piisfish 135
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slug 1
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I jumped the DC4 in the early '80s at Coolidge. It took over 100 I think. One guy did rope and ring magic tricks in the back on the way to altitude, and a blow up doll was tossed around before being the first to exit. It took forever for the pilots to get it ready before takeoff.
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It seems like that Coolidge DC-4 held 120 jumpers. I made many many jumps from it in the early 80s
They used it to haul frozen fish during the season in Alaska then we go it during the off time.
Nice airplane
bozo
Hi Jimbo
http://www.boeing.com/history/mdc/dc-4.htm
Interesting history
Clicky?
R.I.P.
skr 1
I was on that load. From memory:
It was organized by the Pacific Coast Skydivers.
I don't remember the cost but it was like $50-$100.
We took off from somewhere in LA, like Long Beach,
although I don't think it was actually Long Beach.
It was owned by Blatz(?) Airlines.
The seats were in place.
The stewardesses were on board.
The idea, besides jumping an exotic airplane, was
to have the inconceivably large number of 100 jumpers
in freefall at the same time.
Most people were afraid to have that many people
in the air so we had 64 or 65.
We flew to Taft. I vaguely remember someone, Bill
Pyle?, spotting. We were at 15,000 ft.
The fear of too many people was not necessary,
just getting out of the seat, shuffling down the aisle
guarding your reserve handle and diving out spread
us out over several miles.
The stewardesses were back by the door watching
us dive out.
I never saw anybody the whole freefall, but that was
because I had to pee so bad I was about to go in my
jumpsuit and hope it dried out on the way down, so
I spent the whole jump in a head down dive and
pulled pretty low so I could get down and pee.
I don't remember why we were up there so long,
but we made several passes over the dropzone
with go arounds before we jumped.
I remember Dirty Ed telling me that the guy in front
of him passed out as he got to the door and fell
down and Dirty Ed, in the exit frenzy state of mind,
just picked him up and threw him out and dove out
after him.
Then he thought "Shit, what did I just do?" and started
chasing after him.
The guy is laying there on his back, passed out,
in a slow turn.
Part way down he comes to, shakes his head, does
the fastest half barrel roll in the history of the world,
and Dirty Ed just kind of fades off into blue.
We made a second jump, taking off from Taft.
This time we were more organized and several groups
tried to do some RW.
I was with some friends from Oceanside.
"Organized" meant that we sat close togther so that
when we struggled up out of our seats and shuffled
down the aisle we would be following each other out.
The other main thing I remember is this is where I met
Bob Sinclair.
I worked for Bob and Dave Burt for several years
after that and consider them my main teachers,
along with Bud Kiesow and Richard Economy.
So, that was 40 years ago, but that's how I remember it.
Skr
It was organized by the Pacific Coast Skydivers.
I don't remember the cost but it was like $50-$100.
We took off from somewhere in LA, like Long Beach,
although I don't think it was actually Long Beach.
It was owned by Blatz(?) Airlines.
The seats were in place.
The stewardesses were on board.
The idea, besides jumping an exotic airplane, was
to have the inconceivably large number of 100 jumpers
in freefall at the same time.
Most people were afraid to have that many people
in the air so we had 64 or 65.
We flew to Taft. I vaguely remember someone, Bill
Pyle?, spotting. We were at 15,000 ft.
The fear of too many people was not necessary,
just getting out of the seat, shuffling down the aisle
guarding your reserve handle and diving out spread
us out over several miles.
The stewardesses were back by the door watching
us dive out.
I never saw anybody the whole freefall, but that was
because I had to pee so bad I was about to go in my
jumpsuit and hope it dried out on the way down, so
I spent the whole jump in a head down dive and
pulled pretty low so I could get down and pee.
I don't remember why we were up there so long,
but we made several passes over the dropzone
with go arounds before we jumped.
I remember Dirty Ed telling me that the guy in front
of him passed out as he got to the door and fell
down and Dirty Ed, in the exit frenzy state of mind,
just picked him up and threw him out and dove out
after him.
Then he thought "Shit, what did I just do?" and started
chasing after him.
The guy is laying there on his back, passed out,
in a slow turn.
Part way down he comes to, shakes his head, does
the fastest half barrel roll in the history of the world,
and Dirty Ed just kind of fades off into blue.
We made a second jump, taking off from Taft.
This time we were more organized and several groups
tried to do some RW.
I was with some friends from Oceanside.
"Organized" meant that we sat close togther so that
when we struggled up out of our seats and shuffled
down the aisle we would be following each other out.
The other main thing I remember is this is where I met
Bob Sinclair.
I worked for Bob and Dave Burt for several years
after that and consider them my main teachers,
along with Bud Kiesow and Richard Economy.
So, that was 40 years ago, but that's how I remember it.
Skr
Hi 377,
After discovering this site I'm still going through the history in these pages. Sometimes I can't resist making comments as I go.
Did you know that to fly a Connie the pilot had to be younger than 45 years old. This is because nobody older than that would be able to handle three pieces of tail at once.
GARYC24 3
A load went up on Sunday on it's way home. I was on it. Got video & photo from Leigh W. I live in Camarillo, on the way there that weekend it landed the same time I got there.
377 20
Three times I've traveled for a Connie jump and struck out three times. Damn. Probably will never be more Connie jumps.
Lufthansa has spent more than 30 million restoring the Ultimate Connie,
a model 1649. Even milled new wing planks. http://www.lufthansa-technik.com/super-star
377
Lufthansa has spent more than 30 million restoring the Ultimate Connie,
a model 1649. Even milled new wing planks. http://www.lufthansa-technik.com/super-star
377
2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.
johnjds 0
66 jumpers. I was one of them. john desantis.
the FAA refused that we jumped our swiss Connie last year
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