Bill did not know whether Maxwell was joking or not. He looked at the paper on the desk and, sure enough, the last event was for a parachute jump. As far as Bill knew, there were no parachutes in the squadron. The only ones that he had ever seen were those used during the war. All balloonists were equipped with them and the crews of the German airplanes wore them. In fact, Bill had the distinct recollection of having seen a German plane shot down and the observer jump with his parachute, thereby escaping with his life. To the best of Bill’s knowledge, the only parachutes for airplanes in the United States were those still in the experimental stage.