Don Kellner earned USPA 45,000-Jump Wings #1 after making his 45,000th skydive on Saturday, April 20, over Above the Poconos Skydivers, which he and his wife Darlene own, in Hazleton, Pennsylvania. He made the jump in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the first intentional freefall, which Leslie Irvin completed April 28, 1919, in Dayton, Ohio.
For the jump, Kellner used a United Parachute Technologies leather Vector which the company made as a display rig. Company president Bill Booth loaned Kellner the rig for the milestone jump, which UPT says will be the rig’s only skydive.
The day of the jump was windy, and Kellner waited all day for the winds to die down. He still spots every jump manually.
