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skypuppy

Most famous skydiver...

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I vote for Bob Sinclair! He is so great. He also taught Julie Newmare (spelling problem) how to skydive. Julie was Cat Woman on the old Batman series for all you young pups.

Bob has hours of video of commercials and other tv shows he did.

Judy
Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

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Anybody? Beuller? Beuller?


I'm working on it. Actually, my GF is. Gimme a few days.

Playboy, Ferris Bueller, AndyMan. All in Chicago.

_Am



So, this is AndyMan's GF making her first post (hi everybody, nice to meetcha). Lucky for him that I work at the Chicago Historical Society, which houses in its collections some 30 yrs of assorted Playboy stuff.

I found the skydiving article: "Part Three: The Sky Dive" in the April 1978 (page 108) issue. It's part three of a five-article series called "Pushed to the Edge," in which writer Craig Vetter "puts his ass on the line for Playboy and faces his fear of fear" and lives to tell about it all.

The other articles are "Part One: The Ice Climb" (2/78), "Part Two: Jump!" (free-style ski jump, 3/78), "Part Four: The Wing Walk" (5/78) and "Part Five: The Cliff Dive" (6/78).

Anywho, upon quickly skimming the skydiving article, I see no mention of Mitch Decoteau. I've made a photocopy of it, but unfortunately I am not allowed to post a copy of the article here. I'd be breaking several copyright laws and probably a few CHS rules.

Could Mitch Decoteau be mentioned in another article from another month/year?

Oh, I also found the Little Annie Fanny cartoon in the May 1980 issue (page 289). Again, can't post it here, but if I end up getting a scan of it...well, I'll see what I can do!

Cheers,
-P
__
"Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

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I didn't know about the '78 articles...

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
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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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



The cartoon is quite good -- it's three pages long. I dunno what Mitch Decoteau looks like, but the guy in the cartoon bears a strong resemblance to Sylvester Stallone, namely his Rocky role. The Macho Mitch character says "Yo!" and "Aaayy!" quite a bit...

Will get a scan sometime this week or next week...promise. Email me.

-P
__
"Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

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Don't Patrick Swazey and Tom Cruise count?



I've heard and read a lot about those two skydiving in the past, but anyone know if they still jump (your comment about a repack seems to imply so for cruise)

There's a lot of famous folks bragging about 'skydiving', always wondering if they still jump or if it was only a one time kick..
JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

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Patric de Gayardon

The greatest skydiver ever.

FS
Freefly
Wing-suits
Skysurfing
BASE jumping

The general public knew him through his ads for Sector watches (like the time he flew into the grand canyon with his wingsuit).
Or the time he BASE jumped the Angel falls with his Stiletto because he'd lent his BASE rig out. Also the first man to BASE jump wearing a wingsuit.

As an all-rounder and innovator, natural flyer and visionary I believe he was the greatest. He was only 38 when he died, imagine what he would've come up with if he was still alive today?

Will

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Some of the ripcord episodes are available from a guy in New Mexico. Big Mike had one Sunday at Spaceland and we watched it on the big screen. I'll get the address and PM you.



I'd love to get some of those as well. I just bought a Ripcord hardcover book on Amazon Auctions. It's a hoot! Having some of the tv episodes would bring back a lot of memories.

Murray
--
Murray

"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

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Ironic - I just got a Ripcord book at an antique store for $5. It's very exciting!!!

I especially liked the chapter where Ted looked up into the sky and saw the Piper Cub flying around at 8000' and knew there was trouble!!! They jumped in their Cessna and caught up by jump altitude and Ted was able to snap onto the girl's harness as she was falling through the sky with her one and only chute streamering behind her!

Or how about when they jumped into the reservoir and blew the dam with dynamite in order to flood the valley and put out the forest fire!?!?

I'd love to get some of the episodes - I never saw one on tv - I was too young, I guess - altho I did see Lloyd Bridges in that Scuba show...
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 can think of a few, and have trouble narrowing it down to one. I have a lot of respect for Jerry Bird. I used to jump with B.J. Worth before he got famous. (I'd like to think he'd still talk to me now.) I also have tremendous respect for Dan Brodsky and what he has done in the sport, but I've never even seen him in real life. And then there is Bill Von, Lisa, Sebazz, Clay, Sanquiro, and several others. I have trouble making decisions. Steve1

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The most famous skydiver I have ever packed for was retired President George Bush Senior, in 1997.

I also packed for Angie Everhart who made the cover of Playboy?

The most famous skydiver I have ever jumped with is Bob Sinclair.
I sure hope we get old episodes of the "Ripcord" TV series back in circulation.

By the way, does anyone know where to rent to the 1960s vintage movie "The Gypsy Moths" starring Burt Lancaster?

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I just picked up the Gypsy Moths DVD a few days ago. You might be able to rent it. Phone around to some of the local video shops.
The DVD includes a little documentary called "The Skydivers" about the jumpers and photographers. A very young Carl Boenish was the only one whose name I can recall without pulling out the DVD and watching it again. I haven't watched the movie yet but they did some pretty neat jumps that were shown in the documentary.
For a rigger like you that has a good knowledge of the history of gear it will be like visiting a museum. They show them packing rounds into sleeves...it's been over 20 years since I did that...and I can't believe how much work they were. I'd totally forgotten.
--
Murray

"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

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The DVD includes a little documentary called "The Skydivers" about the jumpers and photographers. A very young Carl Boenish was the only one whose name I can recall without pulling out the DVD and watching it again. I haven't watched the movie yet but they did some pretty neat jumps that were shown in the documentary.



Awesome DVD, I think it's a must-own. I watched "The Skydivers" from skydivingmovies.com, and then bought the DVD. Very cool, I was more surprised about how similar a lot of the stuff was as opposed to it being different.

--
Hook high, flare on time

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