It's a bird. It's a plane. It's a Bronco. Western Michigan students soar in skydive club
College students are "doing something they never thought they would do before" in the sport of skydiving
McKenna Haley wanted to play volleyball or tennis.
Instead, she jumped out of an airplane at 10,000 feet.
The Western Michigan University freshman was at the school’s annual Bronco Bash — a welcome festival with booths for registered student organizations – looking at some intramural sports when a table with a parachute caught her attention.
It belonged to Skydive Broncos.
“When I first told my mom and said I joined the (skydiving) team, she said, ‘Oh that’s cool,’ because she didn’t think I would actually do it,” Haley said. “She thought it was very out of character. I never even previously thought about skydiving.”
Haley, a 2017 graduate of St. Philip Catholic Central, is studying industrial design while holding down two jobs. Yet she still made time for two tandem jumps last fall as a member of Skydive Broncos — a student-led organization promoting the sport of skydiving. Next, she'll make her first solo jump.
“It’s pretty addicting,” Haley said. “I think it would be really cool for it to be a hobby for the rest of my life. It would be cool if other schools get skydiving teams. I’m sure there would be a lot of freshmen doing something they never thought they would do before.”
The Skydive Broncos are the fifth iteration of a skydiving/parachute club at Western Michigan, which date back to the 1960s. The nonprofit has 29 active members, who pay a one-time fee of $199 to jump out of airplanes under the watchful eye of their home base and sponsor, Skydive Allegan.
“I would love for college students all over to have the experience that we have here at Allegan,” said Jake Paquette, president of Skydive Broncos. “The cool thing about the drop zone is that it is very much a home away from home. People bring their kids, their dogs, we grill out. It’s a family here.”
Paquette, a junior from Warren who is studying aerospace engineering, said the club is now working to get its members “A-certified,” which requires 25 jumps. At least four club members are needed to be A-certified to compete in the National Collegiate Parachuting Championships - held annually since 1958 - in Eloy, Arizona, December 28 to January 2. Currently, Western Michigan is one of only six certified United States Parachute Association clubs in the country.
“I really hope that schools around the country see this as something they’d like to get involved in,” Paquette said. “The sport of skydiving and the process of skydiving really turns you into the best version of yourself. You have to conquer your fears, you have to learn self control, make good judgement calls. And those are all the ingredients to be successful in life. And by and large, skydivers are successful people.”
Dennis Bennett, owner of Skydive Allegan, said his mentor was a former Western Michigan University parachute club member in the 1970s. The initial club fee and fundraising help with the cost for students to jump, with Skydive Allegan donating the difference.
“It’s been a passion of mine to help keep it going,” Bennett said. “As much as I’d like to say that some day the club would be caught up financially with the drop zone, that is more or less an unrealistic goal… In reality, we are doing it because we love the sport and we love the people, and we want to see it be successful.”
Skydive Allegan flies with a pair of Cessna 182s — a four-seat, single-engine light airplane. At the drop zone, students are taught by certified coaches/instructors, a manifest handles the paperwork and certified rigors pack the parachutes. For pilots, Bennett said he often turns to the Western Michigan School of Aviation in Battle Creek for students who need flight time.
John Bartolic is one of those pilots. A junior from Pennsylvania and vice president of Skydive Broncos, he began flying when he was 12 years old, arriving at the Western Michigan School of Aviation having already earned his pilot’s license.
Bartolic has currently made 101 jumps — and counting.
“I was already doing things on my own. But that feeling of free fall, it was more of a thrill," Bartolic said. "In skydiving, you do two tandems, then they kick you out on your own. I was scared my first 20 times.
“When I first started jumping, my experience was, you can’t compare it to anything else... It’s just a feeling of independence.”
Nick Buckley can be reached at nbuckley@battlecreekenquirer.com or 269-966-0652. Follow him on Twitter:@NickJBuckley.