Skydive 206, if I have the right BCP username attached to the correct person, please accept my condolences on the passing of Van Sr. I just heard that he had been missing and that today they confirmed the aircraft had been found.

A larger than life character for sure... he will be remembered in countless stories at drop zones around the world for many years into the future.

On behalf of the old Cal City crowd, our thoughts and sympathies are with you and your family.

Bill Berle
(former contest #VB back in the day)

Mine as well. BSBD Van, we'll miss you, but your stories will live on! When I was at Perris jumping a few weeks ago his name came up.

Fill us in Bill does this have anything to do with this? These people were from Cal city.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-m ... story.html

I don't know much at all. A good friend of mine who was a jumper during the heyday of Van's skydiving operation in Cal City sent me an e-mail saying that Van Prey had passed away, and attached this article:

-------------------------
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
“Extremely rugged” mountains near the California-Nevada border are making it tough for search and rescue crews to reach wreckage of what could be a small plane that disappeared on its way to Henderson.
It will likely be Thursday before anyone can get to the aircraft, according to California’s San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
Civil Air Patrol search crews spotted the remains of the plane about 9:15 a.m. Wednesday on Clark Mountain in Mojave National Preserve, about 60 miles southwest of the Las Vegas Valley, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
A Beechcraft Bonanza disappeared from radar around 8 p.m. Tuesday while flying from California City, about 65 miles west of Barstow, Calif., to Henderson, the FAA said. There were two people on board.
They have not been accounted for.
Authorities have not confirmed whether the wreckage found Wednesday is the missing plane.
San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Cindy Bachman said crews can not see the aircraft’s tail number — like a license plate for a car — but that the color seems to match that of the missing plane. She said the wreckage is in an “extremely rugged site” at about 5,000 feet in elevation.
First responders from the San Bernardino County coroner’s office and the National Transportation Safety Board were assisting the sheriff’s deputies in scouting the crash site from a helicopter Wednesday and trying to determine how to reach the wreckage, Bachman said.
“They’re experienced,” she said. “They might know how to get to them.”
National Park Service personnel are helping on the ground, though the wreckage is in “more of a climbing type of topography,” said John Piastuck, chief ranger for Mojave National Preserve.
The peak of Clark Mountain rises almost 8,000 feet above the desert floor and is surrounded by relatively flat terrain, Piastuck said. The nearest road is Interstate 15, roughly 3 miles to the south, he said.
An FAA spokesman refused to comment on what may have caused the crash.
San Bernardino County skies had some clouds and light rain Tuesday night, according to the National Weather Service.
And strong winds are making it even more difficult to reach. If crews cannot rappel down to the site from aircraft, they will have to hike up to it.
Bachman expected crash site assessment to wrap Wednesday evening and recovery efforts to pick up again Thursday.
Clark Mountain is the highest point in Mojave National Preserve, but it lies in an isolated, little-visited pocket of wilderness north of I-15. The rest of the 1.5 million acre park lies between I-15 and Interstate 40 to the south.

----------------------------------

I have nothing more on the accident itself. What I can tell you is that Van had a pretty significant amount of flight hours, and knew the desert pretty well. There were some things that he did in airplanes that I really didn't agree with or condone, but he was known as a good stick. I was there the day that he totalled a Blanik using nothing but air, and lived to walk away. The story of two totally clapped out 206 jump planes with identical paint and N numbers... operating at two different airports... is the stuff of legend.

Apparently that's the same accident I was trying to reference in my previous post.

I knew van well. Great guy. Used to laugh because he gave off the grumpy bastard look but would chat and help you out at a drop of a hat.

I started my skydiving life at cal city. He was a great pilot but did things his way
Very sad day.

One engine. Dark. Raining. Mt storm. Is anyone surprised?