MY PARACHUI'E ‘DROP.’

Hokitika Guardian, 19 October 1918, Page 4

MY PARACHUI'E ‘DROP.’

(By R.H. B.) The pilot pushed back his goggles and motioned at me.

| I could see his lips move, and ; . though I could not hear a word, ! I this excuse would not avail me, for ! I knew very well that what he was I tndng to convey was that we had I reached the right altitude and that i it was time for me to —get out! j * The open country-side below j looked horribly far off, to let oneself i drop helplessly into that aching j void seemed an utter madness, but [ I had only myself to thank for j . having asked to be allowed to make |! a “ low altitude ” descent from an ) i aeroplane. I had the inventor’s ! , word for it that the parachute would | open in from two to two and a half seconds —say 150 ft of “free” fall.. ' After that I should glide gently, to the ground, and immediately I , touched I was'to be sure and operate ! the quick release, otherwise I should be dragged helplessly along. ; Mastering my inclination to glance over the side again, I looked at the buckles of the harness and the release device. Everything seemed to be all right. The parachute itself, neatly folded in its muffin-shaped container, was clipped to the side of the fuselage. The few seconds seemed like so many years !

' Very, very gingerlj* I threw one leg over the side, and then the other. The pilot, from his secure j and eointortable cockpit, grinned ! encouragement. We were speeding j at ninety miles an hour through J still air, ! I shut my eyes and let go ! I For a second or two I dropped I like astor.e, and then I felt a terrific | tug at the harness, which told me j that the parachute had left its j casing. I could feel the increasing 5 strain 011 the harness as the envelope ■ opened, and I swayed in wide, mad ® arcs in the empty air. The earth I rushed upwards; everything hap- f pened with such terrific rapidity | that I hardly had time to seize im- g pressions, but one field in particular % loomed up as if to engulf me. (As * a matter of fact, I landed nearly a | quarter of a mile away from it.) |

I was fully supported now and dropping comparatively slowly. Barely missing the tops of some Lig elms, I came down with a bump, not nearly so hard as I had expected. Before I had time to get at the release the straining parachute had dragged me off my teet momentarify, but I pulled the cottar pin out and got clear, a little shaken up, but otherwise none the worse tor my fall of 500 ft.