41 jumps: Bend man breaks Oregon single-day skydiving record at Madras Airport
(Update: Record set, new video, more details)
Dan Horne was joined by holder of previous record of 40, set in 1986 in Southern Oregon
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Attempting a skydiving record is already a challenge in itself. On Tuesday, Dan Horne of Bend also had to battle elements outside of his control, courtesy of Mother Nature. But rain and wind at the Madras Airport were not enough to slow him down, en route to setting a single-day state skydiving record.
"I've been preparing for this for five months,” Horne told NewsChannel 21. “I mean really, for 20 years, through all my jumps."
Meeting Horne in person, you might not guess he’s an extreme athlete. He’s a quiet, reserved delivery driver from Franz Bakery. Don’t let that fool you – he had his mind set on rewriting the skydiving record books.
"The thought of spending more time in the air than on the ground today is amazing,” Horne said before he began his day early Tuesday.
Horne sought to break a state record for the most skydives in a single day, set in 1986 in Southern Oregon by Rodney Holberton.
Holberton surprised Horne by traveling from Portland to be on hand at the Madras Airport to personally pass the torch.
“Thirty-five years. It's time to, you know -- somebody else is in the limelight,” Holberton told NewsChannel 21.
Horne’s plan was to use one pilot and one plane, refuel once every hour, rotate through three different parachutes and have people helping out to repack them in between jumps.
Horne was calm, cool and collected moments before his first flight. According to Horne’s younger brother, Jim, that’s the kind of man he always is.
"He's a normal dude,” Jim said. “You'd think that he's crazy trying this, but he's pretty laid back."
Instead, it was Horne’s boss, Charles Walker, who showed stress from the sidelines.
"I got nervous just looking at the plane when it started up,” said Walker, the regional sales manager for Franz Bakery. “As soon as the door opened, I think I was getting light-headed."
Horne began his journey bright and early Tuesday, just after 5:30 a.m. After jump No. 1, things looked promising.
"Hit the target on the first one, and awesome landing,” Horne said with a smile.
Then the first obstacle arrived almost immediately.
"There was a bird that flew into the prop, but it doesn't look like it did anything,” said Scott Allen, Horne’s pilot. “We were going pretty slow."
Horne jokingly responded, “Alright -- one fatality.”
Heavy rain ensued a few hours later, halting Horne’s progress. After two rain delays stalled the skydives for about an hour combined, Horne was back in the sky, racking up the dives, wasting no time at all.
Horne averaged fewer than eight minutes in between flights, from takeoff to takeoff.
Then, at 2:20 p.m., more than eight hours after he began, Horne embarked on his record-setting 41st jump of the day, accompanied by the very man whose record he was about to break.
In fact, Horne and Holberton skydived side-by-side to cap off quite the history day. Then a celebration followed, with Holberton and Horne's brother smearing shaving cream all over Horne’s face.
It was a storybook ending to a day Horne never thought was possible.
"Skydiving is amazing,” Horne said. “I loved everything about it. I loved every bit of all 41 jumps today -- and you could do it, too."
A safety and training advisor with the United States Parachute Association was on the scene to verify the results. He will confirm with Allen’s trip log before sending the paperwork into USPA to make it official.
