Bill Cole..Some skydiving history

Bill Cole...Canadian Skydiver

I met Bill Cole a couple of years ago at Skydive SWOOP when I was still on student status. He was 68 years old at the the time and he had not jumped for a good few years. He used to visit the DZ every couple of weeks and just sit around watching the canopies come down. He didn't talk very much and nobody really seemed to pay him much attention. Eventually I got chatting to him and he told me a couple of old skydiving stories that were certainly very interesting. I wasn't too sure that I believed them but he was a nice old guy and I used to enjoy talking with him. I remember him snickering when he told me that his CSPA membership had been revoked for life TWICE!!

I haven't seen him for a while now but I just found this article about his skydiving career and it really is quite the story. Seems CSPA couldn't do much to stifle his antics. Have a read..it's very interesting and check out the photo of the jump he did with the 25 ft risers. Here's the URL...
http://hometown.aol.com/pricesmoneypit/myhomepage/ extreme.html

If anyone knows Bill and has some stories, please share.

Cheers

I remember when his chuteless jump happened, and just how big it was. I was too young to jump then, but hung out with the skydivers at the local grass strip airport, spending most of the weekends holding tension for them. Our intrepid skydivers were jumping rags and spending much of their air time in unsuccessful attempts just to complete a baton pass. Bill's exhibition completely blew them away. For those that can't see just how big a deal this was then, think of skydiving with no videos, no real coaching on how to fly, etc. Highly experienced jumpers then might have 200 jumps. A D license really meant you were an expert. At many DZ's then, just getting a 3 way together was a successful dive. It was truly a period of learn by trying, and too often, die by trying. Jumping without a chute and trusting on that handoff was unbelievable.

Tom B

That jump was filmed by a friend of mine, Mike Swain. I have a copy of it. The jump was later duplicated by Billy Revis. Billy died in a plane crash in the late 70's.

If anyone wants more info on Cole's jump, check out Mike's ad on the CSA web page. = = Ron Schott, Founder/Administrator CHRISTIAN SKYDIVERS ASSOCIATION D 1120, POPS 1868, ACA L1869, CSA 1, FOB 316, DDW 872, CCA AN03-881

Hello y'all. I made my last jump on Aug 6th 2007, and my first on Aug 5th 1962. Its been a great ride, and I dont regret anything ecept I would like to have started about 10 years earlier.

The chuteless jumps I did were done for several reasons.

When Rod Pack did his Jan 1 1965, the Toronto Telegram newspaper headline was : The Greatest Stunt In History" and I though it would be great to do that kind of stunt and did so Aug 20 1969.. We didnt get much in the way of film of still photos on the first, so I decided to do it again...in 1972.
The jump itself really wasnt much of a big deal...just another jump like all the others, but it got CSPA kinda pissed off at me real quick. CSPA then became my promotional managers, and everytime they opened their mouth to discredit me, I got more air shows, more stunts,more sponsors, and more money.

Many CSPA types hate me because I made something from my jumping...and they have for the most part....never met me.

Strange world, eh?

Bill Cole D-41