Jacques-André Istel, D-2, is known as the “father of modern skydiving.” He immigrated from France as a boy and began parachuting in the United States in 1950. On a visit to France in ’55, Istel learned techniques of controlled freefall which he brought back to the United States ending the days of flailing between exit and deployment. He formed the first US team to compete at the 3rd World Meet in Moscow and introduced collegiate competition. In 1957, with Lew Sanborn as VP, he created the world’s first private parachute company.
