1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3....

 

In my last post, I discussed how I was NOT born to be a skydiver. Yeah, I totally proved that statement this weekend.  Last time, which happened to be September 2014, I was able to jump Level Three AFF with two instructors. I didn’t do good, but I didn’t do horrible either, so although I had to repeat Level 3, they cleared me to jump with only one instructor the next time. Unfortunately, the “next time” didn’t come until 29 March 2015, 6 months after the last jump. When I went in to talk to manifest, they said they would let instructors decide if I jump level 3 with two instructors or go back to level 2. They decided I would stay at Level 3 with 2 instructors.

  On to the first jump of the day briefing. Since it had been 6 months, I got quizzed on everything from malfunctions, the nuisances, to landing priorities, pulling priorities, hand signals, etc, etc, etc. It was a long first jump briefing, which it should be after a multi-month layoff. We get my equipment and check it all over and then get manifested on the 2^nd load of the day. One of my friends that works there as a Tandem Instructor, James, showed up to video my jump for me since I have never had any outside video taken.  At the 20 minute call, we get geared up and go over the dive flow, which is very little on this level. We exit, I do my circle of awareness, 1 practice pull, a set of toe taps and then they will try and let go of me for the first time to see if I can stay stable. The ride to altitude is uneventful. The door opens and the fun jumpers bail out a one single and a 4-way. I was next.  James crawls out onto the back step and waits for us. My reserve side instructor, Mike, goes out and my main side, Gary, motions me to get in the door. Right hand, right foot, left hand, left foot. Check in, Check out, Prop, Up, Down, Arch, Arch Arch!!! And, holy shit did I fuck up that exit. Instead of just jumping to the side and letting gravity do its thing, somehow, I almost launched into a dive and in doing so, tumbled us all out of whack. We tumbled so much, Mike let go of me and let Gary get us straightened out. After he did, Mike flew back in to take his side of me again. By the time everything got straightened out and I was able to get my COA, practice pull, toe taps done, they gave me a couple of body corrections and we were already at 5500 feet. I waved and pulled. Wow.. You know, it’s one thing to get a bit rusty after taking some time off away something you know how to do, but when take time off from something you don’t even have a clue how to do to begin with, when you come back, you aren’t rusty, you straight up SUCK!!!  On top of all this, we had a bad spot out of the plane and there was no way I was going to make my “playground” to do my canopy work. To start with, I thought I was going to be lucky to get back to the airport since I was down wind of the landing zone. But, due to pulling at 5500 feet, I had plenty of altitude to make it back and even had to bleed some off as I did a straight in approach. The landing was my typical butt slide in my landing area, so nothing new there.

  The debrief was humbling and disheartening. I totally screwed the pooch on the exit and that set the tone for the whole jump. Needless to say, Level 3 was going to have to happen again, but Gary was ok with me dropping down to one instructor if I was comfortable with it, which I was. James was leaving, so he handed me his SD cards from his cameras and Gary and I watched the video from the jump to explain what I did wrong. The video is awesome from the jacked up exit to when I pull. I was able to see everything I did wrong and we were going to do things better for the next jump.

  I manifested for the next load and we got ready. Again the ride to altitude was a non-event. This time, it was just me and Gary. No Reserve side instructor, no photographer. At 13,500, the door opens and the fun jumpers bail. Gary checks to make sure we are clear and then motions for me to get in the door. Right, right, left, left. Check in, Prop, Up, Down, Arch. This time, I do the exit correctly and it seems to be going much better. We, as a unit, are stable right out the door and I do my COA, practice pull and toe taps. We’re still at about 10,000 feet at this time, so Gary starts giving me my body corrections. Legs out, hands in, arch, hands out, legs out, arch.  Unfortunately, my little pea brain only seems to be able to complete two of the tasks at a time. If I had my hands right and my arch right, my legs were in. If my legs were right and my hands were right, my arch was off. When I fix one, I would screw up one of the others. We did this for the entire free fall and FINALLY, at about 7000 feet, I was able to get everything where they were supposed to be. Unfortunately, at 7000 feet, I have less than 3 seconds before the freefall is over and I have to pull, so Gary never even let go of me. We did open up right over the “playground,” so I was able to do my canopy work and my normal landing pattern. The only issue I had after opening was, as I came in to land, the wind had completely died and I had no headwind to slow me down with my flare. I came in pretty hot and with my ill-timed flare, all I heard on the radio was Gary saying, “Prepare to PLF.” Of course, all I managed was, again, my typical butt-slide landing but, in this case, it was an extra-long slide due to forward speed being faster than normal.  That ended up being one of the harder landings I’ve had since I started this endeavor.  For the jump, although I did finally get into position, I was about 4000 feet too low when it happened. I need to be able to get stable within the first few thousand feet for it to count. The next level, I am supposed to be stable and do maneuvers without assistance, so to be able to get stable quick is paramount and I totally except the fact that I’m not ready to move to level 4 yet. So, level 3 yet again, is on the horizon. Gary said he's not ready to hand me a bowling ball just yet, so there is hope for me.  Maybe some tunnel time is in order?? 

  On a good note for the day, my fear of the open door is fading away.  Even after a multi-month absence from the door, when it opened up for the first time that day, I felt some serious butterflies as my turn approached, but there wasn’t that deathly, absolute fear that I remembered from the first tandem. The second jump of the day, I barely even gave it any thought when the cold air rushed in from the open door. So, although I’m not doing so well at flying my body yet, my mind freak over that open door is most definitely on the downswing. And knowing how terrified I was that first time, this is HUGE!!
Pics taken by James Harker..
Top: My totally jacked up exit on Jump #1. (I'm in Red)
Bottom: The only millisecond I was in the correct position during Jump #1.

Until next time… 

Born to jump!!! Not...

  There are certain people in this world that are born to do certain things. Michael Jordan and LeBron James were born to play basketball. Derek Jeter was born to lay baseball. Tony Stewart was born to drive race cars. Some things just come naturally to people. Well, as I found out Saturday, Dale Hall is not a born skydiver.
  When I took my initial scuba diving classes, my instructor said he saw something in me in the first class and thought to himself, "This guy is a scuba diver." And, most of the stuff did come pretty easy to me. I have gotten all my ratings with ease and have never had a real issue with anything new concerning scuba diving.  I can assure you, my skydiving instructors are not thinking the same thing about me.
  Saturday, 6 Sept 2014 was my Level 3 AFF jump. Level three is where they let go of you for the first time. And, if you remember the multitude of steps I had to do in Level 2, that I did all in the wrong order, this jump was MUCH easier.  All I had to do on this time was: Exit, and when stable, call out altitude one time, 1 practice pull, tap my toes together, and then stay steady when they let go. Hold heading, lock at 6000, wave off and pull at 5500. Under canopy, I only had to try and stall my canopy and then I could play around until 2000 feet and then start my landing run at 1000.  Easy-peasy!!! Well, the steps were easy to remember.
  Today, my instructors were two I had never met before. My main-side was Ryan and my reserve-side was Ashton. Ashton is a tiny female that weighs about 100, if that. So, because she doesn't fall very fast, they put me in a HUGE jumpsuit to slow me down. (Only because she's tiny and not because I'm a fat ass.. Um, yeah. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it)  After I did my first jump of the day briefing with Gary, they hooked me up with Ashton and Ryan. We did the gear check and when we got the 20 minute call, we geared up and went to the mock up to practice the exit and dive flow.  Everything seemed good to go.  We boarded and after doing my handle checks and practice wave and pull at 5500 feet, Ashton turned around and did the final gear check for me and we went back over everything. At about 11,000 feet, the "skydiver handshake" was being done all around and around 13,500 feet, the door opened. The green light comes on and the Silver Wings pile out in one big group. After them, a single fun jumper went and then it was my turn before a big load of tandems. Again, the nerves were there but nothing that couldn't be handled. That truly does get better each time. In the door, Right Hand, Right Foot, Left hand, Left foot. Check in, Check out. Prop! Up! Down! Arch, Arch, Arch! Down the "hill" we go and we get stable. I check altitude and yell over to Ashton. I didn't wait for her to give me the "OK" and moved over to Ryan. Then, I see both of them give me the "Legs" signal. I push them out and get better. I do my practice pull and my toe taps. Check altitude. I feel them start to let go, but I keep feeling like I want to turn. I get the "Arch" sign and try that and then I see another "Toe Tap" signal from Ryan. I do it, but I still feel like I want to turn. I'm struggling to stay steady and although not tumbling through the sky, I feel totally out of control. Maybe not "out of control" but definitely not in control. I'm watching altitude while struggling to maintain heading and stability. I finally lock on at 6000 and wave off and pull at 5500. (I was happy I was finally able to wave off and pull on my own this time) When the canopy opens, both left and right end cells didn't inflate, but I grab the toggles, one quick flare and everything is square, stable and steerable.  Under canopy, I did my stall. You can't really stall that big of a canopy, but I did get it to slow enough where it pendulum-ed me forward. After that, I just played around with spins and turns over the playgroup. Over in the distance a big thunderstorm was happening and it looked awesome from a 3000 foot vantage point. That was the first time I wished I had a camera with me. Ryan talked to me a bit on the radio to keep me away from some tandems and then I brought myself for another text-book butt-scoot landing. One of these I'm going to stand one up, but not today.  After I was down, Ryan came over to help me with picking up the canopy. I thought I knew how to do it, but I was so bad at it, he had to have me put it back on the ground and start over three times before I finally got it right.
  During my debrief, we went over the dive. To make a long story not too much longer, I had de-arched slightly during the dive and I had one leg that was a bit lower than the other. Those two issues caused me to want to spin. I asked if they even let go of me and he said they did, but they stayed close and blocked me with their arms to keep me from spinning. I never got out of the wanting to spin stage, but they were hands off for most of the jump.  He said my canopy run was fine. He said my landing was started about 2 feet too late and I was slightly slow on the flair which resulted in the butt scoot. If I start a bit higher and flair a bit faster, I'll be spot on. All in all, it was good jump, however, in level 4 you must go hands free while making 2 90 degree turns and dock with your instructor on forward flight, they weren't confident to let me go on to that level. He said, to help me progress, he does feel confident I can go with one instructor, but he wants me to repeat the Level 3 dive flow with a single instructor. Although bummed that I didn't totally pass it, I totally agree with his assessment. I have to be able to stable before I can turn and dock. So, instead of moving on the Level 4, I will be doing, what I call,  Level 3-B.
  Like I said, some people are born to do certain things and those things come natural to them. I am not a born skydiver, but I can be taught.
Until next time...

Top pic is me coming in on final.
Bottom pic: Waking back in with Ryan after FINALLY getting my chute picked up.

AFF Level 2

After 2 failed attempts of trying to get my Level 2 Accelerated Free Fall (AFF) jump done, I was finally able to complete it this weekend!  The first time, I went up on my birthday with my dad. The weather looked bad, but I decided to chance it. I did my first jump of the day briefing, which consists of all the safety stuff you learned in the First Jump Course, and then go over the dive flow with the instructors. However, the weather never cleared and I didn’t get to jump. I went back two weeks later to try again. Unfortunately, I had helped teach some scuba classes the week in between and got a nasty ear infection with a lot of pressure behind the eardrum by the time that next week rolled around. Again, I went up for the first jump of the day briefing and did the dive flow with the instructors, but couldn’t jump for fear of blowing out my eardrum.  Everyone up there agreed with the no jump decision also.

  So, after a week of meds, my ear was better and I decided to head up to the dropzone, without an appointment, hoping they could fit me in during the day and get Level 2 done.  After hanging out for a couple hours, I got the call to meet up with my instructor. Again, I was paired up with Gary and we went over the first jump of the day briefing. Then we got my rig, inspected on it and set it aside. After that was done, we went over the dive flow for the jump. This was the first jump that lets you start to “fly” as a skydiver. The dive flow consists of: Once stable, you check altitude and call it out to both instructors. They will either give the “OK” sign or give you body correction signals. After that, you do three practice pulls of your pilot chute. When that is complete, you are to check altitude, do a 90 degree right turn, check altitude, 3 second forward flight, altitude, 90 degree left turn, altitude, 3 second forward flight. You repeat that until 6000 feet. At 6000, lock onto altimeter, at 5500 feet, wave off and deploy chute. After the chute deploys, I was to do my control checks and then do two 360 sweeping turns under canopy. After that, I could play around until 2000 feet. At 1000 feet, I start my landing run and then land. Yes, there were a lot of steps in this jump to remember. I had mentally rehearsed it for 4 weeks, so I pretty much had it down pat. Or, so I thought.

  When we got the 20 minute call for our load, we geared up and I met my second instructor, John. We went over to the mock up and practiced our exit and went through the dive flow and hand signals again.  Everything was good to go, so we sat down and relaxed until we were told to load up. We got loaded up and did a handle check for the 5^th or 6^th time. Once we were up I was watching the altitude and at 5500, I did my practice wave off and pull as requested. We were up to 10,000 feet and I could feel the butterflies start to rumble in my belly. At 13,000 feet, we turned into the jump run and the door was opened. The air felt so good that, for one of the first time, I thought, that feels good, let’s get outside. The “fun jumpers” exited and then it was my turn before the tandems went out. I got in position and was told the get in the door way. “Right Hand, Right Foot, Left Hand, Left Foot.”  In the doorway, “Check In. Check Out. Prop, Up, Down, Arch! Arch! Arch!” This time, as we went down “the hill” I remembered to keep the saying “Arch!” and did my best to keep it going.. After we were stable, I checked altitude and repeated it to the instructors. I got one “Legs Out” signal and complied. Nothing but “OK’s” after that. I did my practice pulls. Now to fly.  Right turn. Left Turn. Shit, forgot to go forward! Shit, forgot to check altitude. Altitude. Forward, 3 seconds. Right turn. Shit, forgot to check altitude. Altitude. Forward. Look at altitude again and googles had fogged a bit and as I was moving my arm to see better I noticed I was already at 5500 feet!! Just as I started my wave off, I saw the “Pull Now!” signal, so I pulled. Well, damn!! As much as I practiced all those moves in order, I jacked that all up!! I looked up at my canopy after my 4 second count and noticed my left side end cells didn’t inflate. Not a big deal. They go over this in the first jump of the day briefing. I unstowed my brakes and flared. I looked up. Still not inflated. I flared again.  I looked up and they inflated with ease. Cool. Now, it was time to play. I pulled on the right toggle and around I went, watching altitude as I spun down. Same with the left and then just played with the toggles until I got to about 2000 feet. By then, Gary got on the radio with me and had me do a couple things and then I started my landing run. The wind had been pretty strong all day, but it had died down a bit so I ended up getting near the landing area a bit high, so on to doing some “S turns“ to lose some altitude. I came down slowly and heard Gary on the radio saying, “Wait for it. Wait for it. Wait for it. Ok, start your flare” I flared and touched down just as light as I could. I almost stood up the landing, but, my feet were just a bit in front of me and I had on my Chucks, so my feet slid out from under me and I ended up on my butt.  No big deal. It was still a soft landing and I was happy to get it done that smooth.  However, I was a bit bummed that I screwed up my dive flow and I was wondering what the instructors were going to say about it.  I had a bit of hope about passing when Gary came over the radio and said, “Ok.. Good jump. I’ll come help you with your chute.” I picked up everything and headed in for my debrief. Unfortunately, John, who was my Mainside instructor and would debrief me, had a tandem to do on the next load, so I had to wait until he got back down before I could get briefed.  John got back down and we did my debrief.  I got the normal, “arch more” and the missing the 6000 foot lock-on altitude. The dive flow was no big deal to them. They said I only needed to do one of each maneuver to pass and I was able to get 2 or 3 of each, and they were all executed correctly, so I was good even if it was out of order.  He gave me a few things to work on for legs and arch, but all-in-all, they were happy with the jump and I have been cleared to jump Level 3 next time!!  On level 3, I get turned loose for the first time and try to stay stable on my own with the instructors staying close. Whoo-hoo!! One more step!!

Until next time….
PS: Not me in the pic.. Just one I found on the web of an AFF jump..

First Jump Course and AFF Level 1

  As I mentioned in my last two entries, I'm getting into skydiving. After doing the two tandem jumps, I realized I could conquer my fear and actually get certified to jump, so I signed up for the First Jump Course (Ground School) and the first actual jump. The type of jump training I'm taking is called "Accelerated Freefall" or AFF for short.  There are 7 levels to AFF. The first three jumps, you jump from 14,000 feet with two instructors, each holding onto you as you freefall.  There are certain tasks you must do correctly during the free fall and then you deploy your chute and when it's time to land, they will talk you down on the radio. The next 3 jumps, you jump with only 1 instructor who only holds on to you when necessary and they only talk to you on the radio if necessary. Jump 7 puts it all together with one instructor. If you do everything good on that jump, you are then certified to jump solo (sans instructors) and work on proficiency tasks until you get 25 jumps and can be awarded your "A" license.

  This past Saturday, I started with step 1. I got to Skydive Atlanta at 0750 for an 0800 class start time. After sign in, and getting our student hand book and log, the instructor, Nick, came out, introduced himself to me and the other 3 guys in the class. Of the 4 of us, two of us had some previous jump experience and the other two had zero. How those two got up the nerve to try AFF with not even doing a tandem first is well beyond my comprehension. I had to do two tandems before I could decide to try it. But, Good on Them.  The class took most of the day. Nick taught us everything he could from showing us the airplane, the parts of the rig, how to put it on, how to arch, how to throw out the pilot chute, the dive flow, hand signals, pull priorities, how to do emergency procedures, landing patterns and altitudes, decision altitudes, how to deal with nuisances and malfunctions and how to tell the difference between the two, how to land, how to recover, and the list goes on. As you can see, with a 6 hour class, there is a lot of information to take in. Near the end, there started to be a bit of information overload. 

  After the sit down portion was over, we headed out to the mock-up where they have the door of the airplane built to practice exits. We went over the entire skydive that we would be doing that afternoon a good number of times.  Getting to the door: Right hand on door, right foot in doorway, left hand on door,  left foot behind right foot.  To inside (main side) instructor "Check In!" and he nods. The outside (reserve side) instructor, "Check Out!" and he nods. Look forward and yell "Prop! Up! (while raising your knees and heels up so they can see since they can't hear you) Down! (putting knees and heels back down) "Arch!" as you step out the door of the airplane at 14,000 feet.  All of that should be in a sort of cadence so the instructors can time it to leave with you still holding on. After you are stable, then look at your altimeter and call out the altitude to your reserve side instructor and wait for thumbs up.  Same to main side. Also look for any hand signals for things you might need to fix. Then you do three practice pulls with your pilot chute, then do you altitude call out again. After that, you just watch altitude and for any hand signals to comply. At 6,000 feet, you "lock on to altimeter." Meaning: Watch it and don't look away. At 5,500 feet, you wave you hands above your head to let anyone around you know you are about to deploy your chute and then you throw your pilot chute out. When your chute is out and everything is good, you go to the "playground" and play with you canopy until you get to landing altitude and then you do your landing procedures and pattern while they talk to you on the radio. Simple enough, right?? As we were doing it in the mock up, it was easy. :)  After the mock drills, we went back to the classroom for the written test. 30 questions. All 4 of us scored a 100% on the tests. And so, all we had to do then was get manifested and wait for our load to be called.
  Two of the guys went up in Load 7 for the day and me and the other guy went up in load 8. After Load 7 came in, one of my instructors, Gary, came and found me. We went in the gear room and he showed me the gear checks to do prior to any jump and the first jump of the day. After all the checks were done, I put on the jumpsuit that has handles for the instructors to hold and then the rig. After all the gear was on, we went out to the mock up and did the practice jump a couple times so they were sure Nick taught me and I retained what he taught.  Then we got the call to load......
  I put on my helmet and we boarded the plane. Rock, paper scissors and we were going to be the last group out of the plane on that load. (That actually comes into play a bit later)  We take off and at 1,000 feet, we unbuckle our seatbelts and take off the helmet. At 5,500 feet, I give a practice wave off and pilot chute pull and we all check each other's altimeters to make sure they are close. At 10,000 we do another handle check (this is actually about the 4th or 5th one we've done since putting on the gear) and Gary goes over hands signals with me again along with the dive flow.  At 13,000 feet, Gary asks me, "Are you ready to skydive?" I say, "Yes Sir!!"  Although, at this point in time, my heart is starting to race again. It's not near as bad as the first time and it's not as bad as the second time, so each time is getting better, but there is a healthy fear/anticipation along with every jump. Close to 14,000 feet, the door opens and people start to empty out the airplane. It's now my time. I get to the door.. Rich climbs out the door and hangs on. Gary pats the door sill and that's my cue.  Right hand, right foot, left hand, left foot.  I'm standing in the doorway with my right shoulder under the top of the door and my head and left side outside the airplane.  I feel hands on both sides of my jumpsuit. "Check in!" The nod. "Check Out!" The nod. As I look forward at the prop, I take a deep breath to clear my mind.  "Prop! Up! Down! Arch!" and away we go.  It takes but a couple seconds to get stable and start my "circle of awareness" heading, altitude, reserve side, main side. As I call out my altitude, I get the signal to push my legs out. I do, but not enough. I call out to my main side and he also gives me the legs signal. I try it some more. But still not quite there. I do my three practice pulls and I get the legs signal again. I push out this time and can actually feel the difference and so I finally got it right. I was about to call out 8,000 feet to main side and as I look over, he's giving me the "Pull Now!" signal.  I had no idea what was wrong, but I'm not arguing, so I pulled.  By the time the chute opened, I was at about 7,000 feet. 1500 feet above my pull altitude and close to 2,500 feet above the altitude I should be at after opening. I looked up and the canopy was square, stable and steerable, so I was good. Except I was way the hell up there. I did my steering checks and then went over to close to where we were supposed to use as our "playground." Since I was so far up, I stayed a bit away from the playground and would work my way over there when I lost some altitude. I was a bit bummed at the "pull now" because I figured, somehow, I screwed up and he aborted the jump.  I played around with the canopy doing turns and flaring and slowly worked my way towards the playground. When they finally got on the radio with me, they wanted me closer to it, so they go me to come on over. I was still about 4000 feet up. They had me doing 90 degree turns and other stuff to bleed off some altitude. Finally, I was within landing pattern altitude and they started talking me in. I was still a bit high, so just like I was told not to do, I ran my downwind portion a bit long hoping to lose enough altitude to not run long in the landing area.  Well, I sure didn't run long. In fact, because of the headwind I had, I barely even made it to the landing area. And since I was so close to the edge, that is also where the big gas tank is they use to fill up the gas truck.  That thing was getting bigger by the minute and I was headed right to it. I put it a tiny bit of right and was able to go right beside it. I was so fixated on the gas pump, I didn't flare as much as I should have and butt scooted my landing. My chute fell and it covered the gas pump. That's how close I was.  But, I was down safe and I now I wanted to know what I did wrong.  Gary came over and helped get the chute off the gas pump and I asked why we pulled so high and if I did anything wrong. In turned out, Rich was watching our progress and because we were last of the airplane, we had run pretty far past the airport. He had us pull high so we all had enough altitude to make it back to the airport. They both even told me that, normally, when they give the "pull now" signal, most people question it and they were actually surprised when I pulled as quick as I did, so I got kudos for that.  Sweet!!
  So, my debrief went well. They told me what I need to work on. I need to have a better "cadence type count" in the door way for timing. I also need to work legs out. They also brought up the fact that ran my downwind long and not to do that again.  Other than those things, they were happy with my other tasks and cleared me for Level 2.  Whoo-hoo!!
1 down, 6 more to go.. I'll write about them here also.
Until next time...

Skydive Part Deux

As I mentioned in my last post, we were slated to go skydiving again on 7 June. I had a group of 7 of us that decided to make the jump. 4 of us were repeats while three were first timers. A few of us met up and carpooled to the drop zone. The rest showed up at the DZ and everyone was there by the scheduled time.  We were split into 2 groups for the lifts, 4 in the first load and 3 in the next. Since we were split into two groups and three of us requested the same tandem master, I guess, since I was a repeat, they decided to let me jump with someone else. I had a deal with “JW” that he would let me use an altimeter and let me do everything there was to do to see if I was capable of doing it, so I was a bit bummed when they slated me with someone else. Remember, I was going to use this jump to see if I could overcome the pure fear that got me last time and to see if I actually had what it took to be able to get certified. He went and talked to “Drew,” my tandem master for this jump, and everything was cool. Drew got me an altimeter to use and he went through all the steps for me just as he would if I was an actual student.  We practiced the moves on the ground; how to hold my hands, how often to check the altimeter, how to grab the ripcord, etc., etc. Then we simulated hooking up and we did a dry run on the ground.  After that, we boarded and I noticed we were going to be the last guys off the plane where we were sitting.  On the way to altitude, we went over the steps and he gave me a couple ways to try to stay calm and keep the mind from racing, which did work, by the way. We kept checking altitude on our altimeters going up and once we got hooked up, we did our final check, the “skydiver handshake” and then the door opened. One by one, actually, two by two, we watched everyone plummet out the door on their 14,000 foot, 120 mph ride to Mother Earth.  Finally, it was our turn. We slid up the bench and got to the end of it where there was nothing between me and that open door. The last time, the fear was almost paralyzing. This time, there was anxiousness, but nothing more than a VERY nervous energy and anticipation running through me.  Although my stomach was turning, it was nothing compared to last time. We got to the door, I looked out at the horizon, took a breath to calm down even more and we were on our way.  The initial drop wasn’t as bad as I remembered it and we were stable under the drogue within seconds.  I got the tap to let go of my “happy handles” and assume the arch. I arched and immediately checked my altimeter.  When I checked, Drew then grabbed my arms and showed me what to do to turn in circles as we were falling. To be completely honest, I don’t remember which hand goes which way to turn which way, but it was a pretty badass feeling to control yourself like that. I checked altitude again. I also had no goggle issues this time. We do some more turns and I check again. Once I look down and see we are at about 6200 feet AGL, I stop looking around and focus on the altimeter as instructed. At 5500 feet, I wave my arms above my head like a Football Ref calling for time out. That lets everyone around you know you are about to pull the chute. After I wave, I reach back with my right hand, I put my left hand out in front of me (to counter act the hand going back) and pull the release for the chute. The chute opens and once we settle down, the first words from Drew’s mouth are, “Dude, you were awesome!! That was fuckin’ textbook!”  That made me feel great!!  He said every time he was about to tap me to remind me to check altitude, I was already doing it.  He gave me the toggles and let me steer towards the airport. At one point, we came into a cloud and he said, since you can’t see other canopies, you should spin down through a cloud, so that’s exactly what we did. My first skydiving IFR flight. It was very cool spinning down through the cloud.  Once we got closer to the airport, he took back over and brought us in for a nice smooth butt-scoot landing.  I was totally jazzed when we got on the ground!! I stared at what was/is one of my most primal phobias and took a major step towards conquering it. To really conquer it is to be able to jump out of that door with no one strapped to me or anyone holding onto me. I have 7 jumps I need to accomplish for that feat to happen.  I’ll write about each one of them.  My first is scheduled for Saturday, 5 July.
  On a side note: If you have ever wanted to try jumping out of a “perfectly good airplane” go do it!! With the chutes they have and the tandem systems, you have nothing to fear except fear itself.  Go see what it’s like to fall without feeling like you are falling and then the graceful glide of a parachute to a gentle landing in the grass. You may not ever do it again, but you will be able to say you did it at least once.  Then again, you may get bitten by the bug and want to learn to do it on your own like me.
Oh, and by the way, all 7 of my group were safe and sound that day and everyone had an AWESOME time!!!

Skydiving...

Skydiving. Ever been? Ever wanted too? I actually have the tale of two jumps for you.

Flashback:  September 1982. I’m a freshman in college and I HATE Phys Ed courses.  I sign up for a tennis course the first quarter and promptly withdraw from it. Second quarter I notice that “Sport Parachuting” was listed. Sweet!! I can do that. So, I signed up and, I actually went to the classes. The ground school that normally takes about 5 hours at a Drop Zone (DZ), we did in 6 weeks. We learned to exit the airplane, how to land, how control the canopy (what control there was in the old military round chutes that we were jumping) and how to deal with malfunctions.  At the end of the class, you have two options. Take a written test on the info we discussed or go jump from a plane at 3000 feet. If you jump, you get an automatic “A” in the class. Hell yes.. I’m actually going to make an “A” in college!! February 1983, we meet up for our actual jump at a DZ in Locust Grove, GA.  We get a quick refresher ground school, don our jumpsuits and our rigs. This is going to be a static line jump. A 15 foot line is attached to the floor of the airplane while the other end is attached to your parachute container. You jump, you fall 15 feet, the static line opens your container and, WHAM,  your chute opens and then they talk you down on a radio that is attached to your harness. . Easy enough. And that is exactly how it happened, except for two minor details. As I stepped out of the plane, I pushed with the wrong foot and spun leaving the door. When my chute opened, I was still spinning and my lines twisted all up. They taught us how to correct it and I did what I needed to do to get them untangled. The opening was rough. It snatched me so hard, my feet flew above my head. But, I was good. Now, just talk me down and we’re good to go. Waiting for my instructions…  Still waiting... Ummm. Hello?  Anyone on this thing??  WTF??? Oh well, it looks like I’m going to have to do my best to get down in the general area without breaking anything or myself.  I actually did pretty good at staying the area and when I finally got down to an altitude where they could yell at me (my radio was on the wrong channel) I was headed right towards a small shack and they yelled, “FULL BRAKES!!”  I yanked on both toggles and fell like a rock from about 30 feet into the parking lot. I hit feet, ass, head onto that Georgia red clay parking lot. It was a hard hit, but I was fine except for a sprained ankle. And, I had my “A” in the class!! FYI: It was the only “A” I ever made in college.  I wanted to do it again, but never really got around to doing it after the ankle healed up.
  Fast forward to February 2014: We get a new guy in our shop and we find out he just happens to be a certified skydiving instructor that works at one of the local DZ’s. That got me remembering that day in ’83 and I decided I wanted to try it again. However the difference is, I was 18 back then, I’m 49 now with a couple of significant neck surgeries and a whole bunch of metal added to my repertoire.  But, after hearing more, there are some major differences in skydiving from then to now also. They have square, actual flyable, canopies and not those round things from before. Tandem jumps where you are strapped to a qualified instructor that takes care of everything, instead of static line and you do everything, along with hoping your radio is on the right channel. And MUCH smoother openings/landings than before.  Oh, and you jump from 14,000 feet versus 3,000. Oh yeah.. Let’s do this. I actually find a female in my shop that also wants to go, Tina, so we pick a date, sign up and show up at the DZ. The weather was really crappy and it never got any better, so our first day was a bust.  The weather was so iffy, neither of us even got nervous the entire time we were up there. We got a great tour of the place and enjoyed our time up there, but no jumping.  We made plans to go back up the following weekend on Sunday.  When we met up on Sunday, the sky was a clear and as blue as it could get. I knew it was going to happen that day. We went back to the DZ and got signed in. We go in for the ground briefing and when the instructor is explaining how it will go down, he mentions that we will go over to the door and “put your toes over the edge.”  Tina said she looked at me and my face lost all emotion. She said she only looked at me because she felt the exact same thing. It hit us at the same time: This shit is about to get real.  I’m going first, so I get in my harness and just hang out. We do a bit of videoing and photo taking and then we head to board.  During the flight, I’m not really nervous. We do some more video and we get everything hooked up and tightened up.  After we get to 14,000 feet, it’s time to start the jump run. The door goes up and the Army Silver Wings, that are riding with us, jump. Then a student with his two instructors all jump out. Then, there was no one between me and that open door. This shit just got real!! We scoot to the end of the bench and then stand up and shuffle over to the door. I “put my feet over the edge” and hold on to my “happy handles” and think, “WTF am I doing up here???” By then, it was too late, we tumble out the door and I give one big grunt, which is better than screaming in my opinion, and then he throws the pilot chute to slow us down a bit. We start our stable freefall and at this time, I’m starting to have fun. However, my goggles blew up a bit and now I’m having a rush of 145mph wind come in one side and proceed to beat up my left eye.  We had decided on the ground that he would show me his altimeter and when we got to deployment altitude (5500 feet) he would let me pull the chute if I wanted too. He kept putting the altimeter out, but I never got see it. We did a couple turns and if I wasn’t having my eye beat to a pulp, I would have really enjoyed it. Finally, when we got to 5500, he tapped me and I reached back for the ripcord. I wasn’t sure if the tap was to locate it or pull it, so I located and waited.  He finally tugged on my arm a bit and I knew to pull, so I pulled the chute. The opening was nothing like the ’83 opening. It was smooth  and before I realized it, we were now riding the canopy. He did a few maneuvers and then let me try it out a bit. Of course, I was very timid on the controls but did mess around with it a bit. After we got down to pattern altitude, he took back over and brought us in for a smooth butt-scoot landing.  It was an awesome time!!  However, my eye hurt so bad from the air beating it took, I couldn’t get overly excited about the ride.  Don’t get me wrong. I had a blast, but the pain just kept me from enjoying at that exact moment.  Tina took her ride next time and she had a blast too!! Totally different form 1983 and SO much better!!

  Now, I’m trying to decide if I want to get certified to skydive. I had a great time, but I was scared to death just before we jumped. Is it a natural feeling? Maybe, but I honestly have no idea. So, we are scheduled to do another jump, also tandem, this weekend. How that day goes will let me decide if I have it in me to continue on to training to become a skydiver. If I decide to do it, of course, I will write about it here. If not, I will write about jump #3 and move on. Stay tuned for updates…