EDITOR QUINCY HERALD WHIG FULL
EDITOR QUINCY HERALD WHIG FREE

We’re going to do this again.’ The hotels provided complimentary rooms for a lot of our staff members, and the automobile dealerships provided us a fleet of cars for all our pilots and our instructors. I’d have to go back and say, ‘All right, everybody. “We were the largest international event held in the state of Illinois at the time. “I’ve got more energy now than I’ve ever had, so that’s never a limiting factor,” he said.

EDITOR QUINCY HERALD WHIG FREE

Kirlin says if he received the same level of support that he received from Quincy businesses, as well as the Illinois Division of Tourism, he would seriously consider breathing life back into the free fall convention. “Quincy has already hosted this event, and the citizens really don’t care for us to host it again.” “The World Free Fall event is not the type of event that our city or region desires,” Spring wrote in a letter to Ebbing. Ed Husar, a reporter with the Quincy Herald-Whig, reported on April 7, 2007, that John Spring, then the mayor of Quincy, quickly quashed that idea. Rob Ebbing, then the executive director of the Quincy Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, was leading an effort to bring back the skydiving convention in 2008 after the event’s contract expired in Rantoul. Police arrested 18 people during the 2001 event, and the event moved to Rantoul in 2002. However, the Quincy Police Department beefed up its presence at the 2001 convention in response to complaints about public disturbances, nudity and underage drinking at the 2000 event. More than $7,400 was raised for various local charities. More than 63,000 jumps were made that year, along with more than 450 tandem jumps. The 2000 convention drew more than 5,700 registrations, with people coming from all 50 states and 55 foreign countries. Many of them stayed in a “tent city” on the airport grounds, but visitors ordinarily filled local hotels throughout the 10-day event. When the convention was in Quincy, it typically attracted more than 4,000 skydivers from around the world. I now would have the time if I wanted to do it again.” Don Kirlin and his wife, Susie, after Kirlin’s induction into the Illinois Aviation Hall of Fame last month. Everybody who runs Air USA knows what they’re doing. “With that said, I’ve retired from the airlines, and I have a good management staff. The logistics and preparation for that was monumental. You’re building a city that can accommodate more than 5,000 people, and you’ve got to build it in seven days.

EDITOR QUINCY HERALD WHIG FULL

I was trying to do those two things and organize the free fall convention, which basically takes a full year of preparation to put on that event. We were doing adversary air contract work for the Air Force, the Navy and the Marine Corps. At the same time, Air USA (which he owned and founded) was just going gangbusters. “At the time I quit doing the free fall convention, I was an American Airlines pilot. “I’ve thought about it, and I’ll tell you why,” Kirlin said. During a recent interview, Kirlin said he has more time to sink his teeth into an event that was one the largest gatherings of skydivers from around the world during its 17-year run - 12 years in Quincy and from 2002 to 2006 in Rantoul. The man who created and organized the World Free Fall Convention at Quincy Regional Airport from 1990 to 2001 says he’s thinking about bringing it back.ĭon Kirlin was one of four people inducted into the Illinois Aviation Hall of Fame during a June 16 banquet at the Holiday Inn in Champaign.

Editor quincy herald whig