| Skydiving |
| First off! I am no skydiving guru. I have only made 3 static line jumps. (so far) Skydiving is something that I had always dreamed of doing. My father was a Paratrooper in the U.S. Army and I guess that is where the dream originated. All 3 of my jumps are from the same plane. A Cessena 172. This four man craft had been gutted of all its seats except for the pilots, modified with a swing up door and an eight inch by eleven inch platform had been welded just above the landing gear. My first jump was myself, 3 other students, a jumpmaster and the pilot taking off in this four-man plane for the drop zone. The drop zone is in the very same airport that we have just taken off. It is bordered at the south by industrial park and a major highway, at the east by a cypress swamp, the west side high power electric lines and to the north is Ware County Correctional Facility. The jumpmaster advised that if you do not hit the DROP ZONE you are @#%*ed. Originally I was to be the first student to jump. But as we began to load a girl decided that if she didn't jump first she would never do it. I offered to exchange my placement with her. We assended to 3,000 feet. The pilot enters the drop zone, pulled a wire to the door latch. The door opens with a tremendous "WHOMM". Our jumpmaster guides her out the door onto that little 8X11 platform, where she has to turn around and hold onto the wing strut until he tells her to jump. When he gave her the word to jump and arch; she decides she will not jump. Instead she began to do what we were taught never to do. She began to re-enter the plane. We were taught the danger of trying to re-enter a plane. If while trying to re-enter the static line could execute the chute, the chute would surely entangle with the plane and crash. We were all yelling at her not to try, the jumpmaster was screaming "YOU HAVE TO JUMP...YOU HAVE TO JUMP..." when she yelled "The @!#% I do" and pounced not only into the plane but over us all clear to the rear of the plane. I was next. We circle around the drop zone and our jumpmaster coach me to the wing strut and landing gear. When he said "JUMP" I guess that was the scardest I have ever been in my life. My first landing was perfect. I was estatic. Eager to do my second...... More to come |