Man to Celebrate 101st Birthday by Jumping Out of a Plane in Perris

A Palm Desert man will jump out of a plane in Perris Tuesday to celebrate his 101st birthday.

Vernon Maynard will make a 13,000-foot jump with an instructor and Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld, manager of Skydive Perris.

Maynard, who was born on Nov. 4, 1913, in Nebraska, made his first sky dive last year to mark his 100th birthday, Brodsky-Chenfeld said.

Maynard’s jump will prove that “skydiving is accessible to anyone, and it’s never too late to take your first jump,” Brodsky-Chenfeld said.

Maynard’s first career was in aerospace and defense technology, working on the B-25 World War II-era bomber and the “Flying Wing,” the prototype for the Stealth bomber.

He’s the last surviving owner of the S.S. Catalina -- also known as the “Great White Steamship,” which ferried people between Los Angeles and Catalina Island from 1924 to 1975.

--By City News Service.

(Image via Shutterstock)