aj4218

Reminds me of a thread I started back in 1997 - http://tinyurl.com/jvl6q5c Al

Yes it was, and she exited first! Al

Pioneer made the Merlin and I think it was 200 sq. ft. It was jumped for years by my old friend Mike McCarthy who put thousands of CRW jumps on it and most famously used it for his Eiffel Tower jump in 1984. He never replaced the lines, hence the shape of the canopy and was still jumping it in 1985! Al

I jumped a Spirit from 1981 to 1982 having met Bill at Perris in Nov 1980 and been really impressed by him. I believe the first 20 or so Spirits were actually just re-badged Comets until the Spirit came into its own in early 1981. This shot was at Netheravon UK on July 10th 1982 and was just a few hours after I got my BASE number on it with an 'E' on the UK south coast. Handy that the Spirit came with a 42" pilot chute! Al

Forgot I stiil had this - an original Comet brochure! The cover is a shot of the late Frank Donnellan, BASE #12, at Netheravon. Chuck used it for the brochure and gave me one of his custom wallets as payment. The things he used to keep and that wheelchair ... Al

I jumped one for a couple of years and did all my BASE jumps with it. It was actually re-branded a 'Spirit'. This shot is the morning after I'd done my 'B' and 'E' during the previous night. Al

And here's a photo-montage of one I did that was the cover of the national mag in the UK in Dec 1978. Al

Early 1980s canopy. Anyone know where I might be able to get hold of one? It's not for a skydive but for an anniversary ground launch in late February 2011. Please PM me. Thanks. Al

Early 1980s canopy. Anyone know where I might be able to get hold of one? It's not for a skydive but for an anniversary ground launch in late February 2011. Please PM me. Thanks. Al

Here he is at Deland in '86. He used to make a big pot of coffee every morning and you just helped yourself and left money in the 'honour' jar. Bob Hallet had some postcards printed of him and Chet in tandem freefall that he used to send to people. Al

I'm amazed! It was worth posting just to discover you guys are actually in it or were involved! Al

It was filmed, directed and edited by Paul Mitcheltree and there was no copyright stamp on the film, so I think we're OK. Some info here http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/253013. If any probs arise, I'll get it taken down. Al

The film was shown on UK TV in about 1977 when I was hang gliding but not even skydiving at the time! I taped it on VHS but just transferred it digitally quite recently. That film plus a 16mm copy of Mirror Image I had inspired me to take up the sport in 1980 via a rather unusual route! BTW, good to hear from Jim Hooper. You won't remember me but we were on a jump together at Netheravon in the UK in the early 80s. Memories, memories ... Al

Here's a mid 70s film I've posted - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei-tdClLaEE . Quality's not too good, especially the sound, but some history anyway. Al

Andy Callender - he's got loads of old skoole pics on his Facebook page, although the tag on one of these is for Russel Porter. Russel did a few high profile jumps inc one from Centre Point in London dressed as John Major, the Prime Minister at the time Al

The late Frank Donnellan, BASE #12, got El Cap #250 with this jump. Al

Not sure which year, 1984 maybe, and maybe Z-Hills? Symbosis 16-way. The ones I recognise are Geoff Sanders, Tony Uragallo, Rob Colpus, Dane Kenny, Keery brothers, Esther Reynolds. I'm guessing the Symbiosis 8-way teamed up with some locals to make up the 16-way team. Al

Make that August 2001 Al

I've been in touch with Mike in the last few years. He lives in Western USA and describes himself as an 'urban monk'! I have an email address for him if you want it - PM me. He also did the very first modern UK BASE jump in October 1981- a 1,013' 'A', at night. Its a repost, but attached are photos and article of Mike & Alasdairs ESB jump and Mike and Amanda's ET jump. Mike was also planning a WTC jump in August of 1001 ... Al

Pete Marsden, a well known Brit jumper and boogie organiser, had his logbook signed off by Princess Anne while he was standing in the post-jump line up after he did a demo when he was in the army in the early 80s. Al

I think you may be thinking of Bob Ackerman who I thought was despatching students out of one of 2 DeHavilland Rapides in the UK. He jumped after the last student and 'entered' the other Rapide through the roof and landed with the aircraft! That's my recollection of it anyway. Al

Yeah, I know they're different people. Didn't mean to confuse anyone Al

'Paraflite ran an big advert in Parachutist after he made his 10,000th jump all of which were on the same old Strato Cloud' And here's the ad with Roch. Frenchy was famous for his fires in the evening at Z-Hills wasn't he? I certainly remember them in '86 when I was there for a few weeks. Al

And there was this one from Skies Call 2 too Al

I've got the original article of the 200-way in Nov 1992 Skydiving newspaper, so if anyone's interested I'll scan it and post it with pleasure. Al