Mar 5, 2004, 8:09 AM
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Air City
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Anybody remember (or jump at) the old Air City airport at Sturtevant, WI back in the early '60s? Primary jump ship was a tri-gear mod Howard DGA-15, backed-up by a C-180.
I hung around there as a ramp-rat kid. Jim Stoyas and others tolerated me and helped cement my resolve to jump. (That had to wait until 1969, four or five years after the Air City DZ was dead and gone.)
Bravoniner
slotperfect (D 13014)
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Mar 5, 2004, 6:38 PM
Post #2 of 11
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Offhand I can't remember if they used a DGA in the movie (I've got it on tape somewhere around here, so I should take a look). If they did, I know it wasn't the one based at Air City (THAT I would have remembered!). I think there were two tri-gear DGAs in jump service about that time -- the other one was working the West Coast. I heard that Air City's got rolled up in a ball somewhere a year or two after the DZ closed.
We had a howard at our DZ in Fulton Mo for a while. Don't know about the mod thing, Big ass radial engine and the pilot used to bitch after every T.O. because of the engine torque and rudder peddle required to keep it on a straight line during T.O roll.
Is that the jump aircraft featured in "The Gypsy Moths?"
The Howard in "The Gypsy Moths" was a tail dragger. I just watched that movie again for the first time in about 20 years when I was at the Mardi Gras Boogie.
After thinking some more about this I dug this picture up.
The first time Elsinore flooded we move down to Thompson field in Temecula for about 9 months. This would be in 1980 I think. We had just (that week) started using Hanbury student piggybacks with T10 and 24'. Jim had decided that the static line put too much wear on the container flap and was using some bungeecord to keep the mains closed.
Mike Wheeler was the JM for 3 people from a local radio station and Tom Sanders was along to film.
First student out doesn't go when told to but instead steps off and hangs on the strut. The propblast works the static line out of the bungeecord and the T10 goes over the tail. Aircraft goes noise up and eventually the student cuts away but the main is now jammed into the elevator causing the plane to dive for the groud. Mike trys to throw the next student out but when he starts lifting her the main container opens and the main spills out.
He puts her back on the floor and tells everyone to brace themselves.
I was teaching a FJC that day and was walking my students thru an equipment container showing them equipment while this was happening. When I walked out the chief instructor had this funny look on his face (shock) and I asked him what happened.
He said the Howard just went in.
I ran to the parking lot and commandered an old cadallac convertible and went bouncing across a field and up over a slight rise going "There's no smoke, that's good" but I expected to see a crater when I got there.
What I saw was Tom rapidy taking pictures (even though he was long out of film) and everyone else standing around the plane as seen in the picture.
The pilot (naturally I can't remember his name, good one though) was the only injury, a cut face because the shoulder harness hadn't been tight.
The canopy hung up on the tail was diving the aircraft at the ground and he was able to get the nose up enough the belly it in and strip the landing gear off.
Someone had a tape recorder going the whole time and we timed the whole thing at 35 seconds from canopy over the tail at 3,200' until impact.
It was a good airplane and Larry Perkins still has the parts, so there's still hope.
Ah, those where they days
Remind me to tell the story about 3 cutaways on one student load sometime.
Anybody remember (or jump at) the old Air City airport at Sturtevant, WI back in the early '60s? Primary jump ship was a tri-gear mod Howard DGA-15, backed-up by a C-180.
I hung around there as a ramp-rat kid. Jim Stoyas and others tolerated me and helped cement my resolve to jump. (That had to wait until 1969, four or five years after the Air City DZ was dead and gone.)
Bravoniner
Still looking for info on this old DZ. Anybody got any pix or other stuff from this short-lived operation?
howard3.jpg
Here's the picture. 