My dropzone is going to close, Cal-City

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Nov. 25th. is the last fun day in skydiving, an end of a era.

Yeah... and in Cal City Fashion... it will probably be blowin' like a mother fuc...

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I have allways wanted to head over to his dads place after to listening to all the stories he told!

Well... you got about 3 weeks... you still could.

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He allways told awesome stories about Cal-City.

Yeah, ask him about the time his wife was explaining to the Cal City Police Dept how a bunch of drunk skydivers got a rental car "upside-down" on the landing area one Saturday night.

I will definetly ask him about it the next time I see him!!

Honestly I was looking at plane tickets when I first saw this thread, but I think the trip to Eloy this winter is going to spread me a little too thin!

Man, that sucks!! I remember a late afternoon (I.E. Night!!) jump trying to do a 20 way round on a tandem. The tandem was Bill Estes and the manifest girl whose name I have forgotten. I also remember the first night jump out the Otter. I got stuck spotting and even wrapped in a blanket by the open door I was barely coherent by the time we got to altitude! I wonder what will happen to that workhorse 206 they have. That plane has more time than any aircraft I know.

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Man, that sucks!! I remember a late afternoon (I.E. Night!!) jump trying to do a 20 way round on a tandem. The tandem was Bill Estes and the manifest girl whose name I have forgotten. I also remember the first night jump out the Otter. I got stuck spotting and even wrapped in a blanket by the open door I was barely coherent by the time we got to altitude! I wonder what will happen to that workhorse 206 they have. That plane has more time than any aircraft I know.

Her name is Melissa. The 206 is still there and Jr. bought it for a jump plane back east, That plane has been in a few TV shows over the years, remember when the 206 went thru the fence? and there was another one out there painted the same for "Twilight zone" TV show. well they use the jump plane 206 to blow up in the show, and rebuilt and rewinged the movie plane that's now flying jumpers.

I should be out there in Dec to help my dad get everything packed up.. I will be taking the Twin Otter, 206 and adding them to my 2 other 206s. I dont know where I will end up with them. I couldnt make the payments on that empire but if I can keep these planes flying and not fuc up maybe I will build my own. Jr.

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I should be out there in Dec to help my dad get everything packed up.. I will be taking the Twin Otter, 206 and adding them to my 2 other 206s. I dont know where I will end up with them. I couldnt make the payments on that empire but if I can keep these planes flying and not fuc up maybe I will build my own. Jr.

Heeeeeyyyy... Junior... any possibilty of "Bandit Jumps" back into Cal City (we could land at Philly's house... their will be beer there) when y'all fly the Otter and 206 off in December?









Just Kidding!

Wow. Crap. I just realized no more "demo" jumps onto the golf course on the 4th of July.

I'll never forget my first briefing to be on the demo into the Cal City golf course on the 4th July... it went something like...


Philly (pointing): That's where we're landing.
Me: Where?
Philly (pointing): There! On the fairway just west of the big lake / water hazard with the island and bridge going to it... near the softball fields.
Me: Which fairway west of the water hazard?
Philly: Awh, fuck it, just follow me... CUT!

maybe someone will open up at Fox Field in lancaster or reopen apple valley????

I've heard Will's name, Lancaster & Fox Field thrown around together, but I'm not sure if its really anything more than just that... folks yapin'.


As for Apple Valley... the Drop Zone there and the Airport never really got along.


Now I am wanting even more than ever a high speed rail that goes from Ridgecrest to Perris... okay, with stops in Cal City, Rosamond & Lancaster for my buds there... ... and a bar on the train too!

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As for Apple Valley... the Drop Zone there and the Airport never really got along.

)]

Yeah but it sure was fun while it lasted.

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I've heard Will's name, Lancaster & Fox Field thrown around together, but I'm not sure if its really anything more than just that... folks yapin'.

Fox Field was the first place I ever saw a skydiver, My Dad had a C-140 there, I remember walking to where they were landing, those guys looked so cool, with there big boots, belley mounts, bell star helmets, all ways wanted to be one,.....

I'd love to see a DZ there, that would be 12 mins from my house.

just wishfull thinking.

I talked to Rose about reopening Apple Valley, she said "been there , done that",.... "that I could give it a try"

Memories...
Like the corners of my mind
Misty water-colored memories
Of the way we were
Scattered pictures,
Of the smiles we left behind
Smiles we gave to one another
For the way we were
Can it be that it was all so simple then?
Or has time re-written every line?
If we had the chance to do it all again
Tell me, would we? could we?
Memries, may be beautiful and yet
Whats too painful to remember
We simply choose to forget
So its the laughter
We will remember
Whenever we remember...
The way we were...
The way we were...

Crosspost. I just posted this in the history forum

I am so sad about this.

So many stories, so many pictures, so much fun.
Thank you Cal City for introducing me to AFF.

Van and Roberta, thank you!!!

As well as Soko, April, Joey, Janell, Kenny. And of course Bob and Judy for letting everyone crash at their house. And Mima. Tony...well, you are tons of fun.

Robert, thank you for the great meals. Keep all of those kitties safe.

Antoinette...you look wonderfull.

Good luck to each and every one of you!!

~ Lisa

So where am I gonna jump now?
_____________________________

Ahh Cary, c'mon, Elsinore of course.

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Keep all of those kitties safe.

Actually... I was thinking selling the DZ was a pretty drastic way of getting rid of all the stray cats around the place... especially when most of us had perfectly acceptable Remington "cat catchers" in the backs of our cars most weekends at the DZ.

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Keep all of those kitties safe.

Actually... I was thinking selling the DZ was a pretty drastic way of getting rid of all the stray cats around the place... especially when most of us had perfectly acceptable Remington "cat catchers" in the backs of our cars most weekends at the DZ.

But ya never used it did ya??

Not that you know about.

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Not that you know about.

Yeah, whatever. LOL

Ok, Val and I are coming out on the 24th and spending the night in a classroom for old time's sake and bringing down the house with y'all on the 25th.

Is there still belly flier there?

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Is there still belly flier there?

I haven't been there since July. I have no idea.

Good memories of Cal-city. I was a fairly new jumper when I went there years ago. I didn't have a rig - they let me use one. I don't remember if they charged me for it, but if they did, it wasn't much (my home DZ charges $25 for every jump with a rental). This old guy packed my parachute for me, since I didn't even know how to pack. It was Van I had no idea who he was - I think I was even to new to know that you're supposed to tip the packers

Soko(sp?) was very helpful in explaining tracking to me, and Smitty gave me a patch from his old Navy outfit. I landed in high winds, sprained my ankle, got dragged by the canopy and rescued by the tandem catchers. Then we all went to dinner at a local place, and I left all my gear there on accident. Next day, I had to make another 2-hour drive out there to retrieve my helmet and altimeter. Was I really this much of a doofus? And more importantly, am I still?

Anyway, Cal-city seemed like a real dropzone, the way a dropzone should be. Not a tandem factory, not a lot of skygods, not about the almighty dollar. Just good times, good jumps. For a few years after, they still sent me newsletters in the mail, and I had a good time reading about the people I barely knew. Thanks to everyone that made it a great dz for my short time there.

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So what will become of the oldest, skydiving Twin Otter in the US?
I have many sweet jumps from it at Cal City.

BASE359

Correction (I think??)...The oldest flying Otter (serial # 15) is in Fentress, Texas at Skydive San Marcos. Retrofitted of course with dash 27's and a 200 series wing.
I see though that the Cal-City Otter is advertised for lease.

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Correction (I think??)...The oldest flying Otter (serial # 15) is in Fentress...

Hmmmm... I'll have to look before she goes away, but I think N121PM (Desert Express... aka: The Cal City Otter) is serial # 14... or at least the I.D. tag on the empenage says s/n 14... , if I'm correct.

Anyway, where did you see the Cal-City Otter advertised for lease?

The one at Cal-City N121PM is older, S/N 14, first one sold to the commercial market.