NATIONAL BRIEFING / MAINE

Former President George H.W. Bush marked his 85th birthday the same way he did his 75th and 80th birthdays: He leaped from a plane and zoomed downward at more than 100 mph in free fall before his parachute opened and he landed safely at a spot near his oceanfront home.

Bush made the tandem jump from 10,500 feet with Sgt. 1st Class Mike Elliott of the Army’s Golden Knights, who guided them to a gentle landing on the lawn of St. Ann’s Church.

“It’s a great, exhilarating feeling,” Bush said after he was removed from his harness. “I don’t feel a day over 84.”

He said he enjoyed the jump so much that he planned to do it again when he turned 90.