In “the world of parachuting” (yes there is a world of parachuting already) the paying customers favorite has always been the Douglas DC-3 of WWII era fame with the door off and 30 paratrooper seats with safety belts. That is tourism at its best, every day in Central Florida. The professional skydivers and manufacturers of most of the equipment all know and remember “one DC-3 standout” anointed as merely, “MR. DOUGLAS” N129H.
A 75-year-old crew-dog for the “Mr. Douglas DC-3” is a combat wounded veteran of the Vietnam War U.S. Army Airborne Rangers plans on parachuting out of an authentic WWII C-47 Skytrain paratrooper airplane of the D-DAY SQUADRON over Normandy, France during the annual D-Day Commemorations. The D-Day Squadron member Dallas Wittgenfeld would be flying his Band of Brothers’ “SCREAMING EAGLE PARACHUTE” as features in the WWII 101st Airborne Memorial programs over Normandy and its landing beaches in early June 2024.
Aeronaut Dallas Wittgenfeld is a commercial rated, multi-engine & instrument fixed wing pilot also type rated in hot-air-balloons. Based on the skydiving capital of the world, DeLand Florida, affords me multi-access to major parachute manufactures and the military government contractors who build them. I collect buy, sell, and trade my very own military parachute teams DXed parachutes. I own them, rebuild them, and I fly them just like the D-Day Squadron does but in nylon and strings.
Wittgenfeld’s collection of military team demonstration parachutes are unique in all of the world. He has two ARMY TEAM parachutes, a SCREAMING EAGLE TEAM parachute, AIR FORCE ACADEMY TEAM parachute, and a NAVY TEAM parachute. Just as unique are his two additional AMERICAN FLAG parachutes all seen here.
The D-Day Squadron 2024 Normandy Tour has a 101st Airborne Division “Screaming Eagle DC-3” featuring in memorial programs all over France & Germany this June 2024. The Mr. Douglas DC-3 D-Day Squadron membership parachutists already feature the authentic “Screaming Eagle Parachute”.
In the past 55 years of parachuting and a stint in the elite special forces trained U. S. Army Airborne Rangers during the Vietnam War conflict, I have progressed exactly as the entire parachute and aviation industries also. In the 1970s parachutists cut holes in their round parachutes in a certain pattern to make them turn but obviously would come down faster. That is when I began. When a round parachute could kick your ass. In the military when I began to experiment with newly invented square parachutes I was called “a dare devil”. Then when I flew triangular parachutes, I was called “that crazy dare devil”. When I got out of the military I was sponsored by “Aerofoil Systems” inventors and manufactures of the ram air NASA parachutes. I was provided a brand new “5 Cell ParaSled” flat-square with a rings and ropes de-reefing system on openings. The slider was not invented yet. To a young 24 year old, it was scary.