D-105

In March of '58 I made two SL's followed by my first FF next week from a Meyers Bi-Wing. I honestly believe the only reason I recieved any SL's was that my civilian "Instructors" were ex-Airborne. Took me 15 more very intersting FF's of 15-30 seconds to achieve real stability and those first 22 jumps were made under Air Force 28' red/white Ripstop canopies with no sleeves. Opening Shock always left a lasting impression on you body! The first sleeve we saw came from Sherman Reed who returned that summer from France touting this new fangled packing idea. We seriously considered selling tickets to his first jump as we all knew that the canopy would never open with that huge tent streched over it. Fortunately, the Parachute Club of America came along just in time with the likes of Jaques Istel, Lew Sanborn, Russ Gunby and countless other stalwart building blocks of the future of Parachuting, and SAFETY became the mantra. Pretty soon every student was receiving 5 SL's before moving on to progressive delayed jumps and each affiliated Club had a designated Safety Officer. We even had a Licensing system. Progress was truly underway. In answer to WH's question as to what sort of airplane would catapult us civilians to 12,500' and above, in November of '59 my logbook shows that myself and 4 other jumpers exited our club Howard DGA15 at 17,500' and the note says the freezing temps in the cabin and dwindling Oxygen supply kept us from hanging on longer for a higher altitude. Our C180 was our work horse to 9,500' and another C180 around 1962 set an altitude record for the highest jump made in Missouri when Ken Sisler (MOH in Viet Nam) and two other jumpers exited at almost 21,000', and at Orange, MASS. the Nordyne Norseman had a great reputation for hauling and climbing. All it took was time and patience adn the plus part was that if you were qualified in the airplane, you might consider loggng the flight time! Being an "Old Timer" sure beats the alternative...... Airborne!