Crossbow

This is an older post but could not resist sharing a Skippy story. At the Crosby DZ, Carlos Wallace actually had some packing tables (rare for the day) so Skippy was packing on one of them. There were several of us hanging around waiting for a load and watching Skippy. A toddler came up to Skippy with a ball and said "Mr, Look at my ball" Skippy paid him no attention and kept packing. This happened at least 2 more times so we were mesmerized to see what would happen as Skippy got more annoyed and knowing Skippy, knew he would reach his limit. Finally, he looked at the kid and said "Take that ball and stick it up your Ass? This was in Skippy cleft pallet speech so it laid us all out, made the kid cry and Skippy finished packing. I bet everyone that knew him has a story as he was definitely one of a kind. One of the neatest guys I have had the privilege to know. Pat, Skippy also landed on a water tower during one of his Santa jumps and if I remember correctly, had to have the Fire Department get him down.

Remember my first RW hook up with Aldo Zanier in Dickinson, TX around 1965. You can tell this was a long time ago because he filled a pocket in one leg of his jumpsuit with flour. It was a little like smoke and remember that someone on the ground said they could actually see it. While I thought the flour was going up it apparently was not as we got to the ground and had flour on our jumpsuits, rigs and mouths. Smoke bombs with real brackets came later. Attached is a picture of the event. Since Aldo was Italian and jumped with flour, remember someone naming him the Flying Pizza.

Elizabeth, I was one of "Doc's Boys" in the 60s and have several stories, but there is one I certainly remember. We made a jump in Dickinson and after opening things did not look exactly right for Doc. and he was fighting to control his PC. As it turned out his new custom rig was being jumped for the first time and the guy who built it (name withheld) made a serious error. The leg and chest straps had the metal quick release fittings installed backwards. When he opened he went to the end of the straps and was saved by the safety fold at the end. He could not reach the toggles so had to control his canopy by pulling on the harness, like airborne. He landed it safety to the DZ and had a fairly hard down wind landing. Needly to say he was one mad Greek and a good thing the rigger was not there. Doc was a major influence on me and everyone around him and will never be forgotten. I attached one picture of me getting in the Cessna, Darryl Galloway and Doc. I do have other good pictures that I will be glad to send after I scan them in.

Looks like this is an old post but I (Tom Drake) was a member in around 1967. Some of the team members there were Claude Pepin, Tom Borovicka, Ken Roelen, Gary Franciosi, Bill Beach, Dean Frazier. I remember our great truck, the Blue Goose, and being the only one to land in the stadium during the Armed Forces Day demo.....and with a Crossbow. Hope to catch up with some of these crazy guys, especially Claude Pepin.

I could not resist replying to your note about Carlos Wallace falling out of the plane at Dickinson, Texas. This was the way the Houston newspaper reported it, but it was not how it happened. We had just taken off and were concerned that the ceiling was too low so Carlos looked at me and said "Have you ever seen a Pull Off" and out he went at about 1100 feet. Doc Anagnostis reamed him for a low exit and did not believe Carlos when he said he fell out. I think he may have grounded him for a while. What a memory and glad to see this story lives on. Carlos generating "many" stories.