Feb 12, 2012, 6:20 PM
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Frank Knapp Jr.
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I hate to have to get in here and post any of these at all, and certainly not two in less than a week, but I just received confirmation that Frank Knapp Jr. passed away yesterday at his home in Nashville. I don't have any details yet about the cause, or arrangements, but I will post the info as I get it.
I'm sure that several jumpers out there knew Frank on various levels. He was an accomplished pilot and skydiver and established one of the first skydiving Club's in Nashville in the late 60's and early 70's. I had the honor of doing several fun jumps and demo's with Frank as recent as a little over a year ago. That was also one of the most memorable jumps with Frank was a Demo we did into a race track and with his typical style, he landed dead center, but what made this particular jump so memorable was just after we all landed, the race track we jumped into tried to play the National Anthem, but the sound system went on the blink, so Frank grabbed the mic from the announcer and sang the National Anthem AND NAILED IT! And received a HUGE standing ovation!! Frank was also an accomplished Entertainer, Singer and Song Writer in Nashville. Frank also was an actor and was in several movies. Most recent were movies called "Madison" and another called "Furnace" and was a member of the Screen Actor's Guild. Frank's Mom and Dad were also accomplished pilots and his Dad's Pilot's license was signed by Orville Wright! His Mom went on a Tandem with Harry Rooks in 1995 at the age of 88! The Knapp family was very well known throughout the aviation community in Nashville.
I'm sure that several of our senior jumpers have quite a few stories to share about their times with Frank. Post them if you like!
Blue Skies Frank!!! You will be missed!!!!!
(This post was edited by Jumpdude on Feb 12, 2012, 7:28 PM)
Frank Knapp taught me to skydive at Eagleville in the early 80's. Nothing but good memories of him and many fun weekends. Seems like forever ago now. I was sad to hear of his passing. I reconnected with him last year. I know he was at peace with God and man. There are some good - old - videos from those days on the 'Eagleville Fantasy Airport' facebook page. Blue Skies Frank.
Thanks Frank for your contribution to a sport we all love. I'm sure the days of Eagleville Fantasy Airport Skydiving will always have fond memories. I'm glad we got to hookup over TN Skydiving LLC in Tullahoma, TN and make like a bunch of clowns in the sky. It was always about having a good time and learning. RIP friend.
Frankie recorded one record album that I know of. I proudly still have a copy in my collection. There is one tune he wrote about jumping out of his uncles airplane. Very funny. He is missed.
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