page 16
daily nebraskan
friday, September 25, 1981
,A Nr " - f ''A j j )
Free-falls float into fashion
for fledgling flying fanatics
Ever on the lookout for new things to
do, many UNL students are taking to the
skies to experience a new sport - parachu
ting. Karen Steele, a junior studying journal
ism, made her first parachute jump three
weeks ago and is now, by her own admis
sion, a confirmed skydiving fan.
- "True tush of adrenalin you get is incre
dible, she said of her first jump. "You just
want to run around all day (after the
jump.)"
"It's like being in a theater seat in the
sky,' Kathy Roth, a junior studying speech
communications, said. "It's a very peace
ful, floating feeling."
Steele, Roth and other UNL students
made their first parachute jumps at
Brown's Airport in Weeping Water after
receiving training from instructors at Lin
coln's Blue Sky Jump School, 929 Furnas
St.
The training takes about 2.5 hours and
is conducted the day before the jump,
Dave Beaurivage, an instructor at the
school, said. Steele said she received about
four hours of training before she made the
jump.
Training for the first jump costs $65,
with prices decreasing after each successive
jump. The school offers training for indi
viduals and groups every Friday evening,
but will train at other times by appoint
ment, Beaurivage said.
The parachuters jump at about 8 a.m.
every Saturday at Weeping Water, Neb.,
when the weather permits.
The school trains beginning jumpers to
fall from the plane by first having them fall
to the ground from their feet and then by
jumping off picnic tables. Roth said. They
also are insturcted in emergency proce
dures, such as avoiding power lines, trees,
or water.
Beaurivage claimed accidents rarely oc
cur in parachute jumping, but the most
common accidents result from falling im
properly. Equipment for a parachute jump con
sists of the parachute backpack, a cotton
jumpsuit a pair of high-laced boots and a
helmet.
"We use the best equipment on the mar
ket today," Beaurivage said. "We figure a
person has about $1,500 worth of equip
ment on them when they walk into the air
plane." The fledgling parachutists first jump
from 3,000 feet with a "static line" con
necting them to the plane until they jump.
"The first jump is basically 'hop and
pop'; that is, the jumper leaves the plane
and immediately pulls the string," Beauri
vage said.
After the first five or six jumps with a
static line, a jumper is graduated to "free
fall" jumping without a static line.
Free-fall chutists jump from 7,500 feet,
although some jump from as high as
10,000 feet, Beaurivage said. The added
height lets the jumper wait from 5 to 20 se
conds after the jump before pulling the rip
cord.
Parachute backpacks are equipped with
a reserve chute which immediately opens if
the first chute fails.
Parachutists who have attained free-fall
status can become members of the Lincoln
Sport Parachute Club, the organization
which operates the jump school. Member
ship costs are $5.50 per jump.
The Blue Sky Jump School is affiliated
with the United States Parachute Associa
tion and uses USPA rules and regulations,
Beaurivage said.
Under USPA regulations, students must
be 18 years old to jump.
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1 I'll ( mm i I I ir p
4 Jin N cy. v:-
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Clockwise from top: Blue Sky Jump School instructor Jim Hesson (left)
teaches student Jamie Burks the finer points of skydiving. Hesson takes
the plunge. An unidentified jumper begins to pull in his chute after a suc
cessful jump.
Story by Mary Louise Knapp
Photos by Kent Morgan Olsen
