That is a current static line steerable canopy (not the newest). When conducting mass tactical Airborne operations, the 82d does not jump that. With the new Modified Improved Reserve Parachute (MIRP) 850' AGL is the training jump altitude. C-17 Globemaster is a great jump - so roomy. All the Way! Screaming Eagles
850'!! At jump school, Fort Benning,1962, training jumps were from 1200'. My "cherry blast" at Fort Campbell was, as were all subsequint military static liners were, from 1000'. I was nervous about that 200' (among other concerns). At one point I had made 20 some odd sport jumps between military static line jumps with a minimum opening alt. of 2500'. I looked out the door sof the c130 and could clearly see the company logo on the door of our truck ...... I was very nervous. (I think we veered away from the original thread). Oh to be in that airborne physical condition again.
I really miss flying small planes. Built one experimantal category and loved it. But with a recent diagnosis of cancer I need to sell my Howard DGA-15P project.
I've been flying helicopters since the early 70's, licensed A&P since '77....+17,000 hours now mostly in Medium Bells.
Here is what I soloed in a couple of years ago, Cessna 150 and here is what we (my dad and I) fly on a regular basis, Bonanza N35 model as you can see, we have some custom car mentality going on...
Love those DGAs. Always spend an afternoon at OSH looking at them. Very popular sky dive elevator back in the '60s. Have a ton of memories therein. The building they were built in still exists in West Chicago, IL across the street from DuPage Cty Ap. That is the last time I was there some years back. Made few jumps from one the had a 650hp, R1340 P&W. It was based in Peoria (Bierly Aviation?)and used by a club in nearby Pekin. A club based at Camp Lake, WI had one with a trigear which added nothing to its looks. Saw it run off the end of thier runway and flip over on its back...don't know if it was ever rebuilt. Sorry you have to sell. I wish you well re the cancer. I'm a survivor of prostrate cancer for 13 years......there is lots of hope.
It’s been a long time since I started this thread and am happy to see all the responses. Have been away from the site for a while and didn’t realize how much I missed it. There have been some changes in my airplane inventory over the years, the most important of which is the addition of my Dads old Taylorcraft. My old man purchased this as a barn find in 1962 and restored it to flying condition. Subsequent to that, he got married and I was born. This was the very first little airplane ride of my life, starting at age 4 (1972). He sold the airplane a few years later and we forgot about it and I grew up. Fast forward to 2016 and I had the itch to get a simple little thing to teach my wife to fly and I started thinking about the Dads old T-cart. Was it still around? So I looked up the old registration number and found out it was still on the books. Sent the registered owner a letter and told him a bit of the airplanes history, with the hopes he’d call me and we could fill in the gaps to present day. I had hoped that it was still more or less intact and perhaps I would restore it. ONE WEEK LATER, I’m at breakfast with my other flying buddies and I get a call from the current owner. yep, the airplane still exists and yep, it’s just been restored. My heart sank, because I “knew” that this guy had an emotional investment in the airplane due to the restoration effort and was going to keep it. Very quickly in the conversation I realized that he was giving me a “sales pitch” during his description of the restoration. So I asked him if he would sell it and the answer was “yes”. I asked the price, and to make a long story short, it was so good that it required no negotiation or even a second thought. I sent him a deposit that day, sight unseen. A week later, I was in Oregon and picked it up. My flight home to SoCal was the first time I had been in a Taylorcraft since my last flight in that very airplane back in ‘74, and the first time the airplane had flown since the restoration. Needles to say, I made it home without incident and it now shares my hangar with Dads old ‘32 roadster. I lost Dad in ‘03, but I’m sure he’s happy to see the airplane back in the family. It’s a 1940 BL-65 still with the original Lycoming O-145 under the hood. This is the same engine my old man overhauled in 1962 and has hardly been touched since.
Current primary ride is my Harmon Rocket. Ported heads and EFI, the stock 260 HP Lycoming dyno'd at 336HP after rebuild. It's a 1200 pound airplane, and 600 of that is engine and prop. It scoots. Also shown is the newest stray dog - a 1976 Acrosport biplane project. Picked this up a few weeks ago.
Hey @DD COOPMAN @HellRaiser @AeroCraftsman @Xman @1950Gasser @455HOGT37 So glad I stumbled onto this thread this morning. Nice to know that there are a lot of other aviation junkies out there that are hot rod people as well. Some of you may have met me at the seaplane base out on Lake Winnebago during my 25 years of doing the design work and selling my shirts out at the annual gathering at Oshkosh. I was also very good friends with Mike McCuue who worked for Pete Turner at Flabob, you all know these kick ass rigs that Mike was associated with. I was born at Castle A.F.B. back in 53, and we lived about a mile off of the glide path, of the main runway at Castle, so there were airplanes in my sky's 24/7. Attending the Merced Fly in was an annual event, Back then Dr. Sherman Cooper would put on a hell of a demonstration in his P-51 Mustang. Dr. Cooper also had a Hawker Sea Fury as well. Speaking of T-50 Cessna Bobcats ( BAMBOO BOMBER ) I was very good friends with Dick and Jeanne Hill. Dick owned a BAMBOO BOMBER and I got to fly with him a few times in it, Dick used to fly the Ford Tri-Motor for the E.A.A. back then. Dick had a hangar over at Poplar Grove airport. Dick gave me an old BAMBOO BOMBER fuselage that he had at his property and it now is in my front yard all decorated up with solar powered lights. I am sure some of you have been to the old "EVERGREEN" fly in back when it was at Vancouver Washington, back when Wally Olson was alive, I got to attend 13 of them with my firetruck before his daughter's sold the property. So cool to be able to share some of my photos with you all. And to those of you that flew Luscombes, I did the annual T-shirts for that great group, that gathers at the Columbia Airport in California each year. I also used to work with Winky Crawford, back when he had the DC-3's flying fresh salmon from King Salmon AK, over to Kodiak AK, that was a great experience, more than once, I was able to get some right seat time in those great old GOONEY BIRDS. Thanks for a lot of great stories and memories that you all have shared. Thanks from Dennis Hicklin Ball Graphics, Seattle Washington.
Thanks for the contribution Dennis. I have been to Osh a few times but have yet to make it to the seaplane base. Need to fix that next time. You were born at Castle in ‘53…. My old man was stationed at Castle in 53 as a Crew Chief.
Repaired and ridden in a lot of aircraft (F27's, B727 & 737's, DC9's, etc), but was only handed over the controls on a Cessna by a pilot friend once. Good fun, it was like driving a 3D car!
Hey @swanwaco32 No doubt about it, the entire history of the WACO aircraft company, and the amazing quality of their design, and strength, is legendary. One of my favorite WACO cabin Bi-planes is " Old Bar-B-Q " that used to belong to Buzz Caplan and is now owned by Carl Buck. I shot these photo's of it back in 2013, so that it was on the shirt for the seaplane base in 2014. That is a great video, thanks for sharing from Dennis in Seattle. Send me a PM with your mailing address, and I will send you an XL 2014 Oshkosh Seabase shirt if you wish, no charge, WACO pilots are a fortunate few indeed !
The Jalopy Journal
