VOICE ONE:
EXPLORATIONS — a program in Special English by the Voice ofAmerica.
(THEME)
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to jump out of anairplane with only a large round piece of material to keep you safe?Well, today, you will find out. I’m Shirley Griffith. Ray Freemanand I will describe the activity known as sport parachuting.
(THEME)
VOICE TWO:
Excitement fills the early morning air as you arrive at thelittle airport for your lesson in sport parachuting. First you learnto recognize and name each part of the parachute. You also learnwhat each part does.
The excitement builds as your teacher describes each step of thejump from take-off to landing. He tells you what to do in anemergency. Again and again, he explains the need for safety.
By early afternoon, you have completed the schoolwork. Now it istime for your first jump. As you put on the equipment, you probablybegin to think, “Do I really want to do this?” You are excited, ofcourse, but a little afraid, too.
VOICE ONE:
The teacher inspects your equipment. Nothing is loose. Nothing isbroken. He asks you questions about safety. Finally, he smiles andsays you are ready.
Then you, two other students and the teacher climb into a smallairplane. The pilot makes sure everyone is sitting down and that noone else is outside near the plane. The plane’s engine starts. Thepilot moves the plane to the end of the runway. Moments later, youare climbing into the sky.
The door of the plane has been taken off so you can get out moreeasily with all the parachute equipment. Without the door, theengine noise and the wind are very loud. Talking is almostimpossible. So you sit there and think about everything you havelearned. You go over each step for a successful and safe jump. Youtry to put the fear out of your mind.
While you are thinking, your teacher and the pilot are working.The teacher leans out the door, watching the ground far below. Withone hand he points toward a spot in the sky above your landing area.When the teacher is satisfied that the plane is flying toward theright place, he shouts:
VOICE TWO:
“Jump-run!”
VOICE ONE:
This means you are getting close to the jump area. When the planereaches it, your teacher tells the pilot:
VOICE TWO:
“Cut the engine!”
VOICE ONE:
The pilot slows the plane’s engine. Then the teacher points atyou, and says:
VOICE TWO:
“Sit in the door!”
VOICE ONE:
Still fighting your fear, you sit in the doorway, with your legsoutside the airplane. Then, you get the next command:
VOICE TWO:
“Climb out!”
VOICE ONE:
You reach out and hold the wing support. When you have a good,tight hold with both hands, you slide out of the plane using itswheel as a step. When you reach the right position, you step off thewheel.
Hanging by your hands, you look at your teacher and nod yourhead. You are ready and waiting for his final command. You look downat the ground, nine-hundred meters below your feet. The wind fromthe plane’s propeller feels heavy against your chest.
Then your teacher shouts:
VOICE TWO:
“Go!”
VOICE ONE:
You let go of the wing support and fall away from the plane. Youthrow your head back, arms out, legs apart, as you learned. You fallface forward toward the Earth below.
The sound of the engine and the scream of the wind disappearimmediately. There is only silence. You feel you are moving…butnot falling.
Quickly, a line tied to the plane pulls the parachute from itspack. The lines of the parachute and the stiff straps of theparachute harness gently pull on your shoulders and legs.
You look up. The big, colorful parachute is now fully open aboveyou. You look at it carefully to make sure it is not damaged.Reaching over your head, you hold the left and right steering lines.You pull the left one and begin a slow, smooth turn to the left.
VOICE TWO:
You still have no feeling of falling. You seem to hang in theair. There is no longer any feeling of fear. Yet your heart isracing with excitement. You look around. You can see for manykilometers. You look down between your feet. You can see people,cars and buildings. They look very small.
For a few moments, you enjoy the view and the silence of yourfirst parachute jump.
VOICE ONE:
Too soon, it seems, it is time to prepare for landing. You watchthe landing area and move toward it by pulling on the left or rightsteering lines. You aim for the soft sand in the center of thelanding place.
Suddenly, the ground is moving quickly toward you. You bring yourfeet together and bend your legs at the knee. You reach high intothe straps above your head. You keep your eyes straight ahead. Youhit the ground, gently, it seems. And, as you learned, you roll onyour side to the left and come back up onto your feet.
You gather up your parachute, being careful not to cross the manylines. Your first sport parachute jump has been safe, successful andgreat fun.
VOICE TWO:
The idea of the parachute is almost as old as man’s dreams offlight. The first known parachute designs were drawn by Italianartist and inventor Leonardo Da Vinci as early asFourteen-Ninety-Five. However, there is no evidence that Da Vinciever built a parachute.
About two-hundred years ago, Louis-Sebastian Lenormand of Franceinvented a kind of parachute to save people at the top of tallburning buildings. Historians say he jumped safely from a buildingin Montpellier, France, using his small device.
The first man to use a real parachute was Andre-Jacques Garnerin.In Seventeen-Ninety-Seven, he parachuted from a balloon six-hundredmeters above the city of Paris.
VOICE ONE:
There were more and more parachute designs after the invention ofthe airplane. Early planes often crashed. Fliers needed a safetydevice that would let them escape from a falling plane. Parachutessaved many of their lives.
Parachutes became so dependable that military leaders believedthey could be used to get soldiers to a battlefield quickly.American General Billy Mitchell tested the idea inNineteen-Twenty-Eight. Six soldiers jumped by parachute from anairplane. When they landed, they set up a machine gun. The test wasa complete success. And the parachute became a useful military tool.
In the past thirty years, parachuting has become an excitingsport. It became popular when young men who learned to parachute inthe military wanted to continue jumping when they returned tocivilian life. Today, parachuting is enjoyed by men and women, youngand old.
VOICE TWO:
There are many kinds of sport parachuting. One of the mostinteresting is skydiving.
Jumpers leave the airplane as it flies more thanthree-thousand-meters above the ground. They fall for about oneminute before opening their parachute. They use their bodies, andthe air that rushes past them, to control their flight whilefalling. They can speed up or slow down. They can turn left orright. They can turn over completely.
People who like to skydive say they can do anything an airplanecan do, except go up! Those who jump say skydiving is as close asman will ever come to free flight…like that of birds.
VOICE ONE:
Today’s parachutes are very different from the device Leonardo DaVinci designed five-hundred years ago. They come in many differentshapes and colors.
One of the most popular is shaped more like a rectangle than thetraditional circle of old parachutes. This one works much like a jetairplane. It forces the air that passes through it to the back.Large openings in the back can be opened or closed to steer it.
Some of the most modern kinds of parachutes give jumpers muchmore control over where they float. Jumpers can fall gently down. Orthey can travel forward, while falling, at speeds of fortykilometers an hour.
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VOICE TWO:
You have been listening to the Special English program,EXPLORATIONS. Your narrators were Shirley Griffith and Ray Freeman.Our program was written and produced by Paul Thompson. Listen againnext week at this time for another EXPLORATIONS program on the Voiceof America.