April 4, 1983: Shuttle Launch

Norman Kent of Los Angeles traveled across the country Easter week to cover the invitational 72-way meet in DeLand, FL (see story, page 25).  The day after the meet, Monday, April 4, Kent got this shot of a group of jumpers over DeLand with the space shuttle Challenger blasting off in the background from Cape Kennedy.

Eric Vickery of Bedford, MA, got this shot of an accuracy run during competition at the 1983 National Para-ski Championships at Gore Mountain in upstate New York.  More of Vickery's shots—along with the story and results from the meet—begin on page 27 of this issue of PARACHUTIST.

Craig Fronk snapped this shot of the Divine Dragons skydiving team of Taiwan making a demo jump together with the U.S. 4-way team into Taiwan Stadium before some 25,000 spectators.  For more on the U.S. Team's historic trip, see Fronk's story, which begins on page 19.

Kevin Donnelly takes in the view of the Grand Canyon from the top wing of a Stearman biplane during filming for the movie "Flyers."  See page 25 for Donnelly's story on how a special airplane-to-airplane transfer stunt for the movie was successfully pulled off.

Gus Wing, D-7117, caught this shot of the Tubesteak Boogie group forming a 24-way donut flake over Brooksville, FL at sunset.  Wing jumps regularly at the Orange drop zone in Charlottesville, VA.

Doug Sayre, D-7967, mounted his helmet camera backwards to catch this shot of Chuck Prodey exiting a C-180 over the Pelicanland DZ in Ridgely, MD.  Sayre works extensively with the Accelerated Freefall program at Pelicanland, shooting video and stills of AFF students. as well as shooting fun jumpers.

Dave Waterman of the British Parachute Association captured Geoff Sanders and Rob Colpus in a stack over the Swiss Alps near St. Moritz.  The jumps were part of a television production for Milk Tray chocolates.

Perhaps using a Navy LST for a jump platform isn't the same as leaping out of a DC-3 at 12,500 feet but Phil Murdoch and photographer John Noak, D-6410, figured it was the best they could do at the time.  Noak shot the photo during survival training for Air Force personnel in Biscayne Bay south of Miami, FL.

Steven G. Fisher, C-9705, caught this shot of the Jumpstreet CRW team members Vince Bizzarro, Terry O'Malley, Tom Morris and Bill Kowalski in front of the Ben Franklin Bridge which spans the Delaware River to link Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  The jump was a benefit for handicapped children.

Commerical artist Chuck Prodey, D-4444, provided the illustration used as the officIal emblem for the 1982 National Skydiving Championships.  the emblem, combined with Gus Wing's color shot from last year's World Meet, provides the cover for this montH's issue of PARACHUTIST.

Clarence R. "Butch" Thorne, a free-lance graphic specialist from Washington, D.C. created this month's cover design to symbolize the long history of the Parachtue Club of America and its successor, today's United States Parachute Association.  PCA's emblem—the "triangle" so familiar to old-time jumpers—was based on a sketch found in the notebook of Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), who visualized a way to get man down out of the sky before man had learned to get up.  Da Vinci neither built nor tested his design.  Surrounded by a freefall formation is today's familiar USPA wings emblem.  Artist Thorne, 36, also designed the very popular 1980 and 1981 National Championships emblems—all without ever making a jump himself.  "And I have no plans, either," he says.

Gus Wing, D-7117, a frequent contributor to PARACHUTIST, supplied this cover shot of Karen Milliken, D-5984, exiting the DC-3 Mr. Douglas over Palatka, FL.  Gus also supplied the color photos for the feature story on funnels on page 22.

Gus Mattia caught this shot of George and Harriet McCulloch, one of the most unique teams in skydiving today.  Mattia's story about the McCullochs appears on page 17 of this issue.

Erick Vickery of Bedford, MA caught this shot of the Golden Knights opening the 1982 National Para-ski Championships in Great Barrington, MA.  (Story on page 19).  The Knights choreographed the demo perfectly—they touched down just as the last notes of the National Anthem sounded.

From the "Please Release Me, Let Me Go" department comes this photo of Jorma Oster and what's left of his canopy, being dropped from a tri-plane over Malmi Airport in Helsinki, Finland  Oster used a Nikon camera with a wide-angle lens mounted on his leg to get the photo.  Oster, 28, has about 700 jumps, most of them with a camera, and is editor of Finland's "Laskuvarjourhirlu" parachuting magazine.

John Noak, D-6410, caught this shot of Clay Muse, Harry Becker and others flooding out the door of a Twin Beech over Coolidge, AZ.

Pattie Gillespie caught Joy Burtis landing on the bow of the 65-foot yacht Shaman in Lake Union near Seattle, WA on her 1,000th jump.  Jumps of this nature can be very tricky and must be made in accordance with USPA's Basic Safety Regulations.  In addition, they should also conform with USPA Part 113, Doctrine, Water Jumps; and USPA Part 118, Doctrine, Demonstration Jumps.

Gus Wing, D-7117, took this sunset photo of the Perris Valley CReW team at the World Meet Boogie.  Gus, a regular jumper in Orange, VA, is currently residing in Zephyrhills, FL.

U.S. Parachute Team photographer Jim Baker caught this shot of Glenn Bangs, Mark Gabriel and Bob Finn of the U.S. 4-way Team lined up on 40-Tango for a practice exit shortly before their gold medal finish in the World Parachuting Championships.  Not pictured is the fourth member of the team, Andy Gerber (who is inside the aircraft).  This month's story on the World Meet, and the U.S. Team's gold sweep, begins on page 15.

Rob Omstead, D-6747, Ernie Smith, C-14793, and Barney Kerr, C-12331, of the Scravel Hill Skydivers splash down during a demo jump into the Albany Timber Carnival in Oregon.  Photographer Vickie Dufur, with 99 jumps and a fresh piece of plaster on her leg, is also a member of the club.