SNOHOMISH — Joseph Felt said that compared to being shot at during the Vietnam War, the thought of jumping out of a plane wasn’t that scary.
Still, the 83-year-old retired Navy captain confessed to some tension and nerves before taking his first skydive on Saturday at Harvey Field.
“I
‘m ready to get it over with,” he said.
An hour later, the Bothell man landed softly in his tandem jump with an instructor and raved about the experience.
“I’ve never seen anything better,” Felt said. “It was such a beautiful view of the entire area. You could see all the way past Seattle.”
Felt’s wife, Sunnie, bought him the $250 jump from Skydive Snohomish earlier this month as a present for his birthday. Felt has been extremely active all his life and she wanted to give him a new adventure.
“He’s a guy who loves to live, doesn’t want to sit in his chair and vegetate,” Sunnie Felt said. “He’s kind of doing it for me, because I would love to do it but I think I would wimp out. Of course he objected at first. Then he said, ‘I’m going, I’m doing it.'”
Since he retired from the Navy more than 30 years ago, Felt has learned high-performance driving at Seattle International Raceway, taken tap dancing lessons and acted in community theaters. He plays golf and bowls regularly.
He’s a former pilot himself, having flown small planes in some of the many places where he was stationed while in the Navy.
Felt served aboard six Navy ships and commanded two of them, including a destroyer stationed off North Vietnam in 1972 during the war.
Saturday’s jump coincided with a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the first flight ever taken at Harvey Field.
A contingent of about 15 friends and family members came out Saturday to watch the jump. Two friends jumped themselves, from the same plane as Felt.
Felt’s group was taken inside a building for some training. They watched a video and then were given instruction on how to position their bodies during different parts of the jump.
At one point, about 20 people, including Felt, were on their bellies on the floor with their arms extended forward — practicing for the free fall. For the landing, they were told to put their legs straight out in front of them.
Finally, after waiting for other planeloads of skydivers to go, it was Felt’s turn. He was to take off with six other jumpers.
After the group suited up, friend Penny Zingg, who also was jumping, gave Felt a hug.
“It’s been nice knowing you, Joe,” she joked.
After a short flight to 13,000 feet, the jumpers could be seen leaving the plane. The parachutes opened about a minute later and then it was about another five minutes to the ground.
Felt could be heard shouting in glee as he and instructor Vladimir Yursachii glided toward the ground and landed softly on the grass on their rear ends.
“Piece of cake,” Felt later said of the landing.
Yursachii said Felt did very well on his first jump.
“He smiled, he enjoyed it, that’s what counts,” he said.
Felt said he was never scared.
“I’d recommend anybody go. Don’t let age be a deterrent,” he said. “I’m going to do it again at 100.”
Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439; sheets@heraldnet.com.
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