Falling Angels DeLand

[Rick 67]

A friend of a friend found an old jump suit at a thrift store and bought it for him. Does anybody know the history behind this or who Powers might be?

You can't be drunk all day if you don't start early!

[lucky508 0]

I don't know who Powers is but that Falling Angles patch is an awesome classic. Really cool.

[Rick 67]

it would be cool to find out who the jump suit belonged to

You can't be drunk all day if you don't start early!

[davidlayne 5]

The name tag suggests a military background.

I don't care how many skydives you've got,
until you stepped into complete darkness at
800' wearing 95 lbs of equipment and 42 lbs
of parachute, son you are still a leg!

[jonstark 8]

You might ask Gary Dupuis.

[3331 127]

The first club at DeLand. The concrete slab for the Club Building is still there. Ask Gary Dupuis. That patch should be in a frame on the wall of the Perfect Spot.

I jumped with those guy's !

I Jumped with the guys who invented Skydiving.

[Rick 67]

thanks Jon

You can't be drunk all day if you don't start early!

[Rick 67]

I got the jump suit from my friend and will take it out to DeLand next time I go that way. Maybe Bob will want to hang it in the Perfect Spot.

You can't be drunk all day if you don't start early!

[3331 127]

+ 1

I Jumped with the guys who invented Skydiving.

[normiss 723]

Beers and burgers!

[Rick 67]

let me know what day I am in

You can't be drunk all day if you don't start early!

[flyhi 24]

Quote

who Powers might be?

There is a Jim Powers who jumps at Deland now. He's been jumping for awhile. May be him. Martin knows him.

And I'll take one of those s for that, Rick. Thank you very much.

Shit happens. And it usually happens because of physics.

[Rick 67]

flyhi

Quote

who Powers might be?

There is a Jim Powers who jumps at Deland now. He's been jumping for awhile. May be him. Martin knows him.

And I'll take one of those s for that, Rick. Thank you very much.

great I will hit up Martin. And let you know when we will be there for beers :)

You can't be drunk all day if you don't start early!

[Niki1 1]

There hasn't been an official Falling Angles club since before Gary moved into the big hanger from the little building close to the Airport Bar. That was about 1973. Some of the members were Terry and Wendy Pickup, Tom and Pat Shapanski (sp), Doug Wheaton, and of course Gary Dupuis. I think Gary started the club in the early 60's with his brother Joe. I'm not sure when they got the little building close to what is now the Airport Bar. Tommy and Chuck didn't open that until '73 or '74. Gary built custom rigs. Some times he would make the entire harness and container and some times he buy the container and just build the harness. The most comfortable rigs I have ever put on and sat in under canopy. Joe Smith stayed around there in the late '60s and early '70s. I got my senior riggers ticket from Joe in '71. I got there on a Monday morning and the first thing Joe did was go to the refrigerator and get a pitcher of beer left over from the night before. He said, "Drink this then we'll get started." It was a different time back then.

Gary moved to the big hanger in the spring of '73, I think. There was an old DC-3 that had been on the ramp for quite some time and Gary , Bob Favraue (sp) and some other people got it running. The first jumps out of it were a couple of 10 ways. The 10 High Bunch came over from Z-Hills and were first out. The next pass 5 DeLand jumpers and 5 Palatka people made the second 10 way over DeLand. Everyone on that jump got a merit badge either an SCR or SCS or both. Except me and Fred Cruess. We already had them. But a lot of beer. That derelict DC-3 didn't last long. Gary, Jay Hilden, Bob Favrare , and some one else I can't remember got Conrad Hiltons' old airplane. They turned it into Mr. Douglas. Slots are for Tots started coming up from Miami to jump it. Bill Booth moved up from Miami to open a small shop in a strip mall on N. US 17. And things started to turn into second Golden Age of Skydiving.

This started out about the Falling Angels. Sorry for stumbling down memory lane.

Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done.
Louis D Brandeis

Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

[Rick 67]

thank you I appreciate the history lesson

You can't be drunk all day if you don't start early!