Dick Fortenberry

No Eta: the Pioneering Days of Skydiving Dick Fortenberry

Why would anybody want to jump out of a perfectly good, functioning airplane? Ask any sport parachutist in the world that question and you may find a different answer every time. For Dick Fortenberry, his love of parachuting began long before he joined the US Army at age eighteen and attended jump school with the 77th Special Forces Group. In his fascinating memoir about his journey to eventually becoming one of the original members of the Golden Knights, Fortenberry describes the rigorous training that led up to his first jump and to receiving the coveted silver wings on his chest, the parachute patch on his hat, and "Airborne" on his shoulders. As Fortenberry chronicles the details of how he rapidly excelled in the sport of skydiving, he offers an exciting glimpse of what it was like to feel the wind in his hair, the adrenaline as he quickly approached the ground, and the fear when his parachute malfunctioned. No ETA: The Pioneering Days of Skydiving shares the intriguing personal story of one man's journey in the early days of sport parachuting that ultimately led to three world championships and an appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated.