howardwhite

Looks to me like a Cessna 206 with a fabric roll-up door. The one I used to jump out of wasn't nearly so nice looking.

Here's a picture I just got today from Kim Emmons Knor, taken at the Lew Sanborn Day at "Center of the World" last month. At center is Col. "Pete" Peterka, "the first U.S. military freefaller." See April Parachutist (p.51) for more details. HW

This nice picture by Jerry Irwin shows openings over Ridgely. It was the cover picture on the Nov.-Dec '73 Spotter. HW

I've jumped with P. Smurf And we both have FKB numbers. (Don't ask.) HW

Ditto on Enterprise. Good rates, especially on weekends. Locations everywhere. Only drawback for a traveler is that they don't encourage renting in one place and dropping off in another. HW

Here is another account, from "The Endless Fall," by Mike Swain. ------ One of the most horrifying sights is to watch a low-altitude malfunction, where every detail is visible but the chances of survival are slim. One such accident took place directly over the packing area at Zephyrhills during one of the Thanksgiving meets. Two parachutists, Charlie McGurr and Carl Doughtery, were making their final turns to land in the packing area when they crossed paths, wrapped lines, and plummeted toward earth. They were only about 200 feet up so they had no opportunity to recover and were far too low to cut away. They were in full view of everyone in the packing area, all of whom stood frozen in horror. It was obvious that these guys had no chance whatsoever. The immediate emotional response to the sight was not excitement but a sickness in the pit of the stomach. It was one of those times that you want to look away but you can't. By sheer dumb luck they impacted on the corrugated metal top of the packing shed, leaving distinct impressions of their bodies visible from underneath. Luckily, there was just enough spring and give in the roof to save them. Charlie walked away with just sprains and bruises. Carl was not quite so lucky. He had a broken kneecap, a fractured arm, and a few broken ribs, but nothing life-threatening. They were very, very lucky and the incident put the fear of God into everybody who saw it. Shortly after that, there was a "no pull" down to tree-top level where the jumper finally got out his reserve. For the rest of the meet, everyone was spooked and intently watched the openings of every load. ---- (The butchery of Carl's name is the work of the author -- I just scanned the text.) I seem to remember an incident at one Turkey Meet, not necessarily this one, where a jumper under canopy decided it would be cool to pull up his legs and wrap his feet around his risers at about a grand. Unfortunately, in the process, he managed to cut away. Fortunately, he pulled his reserve, really low. I saw that one pretty clearly. HW

Abe's has decidedly mixed reviews on the ratings sites, and I have some vague distant memories of being unhappy with them. The reviews have mostly the usual calls trying to upsell, but also some warranty and shipping horror stories. I think I'd spend another $50 for the security of buying at B&H. HW

This letter and picture were printed in Spotter Nov.-Dec. 1978. They are posted here on the off chance someone here might be familiar with the subject. ---- Just writing to let you know that the Coolidge DZ now has an operational C-54. We have already jumped out of it starting with the Thanksgiving Boogie here. The airplane—also known as a DC-4--has hauled 230 people to 12,500 in 3 loads. We are inviting any persons interested in organizing record mega-blots to contact us concerning use of our airplane here at Coolidge. We also want everyone to know that the C-54 is being used for fun jumping along with our 3 Twin Beeches, and a Cessna. Contrary to "rumor out of control" we are not closed down and never have been. Hoping to see everyone this winter. (signature withheld) ------ HW

Soitenly... Here is the caption for the group picture: ----- "The Club poses at the Gambrill DZ: Standing, 1. to r. - -Bill Snowden, Fred Rich, Tink Shoemaker, Corky Foster, Butch Kerrick, Dave Logon, Dave Hartley, Bob Holler, Wayne Beall, Chuck Hinchcliffe, Willie Ray, Denis Symes, George Trousdale, Bill Fravel. Kneeling - - Kevin Burke, Henry Sullenberger, Dave Dulin, Johnny Crews, Billy Gifford, John Kaleo, Bob Holt, D. Marlowe, Chick Gates. 1965 was a very good year." ----- HW

See http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2637412;search_string=Pendelton;#2637412 The link to the news story is no longer active.

Interesting article at http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9507E1DD113FF93BA35751C0A9619C8B63 Also much more at the blog he references in the article. HW

But of course.. 10-"man": Slots are for Tots 16-"man": Migratory Bird Refuge 20-"man": Migratory Bird Refuge Other top 10-"man" teams, in order of finish: Exitus, Migratory Bird Refuge, Ten High Bunch, Captain Paranoia This is from Parachutist January, 1976, and includes lists of the names of everyone on all these teams. Historical note: The editor of this issue of Parachutist was me. (It was the first issue published after USPA moved to DC and I was chairman of the Publications Committee.) The author was my then-g/f. Pictures were by some unknown named Jerry Irwin. The (mis)-spelling of Carl Daugherty's name in my earlier post was the error of Paul Proctor, who wrote the item. Paul was editor of Parachutist for a while. HW

The owner at Nouvel Air is a regular customer/coach at SkyVenture New Hampshire; I saw him there a couple of weeks ago. He speaks English. And a local (Massachusetts) kid worked there as a packer last summer; he knows no French (except, he told me last week, "dirty stuff,") but got along fine. He was 17 then and made enough jumps to get his Canadian B. He said they have an Otter as well as Beech 18s.

I did not know him, but I know that his death Sept. 25, 1983, was a big news event in Philadelphia. (See attached.) There is a Wikipedia entry on him with a link to a tribute page. HW

You didn't learn hand tracking? Where did you get your training? Look at the cameraman's hands, folded down at the wrist. Try it some time. (Not this weekend, unfortunately). HW

Sorry, dunno. I scanned it from an old Parachutist or maybe Skydiver when I was at USPA HQ last December, and didn't write down the date. I'm guessing early sixties. HW

Perhaps it would help if you wore some of these. (see picture) HW

Or maybe The Advanced User Search is a Premium Membership feature HW

Yup. Officially opening in January, 1960, with Lew Sanborn in charge. Picture (stolen from Thom Lyons' Project PI site) attached. PI, of course, later ran a DZ at Elsinore for some time. HW

Thanks -- missed the "Bombing Utah" thread.... I learned about this on an IRC channel from a Russian guy (as in from Moscow) and figured it was my patriotic duty to find out what it was. HW

This may be old, but I hadn't seen it. Plug the numbers from the picture into Google earth and look around. It seems to be due north of Bryce Canyon. What is it? HW

"Remember" is not a word I use much these days, unless preceded by "don't." "Look up," however, works well. 10-way - Spaced Rangers 8-way Sequential - APT 16-way Sequential - V D Clinic 20-way - Spaced Rangers My team was "Lemmings." For some reason, we are not on the list of more than 100 teams, possibly because we did not complete all rounds. We went up one time with nine people because the tenth was an amputee and had misplaced his leg. Another note, from Spotter Magazine: "(Thursday) at 11 o'clock things come to a grindng halt when Slots team members Charlie McGurr and Carl Dougherty have a canopy collision 150 feet off the deck and come spiraling down to dent the tin roof of the administration building. "Both were flying squares but were not attempting canopy relative work. They were both lucky that tin roof was there, because there was concrete underneath." I vividly remember the sound. HW

Ask and you shall receive (eventually). These are from an article by Bill Ottley in the October, 1967, issue of Freefall, a short-lived publication from North American Aerodynamics. If you want names to go with the faces in the group picture, I have them. HW

Well, it helps if you know someone. It especially helps if their last name is Pond (as in D-69 or D-6969). (pm me if you're more than idly interested.) HW

Sad addition to the sad news: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/pop/1403AP_Delp_Death.html?source=mypi