Jim Hooper's N4395N DetailsThe photo of N4395N (now Calvin Arter's "Cessna 196, Gallery 12, Row 2") brought back many memories of its days as a jump plane at Zephyrhills Parachute Center in Florida.The photo shows it with C-47 N140T jump plane, flown by Richard Porter, soon after 95N received a wing/main spar replacement due to inner-grannular corrosion, and a new Imron paint job. Given the amount of TLC lavished on it, it certainly wasn't a JUNK plane then. And it could climb. With minimal fuel and six jumpers, it reached 12,500 in 11 minutes. After I sold Zephyrhills Parachute Center and moved to England as a writer, I heard that 95N went to another jump operation in south Florida, where it ended up on its back as the result of a landing mishap. Guess that's part of the reason for it having an almost completely new airframe these days. Given the hundreds of jumps I made from that airplane, I'm very pleased someone has gone to so much trounle and expense to restore her.
Jim Hooper
|