Jim Stewart wrote:
Jim Chandler wrote:

Jim Stewart wrote:

Jim Chandler wrote:

Jim Stewart wrote:

So after work, I drove out to the airport to
do a little work on my airplane. I keep it
at a rural airport that is small and quiet.

As I'm driving up to my hanger, I see a guy
walking up the road towards me. He wearing
a leather jacket, a beret, and has a red beard.

I've seen this guy somewhere. I stop the car
and wait for him to walk by me. I'm sure it's
the guy. I ask him, "aren't you the Mythbusters
guy?", He replies, "yes, I am". He's Jamie
Hyneman, cohost of Mythbusters. I get out and
shake his hand and tell him I like his show.
He seems tired and uninterested, so I don't
pursue him. He says they are finishing up a
shoot. I presume that it must have something to
do with parachutes or skydiving since the airport
has a world-class skydiving school.

Airport is 2Q3, Yolo County, California

Pretty strange huh?




That's my old stomping grounds. I used to jump there when I lived
in Vacaville. Many fond memories of the place.



Very nice place. Lots of unusual planes and
good people. I myself don't jump out of perfectly
good aircraft, but I did just get back from doing
some touch-and-go's and some ground reference
maneuvers practicing for my practical exam. It
seemed like every student in the valley flew
out to Yolo to practice today. It's usually
much quieter.


You have obviously never been in a jump plane with one of the crazy
assed pilots that fly them. You're GLAD to get out! :-) Now that you
mention it, Yolo is where I soloed back in 1967, just prior to going
to Vietnam. I took my training at the no longer existant glider port
between Vacaville and Fairfield. Getting to final there was a fun
trip. Base was flown behind and BELOW the ridge to the east. You
couldn't see the runway until the ridge went away. That's when you
turned in and lined up. Those were the days. $27/hr, WET plus $10
for the instructor, as I recall.


I rent my hanger space from the owner of the
skydiving place. He said I can fly left seat
in the jump plane sometime. I just haven't
had the time. I guess I'll have to try it
to find out how motivated I'd be to jump (:

You still fly?


I fly when I can afford it, which lately isn't very often. I think it's
been over a year since I flew. i'm building an ultralight right now.
Hopefully, that will close the gaps a bit. I owned a '47 Stinson but I
wrecked it outside El Paso in '96 and sold the wreck three years ago,
thus the e-mail address. I haven't jumped since I made the two illegal
jumps from the C-130 I was a loadmaster on back in 1983. I keep
thinking about it but the closest DZ is about 100 miles away and it
would cost about $500 just to get in one jump, what with the training
course and all. I'm hoping to get the U/L going this winter so I can
take it down on the border and use it for aerial surveillance with the
Minutemen.

Jim