But for Fragoso, skydiving is more than just a thrill of jumping out of an airplane. As a licensed demonstration jumper, he often skydives and makes a landing on school campuses to talk to students about his hobby.
Glendale News-Press News Assistant Ani Amirkhanian sat down with Fragoso at Sparr Heights and asked him a few questions.
Why did you choose skydiving as your hobby?
I wanted to be a paratrooper. When I joined the army in 1957, I applied to go Airborne, but because I had flat feet, I couldn't. I had what they call a class B profile. At that time, they were very selective and you had to have a class A profile. So that kept me out of Airborne. But I always wanted to jump. So lo and behold, when I was 40 years old and my kids were grown up, I decided to go and make a jump. I made it down. You might say I've been hooked ever since.
What went through your mind when you were getting ready to jump for the first time?
I said to myself, 'What am I doing here?' It's just something that I wanted to do and I wanted to be Airborne. You're up there, it's so quiet. It's like you are the only one in the whole world.
Have you every been scared or concerned for your safety?
Unfortunately, there have been accidents. I did see one of my fellow jumpers … he had a total malfunction and he died.
I saw him going to the ground and that was scary. That made me scared.
I did go up and jump at that time, but I shouldn't have because it was on my mind.
What is the best part of talking to children about what you do?
What I like doing, when I land, I go and high-five all the kids around and the parents want to take pictures with you.
It's just really giving something back to the community.
