D302

Hi Pasi, I looked it up: The jump (5-by side attempt in the photo) was done on the 29. March 1986 in Klerksdorp, SA. The jump was done from 10500 feet from a Cessna 402. Some other facts that might interest you: 22.March.1986 4-by side also Klerksdorp, Cessna 402, 9000 ft. (This was not the first 4-by side in SA, but the second one. As far as we knew at the time, the very first 4-by side was done in the US a bit earlier). Hope this helps

BTW: Here are some more pictures from that time: https://picasaweb.google.com/softtoys.com/SkydivingSA?authuser=0&feat=directlink

I only noticed this posting now. I can give you the full story... first hand :-) The photo was actually taken by John Gouws with my (Daniel Zuppinger) camera. When Hans Fischer printed the card, he a) put my name as photographer on it, which is wrong. and b) never returned the original :-( . The jumpers where: Steve Marshall, Long Pete Mauchan, Mark Allen, Trever Joshua and me (blue Cruise Lite). The photo was taken over Klerksdorp, South Africa sometimes in early 1986. We tried in various different ways to build a 5 by-side, but failed. We managed to do 4 by-sides several times, but never the 5. Had some interesting maneuvers though ;-) . The whole thing came to a stop when Trevor died in a skydiving accident a short while after this picture was taken. Hope this helps.

When I started to explore the skydiving world away from the familiar home DZ, Mike was there inviting me along, giving me the chance to try something bigger than a three or four way (I had less than a 100 jumps at that time). His patience, his love for the sport was inspiring and as Nigel mentions, his stories around the 'braai' are something never to be forgotten. Daniel