Early Freefall

[wartload 0]

I'm was going to attach two PDF files here. They are clippings from the Washington Post in the 1930s, but they were too large. I'll put links to them instead.

http://home.gwu.edu/~brobie/Istel.pdf

http://home.gwu.edu/~brobie/boy_jumpers.pdf

[darkwing 5]

"Beer"! I note the phrase in the 1935 article about the brothers:

"They never dropped the rip-cords of their 'chutes either. Among jumpers it's a custom, if one drops his rip-cord, to TREAT other members of his school or club."

So "beer" in skydiving has been around a long time.

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

[herpster 0]

But wait. The Istel article is from 1956, and indicates that at that time American Skydiving was only a few months old. Doesn't that make 2006 the Fiftieth Anniversary of American Skydiving?!?! Or is it 2005? In any case, a celebration of some type would seem to be in order.

[wartload 0]

Quote

But wait. The Istel article is from 1956, and indicates that at that time American Skydiving was only a few months old. Doesn't that make 2006 the Fiftieth Anniversary of American Skydiving?!?! Or is it 2005? In any case, a celebration of some type would seem to be in order.

It depends on how you look at it. What constitutes "skydiving"? Note that, in 1935, the two teenagers were talking about making "delayed jumps." That's obviously freefall of some amount.

[wartload 0]

I wondered how long it would take for someone to pick up on that!

[quatorze 1]

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I wondered how long it would take for someone to pick up on that!

he's jsut that good,

and I know Jeff Wragg

I'm not afriad of dying, I'm afraid of never really living- Erin Engle