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Kieran Brady |
April 2002 |
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How many jumps do you have? About 4,500 including around 2,000 tandem jumps and 150 demo jumps. When did you do your first jump? I first trained at the club in July 1975, attending for thirteen weeks in a row without jumping due to bad weather. Work commitments meant that I couldn't carry on. I worked hard at car sales for ten years and, as soon as I became self employed and could have weekends off, I returned to Strathallan in July 1985, trained in the first ever Friday course and jumped the next day. I was instantly hooked. We went up, jumped, put our names back on the board and jumped again. Tell us about your second jump After leaving the plane, the wind turned around completely, and I went backwards towards the river and landed in a tree. I was stuck up there for forty minutes, upside down and unconscious. I woke up in Perth Royal Infirmary where I stayed overnight. How did you become Chairman of Strathallan? Shortly after I started jumping I was encouraged to stand for the committee of Skydive Strathallan, [aka Scottish Parachute Club]. A month after that, when the Chairman resigned, I was asked to take the role of acting chair for the rest of that year. By then I was on dummy pulls. When the AGM came round the next year, no one stood for chairman and I just continued with the role. I've been Chairman for seventeen years and have never actually been voted in. No-one has stood against me. What did the club consist of then? The club was a very strong close-knit community that had ten sets of C9 kit, one Cessna 206 and a bunch of real good quality instructors. It also had a fairly substantial bank balance, which had been accumulated by the hard work of many devoted individuals. It was a strong entity at that point, although its ideas, in my opinion, kind of needed updating. |
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What are the club assets now? We now have 30 sets of RAPS kit, 25 sets of round kit and three tandem rigs. We operate three aircraft and we have taken over the whole hangar, including three classrooms. What was your proudest moment as Chairman? When I secured the twenty-five year lease at Strathallan, I was awarded what is considered to be the highest award in Scotland, the 'Tom Dickson Memorial Quaich', which left me kind of speechless because it is, I think, the trophy to have your name on. Have you any other awards? In my first year in the sport I received the Albert Wheeler Memorial Trophy, awarded to a student by the instructors at Strathallan. What is your role as Chairman? Skydive Strathallan is a series of systems which are managed by people who have particular expertise in that area. And what I have to do is take a step back and leave people to do that. My role is to have all these people together once a month, to oversee and to ensure there is no conflict and just manage it like any business. Who's had a big influence on the Scottish Parachute Club? There have been so many people who have given a great deal like Rob Noble-Nesbitt, Gordon Fernie, Ian Robertson and Billy Somerville, who have a strong, steady influence and great dedication. But anyone who has a regard for helping each other is worth a mention. Whom do you admire in the sport? Karen Farr, my partner. Parachuting has never done her any favours and has dealt her a few blows. What I admire in her is that she uses these blows to assist her to look after other people in a positive way. I don't know anyone else who could have taken the knocks she has had and still be so enthusiastic to do the job she does. [Karen is CCI at Strathallan and her husband, John, died skydiving.] What was your most memorable demo? The most memorable was one that I did not actually jump on, I was ground crew. The club was supposed to jump in with a letter from the Prime Minister to a rugby ground in Glasgow to celebrate their centenary. When Rob Noble-Nesbitt landed he informed me that he forgot the letter! So I handed the Provost of Glasgow a Scottish Parachute Club flyer, in pretence of the letter from Downing Street and I had to take my hat off to her, because she looked at the paper, smiled at me, and then just ad-libbed the whole speech, which was supposedly written by Margaret Thatcher! What goals do you have? My desire has always been to make Scottish Parachute Club better. My immediate goal is to complete the climbing wall. As soon as that is finished, there is another goal sitting waiting. What's your advice for newcomers to the sport? Don't ever forget that you are there to have fun. If you are not having fun then don't go. And definitely as a student, you must stay current. What's your advice for anyone starting as a tandem instructor? Tandem skydiving is potentially the most hazardous type of parachuting you can do. You need to be strong, fit and current. You need to be switched on, always focusing on the fact that someone else is depending on you being on the ball. What's your greatest asset? I have always been good with my hands. I can do most practical things with my hands, and I find that a great asset. Are you interested in skydiving or aviation first? My initial interest was as a parachutist. I only became involved in the flying side through necessity. I like to see myself as a jumper who can fly, rather than a pilot who can jump. What's been your funniest moment? When we convinced a jumper called Winnie that the Chinese restaurant in Auchterarder Main Street took jump tickets. It was only after they made her meal and gave it to her, that she found out they didn't. What for you is the best thing in the sport? When you see the students coming back with giant smiles on their faces or people on the early WARP jumps dancing about when they land. Occasionally, on a day at the club when the three aeroplanes are all operating, and all the good guys are there, I like to kind of a take a step back. Sometimes I'll wander across the other side of the airfield and just sit back and watch. When you see the whole machine operating and all the systems coming into place that have taken months or years to build; it's all working and people are enjoying themselves; to me it's the best feeling in the world! Kieran was talking to Eddie Jones eddie@skydivecamera.freeserve.co.uk Kieran Brady bradyk@fsbdial.co.uk Back to April 2002 contents |
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