Hot, Dry Run at Pierce College : Sky Divers Get a Jump on Fourth of July Show

Mychael Schwartz drifted lazily like a bird across the sky before landing with a plop on the cool, wet grass of Pierce College’s football field.

Stepping out of his rainbow-colored parachute, Schwartz grinned from ear to ear. Sweat poured down his face in the 95-degree heat.

“I’ll jump out of anything that flies,” he said exuberantly. “It’s the most fun you can have with your clothes on.”

In two days, Schwartz will jump out of a 1950s-era Beechcraft twin E-18 piston plane along with seven other men and two women as part of a Fourth of July celebration sponsored by the Woodland Hills Chamber of Commerce.

12,000-Foot Group Jump

Monday’s jump was a dry run for Schwartz and Ted Barba, who also fell out of the sky and drifted slowly to earth.

On July 4, up to 10,000 people are expected to watch as a group of sky divers jumps from 12,000 feet and locks hands in a free-fall “star” formation.

As they pull pins on smoke grenades attached to their boots, the sky divers will be visible to spectators, said Charlie Ducat, a publicist for the sky-diving group and an avid jumper himself.

Another group will jump next, opening its parachutes immediately and maneuvering into a stacked, four-tiered canopy during the fall.

‘Cutaway’ Stunt

Barba will follow, performing what is known as a “cutaway.” In this stunt, the sky diver opens his parachute, then collapses it and goes back into free fall, thus simulating an emergency. He then opens a second parachute and drifts down safely.

Schwartz will close the show, jumping with an American flag tied to his body that will billow as if hung from a flagpole.

“A lot of people think sky diving is some dangerous, harebrained stunt people do,” Ducat said. “We’re going to show them the state of the art of sport parachuting.”

Divers need Federal Aviation Administration permits to jump in urban areas, Ducat said. They must also be licensed and carry special insurance.

Barba and Schwartz seemed oblivious to the oppressive heat Monday as they talked about the intricacies of parachuting.

They were thinking of cooler places, about 12,000 feet up.