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PAGE SIX
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
WEDNESDAY, JULY 26. 1966
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After a hard week of studying,
what could it be that would keep
the members of the University's7
Sport Parachute Club from follow-
ing their fellow students into the'
nearest pub?
Skydiving-that's what! The
members of the UMSPC would'
rather spend their time jumping
out of airplanes than doing almost
anything else. And it's easy to
become addicted. All a potential;
student of sport parachuting has
to do is come to the drop zone-
Richmond Field--between Hell
and Gregory, Michigan, and he'
will find himself included in the
First Jump Course of the Jump
Company, the organization with
which the club operates.
Alan Beach, who made his first
jump in I61, when only "luna-
tics" look up the sport, subse-
quently organized students at the
University into a club. The results
of his efforts are a group of happy
jumpers whose instructors are all
qualified for the ranking of "D-
expert" under the rules of the
Parachute Club of America.
In the beginning, a student's rip country to have completed 1000
cord is pulled automatically as he jumps. The sport includes women
leaves the plane. From there he
progresses under the watchful eye
of his expert instructor to more
difficult and challenging activities,
leading up to the point when the
jumper can gracefully join hands;
with another skydiver falling at
120 mph.
Skydiving holds an attraction!
for everyone, from the casual'
spectator to Alan Beach, who will
be among the first 50 men in the'
of course, and many University
co-eds have found skydiving to
be an excellent way to spend the
weekend.
With last year's membership
of 39, the University club was the
largest in Michigan, and it is ex-
pected to grow with the popularity
of the sport.
As Alan Beach says, "From your
first schnarden jump to your 500th
frobit, it's better than sex."
Alan Beach, former University physics student and veteran skydiver, makes an exit from the Sport Parachute Club's Cessna 172 at an
altitude of 7500 feet.
Beach, on his .75th mp. sa ;I wasn't ireJ on my first jump, but I was a lot less scared on my second . . ." He fails away from the
plane in the basic dtabe 'ri Al ja Gion at on c 1-0 miles per hour. By varying his body position, the veteran skydiver can perform
barrel rolls, hack loops frit:l l . fly aeru1- the ground at over 70 mph., and easily catch another freefalling jumper to join hands
or pass a baton in an ismp t u y o. riw .
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Instructor Them Ilod s n helps student Don Dodgers inflate his parachute on the ground to remove tangles in the suspension lines, as
dashing, debonair deBeauclair's sporty '63 Ford Fairlane looks on.
A jumper, under a "paracommander" parachute, nmkes his final
tree-top level approach In the six-inch diameter target. A sport
parachutist, by rotating his parachute to allow wind to rush
through the holes or modiications can control his ground speed
and direction, enabling him to achieve an amazing amount of
accuracy.
Dashing, debonair, instructor-jumper Russ de"eau.lair, with 255
Jumnps to his (redit, elidlurs thme necessar hut aggravating job of
pacing the parachute. Experienced members of the club instruct
students in the lasics of parachute packing.
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