

Steve Sutton. You should know. See http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2604649;search_string=Steve%20Sutton;#2604649 HW

Here's the Sled picture from the Chute Shop ad in the April, '73, Parachutist. It clearly shows the split tail and straight profile. In the same ad, the Chute Shop also promoted the UT-15, "...the canopy with which the Russians recently won the recent XI World Championships." HW

Neat picture. "What is this...." fans should identify the reserve on the guy in the center of the picture. (Pretty easy, I guess, but a piece of gear perhaps with importance beyond this one instance.) HW

Ass-prins because the dropzone is on a farm where they also raise miniature donkeys. The owner of the Winnepesauke DZ (the most recent one) is now owner of the Skyventure NH tunnel. Lebanon (Skydive New England) is going strong. The only other current Maine DZ is in Pittsfield; nothing way up north any more. But leaf peeping isn't bad in Massachusetts. HW

With appropriate respect for the effort he put into this stuff, do not take anything on any of these pages as guaranteed 100 percent accurate. When it comes to stuff on them about which I have personal knowledge, I can point out lots of errors -- from simple misspellings of names to reporting as dead people who are very much alive. I tried for a time to get him to correct stuff, but he was not responsive. HW

Actually, it was "lifted" from a McElfish Parachute Service ad in the December, 1973, Parachutist, credited to J. Gruben. There is a similar (but not exactly the same) picture in a Chute Shop ad in the April '73 issue. At a quick glance I don't see it in the 1977 Poynter manual. I haven't looked in the original (1972) Poynter manual. (But thanks for your attention.) HW

I jumped one a few times and mostly remember "firm" openings. If you jumped one, what do you remember? Why did it fail as a product? HW

At Vermont Skydiving Adventures, if the wind is from the west, you can dump high over the New York side of Lake Champlain and land in Vermont. At Pepperell, MA, it's easy to open over MA, fly over NH, and land back in MA. (For those collecting state jumps, a "bad spot" lands you in NH, where there is currently no DZ). HW

Got it retrieving a PM. But succeeded on second try. HW

I dunno when or in what publication(s) this ran, but advertising people even back then seemed to think skydiving might help sell stuff. I'm guessing it's between 1959 and 1961 because the Bowl (built in 1962) was presumably not there. HW