MARANA - Plunging into her 90s - Press Clips

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http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/local/12_10_02sky_dive.html

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Plunging into her 90s
Ex-WASP marks birthday by sky-diving for first time

LARRY COPENHAVER
Tucson Citizen
Dec. 10, 2002

Don't try to tell 90-year-old Frances L. Cisternino she can't do it all.
On her birthday yesterday, she added one more escapade to a life of enriching experiences. She rode a single-engine airplane to 11,500 feet over the cotton fields of Marana and jumped out, gliding back to earth with an instructor beneath a parachute for two.

"It was wonderful," said Cisternino immediately after touching down in the grassy landing zone of Marana Skydiving Center. "I'm going to do it again. I'm going to do it when I turn 100.

"It was the easiest thing. I just turned to the door and fell forward, and off we went.

"The hardest part was being on my knees in the plane. These knees are 90 years old, and there's not much meat on them," she said, poking fun at herself.

She admitted before the flight that she had some arthritis in her knees. But that wouldn't stop her from pursuing the dream of skydiving she'd had for decades, said the grandmother of four, great-grandmother of eight and great-great-grandmother of two.

"Heck, I'm not going to walk down from up there. I'm going to take a parachute," she joked.

Although yesterday's jump was her first, Cisternino knows her way around the sky. She got her private pilot's license in 1941, and she was recruited into the Women Airforce Service Pilots, known as WASPs, in August 1943.

It was a great honor to be chosen for the elite group of pioneers in women's aviation, she said. More than 25,000 women volunteered to serve in the group, but stiff requirements eliminated all but 1,000 who were actually certified WASPs. The women flew military aircraft, but not in combat.

She learned to fly in Nevada, Mo., near the Kansas border, about 100 miles south of Kansas City, Mo., before she joined the WASPs, said her son, Jim Caviness, 67, who drove from Phoenix to help his mother celebrate becoming a nonagenarian.
She continued to pilot small planes after her military service.

Actually, her first attempt at flying came around age 7 when she built an orange-crate glider, her son explained. Her plan was to glide from a tree limb, cross some grass and land near the garden.
But when she launched her craft, she dropped straight to the ground and broke her collarbone, he said. Her mother put a moratorium on her airborne activities until she grew up, but her love of flight was never discouraged.

The dream of parachuting from a plane began during her WASPs training, but the government never gave her that chance, her son said. The idea was to fly the planes, not jump from them, so the dream was put on hold.

A little more than a decade after leaving the military, Cisternino, an accountant by then, took the civil service exam but was told there were no "decent assignments," her son said. "She asked where there was a position, and they said all they had was one in Pakistan."

Her response?

"Well, I've never been to Pakistan."
After serving two years in the Asian nation, she took a job in Italy.

"She bought a Porsche there and raced it," her son said. "And she picked up a lot of trophies there."
Her plan to jump out of an airplane at age 90 gave family members some concern, Caviness said, before his mother climbed into the Cessna 182 at Marana Northwest Regional Airport, 11700 W. Avra Valley Road. "I'm a little apprehensive."
Yet, she never had second thoughts, he said. "And you don't talk my mom out of much."
"It was wonderful, just wonderful. I'm just sorry it didn't last longer," Cisternino said afterward. And many of the 25 friends and family members who came to see her descend from the sky agreed. Among those attending were seven women who also served as WASPs.

"This is something she's wanted to do for a long time," said Anna White, who went through WASPs training with Cisternino and who maintains a warm friendship with her. "I know that because I've only known her for 60 years."

Parachute instructor Greg Behrens said Cisternino was his second-oldest student. In 1989 he taught a man a few months older than Cisternino. The man wanted to parachute into France as part of the 50th anniversary of the Normandy invasion.

Cisternino, a Tucsonan since 1997, said after her jump yesterday she had but one concern: "I'm going to take this hat off, so keep those people with the cameras away until I find a comb."

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[dterrick 0]

...Do not go Gently into that Good Night... ... ...

... ... and ta hell with being 'gentle' while you're still here. 90?!? Pilot, race car driver, international traveller, skydiver? Damnn.

Now who among you fit a similar desription (and are about 60 years younger)


Dave

Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

[robzay 0]

Thanks for the link. What a great story! I've sent it to my family members who've said they're too old to jump. Next excuse please!

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There are very few valid excused to not jump other than fear.

I've seen skydivers that are; very old, missing limbs, paraplegic, quadraplegic, totally blind . . . each one is an inspiration.

When somebody says they "can't" skydive because of some perceived physical ailment, that's usually just an excuse to protect them from admitting their fears.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[robzay 0]

I agree. I've had the chance to watch one of the guys from Pieces of Eight jump and accuracy land. He's missing most of a leg and jumps, flys, and lands better than I probably ever will!
Some activities are not for some people, just wish I could better share what I get out of skydiving with my friends and family.

[kizzie92 0]

You gotta respect that.
Very cool!

There's an ol guy of 75 that comes to our DZ every few weeks or so and just watches the jumps. Turned out he had a jumping carrer spanning over 30 years. Apparently he has pulled quite a few stunts in his time and certainly has some stories to tell. He managed to get himself banned from CSPA for life "Twice."

He says he's working himself up to jump again, but it would have to be a tandem. You can really see the gleam in his old eyes when the cannopies come down. I hope I'm there when he jumps again. You gotta love the old folks who still have that incredible lust for life.

Cheers

Tony

The big difference between sex for money and sex for free is that sex for money usually costs a lot less.

[AirMail 0]

Greg is my cuz. He took very good care of her. I'll post pictures when I get them back. No digital cam

Patrick

--
It's never too late to have a happy childhood.
Postal Rodriguez, Muff 3342

[Kris 0]

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I agree. I've had the chance to watch one of the guys from Pieces of Eight jump and accuracy land. He's missing most of a leg and jumps, flys, and lands better than I probably ever will!
Some activities are not for some people, just wish I could better share what I get out of skydiving with my friends and family.

That was probably Bob Clark from Oklahoma. Him and his wife Judy are about the two nicest people you will ever meet in your life. He's also one of the best freefall cameramen I've seen. Some of his still pictures are absolutely breathtaking.

Kris

Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and
Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

[robzay 0]

You are correct. Thanks for the picture, definitely the guy I saw. Does he have a site for his still shots?

[Kris 0]

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You are correct. Thanks for the picture, definitely the guy I saw. Does he have a site for his still shots?

Unfortunately, no. The shots I saw were in an album passed around my old DZ. I'm glad that you got to at least meet him, though!

Kris

Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and
Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™