By Staff
Marines some of first to jump over Beaufort County
By DAN PARSONS Staff Writer
Having been back in the United States for only a week, U.S. Marines Corps Lance Corporals Travis Morea, Mike Erlichman, Mauro Faz and Felipe Cisneros wasted no time in finding adventure on the home front.
The four made the drive from their stations at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point to Washington to experience free fall from 11,000 feet.
Tradewind Sky Sports recently opened at Warren Field in Washington, offering the experience of jumping from an airplane for a few dollars and with 20 minutes of training.
Hayes, who is a certified single- and multi-engine pilot and an FAA-certified parachute rigger, has been in the business for 15 years and has done more than 4,000 sky dives. Everyone who jumps from his Cesna 182, single-engine airplane, has to complete at least two jumps in tandem with — or buckled to — Hayes.
Morea, 21, suited up in a jumpsuit with goggles and helmet was anything but scared, uttering the common Marine battle cry “oorah” as he walked out to the plane.
For safety, everyone that jumps with Hayes carries not only a primary canopy but a reserve of equal size. The primary canopy is opened manually – in Morea’s case it was opened by Hayes. The reserve parachute is deployed automatically at a certain altitude, should anything go wrong with the primary canopy.
parachute, a pyrotechnical charge automatically goes off and releases the pins that hold the reserve.”
The primary and reserve rig, which Hayes said is required by law, costs about $11,000.
When asked why he would endeavor to start a sky-diving school in Washington, Hayes said the nearest ones are in north Raleigh, Suffolk, Va. or south of Wilmington.
As Erlichman, Faz and Cisneros watched their friend descend from the sky they each were visibly excited to take their turns.
For more information or to book a jump call John Hayes at 946-3900.