Photo by Jim Harris.
In 1982, 23 years after Bill Morrissey’s first skydive, he set a meeting with Ted Strong at a restaurant in Orlando, Florida. Morrissey asked Strong to build equipment for holding two adults in freefall and under canopy, and Strong agreed. What followed—the design process, test jumping, and many challenges overcome—would change the landscape of the sport forever. After 18 years as tandem director, Morrissey left Strong Enterprises, but can still be found in the skies above Skydive City Zephyrhills in Florida. Every skydiver who was introduced to jumping through a tandem, or has brought a friend or family member to make a tandem jump, has Morrissey to thank. His dedication over the years is directly responsible for millions of moments of happiness, thousands of feet above the Earth.
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“Bill and I have visited many times over many years, in many venues, sharing jumps and personal struggles and history. And I remain starstruck, mostly by his integrity, his personable nature and his love for people. Undoubtedly, tandem skydiving emerged through many contributors, but it certainly would not have become an industry without his involvement.” —Jen Sharp, Parachutist profilee #159
Age: 86
Height: 5’8”
Birthplace: New York City
Marital Status: Widower
Children: One daughter, who passed at 41
Occupation: Retired; formerly 18 years as tandem director for Strong Enterprises, as well as test jumper, skydiving instructor, examiner and jump pilot
Pre-Jump Superstitions: None. I am just ready for anything.
Hobbies: I shoot pool.
Life Philosophy: You don’t have to be excellent. You just have to try to be excellent.
Jump Philosophy: A tandem is not just another skydive.
Team Name: Long Island Skydivers (during my accuracy days at Nationals)
Sponsors: Airtec/SSK, Performance Designs, Strong Enterprises
Container: Right now, a Strong Enterprises Quasar. Way back when? A Wonderhog.
Main Canopy: PD Storm 170
Reserve: Strong Enterprises Stellar 170
AAD: Airtec CYPRES
Home DZ: Skydive City Zephyrhills, Florida
Licenses: B-381, C-352, D-516
Year of First Jump: 1959 … About three years after, as a 17-year-old, I watched paratroopers jump at an airshow and said to myself, “That’s what I want to be!” After I made my first jump at Fort Bragg, I couldn’t wait to call my dad and tell him, “This is the coolest thing ever!”
Total Number of Jumps: 7,400-plus
Tandem: 3,300-plus
Accuracy: Hundreds?
Freefly: 200-plus
CF: 200-ish
Demos: Yes, back in the day!
FS: The rest
Largest Completed Formation: 30-way
Cutaways: 8
Most people don’t know this about me:
I was genuinely frightened being a test jumper during the development of tandem, mostly in 1984. I went to the doctor, and he asked, “Are you under any sort of a strain?” I said, “Yes, I’m frightened to death to go to work!” I don’t want anybody to think I was heroic at all. I did what I did while I was frightened, but … Continue the mission. Keep moving forward.
How long do you plan on skydiving?
After 63 years, I still get the thrill as I exit the plane. A few years ago, Tom Noonan took me to Nepal with him. While flying in the helicopter, I had quiet time and looked out the window down at the mountains we were flying over, and back up to the other mountains that were higher than us, and I said to myself, this is who I am, and I belong here. This is what I am. So, I intend to keep skydiving ‘til I fall over dead.
How did tandem skydiving begin?
After our 1982 meeting, Ted Strong hugged me and said, “We’ll never lose another student.” The following year, he took me for my first tandem. It was his ninth tandem jump. Then we switched positions and I took him. After that, I was the world’s first tandem examiner and program director. My next jump—my third tandem—was the world’s first tandem malfunction.
What happened?
At that year’s Turkey Meet at Skydive City Zephyrhills, I was promoting and demonstrating the new idea of tandem jumping. Volunteer (experienced) skydiver Anibel Dow and I left a DC-3 at 14,000 feet, before the era of drogues. After getting to some never-before-reached speeds, the opening shock at 6,500 feet was so violent that eight of the 10 A lines broke, ripping the canopy from front to back. The opening also elongated the large ring in the three-ring system, preventing the riser from releasing after our cutaway. Fortunately, I deployed the reserve anyway, and the change in tension allowed the riser to release.
After that experience, I decided I was going to devote myself to this project that turned into tandem jumping. That jump could have turned out much differently and shaped many things that followed. Tandem development would have been delayed many years.
Were you a hard child to raise?
I’d have to say I was a difficult child. I was in boarding school from age 8 to 15. I was a fire bug. I blew up an automobile by putting a newspaper in the gas tank and lighting it on fire. Fortunately, I had a thick cotton snowsuit on, so the gas was on the snowsuit, not on me. I was running around on fire and the other boys rolled me in the dirt and put me out. But yes, I was always sneaking out at night and being a general pain in the ass. I wasn’t mean, though.
The toughest thing to do in skydiving is:
Handling it when we lose someone. How much weight that puts on me. How I hurt.
What is your perfect day like?
Two skydives and four hours of playing pool.
Most embarrassing moment at the drop zone:
In the 1962 Ripcord Cup Meet, I was awarded the “Worst Jump of Meet” trophy. It has a little duck on it, and I’ve carried it with me ever since to remind me this is dangerous stuff we’re doing.
Any suggestions for students?
Save yourself. I remember many times I told myself, “Save your ass, Billy Boy.” Jumping should be a very structured process because when something happens—during that traumatic reaction—people freeze.
Any suggestions for tandem instructors?
Teach your tandem students how to skydive. They don’t need to hold onto their harness. They can exit. You can teach them to exit. I teach them how to turn in freefall and track. And they can pull and fly the canopy. It doesn’t require any more on my part. It’s so quick! It’s so easy! They think and act while in that alien 120-mile-per-hour environment, and quite possibly might become a skydiver. It’s what Ted Strong and I envisioned at the beginning.
What do you consider your most significant life achievement?
My daughter. But in skydiving, what I was able to accomplish with tandem. Mostly, having people take it seriously. This is not something you handle lightly.