700th JUMP ON SUNDAY

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33050, 18 October 1972, Page 1

700th JUMP ON SUNDA Y

For one of the men taking part in the parachute-jumping demonstration at the United States Navy “open house” at Christchurch /Xirport on Sunday afternoon it will be his 700th jump.

Chief Parachute Rigger R. T. Smith (picture left), who holds an international parachutist's licence, was for two years a member of the United States Navy’s Shooting Stars jump team which regularly tours the major air shows held each year in the United States. Chief Smith said yesterday that he made his first jump at the age of 19. “That was back in 1956 when I set some sort of record by making three emergency jumps from three planes in two days over the United States — and two of them were only 3hr 42tnin apart,” he said. Ihe time, I might add, I was not a parachutist. On the first of those lumps I was a crewman in a jet plane returning to Japan from the United States. Something went wrong with the plane; and both the pilot and 1 had to eject at 33,000 ft » next day, as the only passenger, I had to bale out of a Navy Neptune which developed trouble over Chicago. I landed safely in a ball park. .Vithin a few hours I was airborne again. This was

in a 825 twin-engine bomber; one of the

engines locked and the other caught fire. “This time I baled out at 1000 ft The parachute didn’t operate properly and I cracked a couple of ribs on hitting the ground,” said Chief Smith. Some time after these experiences Chief Smith went to a Navy parachute school in New Jersey to learn bow to pack parachutes. “There I had to make a jump using a parachute I had packed myself. In those days it was compulsory but today it is voluntary.” In 1966 he was assigned as an instructor on parachutes and other safety equipment. This job lasted for four years, during which time he seriously began jumping. This eventually led

to falls from a height of 30,000 ft using oxygen. “This type of jump is used when you want to get in behind an enemy. Making a free fall from that height is virtually undetectable by radar and enables you to make a low opening for a surprise attack.” The bulk of his jumps were made as a member of the Shooting Stars, said Chief Smith. “There are 12 men in the team and to qualify you have to be an expert parachutist who has made a minimum of 250 jumps, and also be a qualified instructor.” This summer Chief Smith is hoping to try for a record over the Antarctic. “I would aim for 30,000 ft at least The present Antarctic record is 20,500 ft set last year by a former member of the paramedical team. Whether

I make the attempt or not will depend on the command,” he added “I have my hopes of doing the jump although I understand they prefer that you do such things in the final summer of your assignment,” said Chief Smith. He has made a number of test jumps from the high-performance Voloplane. “It looks like a big mattress but is really a flying wing. I have also tested a new opening device for use on high-performance parachutes.” So that the public will be able to see everything clearly the jumps on Sunday will be from a height of about 5400 ft — depending on cloud, ceiling and windspeed. If the windspeed should exceed 20 knots then

the jumping demonstration will not take place. It is planned that three men will jump simultaneously with smoke trails. While two of the men drop vertically Chief Smith will move

across the sky in a horizontal movement Does he never get nervous after having made so many jumps? “I’ve bad my anxieties. I can still get butterflies in the stomach but once I jump it’s OJC”