lufkincy

Stevie had a pair of master parachute wings made for Gus that had three diamonds rather than stars for his combat jumps. I'm not sure which ones he made.

I didn't think Gus was with George when he took Ed's body and dumped it into Galveston Bay. I do know Ed's wife approved of it. Cy Stapleton D404

It certainly was not Ticer. I stayed as far away from that thug as possible. Cy Stapleton [email protected] www.hotlinecy.com

I jumped with several of them and I'm still waking up on top of the dirt. In the early 1960s I was as old or older than many of them, so I suspect some of them still are. Cy Stapleton [email protected] www.hotlinecy.com

Very interesting thread. I started in the late 1950s but never experienced what you fellows experienced in the early years. Had we attempted to jump that gear the ASO would have grounded us. Almost all of you have far more jumps than I, but even those who started much earlier than I have higher "D" numbers. I delayed applying for my D for six to nine months and mine should have been several hundred lower than it is. In the early 1960s we had a few that had a lot of jumps - Gus Anagnostis, Clyde Jacks, Carlos Wallace, etc. but most of us only had a few hundred at most. We were more than just impressed when those like Dick Fortenberry and Stan Janeka visited our DZ. Cy Stapleton [email protected] www.hotlinecy.com

Does anyone remember the Miss Skydiver beauty pageant and meet in Houston. The general manager of the Sheraton Lincoln hotel was named Don Cork. I'm not sure how Don got interested in skydiving, but he did and he entertained jumpers royally. Don asked that I put together a meet and a Miss Skydiver beauty pageant. We had an amazing number of Houston beauties enter the beauty contest, but not a one was a jumper. The gal who won was the previous year's Miss Houston. Don't recall her name. Don provided the trophies for both the beauty contest and the meet, and were they ever trophies. They were huge in size and in number. Don preferred men to women and his live-in at that time was Bill Nicholson, a jumper who a short time later creamed in after a cutaway and failure to deploy reserve. Bill gave Don ideas for every type of trophy imaginable - even things like best rigger, longest distance to target, and one for me that was engraved "World's best meet director." I've still got that one in the attic with a few others that other jumpers lost. I didn't do anything but put the meet together and then jump. I may have picked the judges but don't remember that. The meet was well attended with participants from many other clubs. After the meet all were invited back to the Sheraton Lincoln for a gourmet dinner and free drinks for the evening. A lot of folks showed up for that event. I don't recall anything special about the event other than it was fun - not much different from a normal weekend at Waller, Midway, or where ever it was held. One good thing to come out of it was that the beauty pageant winner got a free trip to Neuva Laredo on one of my singles party bus trips and she asked if I would be her date. Nicholson, by the way, was not gay. He told us the reason he took Don up on his offer was because of free room and board, all the drinks he could handle, more cash than he made an installer at Chuck Warwick's (another jumper) Houston Auto Glass, and the opportunity to meet and socialize with all of the entertainers and other dignitaries who came to Houston. I think Don replaced Bill before Bill creamed in. Don was killed a year or so later in a motel room somewhere outside of Houston. As far as I know that murder was never solved. Those of you who knew Don know that if he considered you a friend, you were treated like a king, whether you were one of his concubines or not. He was on the corporate board of directors and had an ownership in the company. He had bottomless pockets and loved to spend it on friends. There were many other meets back then but this is the only one which I can recall most of the details Cy Stapleton [email protected] www.hotlinecy.com

Pat...Thanks for the heads up. Either my memory is fading or I never knew the facts. I thought the bar owner killed Carlos. I probably could guess the name of the accomplice, but can't come up with his name. Tall jumper from the Dallas area? If that's the person, he was the worst scumbag I've ever met. I'm a civil man and a Christian, but I made an offer to our club that if he ever creamed in the steaks were on me. He always carried a .45 cal automatic and never hesitated to pull it on anyone for almost anything. Cy Stapleton [email protected] www.hotlinecy.com

Great story, but I feel it must be urban legend. I spent a lot of time with both Carlos and Skippy and this one never came up. Cy Stapleton [email protected] www.hotlinecy.com

My first few years I jumped club rigs at the military bases where I was stationed. In the late 1950s I moved to Houston and started jumping with the Houston and Galveston clubs, using their equipment. Gus Anagnostis loaned me a rig which I used for awhile until I decided it was time to buy my own. Gus suggested I talk to Carlos Wallace and I did. Carlos suggested we meet at Houston’s The Levie, a banjo bar, and we did. We started talking price and Carlos said he would trade me a rig for the Timex Mickey Mouse watch I was wearing. I told him that would not be a fair trade because it only cost about $12.00. He said he knew that, but it was worth a lot more now. I figured if he thought it was a good deal then I knew it was a good deal for me so I made the trade. I got a C-9 seven-panel TU tri-color with Carlos’ FBI modification that he had died a dark purple, a Navy 26’ conical reserve with instrument panel including stopwatch and altimeter. I then returned to J.C. Penny and bought another $12.95 Mickey Mouse Timex watch. I used that rig for a couple of years until I bought a new ParaCommander and wrist instruments. I loaned the old C-9 to Anagnostis’ club until a visiting jumper borrowed it, had a Mae West, improperly deployed the reserve, reserved wrapped around the main, and became Galveston Skydiver’s first fatality. Cy Stapleton [email protected] www.hotlinecy.com

The stupidest jump I ever made was in Bandera, Texas. Ed Fitch and I had been invited to a dude ranch to make demonstration jumps. We flew up in Ed's plane but they furnished their plane and pilot for us. Saturday went fine and we each made a half dozen or so jumps. Sunday I decided to do something different. I had it planned before we left but didn't tell Ed. He didn't ask why I had brought so many reserves. I was jumping a Security piggyback and had modified a harness adding extra D-rings. That was before the 3-rings so I had capewells. Sunday morning I got dressed up in my Security and 4 26' conical reserves with one snap hooked to each of 4 D-rings. I had a 5th with the lines chainlinke and everything stuffed into a box. Don't recall for sure but think it might have been a Bell helmet box. Ed said I looked like a wierd robot. I had the pilot go to about 15,000 and I exited, immediately tossing out the box and as soon as it opened I cut away. I then deployed the 2nd, cut away from it and did the same for #3, 4, and 5. Containers were flapping everywhere and I pulled my Security main for the final deployment and safely landed, with my piggyback reserve not used. A few years ago a friend told me that I landed on reserve #5 rather than the Security main, but I'm almost certain I deployed the Security. Cy Stapleton [email protected] www.hotlinecy.com

[/:}The way I heard it, Dr. Ed was weighted down with some cylinders from an airplane engine he was rebuilding. [/:} That's certainlly possible. But Ed's wife told me George used lead. cy Cy Stapleton [email protected] www.hotlinecy.com

We did not have SCR in my days. It was a challange to achieve a 3-man star or a baton pass between 3 jumpers. As far as licenses, some of us were in no hurry to apply. In my case it was around a year after I got my C. I would have not applied then had George Gividen not harrassed me so much for not getting it. When I finally did I got #604?? (I think!). I qualified shortly after Carlos Wallace got his, so my number would have been quite a bit lower had I had the interest in applying. I preferred using my money to pay for jumps. Most of Carlos' jumps were free. cy cy Cy Stapleton [email protected] www.hotlinecy.com