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Jim Perry's Helio Stallion. Photos?

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Im looking for some pictures of Jim Perry's Helio Stallion that he had back in the late 80's that crashed in Perris? I believe the Tail number on the aircraft was N9991F.

Thanks in advance
Ed Hauck
D-12662

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Sped

Im looking for some pictures of Jim Perry's Helio Stallion that he had back in the late 80's that crashed in Perris? I believe the Tail number on the aircraft was N9991F.

Thanks in advance
Ed Hauck
D-12662



http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/N9991F.html

http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/000139954.html

http://www.utdallas.edu/library/specialcollections/hac/cataam/Leeker/aircraft/kau24.pdf

Service history: Davis-Monthan AFB to TL MAP on 9 November 72 (72314), that is to the Khmer Air Force; the tail gear broke during a landing at Battambang in June 73; ferried to Pochentong and repaired (Air America’s Phnom Penh Station monthly report for June 73, in: UTD/CIA/B39F1); parts served to make “72-1329” operational in July 73 (Air America’s Phnom Penh Station monthly report for July 73, in: UTD/CIA/B39F1); repairs of “72-1320” were finished on 2 July 73 (Air America’s Phnom Penh Station monthly report for July 73, in: UTD/CIA/B39F1); in September 73, the Tacan was inoperative, but repaired (Air America’s Phnom Penh Station monthly report for September 73, in: UTD/CIA/B39F1); received bullet damage at the center wing bottom skin in November 73; repaired (Air America’s Phnom Penh Station monthly report for November 73, in: UTD/CIA/B39F1); 2 ribs in each wing were re-enforced at Pochentong in December 73 (Air America’s Phnom Penh Station monthly report for December 73, in: UTD/CIA/B39F1).
Fate: escaped to Thailand in 1975; salvaged at Bangkok; under contract maintenance with Thai-Am at Don Muang, Bangkok, on 24 April 75 (e-mail dated 22 May 2011, kindly sent to the author by Sid Nanson, where it is is given as “72-1330”); transported back to the United States in July 76 (Smith, Helio Stallion: Warhorse); sold to Michael J. Schachle, Anchorage, AK, as N9991F in 1976; sold to James D. Perry, Kent, WA, on ?; leased to Perris Valley Skydiving Inc., Perris, CA, on ?; crashed into the ground during skydiving operation at Perris, CA, on 30 June 88, killing the pilot; the registration was cancelled on 26 August 1988.

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Hi Ed,

At one time I had the FAA report on the crash. It included a lot of photos of the aircraft ( or of the tail feathers because that was about all that was left of it ). I sent that report down to a friend in Australia and never saw it again.

A couple of years ago, I got on the FAA website but could not find much info at all.

Jim Lowe, D-855, was one of my very best friends; he was the pilot at the time.

She went in almost vertical, one wing hit a camper trailer and did some damage to the trailer; but the fuselage was pretty much only about 2-3 ft long.

I wish that I had kept a copy of the report; but that is now water under the bridge.

JerryBaumchen

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Didn't Jim Perry also have another Stallion that was at Skydance in Davis in the early 90's, as well as at the WFFC in 1993? I made several jumps out of it at both locations.

IIRC, he also had a Helio Courier that he put a 420hp Allison turboprop on. He had that airplane at Davis at the same time. On a very breezy day he was playing around with it a bit. A takeoff was performed across the width of the runway, with a climbout that could best be described at near vertical. The takeoff roll was directly into the wind, for all of about 15', then up very steeply. At about 250' or so, an attempted pitchover produced about a half rotation spin entry, which was recovered without much loss of altitude. A very impressive display of raw power and STOL capability, along with some quick reflexes by the pilot.

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Somebody should ask Mike Mullins about the Helio Stallion he flew before he got the King Air. It was before my time though.
"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

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funjumper101

Didn't Jim Perry also have another Stallion that was at Skydance in Davis in the early 90's, as well as at the WFFC in 1993? I made several jumps out of it at both locations.

IIRC, he also had a Helio Courier that he put a 420hp Allison turboprop on. He had that airplane at Davis at the same time. On a very breezy day he was playing around with it a bit. A takeoff was performed across the width of the runway, with a climbout that could best be described at near vertical. The takeoff roll was directly into the wind, for all of about 15', then up very steeply. At about 250' or so, an attempted pitchover produced about a half rotation spin entry, which was recovered without much loss of altitude. A very impressive display of raw power and STOL capability, along with some quick reflexes by the pilot.



He has had several Helio Couriers that I know of.. they were fitting a turbine to one. His brother has one too.
Interesting jump ship... slow it down to almost stall... feels like it is just hovering.

Jim did some fun stuff with the Porter that is now over in Thailand as a jump ship. HUGE friggin doors on each side and he put a porch on each side of the aircraft. With the -27.. the thing was a 10 minute ride to 15K with 8 peeps on board.. and then he would dive it and just hang off to the side of our formation keeping up with us.
Windy day I have seen him just literally hover it a couple feet off the ground.

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BillyVance

Somebody should ask Mike Mullins about the Helio Stallion he flew before he got the King Air. It was before my time though.



I jumped it at his TN DZ. He was holding one of his $99 all-you-can jump boogies, the same week I was traveling between school in IN and my co-op job in TX, so I made a stopover in TN. His mechanic even pointed out the patches over a few bullet holes.B|
"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

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BillyVance

Somebody should ask Mike Mullins about the Helio Stallion he flew before he got the King Air. It was before my time though.


I was working at the Nationals in Muskogee in the late 80's when Jims plane crashed. Mullins tail-wheel went south and they had to tail-wheel from Jims plane shipped to Muskogee.

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I remember Jim Lowe and the Helio Stallion from Perris, I did more than a few jumps from that plane, it was a really good jump platform. This was in the days before seat belts and I remember standing up and looking over Jim's shoulder on one of his steep take-offs...very exciting.
I jumped this plane just 3 days before it went in. I saw the crash site and was quite moved thinking about the pilot and plane. It was the first time I'd seen a crash site and was amazed at how little of the aircraft was recognizable.

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Hi Tommy,

One story that I was told was that when people came running up to the plane looking for Jim, they could not find him. Then someone stumbled on something and there he was, just outside of the plane. He was so covered with dust/dirt that they could not see him laying there.

At least he went fast,

JerryBaumchen

PS) Jim Lowe ( D-855 ), Denny Nelson ( D-793 ) and I were all born within 8 months of each other. Jim & Denny were both killed in airplane crashes; Denny in 1972 & Jim in 1988. I survived this one in 1967. It is merely the luck of the draw.

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Start here..
http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=125270

http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief.aspx?ev_id=16764

2-1074 67/9/17 ORCHARDS,WASH CESSNA 180 CR- 0 1 0 NONCOMMERCIAL PRIVATE, AGE 30, 509 TIME - 1845 N1793C PX- 0 1 1 PLEASURE/PERSONAL TRANSP TOTAL HOURS, 250 IN TYPE, DAMAGE-DESTROYED OT- 0 0 0 NOT INSTRUMENT RATED. NAME OF AIRPORT - SCHOLLS TYPE OF ACCIDENT PHASE OF OPERATION COLLIDED WITH: TREES LANDING: FINAL APPROACH PROBABLE CAUSE(S) PILOT IN COMMAND - FAILED TO SEE AND AVOID OBJECTS OR OBSTRUCTIONS FACTOR(S) MISCELLANEOUS ACTS,CONDITIONS - SUNGLARE MISCELLANEOUS ACTS,CONDITIONS - POORLY PLANNED APPROACH

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Hi 717,

Quote

Please fill us in.



Somebody cue the theme song to 'Gilligan's Island.'

On the afternoon of Friday, 15 Sep 1967, three of us took off from Vancouver, WA enroute to a competition in Boise, ID in a Cessna 180 jumpship.

After flying for many hours and not knowing just where in the H*** we were at, the pilot says, "Gentlemen, we have 10 minutes of fuel left." We were in middle of nowhere central Oregon. Not wanting to crash out in the middle of a wheatfield where we might not be found for quite some time, I told the pilot to follow that road down below us, thinking that we could always deadstick onto the road. Eventually, we came across an airport down below us and it said 'Alturas' on the runway. We landed and found out that we were in California and nowhere near Idaho.

I realized that the pilot had no idea on how to do a cross-country, so I told the FBO guy that he had 10 minutes to teach me how to get to Boise. I grabbed the flight maps and told the pilot where to keep her pointed. Before we left Alturas, I put my rig on and told him if he ever got below 6,000 ft I was going out the door and take my chances.

We were flying to the east towards Boise and the sun was heading west, so we were running out of daylight. When we crossed over Hells Canyon it was as dark as the Ace of Spades out. I got us to Caldwell, ID and from there it was just a hop-skip-n-jump over to Boise. Another C-180 had left Vancouver about 1/2 hour ahead of us and had been in Boise for hours wondering where we were at. We told them & they would not believe that anyone could be that far off-course until we showed them the credit cards receipts for the gas that we had bought in Alturas.

On the return flight from Boise, we were again running out of fuel & were lost somewhere over central Oregon ( why, oh why did I ever get back in a plane with that pilot once again :S ). Eventually, we found Condon, OR but the airport was closed. Again, I grabbed the flight maps and realized that The Dalles, OR was directly north of us. I knew that there was an airport just over the Columbia River in Dallesport, WA so again I told the pilot where to go. As we began getting close to The Dalles, both fuel gages were not longer even bouncing, just dead on empty. We gassed up in Dallesport, taking on two gallons more than the 180 is supposed to take. We took off and headed towards Vancouver, WA, once again in the dark of night.

On final approach to the airport that we had taken off from, I thought that the pilot was a little to the left of the runway. But, since I was not a pilot I trusted him to get us onto the runway as this was his home airport. Just at about 50 ft in the air, the pilot reached down & turned on the landing lights. I was sitting next to the pilot and saw nothing but trees in front of us. The pilot reacted and cranked her over to a hard right. Out to the side of my right eye, I saw the right wing cut the top off of a fir tree. The next thing that I saw was the ground coming up fast; we were going down at between straight down and maybe 30 degrees. I absolutely knew that I was going to die. What I have always found interesting was that I had no fear whatsoever; I knew that I was dead.

When we crashed, the guy sitting on the gear in the back of the plane came shooting forward & knocked me out. I came to and heard water running; I looked out to the right & saw about a 1" stream of gasoline coming out of the right wing.

We all three went to the hospital that night. I was the only one who went home the next day, my 27th birthday; a present I would prefer to not get again. If my hair was cut real short you could see a nice 3" scar on the back of my head, and another small scar on my leg where some control device on the instrument panel punched a hole in me.

To this day, nearly 47 years later I can still see the blades of grass on the runway coming up at me. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life, but please not again.

So, does that fill you in?

JerryBaumchen

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TommyM

I remember Jim Lowe and the Helio Stallion from Perris, I did more than a few jumps from that plane, it was a really good jump platform. This was in the days before seat belts and I remember standing up and looking over Jim's shoulder on one of his steep take-offs...very exciting.
I jumped this plane just 3 days before it went in. I saw the crash site and was quite moved thinking about the pilot and plane. It was the first time I'd seen a crash site and was amazed at how little of the aircraft was recognizable.



I think I remember when Jim lowe died.

Wasnt it a problem with the elevator trim?
One Jump Wonder

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Hi Robert,

Quote

Wasnt it a problem with the elevator trim?




The story that I was told was that the Stallion had an electric control system for the elevator.

Jim had taken it in the week prior to the crash because the elevator control was going tits-up without warning. The mechanics at Perris checked it out and could not find any problems with it.

An eye-witness ( flying an ultralight ) saw the Stallion nose over at about 1500 ft. He then saw it come up on level. Then he saw the door(s) come off of the plane ( apparently it had some device that the pilot could pull that would eject the doors ). It nosed over again and Jim did not recover it.

It is thought that he was probably struggling to get out of the seatbelt harness when she impacted. He always wore a PEP when flying jumpers; it was one that he had built himself.

This is the story that Elevator told me, except about the PEP as I knew about that rig.

JerryBaumchen

PS) This accident occurred on 30 Jun 88; Jim was 48 yrs old.

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Hi jerry

The door in the plane the jim was flying had two hinges that had pins on the inside of the plane for fast removal of the door and egress.

I never met jim but sure read about him. In parachutist mag, maybe a accuracy champ or something.

1988 sounds like a long time but it doesn't seem that long ago if I can still remember the pins on the hinges.

Time March's on.
One Jump Wonder

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Hi Robert,

Quote

maybe a accuracy champ or something.



Jim was the '69 US national champion. He also was on the US Team in '71. He was on the US Team in '72, went to the world meet & got screwed out of the World Overall title by a biased French judge. If you want to know more about that fiasco, talk to Johnny Higgins of North American Aviation.

He did not make the US Team in '72 but was the Canadian Team coach that year.

He again made the US Team in '74 and, once again, got screwed out of a gold medal. He tied with 4 others for 2nd place in accuracy. At that meet he jumped a Para-Foil that he had built himself. It was the first time that a square canopy was jumped at a world meet.

JerryBaumchen

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Hi 717,

Quote

I bet you were more aware of the pilots skills when boarding an airplane after that.



Interestingly, he was a very good pilot for local flights in the daylight. And I actually had him fly me on many jumps after that incident.

He once was going up to Abbotsford, BC from Vancouver, WA and ended up in Astoria, OR.

Look those three sites up on your map & you can see how far off he was.

JerryBaumchen

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JerryBaumchen

Hi 717,

Quote

I bet you were more aware of the pilots skills when boarding an airplane after that.



Interestingly, he was a very good pilot for local flights in the daylight. And I actually had him fly me on many jumps after that incident.

He once was going up to Abbotsford, BC from Vancouver, WA and ended up in Astoria, OR.

Look those three sites up on your map & you can see how far off he was.

JerryBaumchen



FFS.. all he had to do was fly IFI5 and not IFCR

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JerryBaumchen

Hi Robert,

Quote

Wasnt it a problem with the elevator trim?




The story that I was told was that the Stallion had an electric control system for the elevator.

Jim had taken it in the week prior to the crash because the elevator control was going tits-up without warning. The mechanics at Perris checked it out and could not find any problems with it.

An eye-witness ( flying an ultralight ) saw the Stallion nose over at about 1500 ft. He then saw it come up on level. Then he saw the door(s) come off of the plane ( apparently it had some device that the pilot could pull that would eject the doors ). It nosed over again and Jim did not recover it.

It is thought that he was probably struggling to get out of the seatbelt harness when she impacted. He always wore a PEP when flying jumpers; it was one that he had built himself.

This is the story that Elevator told me, except about the PEP as I knew about that rig.

JerryBaumchen

PS) This accident occurred on 30 Jun 88; Jim was 48 yrs old.

This is exact story I heard from I believe Steve Mac, the former DZM of Perris, there were quite a few toasts to Jim in the original Bombshelter that week. Unfortunately when you spend enough time at the dropzone you end up knowing more than a few dead people.

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