Skydivers with the Canadian Sport Parachuting Association (CSPA). Photos by the author, "back in the day"

Canadian Sport Parachuting Association (CSPA) "back in the day"

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4949802)

British jumper, Peter.., Ilona Helwig, Isabel..., unknown, Eric Roggenkamp, Daryl Henry, Baldwin, Ontario, ca 1959.

Skydivers Tom Humes standing, Dave Smith kneeling, Waterville, Nova Scotia, 1973.

Skydivers Bruce Montgomery, Dennis Clement, Paul O'Reilly, Waterville, Nova Scotia, ca 1973.

Waterville, Nova Scotia, back in the days before square parachutes when we all aspired to jump a Paracommander like the one flown here by Dave Smith in 1974.

The Thunderbow! flown by Dennis Clement, Waterville, Nova Scotia, 1973.

Skydivers Dave Bishop, Frank Evans, Tom Humes, Paul O'Reilly, Hal Skaarup, Waterville, Nova Scotia, ca 1974.  I began jumping at Perth, Ontario in June 1972.  Still at it ;o)

Waterville, Nova Scotia, C-182, with Tom Humes in the jumpmaster's seat, 1976.

Waterville gang, Hal Skaarup, Paul Mitcheltree, Tom Humes, Frank Evans, Phil McLean, Deland, Florida, Dec 1976.

Paddy Rice, our Rigging Course instructor, jumping with a third (reserve) parachute, Waterville, Nova Scotia, ca 1976.

The Waterville gang went to Zephyrhills in December 1976.  Paul Mitchelltree, with a camera, myself, Tom Humes and with Phil McLean hanging out of the door of the Lockheed 10E we were preparing to board.  For some reason we all looked like pirates.

CSPA Instructor and Jumpmaster ratings.

Bob Buquor memorial 8-way star formation crest.

4-stack canopy recipient.

8-stack canopy crest recipient.

Canadian Ten-man Star.

(Photo by Faye Skaarup)

My future wife Faye Jenkins (who made one jump herself) took this photo from a C-182 over Waterville, Nova Scotia, fall 1976.

Skydivers preparing to board a Douglas DC-3, Edmonton, Alberta, Hal far right, ca 1980.

Photo taken by John Carson of our Douglas DC-3 exit over DZ Buxton, Edmonton, Alberta, Aug-Sep 1980.  That's me with my grey piggyback rig!

(Photo by Chris Skaarup)

My brother Chris (who I chased out of a C-182 over Lahr, Germany on the first of his two jumps) took this photo over Winchester, Ontario, summer 1985.  Note the change from front-mounted reserve to piggyback rig.

We put on a demo jump to open the Canada Air and Space Museum in Ottawa in 1988.

Jacques Levesque exiting our C-182 over CFB Lahr, Germany, 1991, shot with my hand-held camera.

Jacques Levesque, canopy relative work view over CFB Lahr, Germany, 1991, shot with my hand-held camera.

Skydivers over CFB Baden-Soellingen, Germany, ca 1991, shot with my hand-held camera.

1 July 1991 balloon jump over CFB Lahr, Germany where I was serving as the 4 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (4 CMBG) Intelligence Officer.  The balloon pilot asked me to carefully climb outside the wicker basket and hook a foot in a small step, then to lean back and let go gently, which is when he took the photo.  It felt like I was stepping off a building - quite the memorable jump for Canada Day.  The airfield was a long way off, but the warm air kept myself and Jacques Levesque aloft enough for both of us to make it to the DZ.

Author with Black Forest Parachute Club, landing at CFB Baden-Soellingen, Germany, ca 1981.  Also jumped with the Rhine Valley Parachute Club at CFB Lahr, Germany.

CFB Baden-Soellingen, Germany, ca. 1992.

My oldest son Jonathan Skaarup getting ready for his first jump with his Dad at Calhan, Colorado.  The next generation's turn.  The author followed Jonathan out of a Cessna 206 over Colorado on his first two jumps.  Jonathan and his wife Jocelyn have also made me a grandfather, with grandson Cole Hayden Skaarup and granddaughter Ashley Isabelle Skaarup, so there are prospects for a third generation too.

My youngest son Sean preparing for his first skydive,  Ex-Sky Hawk Dominic Dumont with the Gatineau Parachute Club took him up for a tandem jump from a Cessna Navajo on 29 Sep 2012.  I followed them out of the aircraft at 12,500 feet and we shook hands (a three-way on his first jump!) and then we opened our chutes and flew back to the DZ side by side on a beautiful sunny Quebec morning.  Way back in the day when I made my first jump at Perth, Ontario in 1972, you had to have a C licence and at least 100 jumps before you were allowed to do a hook-up.  (Mind you, I have just realized that was 40 years ago.  Where did the time go?  I guess time flies when you are having fun, and when does a jumper ever stop doing that?).  Sean and his wife Mélyse (who is also a jumper), have added three grandchildren to our family, granddaughters Owen and Auli, and grandson Bauer!

Gatineau, Quebec, my future daugher-in-law Mélyse gives a thumbs up as she and I head out to the aircraft for a skydive, 10 Aug 2013.

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