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automatically hy a static line or
other device Broadwick made
more than 1,100 jumps during
her career.
The most incredible single
skydive of all time was made in
I960 by Joseph W Kittengcr
He lea|x;d from a gondola
102,000 feet above New Mex
ico During his four and a half
minute free fall to IK,(MX) feet,
he reached an almost
unbclievcablc terminal
velocity of 702 m.p.h
The average terminal
velocity of a diver is
only 120 m.p.h.
But gone are the days
of daredevils like
Broadwick and the
round parachutes that
offered little control
and left the (umper at
the whim of fickle
winds Today most
skydivers. excluding
the military
paratroopers, use ram
air canopies or airfoils,
called "squares” in
skydiving circles.
These squares actually
fly. according to
Wright, and have a for
ward airspeed of bet
ween 20 and 35 mph
and arc greatly
maneuverable "We
could throw a frisbec
out in the parking lot.
and I could jump out of
a plane at 12.000 feet
and land on it.” Wright
say s
The relatively recent airfoil
innovation has mailc skydiving
more like Hying a plane than
floating to the ground under "a
huge airbrake." the term Wright
uses to describe the big ri>und
chutes the airfoils have slowly
replaced in the past 10 or 12
years since their emergence.
The square chutes are shaped
and act like an airplane wing.
Wright says, and the jumper
lands stalling the chute just
before touching down just as a
pilot docs vsith the wing of an
airplane when landing
Scott Piel, another local
jumper with 550 jumps to his
credit, suspects the reason the
airfoil has become so popular is
because of the maneuverability
and the extremely soft landing
one can get "It's like stepping
off a curb.” he says.
Both Wright and Piel, who
were both taught the sport by
Wright's father, Jim. say the
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sport is very sale t<*dav thanks to
improvements in technology.
"It one obeys the rules of the
sport it is very sate." Wright
says. The times one hears about
accidents, he says, is when so
me one has been violating the
doctrines or recommendations
set out by the United States
Parachute Association. These
doctrines arc not law but only
suggestions about safety prac
I ices thal should be followed
“You can'l live without them."
Wright says.
Compared with other sports,
skydiving is surprisingly safe.
On average, according to
statistics in the United States,
about 35 fatalities occur yearly.
In 1982, for example. *XX) pco
pie were killed in bicycle ac
cidents, 7,000 people drowned
and 1.154 died of bee stings
Wright has taught nearly
1,000 students to skydive and
says that out of all those the only
injuries have been two twisted
ankles
The classes he teaches take
"two short days." and if all
goes well and the student has
learned everything he or she
needs to know and has learned it
well, the student will make the
first jump on the afternoon of the
second day The first five jumps
are made on a "static line" attat
ched to the plane and to the rip
cord of the student jumper On
those jumps the student has no
choice, the chute is pulled when
the student comes to the end of
the tether This ensures the inex
perienced diver doesn't panic
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and forget to deploy his chute.
Skydivers keep learning long
after their first free fa 11 (without
the static line). Wright says
“f.ven after you frecfall you've
got a lot of things to think
about.” A diver has graduated
from student status, Wright
says, when they can do three
things on their own decide the
proper moment to jump so they
hit the drop zone, pack their
chute anu put an tne
equipment on properly.
Despite the statistical
safety of the sport.
Wright says things can
go awry.
Wright’s father was
killed last year when
for no apparent reason
he failed to open either
his primary or reserve
parachutes
He was on the jump
when his father perish
ed. and despite witness
mg the accident, he
believes the spoil is ex
traordinarily safe.
Wright said he. his
father and two other
jumpers had just
broken up from a for
mation. called reserve
work, and everyone but
his father, ironically
the most experienced of
the group, opened their
chutes
Jim Wright had made
more than 3,500 jumps
in his more than 30
years of skydiving
Dave Wright says he thinks his
father, who was 52 at the time,
had "some kind of medical
problem
"Whether he blacked out or
went unconscious I don't know
— we'll never know." he says.
Wright says his father knew
everything there was to know
about the sport and adds, "If
there was anything he could
have done he'd have done it."
Although technically it was a
skydiving accident, Wright
doesn't consider the incident that
because there was no equipment
failure Hts father's equipment
was analyzed and found to be in
perfect functioning order
Aside from freak accidents
like his father's, Wright and Piel
note two things that skydivers
need to know how to deal with
when jumping The first is when
nothing comes out when the rip
cord is pulled — complete
failure This may seem rather a
severe problem, but it is not that
serious, Wright says, because
nothing is in the way of the
reserve chute.
The second is when the chute
may come out tangled — partial
failure In this case a jumper can
clear a path for the reserve by
releasing the tangled primary
with a special release cord. In
cither case, Wright says, you've
still got your reserve chute, and
the odds of both the primary and
the reserve chute failing is less
than that of being hit by lighln
ing three times.
Both Wright and Piel note that
in their more than 1,000 com
bined jumps neither has ever had
any sort of problem, and they
expect to continue skydiving for
a long time.
- B.J. THOMSEN
Tli„Ril«i Mdu 7 I UN7