First Jump
Look, Mummy. There’s an airplane up in the sky…
Yup. That’s me jumping out of a perfectly good airplane. Here’s the rest of the trip down.
It was a fantastic experience.
We went out there at about 2 PM today. By “there” I mean here. First off, kudos to the people who work at Sky Dive Milwaukee. It’s actually a skydiving club and they do training and such to pay the bills. They were all helpful, friendly, fun, and, perhaps most importantly, diligent about safety.
We got there, checked in, and sat… and sat… and sat… We watched other people jumping and landing (all safely). Finally, my name came up. I was doing a static line jump. That’s the one where there is a tether tied to the container (yes, that’s what you call it) that opens it for you when you jump out of the plane. I wanted to do the static line instead of the tandem because it would give me the opportunity to steer and land by myself.
So I went and got my suit on and was promptly told that I wouldn’t be on the next plane. I’d be on the one after that. So we sat some more. Finally, it was really my turn. I put my chute on, checked everything, got my helmet, put on my gloves, turned on my radio, and put on my altimeter. When the plane pulled up, I walked the 50 yards or so to it and climbed aboard. I was going to be the first one out, so I was the last to board. I sat on the floor and we headed to the runway.
My jumpmaster was great. She tied my static line to the plane and had me tug on it to make sure I was comfortable that it was secure. She walked me through my flight plan. At 1,000 feet I needed to be at the corner of the landing site. I’d travel downwind until I was at about 600 feet, then turn 90 degrees crosswind. At 200 feet, I’d turn into the wind and line up for the landing. At about 15 feet I’d flare and gracefully touch down. Um… OK. Sounds like a plan.
At 4,000 feet we opened the door. I turned and put my feet on a little step below the door. I couldn’t see the landing site because the wing was in the way, but I had a general idea of where it was. I asked my jumpmaster again if my static line was hooked up. She teased me for that on the ground and said that when my feet were out of the door was NOT the time to check that. Touché.
I have to admit, I was a bit nervous sitting there looking at the ground, which was now 4,200 feet below me. My jumpmaster said, “whenever you’re ready.” I didn’t understand her. I was expecting a thumbs up or a “GO!” So I looked at her and said, “now?” She said yes and I jumped. It was that quick.
I tried my best to do a perfect arch, but hey, I’m new at this. My instructor told me to count to 6 and then look up to check my chute. I got to about 4. I had begun to tilt forward a bit before the chute opened and yanked me to an upright position. I looked up and checked size and shape. I was supposed to see a giant rectangle (not a circle, triangle, or anything else). Sure enough, that’s what I saw. Whew.
The next step was a steering test. Right about now, an instructor on the ground started talking to me through the radio velcroed to my shoulder. I reached up and grabbed my toggles. I pulled them both down. Then I did a right turn and a left turn. I checked my direction to make sure that my chute was flying straight without any input. Then I did a flare. That’s where you pull both toggles way down and it stalls the chute. All was good.
I checked my altimeter. I was at 3,000 feet. I had to descend another 2,000 feet before I had to be anywhere, so I played around. I turned and drifted. I could see Lake Michigan in the distance. I enjoyed the view and marveled at the oddity of looking beyond my feet and seeing thousands of feet of air between them and solid earth. It was a FANTASTIC feeling to be floating through the air knowing that the only thing between me and a very hard landing was a sheet of nylon and the harness compressing my crotch. Freedom. Pure freedom.
At 1,000 feet, with the help of my instructor on the ground, I was at my appointed spot. I made my appropriate turn at 600 feet and again at 200 feet. As I flew toward my target, my instructor said, “wait… wait… wait… FLARE!” And I flared. I had my feet together and my knees bent - ready for a perfect landing. At the last second, I caught a little cross wind that blew me to the right. It freaked me out a little and my legs came apart. I hit the ground relatively gently, but off balance and tumbled to a stop. I rolled over to my back and laughed at myself.
I got up, gathered up my chute, and waited for the instructor to talk the next guy down. His landing was much better than mine. Then we headed back.
Overall, the experience was exhilarating. Between the rush of jumping and the tranquility of being under canopy, it was simply fantastic.
I hope to jump again soon. Now that I’ve done it and know what to expect, each successive jump should allow more opportunity to enjoy the ride without having to concentrate so hard.
Thank you to the Sky Knights.
Glad you had a good time. You have more guts than I do to do this.
Posted by on May 10, 2008 at 2324 hrsAwesome, Owen. Glad you had fun fulfilling a dream, seems like it was everything you were hoping it would be.
...my verification word is ‘plane’…
Posted by Tony Turner on May 11, 2008 at 0628 hrsOwen, you’re really jumping into this mid-life thing with both feet.
Posted by Cindy on May 11, 2008 at 0954 hrs
Birdie, birdie in the sky
Dropping whitewash in my eye
But we thank Goodness
Owen can’t fly…INCOMING! HIT THE DIRT!!!
Posted by Steve Burri on May 11, 2008 at 1655 hrsBravo! You’re the richer from such a wonderful experience.
Posted by on May 11, 2008 at 1958 hrs
That looks like a complete blast. Always wanted to try it too. So are you going to work up to a free fall jump? It must be incredible.
btw - Nice Floyd lyric quote, I haven’t thought of that song in a long time.
Posted by on May 11, 2008 at 2105 hrsFinally! I was waiting for someone to get the Floyd lyric
I don’t know. I plan to jump again soon. Maybe a time or two after that. I’d like to get to the point where I can enjoy the entire experience without having to concentrate so hard on not dying. But after that… I don’t know. The drop zone is an hour away from me. That’s quite a distance for it to be a regular hobby.
Posted by Owen on May 11, 2008 at 2113 hrsWhat.... no Wendy?
Oh sure, it’s mothers day and you are happy to use Pink Floyd analogies, but didn’t Wendy try this? What about Peter Pan related analogies?
Posted by on May 12, 2008 at 0044 hrsI did this 20 years ago. Man, I was scared! I look back on it fondly, but I don’t know if I’d choose to do it again.
Posted by scott on May 12, 2008 at 0903 hrsHey Owen, glad you had a good time at Sky Knights!
A number of our regular jumpers come from an hour away or more, some from the Madison area and even downtown Chicago. The trick is to stay the whole weekend and make the most of it
Student jumps are sometimes subject to waiting due to stricter weather condition limits, not to mention the challenges of scheduling sport jumpers, tandems, solo students, jumpmasters, videographers, instructors… but once you are licensed to jump on your own, you can easily make several skydives a day.
And you’re right—it gets better with every jump! Hope to see you back soon.
-ToddZ
Posted by ToddZ on May 12, 2008 at 2257 hrs
Sky Knights Sport Parachute Club / SkydiveMilwaukee.com
Ol' Army
