DC-3's

[wingnut 0]

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Southern Cross is at Skydive Utah, flying skydivers.

yup.. jumped out of it not more tha 2 weeks ago.. min number of jumpers is around 22 to get it off the ground... notjhing like filling it with 42 jumpers (only have 42 belts or we could take more) and still having room to relax on the way up and walking around in it standing full upright is cool... only drw back is the small door but we have a 8 foot porch on it so that helpes..... 15 minute climbs to altitude (12,5agl or 17 msl)..... don't think i could ever jump the dc-3 in eloy again cuz it's so slow compared to this one....well the speed and the large amounts of oil that one spews.....

______________________________________
"i have no reader's digest version"

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

I have quite a few jumps out of Sugar Alpha when it used to come to Lagrange, GA.

I also have a ton of jumps out of two of them that they use in Guatemala. They also fly two Aravas down there at Puerto San Jose. There is a nice Smithfield turbine that flies people on Fort Bragg as well; very stylish.

Chuck

[howardwhite 6]

There was also the Bird Machine. Maybe it's one of these, maybe another. Someone in FL should ask Bird.

HW

[kyros1 0]

Jumped twice in Greece during national holiday for Greek airforce.

[Skydiver40TN 0]

I have about 50 DC3 jumps out of the "Mr. Douglas.
All were made at Tullahoma Tn. The last one I made was the last load it flew, that was 4/16/2000. we lost the right engine at about 4500 ft and were asked to exit. It is still sitting, without engines, at Tullahoma. It kinda sux to see it sitting there when I go jump, great plane, awsome memories.

[tbrown 26]

In 1980 Perris briefly had an awesome bright yellow DC-3, "Forty Lima". Instead of the usual 7 cylinder Wrights, this baby had 14 cylinder Pratt & Whitneys, it was sorta like having two Wrights back to back inside each engine. Man that thing would HAUL ASS on takeoff, we loved it !

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

[slotperfect 7]

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There is a nice Smithfield turbine that flies people on Fort Bragg as well; very stylish.

I am fortunate enough to have jumped out of that DC-3 before it was converted to turbines, and afterwards as well. I have 20 minutes of flight time in it as well. It is a really cool aircraft.

Arrive Safely

John

[kallend 2,026]

Unfortunately "Lady Luck", the DC3 at Skydive Chicago, was damaged in last week's severe thunderstorm. The tie-downs were torn out of the ground by (estimated) 100mph wind gust and the plane was blown backwards and hit a tree trunk. Damage is to the trailing edge of the port wing and flap.

I have about 25 jumps out of that plane.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[airtwardo 7]

*** "Lady Luck",

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[TomSpoon 4]

The DC3 that was parked at Xenia until a few years ago was N66W, Formerly The Bird Machine than renamed The Legend.

[tonybrogdon 0]

I jumped John Travolta's old DC-3 at Perris, Jim. The last I heard it was still flying at the Long Beach Airport.

One of my favorite jumps was our New Years's eve midnight jump at Elsinore. Your Piro lite up the whole valley.

Blue skies, my friend

Tony Brogdon

Tony Brogdon
D-12855

[airtwardo 7]

I remember that jump well...
You could see the lights of Catalina Island in the distance...

I found some PICS of the cake you had for that party there!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[skydog85 0]

The last I heard, Sugar Alpha was sold to a fire-fighting group. Her owner was killed in a plane crash (T-38 trainer, I think) in the late 80s and Sugar was sold during the settling of the estate.

Not sure what happened to her after that.

[jonstark 8]

More affectionately referred to as Slug-Ass by the boogie circuit in the 80's.

I have never before or after been more scared in an a/c (and I've flown in African wars) as when we lost an engine on take-off in Deland and the pilot took it the long way around town at about 300 feet, turning into the dead engine with the remaining one at full throttle.

jon

[skybill 22]

Roger-that!!! The orange machine!! That's the one that flew lead plane for the 64-way dive at Perris (see Norm Kent's Film!!!!) I was #8 in the lineup. Fun Dive, Fun Plane. Then there was N157U. That's another story, and another film.

SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out

[mccurley 1]

Well the original post in this thread was asking for info on current DC 3s dropping jumpers but has changed to a nostalgia tour of old Dac's we all used to jump.
So here is my contribution
The DC 3 on landing roll is dragging Capt Micheal Reid of The Canadian Armed Forces from the door. This was Boxing day 79, Micheal was rear float wearing one of those ridiculous balloon suits we all used to think were necessary for rel work.
His cuff got locked around the bottom hinge of the rear door at exit and he rode the whole way down from 12500 like that. If memory serves me right, the pilot had no idea he was there.
In the end he required a new reserve, container, and hockey helmet, all of which were worn away on the run way.
Second photo is one we used in Aussie every once in a while. Used to arrive as a charter plane, seats and wall sconces and window curtains, just like an airliner of the 40s & 50s. We would all help strip it down for the weekend for jumping and put it all back together again at the end.
This was a very well maintained bird and did a lot of bussiness doing out back tours of Aussie.

Watch my video Fat Women
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRWkEky8GoI

[murrays 0]

Very cool Steve! I had heard this story when I started but was unsure if it was urban legend or nat and now you come up with a photo and even a name! He was one lucky individual to survive that relatively unscathed.

--
Murray

"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

[steve1 5]

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I need to find a DC-3 to jump out of again.. its been 22 years since I had a DC-3 jump... and I dont have a single oil spot on my Infinity or my jumpsuit. Being a front floater on a DC-3 load was usually a "spotty" place to jump from.

Amazon

They usually bring the one up from Eloy to Lost Prairie. Maybe you can get a jump out of it there. And you don't have to worry about oil spots either. It has a nice interior. It may take a while to get to altitude though.

We used to rent several different DC-3's and Twin Beechs from the Smoke Jumpers, at Missoula, (back in the 70's). I don't think they have one left now. The new turbine aircraft they have now days really spoil you in a hurry...Steve1

[SKYWHUFFO 1]

OK up till about 3or 4 years ago there was a DC-3 that set with only one engine in Richmond indiana for several years at skydive Wayne co/skydive Ricmond/Areodrome skysports. Sombody said it was sold to go to a museum maybe? Anyone know much about that plane or where it went. I can remember as a little boy watching the nationals at Richmond and seeing a pilot fold a langing gear of a DC-3 on landing, coming in too steep and hard. I also remember a pilot having to land a DC-3 with a big chunk out of the rear wing after a jumper who was outside the plane on the step had a premature deployment and was pulled into the wing. Does anyone else remember these or any of the other things that happend during the nationals at Richmond?
Blues!
D

[darkwing 5]

I don't remember those. I was at the nationals in Richmond in '78 and '79. I do remember a "crash" on takeoff that was due to a rudder lock problem. Maybe my memories aren't very good though. What years were the nationals at Richmond.

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

[SKYWHUFFO 1]

WOW, I remember it happening, i don't remember the year, maybe 76-77-78ish. that was alot of years,beers and altitude ago to remember the date. the nationals being there is the cause of my addiction we call skydiving! HA! My parents say i told them then I would jump some day. I figured sombody would remember somthing besides the beacon rides and the party at the Holiday inn that got the Nat''s banned from Richmond. I hope sombody else remembers these happening.

[mjosparky 4]

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I don't remember those. I was at the nationals in Richmond in '78 and '79. I do remember a "crash" on takeoff that was due to a rudder lock problem. Maybe my memories aren't very good though. What years were the nationals at Richmond.

It was 1978, a blue DC-3 and the control cables hung up on something and it would not rotate.

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I figured sombody would remember somthing besides the beacon rides and the party at the Holiday inn that got the Nat''s banned from Richmond. I hope sombody else remembers these happening.

The party at the Holiday Inn was in 1980, and it was a party. I got my Otley number at that party.
Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[RogerRamjet 0]

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Well the original post in this thread was asking for info on current DC 3s dropping jumpers but has changed to a nostalgia tour of old Dac's we all used to jump.
So here is my contribution
The DC 3 on landing roll is dragging Capt Micheal Reid of The Canadian Armed Forces from the door. This was Boxing day 79, Micheal was rear float wearing one of those ridiculous balloon suits we all used to think were necessary for rel work.
His cuff got locked around the bottom hinge of the rear door at exit and he rode the whole way down from 12500 like that. If memory serves me right, the pilot had no idea he was there.
In the end he required a new reserve, container, and hockey helmet, all of which were worn away on the run way.
Second photo is one we used in Aussie every once in a while. Used to arrive as a charter plane, seats and wall sconces and window curtains, just like an airliner of the 40s & 50s. We would all help strip it down for the weekend for jumping and put it all back together again at the end.
This was a very well maintained bird and did a lot of bussiness doing out back tours of Aussie.

Well, the first photo does look like the old C-47 (note the rectangular cargo door) that Z-Hills owned. If it's that one, I have hundreds of jumps from it.

We took both doors off once (and only once) and we put 8 jumpers across for exit. The pilot said it was too "wierd" to fly that way again, so we stuck with just the one door after that.

Mr. Douglas: The Deland DC3 referred to as Mr. Douglas was such a great jump plane for the time. It had two stage super chargers and climed to altitude a LOT faster than the Z-Hills plane could. It also had the interior insulation still in so was pretty quiet, jump seats down both sides, and an 8 speaker 8-track tape system that usually had Dark Side of the Moon playing on it. I was on a load in Deland once with 60 jumpers on that plane!

I believe that plane was lost in Alaska along with the pilot and co-pilot taking off with a load of frozen fish. I heard it lost an engine on take off, but made an ok landing into a river bed only to have the fish come up through the cockpit taking out the pilots. I believe a replacement plane was purchased and also christened Mr. Douglas for the Deland operation. Can anyone verify any of that?

-----------------------
Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

[diverdriver 5]

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I believe a replacement plane was purchased and also christened Mr. Douglas for the Deland operation. Can anyone verify any of that?

The only "Mr. D" that I know of is N129H. Have not heard the lore of another 3 called Mr. D. But I'm learning all the time.

Chris Schindler
www.diverdriver.com
ATP/D-19012
FB #4125

[377 22]

WFFC had a beautiful DC 3 at Rantoul last year, N26MA if I recall correctly. It was a real 1939 airliner DC 3 not a C 47. Had Wright engines. Owned and flown by Skip Evans, used to fly at Elsinore. Didn't get too many loads which probably means it won't come back. Today's jumpers just want fast lift, not a nostalgic half hour journey to jump altitude. I made almost every DC 3 load. LOVE that plane!

2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.