LowellH

Pop: Is there a story that goes with the Howard being totaled? Attached are two more photos I took in the 1966 to 1967 time frame that includes the Howard. The first one is of of a guy (and his wife) I used to skydive with, the second one is me. Lowell

I'm re-uploading the picture of Pop's Howard DGA-15, the first upload was scanned from a faded print. I finally found the original negative and made a scan from the negative, the colors are much better, I see the plane was blue and not green. Plus there's much more detail in the scan from the negative, although that might not show that much in these reduced size uploads. Anyway, here is a better scan of Pop's Howard DGA-15. Lowell H (Arizona)

I'm not a skydiver but I have really enjoyed reading this thread about Indiantown and SFPI (SFPC?). I did make a bunch of jumps at SFPI back in 1966 and 1967. A few (4) of us from Pratt & Whitney Aircraft on the Bee Line Highway signed up for lessons under Paul Poppenhager. I no longer have my log book but I believe we made a mandatory minimum of 5 static line jumps and then advanced from there. I don't remember how many jumps I made, maybe 15 or so (the 15 is just a guess, maybe more, wish I could find my log book). I didn't get past the "student" phase so don't know anything about the intense parties at the Seminole Inn, although I do have many memories of the Seminole Inn as I had lunch and beer there a whole bunch of times. Unfortunately I can't remember any of the names at SFPI other than Paul "Pop" Poppenhager. I see a pilots name on this site by the name of John Coppe, but I don't know if he was the pilot back in the 1966 & 1967 time frame. I do have some photos from those days and will post them here if I can figure out how, as I just signed up as a member today (6-24-11), primarily to say hi and post the photos. If the photos stay in order, Photo #1 will be a picture of Pop's Howard DGA-15, although this plane appears to be a different plane than the Howard in the picture posted by Pat Moore above. Photo #2 should be a picture of three of us from Pratt & Whitney that started taking lessons at the same time, I'm on the left, Paul G. is on the right and I believe the fellow in the middle was Ron but I'm not sure. I think this photo was taken right after we started taking lessons, still in the static line phase. Photo #3 should be one of the SFPI staff, but I don't recall his name. Can anyone identify the person? He was talking someone down in this photo. He may also have been a pilot. I seem to recall that jumps were also made from a bomber (maybe a B-25), but I may be wrong on that; my memory is not that great anymore. Anybody remember the Rhodesian Ridgebacks that used to be in that general area? One of the other Pratt & Whitney employees that I jumped with tells the story about one time she landed way off the DZ, she says "I remember landing in an enclosure with the two Rhodrdisn Ridgeback hovering over me. They were huge and awesome but not vicious." SFPI was a magical place and that was a magical time; and I'm glad to read that Pop is still jumping and flying. I have great memories of those days, although they are fading fast. Lowell H (Arizona)