The Chartrain Max Gross, who will turn 71 next month, made his 4,000th parachute jump last Saturday at the aerodrome of Saint-Denis-de-Hôtel, near Orléans (Loiret). “We did four jumps that day. The 4,000th was the second of the day, ”testified Max Gross last Monday.
“I had warned my friends, there were ten of us on the plane, including the bonnevallais sculptor Sébastien Pasques, whom I trained in contact veil two years ago, and his two daughters,” says Max Gross. He jumped at an altitude of 2,500 meters from a Pilatus PC-12. “The weather was fine all day and there was hardly any wind, it was very pleasant”. Max Gross is planning to celebrate this 4,000th jump next month with friends from his club, the Parachute air loisirs.
Another record: 50 years continuously
For Max Gross, this 4,000th jump is above all synonymous with fifty years of continuous parachuting. Another record, the most important in his eyes. “Older people than me are still jumping, but to my knowledge, I am the oldest who jumps regularly”, analyzes this former professor of technology from the College Notre-Dame de Chartres).
His first jump, he remembers it like it was yesterday. It was March 1, 1970, at Le Mans (Sarthe). “A friend had made some military preparation jumps. It had allowed him to choose his assignment for his military service. I wanted to follow his example but the army exempted me… It upset me a bit. Also, at the end of 1969, I followed a training course in the Rapp district. It is in this context that I made my first jump. With average weather conditions and a non-maneuverable round parachute. I remember that I landed a bit hard… ”.
“Between 1971 and 1972, I did 300 jumps. I must admit that as a teacher, I had quite a few vacations… ”.
Max Gross (empty)
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From this rich career, Max Gross keeps vivid memories: “I made my first jump with a“ wing ”type parachute on November 1, 1973 in Limoges”. He is also one of the pioneers of the contact veil
in France. “I contributed to its development with, from 1982, high-performance wings and sponsorship assistance”. That same year, he successfully passed his federal instructor certificate.
Max Gross performs his 4,000th parachute jump at the age of 70.
The following year, in 1983 therefore, Max Gross followed up the performances: “We are champions of France at 8 and we obtain a bronze medal at 4. And we obtain a new bronze medal at 4 in 1985, notably with Patrice Barazzutti , before disagreeing with André Danet, the president of the Parachute of Eure-et-Loir ”.
This is the reason why, with other licensees, in February 1988 he joined the Parachute air loisirs, a club of which he was notably president and secretary, and of which he is still a member today.
Contact veil is, as its name suggests, a veil discipline. Its goal is to make constructions with two or more sails, the paratroopers hanging onto the lines of their teammates.
A world record. In 1988, Max Gross took part in the world record for the largest formation in contact sailing, which brought together 36 parachutists in Bron, near Lyon (Rhône).
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– Three jumps without authorization on Chartres.
Chartres
28000
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