THE OPEN SKY

[Music] good evening ladies and gentlemen tonight mr robert greenbaum on my right takes us into the open skies of europe to soar over the austrian alps in a 350 pound glider and in one of the most spectacular sequences of our entire program series to watch the fantastic skydivers of france youthful thrill seekers who think nothing of dropping a mile and more through space before they pull the record of their shoots for the next half hour our action-packed journey lifts us high into the open sky bull journey your television passport to the exciting colorful world of adventure and now here to begin tonight's true story adventure is jack douglas in this era of earth satellites outer space is clearly regarded as man's last challenging frontier to many of us space travel still seems a rather fantastic dream but for a growing number of young people all over the world the open sky above us has become the action playground of our planet perhaps the most spectacular aerial enthusiasts are the skydivers of france who can actually guide their bodies while hurtling through the air for thousands of feet before they open their parachutes tonight's guest mr robert greenbaum journeyed to europe to see these daredevils perform and he'll show us the actual films of these amazing divers in action and with himself as pilot he'll also take us on a thrilling glider flight from germany into the towering austrian alps it's my sincere pleasure now to welcome to our series mr robert greenbaum how are you sir fine thank you jack now your letter said that you hold the german glider pilot's license that's rather an unusual achievement for an american how did that come about some years ago i had the good fortune to spend one year of my military occupation duty in munich germany i just happened to be stationed on the very field where the german glider club held their sport gliding activities on weekends i seen you became a glider pilot officially now how did you find out about these skydivers the parachutists oh jack i knew about skydiving before i returned to europe it was something i was very curious in finding more about and when i reached paris i was able to locate the the headquarters of the skydiving activity in france through messier simone of the french air ministry i think our audience would certainly appreciate as i would too before we see your film an explanation of skydiving mr greenbaum how it works and how it differs from ordinary uh parachute jumping skydiving is a very sophisticated form of free fall parachute jumping for years parachutists would jump and fall in any haphazard fashion toward the earth before pulling the rip cord on their parachute since the war skydiving has been perfected by intense training for body position during the free fall it's possible to control the hands and the legs of the faller much the same as if he had wings on his body in other words the parachute is becomes uh almost a human glider with the ailerons and everything else the hands and arms representing the different parts of the glider you might say that right now did you fly your sail to europe jack i took a boat the french luxury liner that liberte certainly was a wonderful improvement over the army troop ship which carried me to europe as a guest of uncle sam a few years ago there's the happy traveler now we left new york harbor crossing the atlantic this go reminds me that mother nature originated gliding it was a delightful voyage of seven days all the way to la harv and then we push down to munich and i return to my former home as a serviceman north of the city is a strange green mountain it's a shutburg or rubble mountain which was created by piling up the rubble of the bomb buildings of the city munich suffered great damage during the war through the bombing on the other side of this mountain is over wiesenfeld the sport gliding center in munich watch this glider make a landing jack he will dive to pick up some speed and then make a very graceful one point landing so to speak the gliders have no wheels simply a skid or perhaps one wheel at the center of gravity it was on this field that i was stationed as a gi back in 55 and 56 after seeing my friends and renewing old acquaintances i lost no time in receiving more advanced instruction which would enable me to fly in the alps the glider is actually a sail plane here a two-place mirror 13. the winch is a new winch it has considerably more power than the old job that used to haul us up about three-quarters of a mile of cable is reeled in the winch is stationary and the glider climbs at about a 45 degree angle at perhaps 400 meters or 1200 feet the cable is released and it falls to the earth a small leather parachute prevents the cable from lashing the ground as it falls it could cause great injury the search for thermals begin by thermals i assume you mean air currents yes but a type of air current which is rising faster than the air which surrounds it the old 1938 shore glider it was with this machine that many pilots of the luftwaffe received their initial instruction while they were still 14 or 15 years old through the hitler youth movement it's a primitive glider it could be easily constructed by the boys under supervision it was safe a crash would result in perhaps a broken ankle at the most a slow and a very good training shift because the pilot is completely exposed he was able to yolo as he made his landing he already had quite a laugh out of that [Music] club members have very little money there is no government support they must make their gliders themselves during the long winter months the members work in the workshop build the gliders of wood steel tubing for the fuselages and receive enough credit to fly during the summer at a cost of perhaps 25 cents or one mark of flight dieter lang a 15 year old student is ready for his first solo flight the altimeter the airspeed indicator the variometer are pointed out by the instructor mueller heinz this time he's going to fly alone don't do any loops now dieter and here he goes on his launch this angle is quite sharp but not dangerous if the cable does break the glider has sufficient speed to nose down and make a forced landing a critique is made by the instructors dieter has flown his prescribed course perhaps the time has been five minutes or so and a landing not the best but not a bad one either there he is a very proud a very happy young man the initiation for a solo pilot is the spanking this is tradition i had the same initiation i think there were twice as many members that day the sport float tag or air show day the gliders always steal this show club president sep edera who was my instructor is going to give a demonstration of kunsflug or art flying in this low 100 glider this is sort of the expensive style of towing isn't it very much so jack gas for a tow plane is most expensive in germany from the ground we see him go into his first maneuvers a very nice roll a partial loop with a stall at the top this is called a mention or a little man and now he will complete a loop hesitating at the top it's quite thrilling to hear the whistling of the wings as they cut through the earth you know that i don't know anything about gliders mr greenbaum but this is class a flying isn't it the very very best especially at these low altitudes and a loop with the roll at the top this man loves to fly during the week he instructs for the new luffa and on weekends he flies the gliders watch this jack it's one of the most remarkable acrobatics i have ever seen perform diving to get the terrific speed which is necessary to sustain him captain ederer rolls over on his back perhaps 40 or 50 feet from the ground he has no motor to keep him up there he's always falling a flying day isn't complete without the festivities in the clubhouse canteen except the president is now going to give us a speech in english we're our main aim is to have a lot of people playing for a little money necessary now for a hearty german song [Applause] the scene changes to kufstein austria perhaps 50 miles from munich to the base of the alps where we find some of the best soaring currents in the world winches are also used here that you don't need much power or a long cable only enough to reach the mountain slopes where the winds are blowing for the purpose of the films that you'll see now i flew with the mountain pilot hair block felter i had tried before to film while i was flying but it's quite impossible you must keep both hands and feet on the controls at all times six or seven hundred feet altitude is all that is necessary before the sail plane encounters the winds which will buoy him up to a considerably higher altitude we are now about a thousand feet and pine trees cover the lower slopes of the mountain this is really gliding i have to give mr blockfelder a great deal of credit for his skill and gliding you can see the snow on the alps the altitude is perhaps five or six thousand feet we overtake a double rob glider which was from vienna for the weekends flying a grinnell baby an old but very reliable intermediate glider which has no canopy the pilot is completely exposed he feels the wind on his face and it's wonderful a few weeks previous to my first flight in the mountains one very daring fellow managed to climb on the slopes and leave the mountains and by utilizing thermal currents he flew through the brenner pass all the way to italy in a glider without any motor whatsoever circling above the sleepy village of kufstein you can see six or seven gliders on the ground making our landing approach over the well-known castle of kufstein we settle down to a gentle landing and it certainly was the end of wonderful day of flying leaving kufstein we go through the austrian border on to paris the home of the fabulous skydivers some of the most fantastic athletes i'm sure in the world thank you very much mr greenbaum part two of tonight's true story adventure continues in just a moment [Music] jack of all the parachute training centers in france perhaps the school located in biskaros is the largest and the best known a group of skydivers there for two or three weeks in the summer where they will perfect their skydiving technique there's dede a 22 year old refrigerator mechanic micheline primoth a very lovely gentle girl who has made over 200 skydives pierre lard shows me by using a artist mannequin what skydiving technique is rather than tumbling through the air the diver holds his body in perfect form arms just so legs just so and guides his body through the air it is possible to make maneuvers with the body turned to the left turns to the right looped and even figure eights micheline is packing her own parachute here again these european sports lovers seem to emphasize do it yourself in this case it has its serious side if the chute should fail to open no one is to blame but yourself for our first skydive we're going to see dede go up in this old morale sonia it's a monoplane it certainly looks like a relic of the first world war but actually it's a very sturdy aircraft dede is wearing two parachutes the parachute on his front is the emergency or ventral parachute dede is our comedian waving goodbye the old warms up and a taxi out to begin a flight which will take dede to nine or ten thousand feet where he will make his dive of perhaps one minutes duration from the ground by the eye you can see in the center of the screen this speck which is falling rapidly toward you is didi here he comes his arms and legs are just so etched against the sky good skydiving form the speed is about 130 miles an hour as he speeds toward the ground at about 1100 feet he pulls the rip cord the parachute opens quite an opening shock the descent of the parachute is also very important it's not a matter of riding it down you must guide the chute and make a very good parachute landing fall it's quite easy to sprain an ankle on one of the landings the best known skydiver in all of france is michelle preet he's second in command at the school and he makes the jump before the students jump during the day rather nonchalant as he sits half in half out of that airplane the little plane is a leopold off biplane which is used for low altitude skydive there's lake bistros perhaps three or four thousand feet under the plane and there he goes the camera in slow motion catches a human bird a skydiver as he rushes toward the ground watch this his arms have been moved back and his head lowers and now he is headed head first at a speed of approximately 175 feet a second toward mother earth from the ground michelle's form is watched carefully by the students they take careful mental notes on exactly how he is falling always guiding always controlling his body this man has a total of several thousand jumps over seven hours free falling time and he lands on his feet almost a very good standing up landing pierre lard the first instructor at the school is giving a briefing before the graduation or group jump is made roger blondeau and his wife they're honeymooning down there it's a fine way to spend a honeymoon she doesn't jump but roger does he is an old military parachutist who has recently taken up skydiving dede again the clown he kisses this shirt which he wears on every jumper was given to him by his girlfriend in paris for luck flower bags are strapped to the legs of two of the jumpers who will use the flower to define their descent as they fall representing the ladies is micheline getting into her harness and rosemary a french army nurse on a two-week furlough at fiscaros she checks her instruments a stopwatch and an aircraft altimeter are the standard skydiving instruments can she actually read those instruments while she's plunging to earth not only can she read them jack but she must read them to keep track of those precious seconds that are ticking away as well as her altitude for the group jump this old de havilland biplane is going to be used 14 jumpers can go up at one time in this plane which does save the expense of single hop jumps it takes some time to get up to the altitude but it pays off in the end gas is expensive here as in germany on the ground madame blondeau watches with much anxiety as her husband is going to make the first jump the atlantic ocean is seen to the west and the de havilland strains for altitude and there goes our first flower jump watch from a complete vertical fall the diver will angle his body there he goes at a 60 degree angle not falling straight toward the earth but gliding at an angle he can guide himself toward a target or bullseye on the ground he's really controlling his fall he can even penetrate into the wind as much as 30 feet a second as he falls in a cloud of flower dust a good landing is made in competition not only must the parachutist guide his parachute but he must guide his body as well and land at that marker which is on the ground a good reward for skydive well done meanwhile back in the de havilland the plane goes higher higher and at about 8 000 feet we'll see a skydive which is not a good example of a well controlled skydive notice the diver is tumbling he's not stable he's tumbling it's a bad dive here goes a very lovely dive position solange or swan dive very pretty he's turning he's centering around one point making turns to the right and later perhaps turns to the left it's not free while the government does support the school the students must pay for their board while they're there and a small fee a little more than a dollar for each jump that they make over three thousand feet from the ground we can see him falling still falling he should get his suit open very soon we didn't know it at the time but this jump was almost to result in tragedy watch the diver the dive looks normal he's getting a little bit close to the ground come on open there's some concern on the part of one of the instructors and here's the reason the chute has failed to open completely you can see that one of the shroud lines has become entangled on the canopy and it's partially collapsed if he does not open it he will fall very hard he will hit the ground at a very high rate of speed perhaps break both legs maybe his back with luck he wouldn't be killed luckily less than a hundred feet from the ground he did free the parachute a double dive at two jumpers have jumped holding hands they can actually talk to each other as they fall by shouting they will separate only to pull their rip cord on michelin's wedding day she jumped with her husband in this fashion on the ground one of the parachutes has proved to be a square parachute of russian design this parachute was given as a gift to pierre lard and yugoslavia when he won the olympic championships a few years ago in the plane michelle preak is getting ready for his flower dive and there he goes he plunges toward the earth trailing his plumes of flower like a human sky rider these people are not thrill seekers jack they're doing it because it's great fun it's exhilarating a thrilling sport they feel there is little danger involved they know what they're doing they've been well trained here's micheline the last jump is made by micheline and with a wave and a smile lovely micheline primot makes a very fine skydive typical of the style which won her world championship as i mentioned before micheline is married to a skydiver who was also an instructor and on their wedding day they jumped hand in hand with a minister who was also a parachutist quite a unique marriage these shots are superb thank you jack but i'd like to thank dd michelle micheline and all the others for their thrilling performance commissioning has some trouble struggling with the shoot in the wind she's not a very big girl she weighs perhaps 90 pounds didi who has already made his jump always the gentleman returns with michelin's pilot parachute which falls separately there they go jack some of the most remarkable people who have ever had the pleasure of knowing the skydivers of france thank you very much mr greenbaum those are certainly thrilling films especially those skydivers now you mentioned that these skydivers fall a mile i believe you said now do they gain momentum the farther down they go to a point jack our terminal velocity is reached quite quickly i believe after seven or eight seconds in most cases depending on the altitude uh-huh in the high-speed pk position they can reach 140 miles an hour well now i'd assume that these people would have a rather hard time taking out an insurance policy but uh seriously do they have uh many accidents in this sport jack a week before i arrived at biskaros one of the jumpers lost his life by drowning in the lake he became entangled in his shroud lines and he could not be saved in other words he had missed his landmark that's right he fell into the lake i see getting back to gliders now for a moment once you're airborne in the glider uh just how long can you stay in there or does that depend entirely on currents it depends on the currents in the alps there are winds from dawn to dusk and depending on the physical limitations of the pilot he can fly for uh 24 hours now you looked rather heroic in the glider over the alps but we sort of missed you in the skydiving did you do any jumping jack i was so busy taking the pictures i simply couldn't find a time that's as good an answer as honey we don't blame you a bit thank you very much it was a lovely journey and a very thrilling one too thanks so much mr robert greenbaum right there another dramatic true story adventure is in store for us next week ladies and gentlemen highlights from that episode in just a moment next week mrs constance helmerich's journeys to the frozen arctic ocean exchanging a home in sunny arizona for the harsh life of the polar eskimos mr and mrs helmets must live as the eskimos do and seal becomes their mainstay of life but this lost baby seal they returned to the sea with her husband at the controls mrs helmrich guides their little plane in safely despite the snowstorm the dogs after weeks of short rations are fierce feeding them becomes dangerous next week we lived with the eskimos [Music] my thanks again to mr robert greenbaum and as always to you ladies and gentlemen boys and girls thank you so much and good night [Music] you