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Yeah, they all flew for Falcon Air in TX and this was one of them, hence the FA reg no. and Fat Annie name. Surprsingly they suffer very little in performance compared to a stock DC 4. Can't wait to fly in this RARE plane. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

see www.freefall.com Looks like a 747 with 4 props. Only three airworthy ones left. This one, another in south africa and one in AK hauling diesel fuel for Brooks. You GOTTA add this ship to your logbook! 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

If you like Connies check out: http://www.conniesurvivors.com/ Sure hope we can get one back to WFFC some day. Rumors about a strange hybrid propliner that might show up at WFFC this year, ATL 98 Carvair, like a double deck DC 4. From the front it looks like a 747 with four props. Sure hope it shows up. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Thanks. The Cal City Connie (from Camarillo) is now sponsored by Breitling Watches and is in immaculate condition touring on the European airshow circuit. It is now based in Switzerland. Never did get a chance to make a Connie jump. Showed up to two WFFCs where it was a no show and when I had one day to jump the Connie at Cal City the winds were over 30 kts and it never flew. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

The book Falcon's Disciples has a photo of jumpers exiting a Lockheed Constellation and says it was shot at Taft DZ (CA) in 1965. Does anyone have details on the jumpship? Model? N number? Owner? Even at 1965 prices it took a lot of fuel money to feed 4 Wright 3350 engines. How did they make it work out financially? 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

WFFC says that Southern Cross will be there, not Skip Evans N 26MA. www.freefall.com 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I am not a bill collector or anything like that, just a friend who has lost touch. Mark

N/A

WFFC is going to have Skip Evan's DC 3 N26MA as a jumpship this August. $21 is a bargain for a ride in a classic aircraft. Those young jumpers who have never experienced a DC 3 should not miss this opportunity. Remember the Lodestars? You thought you'd always be able to jump from one and then suddenly they were all gone. Jump the DC 3 while you still can. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I thought the F 11 Tigers looked the best of all the planes I have seen them fly. They did a show at Moffet NAS in CA in the early 60s with the F 11s. Cool. There was also a local Navy acro group at the show flying Skyraiders, the single seat models. I always hoped the Blues would use F 8 Crusaders after the Tigers, but guess it wasnt as well suited as other types. I have a UHF AM scanner and can hear them during shows. They are obviously under very high G loading at times, the voices sound like strained grunts rather than normal speech during those moments.

I am amazed that anyone would run a DZ. Risk: HUGE, reward: small. I am sure glad that DZOs don't look at things the way I do or I'd have nowhere to jump. Oh, and $20 for a ride to 14K? Ridiculously cheap. It cost MORE than that in the old days if you adjust for inflation.

VICTORIA, BC, May 2 /CNW/ -- Viking Air Limited announced today that ithas acquired certain assets of the Commercial Service Centre (CSC) division of Bombardier Inc, becoming the leading spares manufacturer anddistributor for de Havilland heritage aircraft product line. A total of 3542 of these aircraft have been produced since 1947, representing a significant part of Canada's aviation history. The terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. Specifically, the acquisition will involve the orderly transfer of product support responsibilities for the following heritage aircraft: -- DHC-1(*) Chipmunk -- DHC-5(*) Buffalo -- DHC-2(*) Beaver -- DHC-6(*) Twin Otter -- DHC-3(*) Otter -- DHC-7(*) Dash 7(*) -- DHC-4(*) Caribou 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Perry Stevens first jump class in 1968 taught us to keep a couple of condums in the jumpsuit always. If you had an unplanned water landing you could blow em up and maybe survive with the floatation they would provide. He said it would keep you prepared for anything unexpected. Given the wild parties that the Livermore gang had, it seemed like a good idea. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

http://freespace.virgin.net/m.zoeller/ Nice website ALL about Lockheed twins. Sure would like to make a Lodestar jump again. I never missed them much til they were all gone. The Learstar was the best sounding jump plane ever, those stacks made it sound like a cross between a Harley and a dragster when idling. The Learstar had vicious stall characteristics. To speed it up Bill Lear eliminated the leading edge slats that Lockheed thought were necessary. That was all good until you got careless about airspeed then suddenly you might be in a very quick roll followed by a spin. Not to be trifled with. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

1968, a 28 ft very used surplus C 9 orange and white with a tiny T mod (not TU). It didnt really have any significant fwd drive. Turning just changed your view, not your direction of travel. Used to jump that canopy in 15-20 mph winds, insane landings. When someone finally let me jump their PC I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Now older and wiser, I fly a Volvo (actually a Triathlon 190). The good old days of skydiving were certainly good for orthopedic surgeons. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Was the Stevens Lanyard (Perry Stevens, Stevens Paraloft, Oakland CA late 1960s) the first RSL? Just curious about gear history. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I had a slammer with broken lines on my Tri 190 at WFFC. The slam was so hard that I broke a lot of blood vessels in my face, but nothing serious, just pain. I did a thorough canopy check and even with two lines broken it flew, turned and flared fine so I landed it. I think one of Packing Cathy's slaves forgot to stow the slider right, but thats just a guess, they might be blameless. As far as the broken lines go, my Tri 190 was an early model with TINY lines. I liked the lines because of low drag and faster canopy speed. Cliff at Aerodyne suggested I get it relined as those early lines were not found to hold up well. The canopy had less than 100 jumps, the lines looked PERFECT and I said I'd wait a while. MISTAKE. After two more incidents of broken lines (none requiring a cutaway) I relented and had it relined. No more broken lines. I also had the "Beef" mod done at Aerodyne and now the Tri flares much better, more linear response to brake line extension. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

UPDATE: I jumped a PD 193R in a cutaway. PD 193R had better flare than the Raven II main I test jumped. I think a Raven II will open fine and save your life but a PD 193R makes the landing better. PDs are considerably more expensive than Ravens, even used, so buy the best you can afford. Ravens aren't junk, they just don't flare as nicely as PDs. ************************************** I have never had a square reserve ride. My only reserve ride was decades ago under a Navy 26 Conical that I paid $25 for while a poor college student. I have two modern rigs now and both have Raven II reserves. I chose the Raven II because it was time tested even though people urged me to get the newer Raven dash M design. Good decsion as it turned out since the Dash M had some early problems. I decided I should jump a Raven as a main to just know what to expect. I rented a rig with a Raven II main and here is what I experienced. Fine opening, decent flight characteristics, but lousy flare. Maybe it was an old canopy, but it did not look worn out at all. Is great flare all that important in a reserve? Perhaps not, but it would be nice to have a reserve that flares as well as my Triathlon. If you want a reliable reserve, the Raven is a great choice and I do not regret having bought two of them. For me a reserve is all about RELIABILITY, not so much about the ride. If you want a reserve with great flare characteristics you might want to check out something else.

I have owned and jumped a number of rigs, Vector, Reflex, Javelin, etc but the Eclipse is BY FAR the most comfortable. Ownership of Stunts has been changed several times and product support is hard to find. Still, nothing has needed fixing yet and I have owned it for four years. It wears well and seems to be a high quality product. One issue is that some Eclipses were made with a different main web routing than others. The subject was covered in SKYDIVING magazine with photos showing the strong way and the weak way. It concerned routing around a metal fitting and would involve major work to correct. I have spoken with Bill Dause and other riggers who say that even the "weak" way is plenty strong, not a problem and I think they are right. It didn't mandate a service bulletin or recall. You really should jump an Eclipse to see what a truly comfortable rig feels like. It makes everything better, no sqirming in the plane, no pain or chafing during the canopy ride. Shooby (the original Stunts owner and designer) really figured out "fit" in a way that nobody else has really matched.

Update: I have about 150 jumps on the Pitt special and two of the three zippers have come apart, the bootie soles are pretty trashed (and I dont walk on pavement in them) and the elastic wrist cuffs are frayed. The colors have run even in a cold water wash and the runs look really bad. My Michigan suit has more jumps and everything is still intact. No color runs when I wash it either. So I email Tony Suits to get a repair estimate. I didn't even get the courtesy of a reply. No worries, I went to a local Vietnamese alterations shop and got new zippers (YKK brand and higher quality than Tony's) and some bootie repairs using high stregth nylon thread all for $50. I REALLY like the way the Pit Special suit flys but the Michigan suit has held up far better. Tony really neeeds to get his company a new attitude on customer service. Read all the reviews, you will see I am not the only person who thinks this. Still, it is a great flying suit and I do have to give him credit for a good design. Tony should copy the Laarsen and Broussard sp? (L&B, make audibles etc) customer service model. Madd and his partner treat their customers right even decades after a sale was made. ***************************************** These suits are very good in their design, but there are a few things that could be better in their construction. The zippers are not the very best, have had a few pulls break off the zipper slider. The fabric dyes have obviously not all been wash tested. I had some serious color bleeding when I first washed mine in cold water. They are really comfortable suits and fly well, at least for me. They look great and hold up well with the exception of the bootie soles (no soles really, just exposed fabric). They suggest putting shoe goop on them which is ridiculous. They should have made abrasion resistant thin elastomeric soles for them out of KRATON (like the old O'Neill wetsuit kneepads, indestructible and flexy and stretchy as well). When I brought my Tony suit with a broken zipper pull to their booth at WFFC they quoted me a pretty high price to replace the zipper. DUMB from a customer satisfaction standpoint, they should learn from Alti 2 or Larsen and Brusgaard... fix it free if it broke without abuse. I am happy with my Tony suit, but I am also happy with my Michigan suit and even my old suits from the 70s. Tony needs a little bit better customer service (its not that bad) and more attention to wear testing zippers and wash testing fabrics. It could take them from good to great.

Update Sept 20 2010: The other reviews talking about how great Tris fly in deep brakes (true) and how good they are in turbulence (also true) leads me to write this cautionary note for newbies flying Triathlons. The Tri is a GREAT canopy in turbulence, but if you encounter turbulence stay in high speed flight, dont fly with partial brakes. You don't want a collapse or stall high above the ground. You need to keep those lines tight and fly the canopy fast, way above stall speed. Save the brakes for your landing flare if you encounter turbulence. The exception is a quick stab and quick release of brakes if you feel the load lighten and the canopy start to rock forward. Buy and read Brian Germains Canopy Pilot book. It could be a lifesaver if you encounter squirrely conditions under canopy or find yourself in a jam because of something stupid you did on approach. I've been jumping for 42 years. I fly a Tri 190 and a Tri 210. The Tri is an ideal canopy for conservative experienced jumpers and new jumpers. I jumped last weekend and encountered some pretty nasty turbulence at about 500 ft. No problem, the Tri bounced around a LOT but flew right through it with no end cell collapses, surges or other nastiness. It's a good solid dependable canopy that you will not regret owning. ****************************************** I am writing this four years after my first Tri review. The first review was written when I was just getting back into jumping and learning how to handle square canopies after years of jumping rounds. I loved the Tri then, but I was green and it was a very forgiving canopy, who wouldnt like it under those circumstances? Since that time I have jumped many different canopies, but when time came for a new canopy purchase guess what I bought? Yes, A Triathlon. In my opinion the Tri is still the ideal canopy. If you load it heavy it can be pretty sporty, but it stll won't kill you unless you do something really dumb. Loaded near 1.2:1 its a fun canopy and ultra reliable. For some reason it is especially rock solid in turbulence. When you see end cell collapses on other canopies, the Tri will fly right through the same stuff fully inflated and rock solid. The Tri also has a wonderful ability to sink almost straight down in partial brakes without a scary descent rate. That could save your butt if you are landing out and trying to get into a very small spot with tall obstacles around it. The Aerodyne master rigger has continuously worked on improving the basic Tri and he has made some mods which are incorporated in the latest Tri canopies. The great thing about Aerodyne is that they will upgrade old Tris for a reasonable price. They REALLY support their products and will not try to steer you into a new purchase if your old Tri is fixable or upgradable. The latest mods give a better and more linear flare. By more linear I mean that the flare is more directly proportional to the level of brake application, no sudden changes with just a little more pull on the brakes. Its smooth and very controllable. Sure its no Stiletto, but so what? I have watched quite a few cutaways from twisted up Stilettos. I have always been able to kick out line twists in Tris. You wont win any swoop contests in a Triathlon, but you will also be walking while some of the hot shots are on crutches or in wheelchairs. The Tri is no dog though, it turns fast and can get going pretty good on front risers. But in reality its a Volvo, not a Porsche. One great thing about the Tri is that it is an evolved canopy. It gets better and better with continual design changes. The Tri of Today is DEFINITELY better than the old ones, better flare for sure. Customer support is great, prices for repairs and upgrades are reasonable too. You can get a reline for barely more than the price of a new line set. Often a canopy sent in for something minor will come back with a new slider installed or some other goodie gratis. There have been disturbing stories about Triathlons "blowing up" on opening, severe damage, ripped seams,etc. I have concluded that these are older perhaps sun damaged canopies that just couldnt take the stress of a slammer opening. Maybe I am wrong, but thats my conclusion after asking a lot of questions. I see nothing in the Tri design or fabric that is weak. If you have a really old Tri with those tiny tiny lines, give it up and get it relined. I finally did this after three incidences of broken lines and should have done it sooner. I feared the fatter lines would degrade the speed, but its not a problem. So, go ahead and get a Tri. You wont regret it. My advice is to get stock colors as they enhance resale value. Custom colors appeal to a smaller number of potential buyers. There is one problem though, if you tell your friends to look for your colors there are likely to be a few identical canopies on your load. There are LOTS of Tris out there and for a good reason. Its a great canopy proven over many years and still competitive. Buy one, you will never regret it.

Update Sept 2012 Byron still rocks. It is one of the few DZs that runs a thriving tandem business but still treats up jumpers extremely well. Clay, the DZO, wants everyone to have a good experience at his DZ whether they are a tandem passenger, AFF, newbie, expert or whatever. His jump pricing is very fair and in fact its hard to see how he can afford to offer such low prices when running a King Air turbine jumpship. Jamie who runs manifest is tops. She keeps things moving, gives plenty of announcements and is a real asset to the DZ operation. Byron is famous for its good vibe (Byron Love) and its alive and well. There are a huge number of safe outs here if you have to land off DZ, but it very rarely happens. The current pilot watches wind changes and makes his jump runs right where he should to put you back on the DZ for your landing. Even when winds are high everyone, even the AFF students, seems to end up right back where they should. The DZ benefits from having a DZO who is a very active jumper. Nothing escapes Clay's attention as he is on site and jumping every day they are open. The result is that things are run well. Byron is a great place to do a tandem or to learn how to skydive as an AFF student. I recommend it often as I know the person I refer will have a good time and be dealing with good safe gear and highly skilled professional instructors. Update Oct 2011, I really like the DZ. Clay, the DZO, somehow manages to run a thriving tandem business yet offer a very inviting and accomodating atmosphere for up jumpers. The primary jumpship is a twin turboprop King Air and the pilot who was flying in October is great, a young guy who really understands how to fly a jumpship. The King Air is a strong climber and it can kep the jump flow going even when a lot of tandems show up. The landing area is huge. Landing out isnt a huge deal either, LOTS of empty fields all around. That is a good safety feature of this DZ. The vibe is good. Tandems are not treated like lepers, they get a warm welcome from the up jumpers and the more promising ones are encouraged to take up AFF. There are some jumpers with mad skills here and most are willing to help newbies learn the basics. I've referred a lot of tandems here just because they treat us up jumpers so well. Low jump prices, cheap snacks, friendly and skilled manifest. It can get windy, but with a good spot and a decent canopy loading you can always make it to the landing area OK. I've see VERY few out landings, even by newbies with huge canopies. This DZ has more of a family feel than most DZs that do a lot of tandems. They work hard at Byron to give up jumpers a good time even though we dont bring them the profit margines that the tandems do. If you are considering doing a tandem jump or AFF this is a great place to do it. They are safety conscious, have top notch instructors and dont treat customers like cattle. Clay, the DZO, is a very active jumper himself so he stays in touch with how things are working for jumpers. He jumps a tiny canopy and does some pretty amazing swoops too. The landing area is right next to the main building so friends and family can watch up close without a long hike or van ride. I've been coming here for over a decade. I like it a lot. If you've never been here before give it a try. If you live in the Bay Area its your closest DZ and its also a great one. Blue skies, Mark Updated review, 9/25/09. I started jumping here again after Clay lowered the price of a jump to an astounding $17. With a new PAC 750 doing the lifting I don't see how he makes a dime on up jumpers at that price. Even if it pops back up a few bucks I'll likely keep coming. I have sent a few tandems his way to express my gratitude for the cheap up jumper prices. I like the PAC 750 mainly because of all the windows. I love plane rides and the scenery makes it a lot more enjoyable when you are seated away from the door. I hadn't been out there in ages and I didnt get any hassles, just a USPA card/license check and a peek at my reserve data card. I only know one of the current DZ regulars, but most people I ran into were open and friendly. The vibe seemed good to me. The packer, a Russian? guy named Ed, who speaks almost no English, packed some very smooth openings for me and seemed to really appreciate my tips. Byron has no running water but aside from having to use porta potties, you really don't notice. There are a LOT of safe places to land out, but I've never had to use them. I like Lodi and Monterey, but Byron is a lot closer from the SF Peninsula. It has a lot of tandems but you don't get the tandem mill feeling at all. I have read recent reviews about the dispute(and its resolution). I think that the outcome says good things about the jumper who felt he was being hassled and the DZ that was willing to discuss it constructively. I am grateful there are any DZOs. Can you imagine leasing or buying a million dollar plane and trying to support it and your other considerable overhead with jump prices at or even below $20? That's why you never see DZOs driving new Ferraris. Give Byron (Bay Area Skydiving) a try. I think you'll be as pleased as I was. Peace, Mark ******************************************Byron is located just on the East side of the Altamont pass, in windmill country. It has a big hanger for indoor packing and a HUGE hazard free landing area. People are generally very friendly and Sky God attitudes are not encouraged. It can get windy in the afternoons, but that is true for most DZs in the SF Bay Area. The King Air is a good climber and seesm well maintained. One caution for new to the DZ jumpers is be sure to stay clear of the runway line when descending under canopy. The airport is not busy and its easy to forget that planes other than the jumpship may want to use the runway and don't want to fly through canopies on appraoch or departure. Byron has lots of freeflyers, but all types are welcomed. The lack of running water means outhouses and no real food or hand washing facilities, so bring a picnic lunch and some handiwipes. There is a surprising amount of small wildlife to keep the kids occupied. My kids have always found lizards, snakes and other creatures in the gullies. The nearby town is nothing to write home about, but you can get a meal and some groceries. The Byron Boogie in the Fall is a must go event.

The S2, like all Grumman planes, is built like a brick. I have a maint manual. They have a 50s technology flight G load recorder. It has several spring biased G activated switches hooked up to increment electromechanical counters located in the fuselage. One peek and you can see how many times its has exceeded different G limits. Never heard of one coming apart, even with the abuses of air tanker flying. Saw an S 2 drop a Navy chute exhibition team into SF Bay about 10 years ago. I think it was after the STOOFS had been retired so it might have been a warbird S2. R&A Enterprises in Santa Clara bought a HUGE lot of S 2E (Aussie version) spares and scrapped 99% of it about five years ago. There were all sorts of things ranging from magnetos to ASW black boxes. I got a couple of cool control heads for torpedo and depth charge launching. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Saw 3 S2 CDF turboprop conversions dropping phoschex on the Geysers fire in CA last week. Looked like new planes, all shiny and fresh paint. Miss those old Wright 1820 powered Trackers though. Unmistakable sound. The turboprops are a lot more reliable, but the range went down a bit as they are not as fuel efficient as the radials they replaced. Its fun to jump at Santa Rosa CA. You are jumping right at the airport and during the summer see lots of air tanker action. I once waved to an S 2 in the pattern while under canopy and got a big wing waggle in return. he definitely saw me, or it could be a she. One of the CDF Tracker pilots is female. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.