![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
9000 Feet and Falling
Yesterday, I fell out of an airplane and fell 9000 feet to the ground.
It was thrilling.
Two Yule's ago, Elf gave me a Yule gift of a skydive out of an airplane. My friend![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fallenpegasus had been doing it for a while and talked about how thrilling it was...I wanted to try it too. But finances never allowed me to go forward.
Well, yesterday, Fallenpegasus decided to give me that gift in exchange for a ton of DVD burning that Elf was doing for him. So, Elf and I did our monthly Costco run (a little early, as this was for August) in the late morning, then got back about 1:45 pm in time to have something to eat so I wouldn't have an empty stomach before jumping.
Then it was time to head out. That was a saga in and of itself, as the location of the jump had changed. The Kapowsin group, who I would be jumping with, had moved to a new airfield in Pierce County, and Fallenpegasus had not been there before. We actually passed the entrance before we realized it...it's a very unassuming driveway.
Once we got there, we found things rather disorganized, but then I gathered that was rather the rule. I also realized pretty quickly that there was order within the disorder anyway. So many of the "clients" were almost "staff" basically that most everyone there knew what was going on. I signed a long stream of paperwork that stated that I knew that what I was doing might kill me, that I and my heirs wouldn't sue them, that if we sued them we would lose, and that if we didn't lose we wouldn't keep the money and would pay them back their legal expenses. I'm amused because I know a lot more about contract law then most likely many of their jumpers, and know that some of the statements in their contract are unenforceable. Thus the reason for the clause you find in every contract worth its salt (including this one) that says, "if any part of this contract is found unenforceable/illegal/etc, the rest is still legally binding."
I then got to watch a very amusing legal video made by the company that created the jumping technique I'd be using, the tandem jump (where two people jump out of an airplane while latched together), and read to me by the president of the company. The guy for all intents and purposes looked like one might expect someone would from the "spatula company" or the "Hair Products for Men" company. Middle-aged and aging, somewhat balding, tacky business suit, sitting behind a desk the entire time, no stage presence whatsoever (obviously reading off of cards behind the camera), etc...except for one thing. He had this enormously long beard. I swear, he looked like the president for the "Hair Products for Dwarves" Company in The Lord of the Rings world. Heh.
Anyway, the tape was way out-dated, as it described the technique as experimental and expecting to be accepted by the FAA by the early 90's (which it was), but blissfully short. We hustled out of there and back to the main group, which was hanging out around a semi-truck trailer and an awning. I wasn't sure what to do, but in short order one person asked me if I would get cold easily, to which I answered no, and she offered me a set of knee-length pants for the jump. I asked her about a jump suit (which the others were getting...two other tandem jumpers were going with us, plus two experienced divers) and she said that was only for people who got cold easily. As it turned out, it was a good thing I used those pants...it would have been too warm with the jumpers.
Then a couple of experienced (6+ years) jumpers asked who wanted to be jumping with whom. I wasn't sure about how I was supposed to be picking someone, so a guy was picked for me, and he turned to be just fine. I didn't need a babysitter for my jump, and he didn't act like one. We got into our harnesses (btw, Elf and Fallenpegasus took a bunch of pictures and Elf has already posted some, so go here to see me in harness, etc), and heard the preliminary info on how things would be going.
A tandem jump is basically an experienced diver jumps with an inexperienced diver while the two are physically latched to each other. That way if there is any problems, there experienced diver can make sure that things are taken care of. In a first jump like this, the experienced diver will do basically everything...I just had to remember which body motions I had to make at which time. Otherwise, he would be the one to pull the cords and all.
On the way to the plane I informed him that I was epileptic (I had already told the folks back at the awning when filling out the paperwork) and we worked out a quick system for him to recognize that I was having a seizure, not just freaking out (should that actually happen, which I doubted...either the freakout or the seizure). Then it was on the bi-plane and up into the air.
For those of you who have never flown in a little bi-plane, especially one specifically for jumping, it ain't like flying in a 757. First off, there are no comfy seats...we sat on foam covered rails (two next to each other) so that we could easily slide forward when our time for jump would come. There was no seatbelt or handbelt, so when take off came, it was pushing your hand against the plane to hold your place and not push into the person in front of you. I was in the back, being the last person to jump since I apparently was the newest jumper there...all the other tandem jumpers had jumped at least once before.
The flight up was fabulous. Apparently four jets over at the McChord Airforce base were busily preparing for their airshow during the SeaFair events...and we got front-row seats! It was great watching them.
Then we hit 9000 feet, and it was time to fly. The solo divers went first, then each diver that was filming each tandem went out before the tandem team dove. It was interesting watching that, because the filmer had a film camera on his head, and when he went out, he didn't just dive first, but held onto the side of the plane while waiting for us to jump.
We slid forward on our butts, put our legs outside the opening of the plane, my buddy put his hand out to signal the count, and on three we rolled out. We did a flip (which was way cool) and then we started down.
Now, a tandem dive is in four parts. The first part is where you open up the drag chute. This was in the beginning, and I had to lean my head back on my shoulder, arch my back, and pull my feet back to my butt. Then he signaled to me that this was done, and I would stick my hands and legs out and wave to the camera man, who was close by. I did, and had lot's of fun. I will remember, however, that next time I will wear lip balm. Then it was signal to do the back arch again while he pulled the main chord, and for a moment I thought I had done something wrong as I ended up doing a weird mini-flip. But it was caused by the main chute coming out, rather than anything I did. It was also strange, because as soon as the main parachute was out, we were no longer falling at 32 ft/sec/sec, and the wail of the wind in my ears slowed to almost nothing. I was able to hear my partner, who said I could relax again, and it was a wonderful float to the ground.
We could see many of the mountains in the distance: Rainier, St. Helens (or what remains of her), Baker, and Adams. We could see much of the Cascade chain. We could see the south end of the Puget Sound and the Hood Canal. It was absolutely beautiful.
Landing was easy. The video showed landing on the feet, but we landed on our butts. I was afraid it would be a pretty heavy landing, but it wasn't...it was actually very easy. As soon as we landed, Kouryou-chan came running out to us, yelling, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy..." all the way. I grabbed her, and said to Elf and Fallenpegasus, "I *have* to do this again!"
The funny thing is that I have a very mild fear of heights...it triggers occasionally whenever I'm doing things like wall climbing and such. It's mild enough that it only gets me to decide I just don't want to go any higher. I don't end up having panic attacks. However, when looking down out of the side of the airplane, I wasn't the least bit afraid at all. I didn't have any problems, I wasn't afraid or nervous the entire time. Matter of fact, I'll have to say I didn't even get as much of an adrenaline rush as I thought. I mean, *I* want to be the one dealing with that cord, not someone else. Maybe it was because there was someone else taking the reigns and all, but frankly, the whole thing was exhilarating and yet peaceful at the same time.
And I *definitely* want to do it again.
It was thrilling.
Two Yule's ago, Elf gave me a Yule gift of a skydive out of an airplane. My friend
fallenpegasus had been doing it for a while and talked about how thrilling it was...I wanted to try it too. But finances never allowed me to go forward.Well, yesterday, Fallenpegasus decided to give me that gift in exchange for a ton of DVD burning that Elf was doing for him. So, Elf and I did our monthly Costco run (a little early, as this was for August) in the late morning, then got back about 1:45 pm in time to have something to eat so I wouldn't have an empty stomach before jumping.
Then it was time to head out. That was a saga in and of itself, as the location of the jump had changed. The Kapowsin group, who I would be jumping with, had moved to a new airfield in Pierce County, and Fallenpegasus had not been there before. We actually passed the entrance before we realized it...it's a very unassuming driveway.
Once we got there, we found things rather disorganized, but then I gathered that was rather the rule. I also realized pretty quickly that there was order within the disorder anyway. So many of the "clients" were almost "staff" basically that most everyone there knew what was going on. I signed a long stream of paperwork that stated that I knew that what I was doing might kill me, that I and my heirs wouldn't sue them, that if we sued them we would lose, and that if we didn't lose we wouldn't keep the money and would pay them back their legal expenses. I'm amused because I know a lot more about contract law then most likely many of their jumpers, and know that some of the statements in their contract are unenforceable. Thus the reason for the clause you find in every contract worth its salt (including this one) that says, "if any part of this contract is found unenforceable/illegal/etc, the rest is still legally binding."
I then got to watch a very amusing legal video made by the company that created the jumping technique I'd be using, the tandem jump (where two people jump out of an airplane while latched together), and read to me by the president of the company. The guy for all intents and purposes looked like one might expect someone would from the "spatula company" or the "Hair Products for Men" company. Middle-aged and aging, somewhat balding, tacky business suit, sitting behind a desk the entire time, no stage presence whatsoever (obviously reading off of cards behind the camera), etc...except for one thing. He had this enormously long beard. I swear, he looked like the president for the "Hair Products for Dwarves" Company in The Lord of the Rings world. Heh.
Anyway, the tape was way out-dated, as it described the technique as experimental and expecting to be accepted by the FAA by the early 90's (which it was), but blissfully short. We hustled out of there and back to the main group, which was hanging out around a semi-truck trailer and an awning. I wasn't sure what to do, but in short order one person asked me if I would get cold easily, to which I answered no, and she offered me a set of knee-length pants for the jump. I asked her about a jump suit (which the others were getting...two other tandem jumpers were going with us, plus two experienced divers) and she said that was only for people who got cold easily. As it turned out, it was a good thing I used those pants...it would have been too warm with the jumpers.
Then a couple of experienced (6+ years) jumpers asked who wanted to be jumping with whom. I wasn't sure about how I was supposed to be picking someone, so a guy was picked for me, and he turned to be just fine. I didn't need a babysitter for my jump, and he didn't act like one. We got into our harnesses (btw, Elf and Fallenpegasus took a bunch of pictures and Elf has already posted some, so go here to see me in harness, etc), and heard the preliminary info on how things would be going.
A tandem jump is basically an experienced diver jumps with an inexperienced diver while the two are physically latched to each other. That way if there is any problems, there experienced diver can make sure that things are taken care of. In a first jump like this, the experienced diver will do basically everything...I just had to remember which body motions I had to make at which time. Otherwise, he would be the one to pull the cords and all.
On the way to the plane I informed him that I was epileptic (I had already told the folks back at the awning when filling out the paperwork) and we worked out a quick system for him to recognize that I was having a seizure, not just freaking out (should that actually happen, which I doubted...either the freakout or the seizure). Then it was on the bi-plane and up into the air.
For those of you who have never flown in a little bi-plane, especially one specifically for jumping, it ain't like flying in a 757. First off, there are no comfy seats...we sat on foam covered rails (two next to each other) so that we could easily slide forward when our time for jump would come. There was no seatbelt or handbelt, so when take off came, it was pushing your hand against the plane to hold your place and not push into the person in front of you. I was in the back, being the last person to jump since I apparently was the newest jumper there...all the other tandem jumpers had jumped at least once before.
The flight up was fabulous. Apparently four jets over at the McChord Airforce base were busily preparing for their airshow during the SeaFair events...and we got front-row seats! It was great watching them.
Then we hit 9000 feet, and it was time to fly. The solo divers went first, then each diver that was filming each tandem went out before the tandem team dove. It was interesting watching that, because the filmer had a film camera on his head, and when he went out, he didn't just dive first, but held onto the side of the plane while waiting for us to jump.
We slid forward on our butts, put our legs outside the opening of the plane, my buddy put his hand out to signal the count, and on three we rolled out. We did a flip (which was way cool) and then we started down.
Now, a tandem dive is in four parts. The first part is where you open up the drag chute. This was in the beginning, and I had to lean my head back on my shoulder, arch my back, and pull my feet back to my butt. Then he signaled to me that this was done, and I would stick my hands and legs out and wave to the camera man, who was close by. I did, and had lot's of fun. I will remember, however, that next time I will wear lip balm. Then it was signal to do the back arch again while he pulled the main chord, and for a moment I thought I had done something wrong as I ended up doing a weird mini-flip. But it was caused by the main chute coming out, rather than anything I did. It was also strange, because as soon as the main parachute was out, we were no longer falling at 32 ft/sec/sec, and the wail of the wind in my ears slowed to almost nothing. I was able to hear my partner, who said I could relax again, and it was a wonderful float to the ground.
We could see many of the mountains in the distance: Rainier, St. Helens (or what remains of her), Baker, and Adams. We could see much of the Cascade chain. We could see the south end of the Puget Sound and the Hood Canal. It was absolutely beautiful.
Landing was easy. The video showed landing on the feet, but we landed on our butts. I was afraid it would be a pretty heavy landing, but it wasn't...it was actually very easy. As soon as we landed, Kouryou-chan came running out to us, yelling, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy..." all the way. I grabbed her, and said to Elf and Fallenpegasus, "I *have* to do this again!"
The funny thing is that I have a very mild fear of heights...it triggers occasionally whenever I'm doing things like wall climbing and such. It's mild enough that it only gets me to decide I just don't want to go any higher. I don't end up having panic attacks. However, when looking down out of the side of the airplane, I wasn't the least bit afraid at all. I didn't have any problems, I wasn't afraid or nervous the entire time. Matter of fact, I'll have to say I didn't even get as much of an adrenaline rush as I thought. I mean, *I* want to be the one dealing with that cord, not someone else. Maybe it was because there was someone else taking the reigns and all, but frankly, the whole thing was exhilarating and yet peaceful at the same time.
And I *definitely* want to do it again.
no subject
no subject
-el-
no subject
Said Pirate Bill and Squidly, "Now you know how it's to fly."
"For your heart is quick, your breath is short, and eyes are filled with pools,
And your life can be just like this if you follow these few rules."
No limits and no fear!
Better check out all your gear
Got safety on a ribbon and you'll find
With your sneakers on a cloud
No whiners are allowed
And the only limit in this world
Is the one within your mind
-- Herself, commemorating her own first parachute jump (http://www.heatherlands.com/pages/frames.html?http%3A//www.heatherlands.com/pages/lyrics.php).
Congrats...
Does the place do gift certificates? :)
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject