100-year-old man marks birthday by skydiving

Vernon Maynard smiled and waved at the other skydiver who taped him as he tumbled from the sky, harnessed to his instructor after leaping out of a plane.

It was the Palm Desert, California man's 100th birthday on Monday and he celebrated like a 30-year-old. The Associated Press reported Maynard's friends arranged the skydiving trip for him and two great nephews after the centenarian said he wished he had tried skydiving.

Maynard, who was born on Nov. 4, 1913 in Nebraska, is last surviving owner of the S.S. Catalina, a steamship that carried passengers from Los Angeles to Santa Catalina Island until 1975, according to J. Walcher Communications.

J. Walcher Communications uploaded a short video interview with Maynard and footage of his dive.

He's not the first adventurous pensioner to reach for the sky.

A video by Skydive Deland uploaded in 2012 documents the jump of another brave 100-year-old, referred to as Charles, who celebrated his birthday by jumping with his son and grandsons. Charles is all smiles before and after his jump, though he's a little hard of hearing.

In July, the Jewish Daily Forward reported about Aaron Rosloff, an elderly New Jersey man who skydived on his ninetieth and ninety-first birthdays to raise money for charity. This year, however, members of his congregation offered him donations not to jump, after he broke his ankle landing in 2012.

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