Quote Originally Posted by MysticMead View Post
I'm an Air force guy too... and there's no such thing as a perfectly good airplane....
I came from an Air Force family... Dad was a pilot... everything he flew was built by the lowest bidder. That might be a contributing factor as to why he started our family tradition, back in 1940.

The story goes like this:
Dad & a buddy find this parachute, at their regional airport. They know nothing about it's condition. Being reasonable, sane individuals, they decide to take turns piloting and jumping. Oh... it gets better: Neither knew anything about repacking parachutes. They made the jumps at a very small airfield, early in the morning, so no officials were around to get into trouble with.
Obviously, they were successful.

Every year, in celebration, members of my family go skydiving in tribute (or hereditary insanity). The number keeps growing, each year... my stepson will be joining us next time. Dad can no longer join us; at age 85, his emphysema restricts him to well below 10000'. Mom, however, is looking forward to next year.