For T.J. McGrath, it’s the thrill of the chase, diving from 14,000-feet straight down to catch up with his fellow skydivers, all within 70 seconds before they must open their parachutes for another three-minute ride down to the ground.
McGrath, 54, a Foothill Knolls sales executive, was almost breathless as he described the adrenaline rush that comes with jumping from a twin-engine Beechcraft King Air over Byron. With 12 on board, the skydivers jump about 3 seconds apart, free-falling head-first at speeds over 200 miles an hour to catch up with each other, then spreading their arms and legs to slow their fall to as little as 120 mph, while holding hands in a round-star or doughnut-like cluster and doing other maneuvers. Even diving alone, as McGrath does on most Saturday mornings, there are back flips, summersaults and other acrobatic maneuvers that he said can only be achieved in free-fall to make each jump special.
Recently, McGrath had the extra thrill of accompanying his former neighbor Cis Puricelli on her first parachute drop, a much-anticipated gift from her husband George on her 65th birthday. Arriving at the Byron Skydiving Company at 9 a.m. with an entourage of 35 other neighbors and family members who had come to celebrate, Cis Puricelli donned a skydiving jumpsuit, watched a training video and went through the basics while still on ground with her tandem instructor Bryon Gutow.
Then it was time for the 12-skydiver group to take off.
On reaching 14,000 feet, Puricelli connected herself to a special harness Gutow was wearing and, on cue, the two jumped in tandem, dropping in free fall to about 6,000 feet when Gutow pulled the cord on his single parachute. McGrath, who had jumped 3 seconds behind and 3 seconds in airspeed forward, maneuvered his body into head-first position to accelerate faster and catch up, giving Puricelli a congratulatory kiss about 7,000 feet off the ground before all three started their slow parachute-assisted slower descent.
The parachutes skydivers use today are different from the old bulky and much larger military designs, still used by paratroopers. Long ago, they were replaced by the non-military parachutists with a newly designed, almost rectangular-shaped chute that is actually classified as a semi-rigid glider. It enables skydivers to move forward in different directions at speeds of between 20-25 mph and to land with ease and pinpoint accuracy
“I remember the rough landings when I first started skydiving 35 years ago,” McGrath said, “With these new parachutes, I can land standing up, even on one foot with no drag from the parachute, even in windy conditions. They’ve helped to make skydiving not only an exhilarating experience, but a sport anyone can do.”
The Puricellis and T.J. (for Terrence John) McGrath and his wife Sheila lived next door to each other when the McGraths moved to Pleasanton and a new home on Chestnut Street near Muirwood Park 21 years ago. The Puricellis, who still live there, have two daughters, Debbie and Dorothy, who are married, while the McGrath’s, who moved to Foothill Knolls 12 years ago, have two sons: Thomas, 18, a freshman at Las Positas College, and J.T. (for John Terrence), 13, who is completing seventh grade at Hart Middle School.
McGrath handles food service sales throughout the country for Lindsay Olive Co. in Lafayette.
Cis Puricelli was always interested in T.J. McGrath’s stories about skydiving.
“Then, several years ago, we all met up in Las Vegas for a weekend and visited the ‘inside wind tunnel,’ where we could all experience the sensation of a skydiving freefall without having to jump out of an airplane,” McGrath said.
For his son Thomas’ high school graduation present last year, McGrath gave him a parachute jump at Byron. When Puricelli saw the photos, she put that on her 65th birthday list for this spring.
“Although her husband paid for the skydive, I gave Cis a photo package that included 100 pictures and a video of her jump,” McGrath said. “Like everyone I know who does it once, whether it’s my son Thomas or Cis, they always want to do it again. They’re hooked.”
As for Sheila McGrath and George Puricelli, they stay on the ground, Starbuck coffee and doughnuts in hand, as they watch their spouses come down. Often on weekends the skies are filled with skydivers heading earthward in different team formations and with their colorful chutes trailing above. The King Air holds 12-14 jumpers and can make three roundtrips each hour. Open Wednesday through Sunday, Byron Skydiving Company, owned and operated by Clay Bonavito, uses a single engine Cessna 206 on weekdays, which holds a smaller group.
Most skydiving trips take the parachutists to 14,000 feet. That’s an altitude where everyone can breathe normally without oxygen and also a height that both the Cessna and twin engine Beechcraft can reach quickly. Higher altitudes take longer to reach and require more fuel and equipment.
There are 25 sanctioned skydiving drop zones in California, with Byron the closest to Pleasanton. Livermore Airport used to have a skydiving club with a sanctioned zone, but it was too difficult to maintain on a voluntary basis. Bryon Skydiving, a privately-owned commercial business, maintains its own aircraft, hangars and drop zones, and the new directional parachutes allow skydivers to land near the hangars and parking lot, which eliminates the need for transportation to pick them up.
At Byron, the cost of a basic tandem parachute jump, including rental of a jumpsuit, goggles and helmet, is $185. For McGrath and others who have their own parachutes and clothing, it’s $13 to ride to the 14,000 foot level and jump out.
With skydiving gaining popularity across the country, there are also regional and national competitions in three basic categories:
Style: During free fall, how many bear rolls, back loops and front rolls can you do before deploying the parachute?
Relative Work: Based on multiple people free falling together, how many points can you earn for each star, cluster, doughnut or other team formation before heading down by parachutes?
Accuracy: How many times can someone consecutively come down and land on a small target, smaller than even a Frisbee?
“This is really a sport almost anyone can do, from teenagers to those like Cis Puricelli who’s 65 to many even much older,” McGrath said. “Even former President George Bush made a skydiving jump to celebrate his 80th birthday, and I think he’s done another one since then.”
He added: “One of my favorite quotes is ‘Life should not be determined by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.’ Skydiving does that.”
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