I guess that it is the over riding message that we’re all saying to our serving and past service colleagues, and there are many of them out there, who have had serious injuries. To this day, the town of Mesa, Arizona, continues to revel in their history, with annual retellings of the story. He and his three team-mates hope to complete the challenge in around 50 days in aid of Row2Recovery, The British Limbless Ex-Servicemen’s Association, Help for Heroes and the Endeavour Fund. Have a couple of round robin competitions, testing your parachutes against each other, to see which is the best. And so, in front of the “largest crowd in [Mesa’s] history,” a plane loaded with a plastic Santa Claus took off. At 4:15 p.m., right on schedule, the door of the plane opened, and the pilot pushed out the mannequin.

For more information on air resistance have a look at this article by Chris Woodford. Other things to try… After his accident in 1998, he married Sarah, the nurse who was caring for him at the rehabilitation centre at Headley Court in Epsom, Surrey, and the couple now have 14-year-old twins Harry and Oliver, who plan to be at the finish line to greet him in February time. I’m very well looked after. I still go to Birmingham Limb Centre at Selly Oak, the West Midlands Rehabilitation Centre. The lead prosthetist is Andrew Sharpe, what a guy. I’m very grateful for the continued well wishes and support I get from the Birmingham community.He still has treatment with prosthesis expert Andrew Sharpe at Birmingham Limb Centre in Selly Oak and is looking forward to returning to Villa Park, hopefully at the start of April. If you do miss your delivery, the courier will normally attempt delivery the next day or leave a card through your door so you can rearrange delivery on a day that is convenient for you. What actually happened, however, resulted in far less merriment, as the parachute never deployed, and the man responsible for the stunt was run out of town, branded as the “man who killed Santa Claus.”

Tip: If you have a stage area, small step stool or balcony, you could use this to give extra height for the final tests. Make sure the place you choose is safe and, if you are working above ground level, that the activity is carried out under adult supervision. Though the children were momentarily placated by their gifts, it seemed there was nothing McPhee could do to placate their parents. Though days and weeks went by, the death of Santa Claus was all anyone could talk about. Even worse, John McPhee had been branded as “the man who killed Santa” and eventually he was forced to move north to a town in Colorado. It’s many years since my injuries. I don’t dwell on it. It was a bad day at the office, I’ve always said that," he said.

A PURPOSE

Challenge your class to make a parachute for a paper Santa using any or all of the equipment in the trays. He convinced a local clothing store to let him borrow one of their mannequins and dressed it up in the stuntman’s Santa suit. Then, he rigged the fake Santa with an automatic parachute, like those used by the military to make cargo drops. As they reach a certain altitude, the parachute automatically deploys, letting the load drift safely to the ground. I’m in a four man team in a fleet of boats. It’s imminent, it starts on Tuesday and it’s live on BBC Breakfast. Our particular crew are all serving or ex-serving members of the British Armed Forces like myself who have all lost a limb. We’re an all amputee four. A few days before the catastrophe, in early December 1932, newspaper editor John McPhee was looking for a way to promote the upcoming Christmas parade, held in Mesa every year. The year prior, the town’s Santa had arrived by plane, though it had been a grounded one and Santa had simply walked down the steps onto the tarmac. This year, McPhee wanted his arrival to be something special.

Discuss the differences in the designs, why were some of the parachutes more successful than others? Research different parachute designs and learn as much as you can about what is needed for to make a really effective parachute. Compare this with how long it takes for a paper Santa with no parachute to fall from the same height (this will be your control). What is happening? Gravity is the force that ‘pushes’ everything to the ground, when Santa falls from his sleigh, it is gravity that causes him to fall down to earth.

THE MATCH

It’s 17 years since my injuries. I don’t dwell on it. The guys that I’m involved with in this particular event have had far more traumatised incidents than me. If I’m allowed to compare, mine was a scratch compared to theirs. It was a bad day at the office, I’ve always said that. Nigel Rogoff before he circumnavigated the UK by kayak and hand cycle. Photograph: Myung Jung Kim/PA Archive/PA Images

They did, however, buy some things – hundreds of presents. It seemed that parents, in an attempt to undo at least some of the trauma inflicted on their children, had gone overboard gift shopping that year, and brought hundreds of dollars to the local store owners. So, in some way, the event did, in fact, accomplish one of its goals.It started out as a perfect plan. A stuntman dressed as Santa Claus would leap from a plane over the town of Mesa, Ariz., and parachute down into the center of the town’s annual Christmas parade. Equally as eager to get his show on the road, John McPhee went to go make sure his stuntman was prepared for takeoff. Instead, he found the man at a local bar, totally inebriated. After realizing he was too intoxicated to ever hope to make it into the plane, let alone out of it, and realizing that should there be no show, he would have every townsperson and storekeeper asking for his head, McPhee improvised. McPhee attempted to cover for the catastrophe by claiming that Santa’s ability to survive was part of his magic, the same kind that helped him deliver gifts to all the children of the world each year, but hardly anyone bought it.