A great day to go skydiving
It all started at Thanksgiving. I was making the trip to Indianapolis to see my family. I heard a radio spot for SkyDive KY. "Give a Gift Certificate for Christmas". I was immediately on the phone with my Mom. "This is what I want for Christmas!" I said. "You are crazy", was the retort back. I was persistent..., this is what I wanted. I pushed, "You guys never know what to buy me, here it is." Same response, "You are crazy"
A month later, guess what I received for Christmas? My long awaited and much pleaded for, SkyDive KY Gift Certificate. I was soooo excited. My certificate was for a static line jump. This meant that I would be jumping solo, with the aid of a static line to open my parachute. I had to take 6 hours of instruction before making my first jump.
Sooo, I had to wait for the weather to warm, made the appointment for May 3. I arrived at the parachute center early that morning. Progressed through the classes and instruction. But..... the weather was not going to cooperate. The winds were much too high for a beginning jumper. So I had to relent to scheduling my jump for the next Saturday, May 10th.
After a long week of waiting, the day finally came. I met Gary at the Bowling Green Airport and he awarded me with a personal flight to Elizabethtown. He even let me take the "wheel" for a while. What a great beginning to a wonderful day.
On to the jump.....
We fly into the Etown airport and land next to the parachute center. I do not have to wait long. After a brief review, I am suited up and prepared to go. "What am I getting myself in to?" I thought. "Fun!", was the immediate response.
I am outfitted with a jumpsuit, an altimeter, goggles and a helmet. Oh yes, and a PARACHUTE!
There are three official equipment checks.
Shown at left.
Who wouldn't enjoy the attention of five guys at once? I could learn to like this. What a fun sport!
I have a jumpmaster, a ground radio man and a whole support team waiting for me at the end.
I can't chicken out now! Everyone is here!
As we walk to the plane, my ground radio guy goes over my instructions and his signals. This man carries my life in his hands!. I am at full attention! Who wouldn't be?
We are ready to go skydiving! I am thrilled and excited.
Shown at right.
And away we go. The plane taxies down the runway, we lift off as my jumpmaster goes over my final commands and instructions.
"Are you ready to skydive, he asks? I reply, YES!
The moment of truth is coming!
The plane door opens..... The wind is high. The command comes, "In the door" I scoot into the open door space.
"All the way out!" I grab the cross bar of the wing and hang from the plane with both hands, my body blowing in the high wind. I prepare to jump. The moment of no return.
I see a thumbs up sign, and I ..... let go.....
The is a free fall of five seconds. I try my best to maintain my "hard arch". It was a quick decent, no time to get scared, my chute opens smoothly.
Now it is time for me to troubleshoot.
Is the slider all the way down, Yes, good. Are all my cells open, yes, good. Are there any twist in the lines? YES, so I wait for them to unwind before I release the "handbrakes".
I hear from my ground man.
He radios me to test out the maneuverability of the parachute.
He commands, "Turn a 360 to the left, I pull the left handle, my chute makes a smooth 360 turn.
"Turn 360 to the right" I reverse the procedure and make another successful turn.
Now I get a few moments to float and enjoy my experience.
Am I scared? Not really but I did have one concern. It seemed the only thing holding the chute on to my body were one inch straps between my legs and across my chest. "Wow, that is a lot of trust in a small amount of nylon", I thought. "If it was to break, I would have to hold on with my hand... not good" This concern went away quickly as I was mesmerized with the beauty of the air and scenery., What an addicting feeling! It was wonderful.
As I approach the ground, I make a series of three left hand turns to maneuver to the landing location, with the aid of my ground man.
As I approach the ground, he yells, "Flare, flare, flare." I pull both brake handles smoothly.... I slow..... and land gently on the ground.
I DID IT!!!!!!!!
What a sense of accomplishment! It really puts your life in perspective. Idle problems seem minor. You learn to live life to its fullest and enjoy every moment. Life is way too short to not enjoy it!
The Last Word
Many of you reading this are saying "She is CRAZY. I would be way too scared to do something like that. Skydiving is waaaay too dangerous.
I will leave you with one tidbit.
I can prove that skydiving is a "perfectly" safe thing to do for sport. I came home and worked with my horses all day on Sunday. In the end, I proved that SKYDIVING is SAFER than training horses.
See photo on right.
Apparently my head is NOT as hard as some of you think! Horses have harder hooves! Live and learn.
I will be back in the air soon.
