Fall like a rock, Glide like an eagle.
Posted by Thomas Halwax
on Apr 24, 2012
Every guy has a bucket list. You know, the things you gotta do before......well you know. I checked one more off mine last Tuesday while you were enjoying Rotary lunch. It started with the girl behind the counter, "read and initial here, signature needs to be witnessed". Ok, after initialing 61 times and signing the legal document 4 times, I was good to start my skydiving class. Great, the legal document scared the you know what out of me, but hey, I'm here. Even God took no responsibility for what I was about to do. Next the video from the inventor of the parachute package I would be using, the 1st half of the video explaining how dangerous the sport of skydiving was. Then the training, both in the class, repeated as I was suiting up and repeated again when I was in the plane. Very good, very thorough, great instructor. Strange, I was never scared, a little nervous, but always confident as to what was coming next. We all boarded the plane, about 18 of us, 2 tandem jumpers (I was one) and 14 singles. The energy inside the cabin was electric. A total adrenalin excitement. These people are really into skydiving, borderline crazed.
As we climb to 13,500 feet altitude, we go over the training again. Green light comes on, slide open the door and the singles bale out and NEXT, we scoot over to the the door with my photographer (video) and fall out of the plane. I have to tell you, I never felt this feeling before. Hands out, arms up and we are falling belly down, body and head arched back. The landscape below us is rural America, approaching kind of fast. Within 10 seconds, I lost my goggles due to the turbulence, which put a kink in any sight seeing. Once I lost the goggles, my brain emptied, so I forgot to do some of the things we trained for, like checking the altimeter and pulling the rip cord. No worries, that's why I brought along an instructor. Big jerk, chute is deployed and we are now sailing, mostly controlled by me with help from my partner. Outstanding. Great landing, all captured by the photographer and he asked me "how did you like it?" Well, you know me, so I said I didn't, cause of the goggle incident really spoiled a controlled 1st jump. Go in the hanger and take off the gear, sit with my instructor and evaluate my performance. Not too bad. I'm hooked, I will be buying my next jump soon. Sky Dive Chicago (Ottawa, IL).now that's the place for excitement. Just think, maybe we can get a group discount? doc