With a big grin, Kim Knor, left, makes a tandem jump in Salisbury along with instructor Dan Dewitt getting one step closer to her goal of 1,000. – Submitted by Piedmont Skydiving

Karen Kistler

karen.kistler@salisburypost.com

 

Kim Knor, 86, is going for her Gold Wings in skydiving and one of those required 1,000 jumps to achieve this goal was made in Salisbury.

Originally scheduled for June 19, Knor’s jump had to be postponed due to weather conditions, but she was able to make her jump June 20 at the dropzone in Salisbury at the Piedmont Skydiving Center, 500 Airport Road, with Dan Dewitt serving as her instructor. This jump was number 843 in her quest for 1,000.

Once she left Salisbury, Knor and her friend Katie McVey of Greensboro who was traveling with her went on to Chester, S.C., where she completed five more jumps at Skydive Carolina, bringing her total after this weekend to 848 total jumps.

Already having earned her Silver Wings, which she got for completing 200 jumps, Knor said that “when you get 1,000 freefalls, you get an award from the United States Parachute Association and it’s Gold Wings.”

Knor’s desire to learn how to jump began at the early age of six when her uncle returned from the war in 1945 and she saw a parachute that he brought home.

Her thought, she said, was “I want to do that when I get older” but also thought she should graduate high school at least.

It was 1959 when she made her first, said Knor, she remembers everything about that day beginning with hearing a group of guys at the drug store having a discussion about parachuting and telling that this is something she has always wanted to do and can she come, to which they told her yes.

Her first lesson was how to pack her parachute and after a while she told them she “really wanted to learn how to jump and not just pack the parachute but learn how to use it,” she said. “Finally, they took me up for a jump and that first jump I will never forget because I waited so long for that.”

Remembering that she stood on the wheel and strut of the plane, Knor was told to push off and since there was no static line, one of the guys said he would act as that static line to pull the rip cord.

And once she made that step out, her reaction was “finally, I got to jump finally.” And then the parachute opens and her thoughts became, “this is great and I’m floating around up there under this parachute. I was so excited because I packed it myself and it was going to open.”

Noting that as one landing at that time, steering wasn’t the greatest, and you went where the wind took you, she watched and saw power lines ahead and giving thanks for clearing them, she landed on the ground, however her chute had not cleared the lines and they caused them to come down.

But even with this happening on her first jump, she said she wasn’t deterred from repacking her parachute and quickly going back up for a second jump, this time landing really close to the target.

Prior to going up in the plane for jump 843, Knor’s enthusiasm to jump was just as evident as she said that she was excited to be in the sky. 

When asked how many jumps this was going to be and if she was tired of it, with a big smile, Knor said emphatically, “no, I’m ready to go.”

Knor said when she first started jumping, it wasn’t a sport in the country, but was just starting and was called sport parachuting.

After making her first skydive in 1959, Knor has accomplished many things in the sport, including by 1962 being part of the first U.S. Women’s National Parachute Team, which won gold at the World Championships. Plus, her pioneering role in the sport led to her being inducted into the International Skydiving Hall of Fame in 2013.

She stepped away for 37 years from skydiving to raise her children and was encouraged to return to the sport following the loss of her husband. Knor had sold her equipment but said she was talked into doing just one jump, for her grandchildren.

With a laugh, she said, “I will have to say, it’s like eating potato chips, you don’t eat one, you finish off half the bag. And that’s the way it is. And then when I did it, I said, wow, I love being in the air under the canopy.”

And that’s the advice she would give to others considering trying this sport.

“If this is something you have thought about and shown an interest in it, then definitely, without question, get out there and do it.”

Knor has sold her home, bought an RV and has been traveling across the country to reach this 1,000-jump goal. Her stop in Salisbury with her friend McVey, helped get her another step closer to that goal.

When asked how they decided upon Salisbury as one of those stops, she said they have a program that is sent out to the dropzones on their routes telling of their jumps and asking these locations would like to participate.

She has jumped in at least 29 states, she said, with her most memorable being, or the one that “really, really hit me was Galveston, Texas,” she said, as it “is the most unique place I’ve ever jumped” as they landed right on the beach, something she had never done before.

Knor and McVey spoke about the joy of skydiving and the camaraderie that exists among, as they called it “sky family” supporting one another and cheering each other on, and Knor said with a laugh, it’s addictive.

McVey said as soon as she jumped she knew she wanted this for her life, and Knor said that she has a daughter and granddaughter who also are following in her love of skydiving. However, she said, her daughter had suffered a car accident but Knor was working on getting her back.

When asked if she had a special place to make jump 1,000, she said she would like to jump in Ohio, at the dropzone of Sherry Butcher, the person who organized this program for her, “because it’s honoring her for doing all this for me.” However, it would be determined by where she is at the time of that jump. 

As for what’s next once she has reached the 1,000th jump and gotten her Gold Wings, Knor said she plans on treating herself to a trip to Egypt and jumping over the pyramids.

“That’s a big thing now,” she said, and is planning to do this for herself “for sticking with it.”