SkydiveJack

The bottom line here is that Yeager publically showed his contempt for someone who has just made a major mark in aviation history. I’m not trying to diminish anything about Yeager’s great accomplishment of being the first man to go faster than sound or even his service in WWII. He is certainly an American Hero. But clearly he is trying to diminish everything about what Felix just did. Read what he said people! Twardo, I too have met him on a few occasions. The first time was in the mid 1990’s when I was working for USPA. We were both speaking at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, during the NAA 10 Most Memorable Flights Awards Ceremonies. After the ceremonies, when we were introduced, he commented that I was one of those “stupid people that jump out of airplanes on purpose”. There I was, meeting an aviation legend, as an official representative of USPA and he called me stupid. I call that arrogance. I have since met and observed him at Oshkosh. I have seen him ignore kids asking for autographs and walk away. I have seen the owner of a P-51 change the paint job of his airplane due to Yeager wanting royalties because the aircraft was painted like his WWII Mustang “Glamorous Glennis”. Other Warbird pilots that I know and respect tell me that Yeager’s head is too big for the cockpit. If he’s arrogant and self promoting that’s one thing. When he dismisses other great aviation accomplishments that’s BS. Joe Kittenger even fell into the trap 10 years ago when he claimed that he went supersonic and had to retract it. At least Joe had the guts to step up, admit it and work with Felix to help him to become the first skydiver to go Mach 1+. I have no problem giving respect to those of the past who did incredible things. But I do have a problem with those same people who won’t respect the achievements of the present.

The following story from the Las Vegas Review Journal is a perfect example why many people within the aviation community are quietly disgusted with Yeager. It is always about him. About half way down in this article he really shows his ass. I know where I’d like to stick a pitot tube in him! Read on and you’ll understand. http://www.lvrj.com/news/yeager-set-to-to-re-enact-historic-flight-174069461.html Yeager re-enacts historic flight to break sound barrier Living up to his "right stuff" reputation as the wise-cracking test pilot and daring World War II hero, the legendary Chuck Yeager returned Sunday to Nellis Air Force Base after re-enacting in a blue-gray F-15D Eagle jet what he did 65 years ago in a mustard-colored X-1 rocket plane: break the sound barrier soaring high over California's Mojave Desert. Upon landing, with his escort pilot Capt. David Vincent taxiing the Eagle under plumes of water shot from two firetrucks, the 89-year-old Yeager climbed down a ladder from the cockpit. He did so to the applause of Nellis airmen, their families, his wife, Victoria, and film crews who documented the 65th anniversary of his most cherished feat as the first human to fly faster than sound. What was going through his mind when Vincent, 30, throttled the aircraft into a blurry descent from 45,000 feet to 30,000 feet and leveled off with a speed of Mach 1.4, or more than 670 mph, sending a sonic boom across Edwards Flight Test Range? "Nothing," Yeager deadpanned. "Flying is flying. You just can't add a lot to it." He said he just gazed out the jet's clear canopy, looking down on the many dry lake beds that he landed on as a test pilot. Like the other times he achieved supersonic flight, the F-15D on Sunday sent a shock wave through the azure sky over the same patch of desert Yeager flew over for decades, at the same time he did it 65 years ago, 10:24 a.m. Meanwhile, as Yeager was returning to Nellis, Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner, wearing a pressurized suit, emerged from the capsule of a towering, helium-filled balloon and leaped from a metal platform 128,000 feet over New Mexico near Roswell. In his descent he reached 833.9 mph or Mach 1.24. Yeager was not impressed. "Joe Kittinger did that years ago. He's not doing anything new," he said. Yeager was referring to U.S. Air Force Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, who, on Aug. 16, 1960, stepped from the gondola of a helium balloon at 102,800 feet and sped to 714 mph, breaking the sound barrier in a four-minute free fall through the stratosphere before his parachute opened. The speed of sound is about 750 mph at sea level and roughly 660 mph at 30,000 feet altitude. About an hour after his anniversary flight, Yeager spoke to U.S. Air Force pilots, airmen and their families gathered in a Nellis auditorium. At the end of his presentation, while fielding questions from the audience, Yeager used the occasion to mock Baumgartner's supersonic achievement. "Hey, what are you proving?" he asked, questioning the accuracy of Baumgartner's reported speed. "I don't know where you stick a pitot tube in him," he said, referring to an instrument that protrudes from the nose of an aircraft to measure its velocity. Yeager said he loved flying the Bell X-1 rocket plane that vaulted him into aviation history on Oct. 14, 1947, but it's no comparison to the twin-engine F-15 Eagle, a warplane that is more reliable and economical, he said, than the U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor, a stealthy air-superiority jet, and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter touted as the workhorse warplane of the future. "If I was going to fight a war, I'd take an F-15 over anything we've got," he said. He said he chose to fly from Nellis instead of Edwards Air Force Base because the test center at Edwards didn't have a two-seat, F-15 available and he didn't want to fly an F-16 Fighting Falcon. And this ace, who shot down five German Messerschmitt-109 fighter planes in a single day in October 1944, knows airplanes, having flown 180 different ones during his storied career. He said by far the slowest one he's flown was a Wright Flyer, like the one Orville and Wilbur Wright flew in their groundbreaking first powered flights at Kitty Hawk, N.C., in 1903. "It didn't go faster than sound. It just sounded faster than it was flying," Yeager recalled. His fame soared in 1979, when Chuck Yeager, who was born Charles Elwood Yeager, became a household name with author Tom Wolfe's book, "The Right Stuff." The book, which was later made into a movie, recounted the story of the day the bullet-shaped Bell X-1 rocket plane made history when Yeager guided it beyond Mach 1. The plane was strapped to the belly of a B-29 bomber and released at a high altitude before he powered it up for the record-setting feat. "The most important thing that I did was fly the X-1 through Mach 1," he told reporters gathered on the Nellis ramp Sunday. "Up until that time we had never been able to get above the speed of sound. We had problems with controls and stuff like that. Finally, on October 14, '47 we succeeded in pushing Mach 1 and it opened up space to us," he said. Just before he took off Sunday, his wife, Victoria Yeager, shared her excitement and noted the parallel of having Vincent, a young captain, have the honor of being the escort pilot like her husband was in 1947. "This is so cool," she said. "This captain is as much of a maverick as General Yeager is. He (Yeager) is in the back seat where the instructor pilot sits because he's the elder statesman." After the flight, Vincent remarked about his role in the re-enactment flight and how Yeager made him feel at ease. He said Yeager held up "better than I did" during the flight and made the chase plane's pilot, Col. Pete Ford, jealous because of all the stories that Yeager told him in the cockpit. "He was talking it up like he was back home," said Vincent, who flies with the 65th Aggressor Squadron. "That was the best flight of my life. It was a dream come true. ... And to be there with one of the world's greatest plots was an absolute honor," he said. "It was like being there with Christopher Columbus or Orville and Wilbur Wright. He broke the sound barrier, something that everyone was terrified of doing. He had the bravery and skill to be able to do that. It was amazing," Vincent said.

It's interesting that Figure 1 shows 16 pannels in the top down veiw and that Figure 3 sems to show 26 individual pannels in the side/open view. I guess these aren't precise engineering drawings! ;-)

Good question. My french is crappy, but in looking over french language articles on the web about the history of skydiving, they always talk about "parachutisme" -- I just don't see any equivalent to "sky diving". In the 1954 Ray Young article, he did put a fair bit of emphasis on how that newfangled stable freefall body position resembled that of a diver. When I first jumped in France in 1983 I learned the word as Chute Libre, meaning Fall Free. Working with Google Translate those words in English come out Chutera Librement. But then on closer inspection I saw that as a Noun it was Chute Libre. So "Skydiving" really doesn't seem to be a translation from French. Class dismissed!

About five or six years ago I flew a Lear Jet down to Bogota to do an air ambulance trip back to Houston. We had to spend the night for our legal crew rest. Our company briefing before we went was to trust and do only what our handlers (an aviation crew handling company) told us to do. When we arrived we were introduced to our driver who would take us to the hotel. We were told only to get into his car the next morning to come back to the airport. We were told not to step out of the hotel and to eat all our meals there. When we got to the hotel there were two armed security people with AK-47’s standing in front. When we went back to the airport the next morning our two medical people got into an ambulance to go pick up the patient, a one month old baby. An armed guard went with them and stayed with them all the way in and out of the hospital. From there it was a routine flight back to the USA. I can’t say I had a good time in Bogota or felt relaxed there. But I’m sure there are many great people and wonderful places to go. I was told that the reason for all our security was because of the kidnapping and ransom business. Foreign corporate pilots were supposedly prime targets because their bosses or companies supposedly had lots of money. Who knows, maybe it was just a scam so my company had to pay for all the security. I bet if I got with skydivers down there like Lou Diamond did it would be a wild and crazy time!

He was an early tandem test jumper. He also worked as a delivery guy for Jimmy Johns Subs. He won employee of the month for always asking customers “Do you want Coke with that?” "...we'll get it there is 20 minutes FLAT" I think he maybe misunderstood that last part? He always cratered to his customers desires. Sorry, I meant catered.

He was an early tandem test jumper. He also worked as a delivery guy for Jimmy Johns Subs. He won employee of the month for always asking customers “Do you want Coke with that?”

What ever her demons, I will always remember her singing the “Star Spangled Banner” at Super Bowl XXV in 1991. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llFZT6CTXz8

This is pretty wild! Kind of surreal. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcDN409ZBv4

Krip, When I first saw the name of this thread I thought you meant nicknames for actual DZ's, such as Perish Vally.

Where's the "Like" button? Oh, wait, wrong web site. Gotta go...........

Paul Proctor?

Not necessarily. It sounds more like the consultants don’t really know what they are talking about. Once the FAA steps in I think there should be a good chance of the City and Airport Board changing their tune once they realize the obligations they have after accepting federal money. This hopefully will work out in the DZ’s favor. Good luck guys!

HIM

I have sent the following letter to the full USPA BOD. Dear USPA BOD, I went to the International Council of Air Shows website (www.airshows.aero) and found the Floor Plan for their upcoming convention in Las Vegas. The United States Parachute Team is registered and will be in booth 629. So this is a done deal. Money has been spent, rooms have been reserved, flights have been booked and staff has been assigned. Las Vegas is an appropriate venue for this gamble. This plan is a win/win situation for competitors. None of the Team Trust Fund is at risk. If this plan works they will have more money. If it fails, they don’t lose a dime. However, it’s a lose/lose situation for the general membership. If the plan works, established demo teams who have been out there for years promoting the sport will get a smaller piece of an already shrinking pie. If it fails then the membership money spent will not be repaid. To the full BOD I would like to say that this was a noble idea but you didn’t think it through. It seems you got in a rush to ‘just do something’ about the crisis du juor that was presented to you. I am with the understanding that the Denver BOD Meeting was the first time the full BOD heard of this plan and that you approved it unanimously on Saturday. You reacted to the 1% (Elite Competitors) and forgot about the 99% (General Membership). Sound familiar? Was a financial study done by HQ and presented to the BOD? Was a business plan provided at Denver? What is the liability to USPA? Ed Scott put out the following statement online- “The first $10,000 earned (after show expenses) by the team in 2012 will go back to repay the loan.” This is pretty optimistic. What facts or data is this statement based on? If that kind of money can be made I think there would already be a lot more professional demo teams at the ICAS Convention. The primary goal stated for this plan is to attract corporate sponsorship for the United States Parachute Team. Is it realistic to think you will achieve this with a constantly changing Championship Pick-Up Demo Team made up of varying competitors and local talent as described in the discussion file posted online by USPA Communications? I find it hard to believe that local demo teams/jumpers will want to help out and perform with a team that is directly competing against them. How many competitors will want to skip training weekends, travel to an air show (typically on a Thursday) and make one jump a day Friday through Sunday? How many competitors are going to go to the proposed demo training camp if they are not confirmed to be going to the next World Meet? Competition Jumping and Demo Jumping are like apples and oranges. This plan has every possibility of turning into an old boys club of Ex-Competitors, BOD Members and HQ Staff who will have all expenses paid weekend trips with a couple of jumps thrown in and all the accolades they can handle. At this point the BOD and USPA HQ have the wagons circled. Right or wrong this plan is going to play out. Hopefully it will work. Hopefully it won’t fragment USPA further. I know it is often a thankless job that you are doing and I know you meant well when you approved this plan. And hopefully in the future the BOD will not rush into making major decisions of this nature without more careful study, consideration and planning. Thank you, Jack Gregory Former National Director

Damn! What a great guy. What a shame.

I’m curious if any of the BOD Members reading this thread can comment on how long this project has been under BOD discussion and consideration. Was there a sub-committee appointed at a previous BOD meeting that did an in-depth market study and built a business plan? Was any documentation provided to the BOD prior to the vote? Or was this idea kicked around by a couple of BOD members and then sprung on the full BOD during voting on Sunday afternoon when everyone wants to get the hell out of there and catch their flight home? I used to be a National Director, I know how this works.

I think the funny thing is that the DZO fired the guy but so far the girl is still around. Hmmm...... I'm just sayin'.

Lars D, Can you please post some photos of the parachute and any container that might be with it? It would also be helpful if you could find the manufacturers data panel showing the serial number and date of manufacture. I'm curious if Robert99's speculation that it might be from a downed US Airman is possible. And the Museum suggestion is a great idea!

At Z-hills in the 1908’s the Canadians were lovingly called Hemorrhoids. In fact as I understand it, Canadians actually came up with the name. They were called Hemorrhoids because- 1. They came down in bunches. 2. They immediately turned red all over. 3. They were a pain in the ass.

But on a serious note…… DSE, what is this incident you are referring to? Is there a thread about it?

That’s right. They wore masks of presidents of the United States.

First Galileo, now this. When will the Italian/Catholic persecution of scientists end?

If you live in a place where it gets cold in the winter, electrically heated seats are well worth it.

Here's a photo I had tucked away. It was a fun jump during the AFF JCC/ICC that Mike Johnston and I ran at Otay in the early 1980's.