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skypuppy

Most famous skydiver...

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Mitch Decoteau wasn't mentioned by name, but he was supposed to be the model for 'Macho Mitch' in the Li'l Annie Fannie cartoon you mentioned, which was, I believe, several pages long... I remember he did have a faint physical resemblance... Pity about the copyright issue... It was a great cartoon...

Skypuppy



Cartoonist Harvey Kurtzman, one of the founders of Mad Magazine, rang me to say he wanted to do a Little Annie Fanny story around skydiving, and could he get a flavor of the sport at Z'hills? Well, sure, I said. Thus, though there's little physical resemblence, the character 'Macho Mitch' is indeed based on Mitch Decoteau, one of my senior RW instructors then, while I'm the bespectacled 'Hoofer' in the first two frames of the second page. The framed and autographed galleys of the piece sent to me by Kurtzman went up in smoke after I sold the 'Hills in 1984. (I'd sent someone around to pick up all the mementoes hanging on the walls of my office, but Mr Kabeller told him they were his now and to get off his drop zone. Nice.)
Jim Hooper

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...I'm the bespectacled 'Hoofer' in the first two frames of the second page.



Nice likeness, Jim. That would certainly put you in the running for "most famous"...
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Dude, you are so awesome...
Can I be on your ash jump ?

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I hate to admit it, but you were also the inspiration for the Great Jumpmaster in this story I wrote way back when....

http://www.parachutehistory.com/humor/dzsky.html

Some recreational chemicals may have gone into the creation of this epic tale of climbing up from the bowels of corruption to final redemption.
If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead.
Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

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Anybody remember the "Push to the Edge" series in Playboy?

A bunch of articles written by Craig Vetter who tried and wrote about various 'sports', it was a 5 or 6 piece monthly thing....the best were the skydiving one, and the cliff diving one in which he chickened out thus ending the series.

I still HAVE all my old playboys from back then, 'course some of the pages are kinda stuck together...:$











~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

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Interesting idea? Why doesn't someone do a book with pictures and dates of all of the famous skydivers who have done these amazing jumps. I don't mean Cooper or moviestars, but real skydivers - a portrait/picture book with short storys about each diver. I would buy the book and I bet lots of people would.
Copyright 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 2013, 2014, 2015 by Jo Weber

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Nice likeness, Jim. That would certainly put you in the running for "most famous"...



Well, Kevin, that raises the question of most famous "what"? There might be a range of opinions.

For another article in a high profile publication, I direct your attention to the attachment. After Don Sider, a Time magazine staff writer, passed through Z'hills, I wrote to him to suggest an article on the upcoming Turkey Meet, evoking a D-Day-like image of eight or more DC-3s/C-47s/Lodestars wreathed in blue-gray smoke as they fired up in the morning, followed by a sky filled with canopies until the sun slipped below the horizon. This was enough for Don to corner Time's editor and convince him it had the potential of a punchy piece. The reference to the aprés-jump lighting up of exotic herbs didn't go down particularly well with the city council but, all in all, it was a positive take on the sport by a talented correspondent and enthusiastic skydiver.
Hoop

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because of water damage, right? Flooding in the basement, that sort of thing?



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Errr...Ahhh...Yeah~

WATER DAMAGE......THAT'S the Ticket!
:$:):ph34r:

Ummm...yea...that toilet water messes 'em all up:S




Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne

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Damn, I didn't see my name anywhere.[:/]

I quit jumping from about 76 to around 2000 so I missed out on some famous skydivers. I always thought of Jerry Bird as the king though.

I've got a ton of respect for Bob Sinclair.

And then there is Skratch Garrison.

B.J. Worth was a friend I jumped with in the early 70's. He wasn't famous then. He since went on to do all kinds of famous stuff. So, he'd probably get my vote now....

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I can't believe I didn't think to mention Skratch Garrison! When I graduated AFF and working on my A license, he was an incredible mentor to me while I was a jumper at Mile Hi Skydiving in Longmont, CO.

I remember when he and I both had our first jump on brand new canopies. We manifested to be on the same load and did a "clear and pull" together. That was also the jump when he taught me how to spot.B|






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Not to take anything away from her, but in her day I don't think she was that well-known or special. Some of her contemporaries, now, might qualify.

Leslie Irving, for one, who created an industry out of parachuting that has lasted till now.

Or Rodman Law, who jumped from the Statue of Liberty, New york's Banker's Trust building, and the George Washington Bridge, all in 1912, with one of Leo Steven's chutes. Also tried to ride a rocket up high enuf to parachute down, but it blew up on the ground. Also was the second person to jump from airplane (ever) and the 1st from a hydroplane.
If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead.
Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

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I would give you Gary Connelly, based on his Olympic performance with James Bond and his wingsuit landing on a bed of boxes, but Pastrana is not famous for parachuting, he's famous for Nitro Circus or whatever his show is. I've heard of Eric Ronner, but not sure where. I don't know that Jeb Corliss is famous to those outside of skydiving/base jumping community, although I guess he was in the remake of Point Break.

I might tend to think more along the lines of Shane McConkey,but even he I'm not sure of.

Maybe Felix Baumgartner based on his red bull altitude record.
If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead.
Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

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Wow you guys are old. I'm no spring chick but I have no idea who almost all of those people are.

Most famous - probably Jeb Corliss (as much as that pains me to say)

(excluding D.B cooper for not being a "skydiver" but making one famous jump and celebrities who've made jumps but that isn't what they are known for)

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Anachronist

Wow you guys are old. I'm no spring chick but I have no idea who almost all of those people are.

Most famous - probably Jeb Corliss (as much as that pains me to say)

(excluding D.B cooper for not being a "skydiver" but making one famous jump and celebrities who've made jumps but that isn't what they are known for)



how do you know db wasn't a skydiver and didn't make a lot more jumps?
If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead.
Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

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Gary Connery (spelling) was the queen and 1st guy to land a wingsuit.

Using social media as your meter, as it usually is nowadays:

FB:
Felix Baumgartner 1,515,258
Jeb Corliss 368,455
Luke Aikins 1,551

Jeb is very well known in China so I think if the Chinese were allowed on FB the numbers would be different..

Watch that 3rd place guy too, he will be on the move shortly.
BASEstore.it

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