howardwhite 4 #1 December 16, 2007 Pretty neat place for a demo. Where, when and who? (Anyone here?) HW Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JSBIRD 1 #2 December 16, 2007 I'll take a WAG. 1968 Berlin airshow. BASE359"Now I've settled down, in a quiet little town, and forgot about everything" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jonstark 8 #3 December 16, 2007 Didja get dug out yet Howard? I wish all this back and shoulder exercise was worth a damn for skydiving conditioning. Can't hazard a guess on the pic. jon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
howardwhite 4 #4 December 16, 2007 I'm east of you, Jon. Doesn't snow here.(Actually, I drove to the Stop and Shop this morning to get the Sunday papers and a few staples. Having a 4-wd vehicle helped. Bet your airplane is buried.) HW Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim_Hooper 3 #5 December 16, 2007 QuotePretty neat place for a demo. Where, when and who? (Anyone here?) HW Don't recognize the jumper, but I'll take a stab at the where and when: Expo '72. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
howardwhite 4 #6 December 17, 2007 Are you by chance referring to "Transpo '72" at Dulles? If so, very bad stab. HW Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pchapman 261 #7 December 17, 2007 I dunno. But the clues are interesting! European style buildings with high peaked tile roofs in the background, with driving on the right. Germany sounds like a good guess given the US military hardware also in sight. Someone should recognize that distinctive old terminal (or are they hangars?) Big terminal for the day but also tight up against the city, yet there's space on the ground for a special event without airline traffic getting in the way. One airplane is a Starlifter or similar. The other looks DC-10 like, more that than a Tristar but I'm not sure. I can't even quite tell if there's a 3rd engine, but large twins simply didn't exist way back when, so I'm guessing it is a DC-10, which first flew in '70. From the attention it is getting from the crowd, it seems it's the first time anyone has seen the damn thing... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zoobrothertom 5 #8 December 17, 2007 The large twin is definitely a DC-10 or L-1011. My guess is Germany somewhere in the early 70s. Off the nose of the twin is an odd WWI German looking symbol painted on the concrete. BTW the way, awesome photo of the jumper looking down!____________________________________ I'm back in the USA!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
howardwhite 4 #9 December 17, 2007 Here's a contemporary newspaper picture of the same event. (The event, by the way, has some minor historical skydiving significance.) HW Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JerryBaumchen 1,048 #10 December 17, 2007 Hi Jay, I'm with you, it looks like Tempelhof. JerryBaumchen PS) One June evening in '63 I was standing 10 feet from Konrad Adenhauer & Willie Brandt at Tempelhof. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bsquared 0 #11 December 17, 2007 1972 olympics, Munich? Just a guess Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davidlayne 5 #12 December 17, 2007 It's Cal Callahan of the 7th Army Parachute Team, Tempelhof Airport Berlin. September 16th and 17th 1972 at the 25th anniversary of the U.S. Air Force. This was the first parachute jumps made over Berlin since the end of WW2. I was right behind him on the demo. I remember that we were only allowed to go to 3000' everything above that was Soviet controlled airspace. A strange thing about this demo was the close proximity of the wall to the landing zone which made direction of jump run and spotting the P.C.'s difficult to say the least. At this demo, on landing we were greeted not by enthusiastic whuffos but by leftist radicals demonstrating the Vietnam War. They yelled at us and caused a disturbance and threw propaganda leaflets at us that I have attached. We also got to meet Peggy March who was an American/German pop star of the day. Also attached is picture of Mike Wasley on the same demo.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! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davidlayne 5 #13 December 17, 2007 Excellent wag Jay. You always were a good wagger!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! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zoobrothertom 5 #14 December 17, 2007 QuoteIt's Cal Callahan of the 7th Army Parachute Team, Tempelhof Airport Berlin. September 16th and 17th 1972 at the 25th anniversary of the U.S. Air Force. This was the first parachute jumps made over Berlin since the end of WW2. I was right behind him on the demo. I remember that we were only allowed to go to 3000' everything above that was Soviet controlled airspace. A strange thing about this demo was the close proximity of the wall to the landing zone which made direction of jump run and spotting the P.C.'s difficult to say the least. ---------------------------------------------------------- I jumped into the 1936 Olympic stadium in Berlin in 86 or 87 (don't have my logbook handy) for a marathon hosted by the French Army. The French team was 'too busy' to jump with us. So, us Yanks jumped with the Brits. No protestors but we did get snubbed by the commanding general who didn't want the engraved Baton the Brits landed with. So the Brit SGM said to hell with him and gave it to us (US Army). Berlin sure looks small from the air! BTW, was that big jet a DC-10 or L1011?____________________________________ I'm back in the USA!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites howardwhite 4 #15 December 17, 2007 Brilliant! Spot on! The only thing to add is that neither of the airplanes on the ground (I don't know what they are) is a C5A.There had been one at the previous year's Open House but the threats of demonstrations by "Communists," as the Stars and Stripes headline described them, seemed to have scared off the Air Force's plans to have one there. (A few months earlier, two home-made bombs were found in a C-54 on static display at Tempelhof -- they were disarmed.) Tempelhof is as it appears in the picture -- a mid-city airport totally surrounded by dense urban population. But it gained world-wide fame in the early cold war years as the focal point for the Berlin airlift, when Allied aircraft kept the population of West Berlin alive by flying in supplies while the Soviet Union barred land acccess to the city. I spent a month in one of those "towers" in the terminal building on TDY shortly after the Berlin Wall was put up. Tempelhof is still in limited use for domestic commuter flights, but probably not for much longer. Attached is a little chunk of the Stars and Stripes story (along one one from the 1973 event.) HW (The original picture was published in Parachutist in 1973 and the canopy landing picture of the "Challengers" 7th Army team was published in Stars and Stripes, as were the news snippets attached here.) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Beerlight 0 #16 December 17, 2007 The plane at bottom of photo is a U.S. Air Force C-141. The other is an L-1011 (i think). Awesome shots.....! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites piper17 1 #17 December 17, 2007 Interesting stuff. I assume (which I hate to do) that the Van Bibber who had to air out his reserve is "Rip" Van Bibber who spent a number of years on the Army Parachute Team - Golden Knights RW Team in the late '70s."A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites pchapman 261 #18 December 17, 2007 Quote Tempelhof is still in limited use for domestic commuter flights, but probably not for much longer. Yes it is supposed to be shut down late in '08. The Schoenefeld airport outside the city will become the one main airport serving the city. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites davidlayne 5 #19 December 17, 2007 QuoteInteresting stuff. I assume (which I hate to do) that the Van Bibber who had to air out his reserve is "Rip" Van Bibber who spent a number of years on the Army Parachute Team - Golden Knights RW Team in the late '70s. The same, the one and only!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! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites davidlayne 5 #20 December 17, 2007 Couple more pictures. The first taken above Templehof shows the landing area (marked by the X). Note the poignant remark in the top right hand corner. The second shows the main airport terminal. The terminal buildings were designed, at Hitler's request, to look like the German Eagle. You can see his architects achieved the required results.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! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites davidlayne 5 #21 December 17, 2007 That weekend I made 6 jumps, all on a Delta II. The canopies the rest of the team used were P.C.'s, Para Planes and possibly a Voplane. The jump platform was a Huey. Attached are newspaper articles from "The Stars & Stripes" and "The Berlin Observer"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! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Join the conversation You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible. Reply to this topic... × Pasted as rich text. Paste as plain text instead Only 75 emoji are allowed. × Your link has been automatically embedded. Display as a link instead × Your previous content has been restored. 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howardwhite 4 #15 December 17, 2007 Brilliant! Spot on! The only thing to add is that neither of the airplanes on the ground (I don't know what they are) is a C5A.There had been one at the previous year's Open House but the threats of demonstrations by "Communists," as the Stars and Stripes headline described them, seemed to have scared off the Air Force's plans to have one there. (A few months earlier, two home-made bombs were found in a C-54 on static display at Tempelhof -- they were disarmed.) Tempelhof is as it appears in the picture -- a mid-city airport totally surrounded by dense urban population. But it gained world-wide fame in the early cold war years as the focal point for the Berlin airlift, when Allied aircraft kept the population of West Berlin alive by flying in supplies while the Soviet Union barred land acccess to the city. I spent a month in one of those "towers" in the terminal building on TDY shortly after the Berlin Wall was put up. Tempelhof is still in limited use for domestic commuter flights, but probably not for much longer. Attached is a little chunk of the Stars and Stripes story (along one one from the 1973 event.) HW (The original picture was published in Parachutist in 1973 and the canopy landing picture of the "Challengers" 7th Army team was published in Stars and Stripes, as were the news snippets attached here.) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Beerlight 0 #16 December 17, 2007 The plane at bottom of photo is a U.S. Air Force C-141. The other is an L-1011 (i think). Awesome shots.....! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
piper17 1 #17 December 17, 2007 Interesting stuff. I assume (which I hate to do) that the Van Bibber who had to air out his reserve is "Rip" Van Bibber who spent a number of years on the Army Parachute Team - Golden Knights RW Team in the late '70s."A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pchapman 261 #18 December 17, 2007 Quote Tempelhof is still in limited use for domestic commuter flights, but probably not for much longer. Yes it is supposed to be shut down late in '08. The Schoenefeld airport outside the city will become the one main airport serving the city. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davidlayne 5 #19 December 17, 2007 QuoteInteresting stuff. I assume (which I hate to do) that the Van Bibber who had to air out his reserve is "Rip" Van Bibber who spent a number of years on the Army Parachute Team - Golden Knights RW Team in the late '70s. The same, the one and only!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! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davidlayne 5 #20 December 17, 2007 Couple more pictures. The first taken above Templehof shows the landing area (marked by the X). Note the poignant remark in the top right hand corner. The second shows the main airport terminal. The terminal buildings were designed, at Hitler's request, to look like the German Eagle. You can see his architects achieved the required results.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! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davidlayne 5 #21 December 17, 2007 That weekend I made 6 jumps, all on a Delta II. The canopies the rest of the team used were P.C.'s, Para Planes and possibly a Voplane. The jump platform was a Huey. Attached are newspaper articles from "The Stars & Stripes" and "The Berlin Observer"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! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
