My Second Skydive!!
After my jump in Minnesota I found myself constantly looking at the sky. I'd think.... hmmmmm nice clear day, lots of blue sky, just a few puffy white clouds... PERFECT DAY FOR SKYDIVING!! lol I just couldn't get over the thought of how great it felt up there freefalling thru the sky!! I had originally thought skydiving would be a one time thing for me. Something I just wanted to experience once to see how it felt and to be able to say I had done it. But now I realized it was something I wanted to do again! One time and I was hooked!! I wanted that high again!
So I got online (something very difficult for me...lol) and started looking around. I found 2 drop zones pretty near my house. I thoroughly checked out both their websites. I looked at other sites from around the country. I followed link after link. I checked out skydiving magazine sites and people's personal homepages. I found it all so fascinating. I wanted to be part of this world!! At first I stayed away from anything talking about the dangers of this sport and any of the statistics on injuries and fatalities. I was afraid it would scare me away... or make me think of all those things that could go wrong the next time I jumped. (But it didn't take me long to go back and read those things figuring the more I know, the safer I'd be... and I found out it didn't scare me).
I read about all the different kinds of training you can get. I read about static-line and AFF (Accelerated free fall) and also a new kind called IAF. In static-line you go up to 3-4,000 ft and jump out alone but there is a line attached to the plane from your parachute that automatically opens it after a few seconds. In AFF you go up to 12-14,000 ft and jump out with 2 jumpmasters but you have your own parachute. They stay with you thru the freefall and make sure you get your chute opened around 5,000 ft. and then they break away and open their own chutes. In both static-line and AFF you are usually connected to a person on the ground thru a headset who gives you instructions on landing. Being such a wimp, I was a little (OK OK... A LOT!) worried about being alone up there. So I was glad to read that one of the DZ's near me had started an IAF class. IAF is very simliar to AFF except you start out with 3 tandem jumps, learning more skills each time and then move onto a class II AAF dive. All 3 types of classes move you thru a progression of jumps until you learn all you need to as a student. Check out any DZ homepage for a full description of requirements.
As I was checking out the DZ that offered the IAF course I noticed that the very next week they were going to have a casa there!! I thought it would be really nice to be able to jump out of that type of plane again. So I called up and made an appointment for Thursday morning (Aug. 19) at 9:00. I had to put down a $50 deposit so I was committed again!!
I kept watching the weather all week. They kept saying it was going to rain Thursday, but as usual, and lucky for me, they were wrong! Thursday arrived and it was sunny and beautiful! I was psyched! I was much calmer this time but I was still frightened. I couldn't get anyone to go with me so I'd be going alone this time. When I got to the DZ I found everyone very friendly. I was happy to see this as I had stopped by briefly on Tuesday and everyone pretty much ignored me and I had been feeling a little down. But everyone was nice this day and they told me I could count my Minn. jump as jump #1. There were two young boys (well young in my opinion... when you are 38 anyone in their early 20's or so is YOUNG!) there waiting to do tandem jumps, too. There were already people in the video room watching the video and we had to wait for them to finish. I was introduced to this guy named Ted who was to be my tandem master. They told me since I had jumped before that I only had to watch the first part of the video with the lawyer and then I could come back to find Ted at the manifest office. Soon it was our turn to watch the video and I sat down expecting to see the same one, but this one had a different lawyer. We were given a bunch of forms and the lawyer basically went over all the same things the other one had and then we had to initial all the paragraphs etc, all very similiar to Minn. I got a kick out of the young guys reactions to all the comments about skydiving being dangerous and possibly dying and the not suing stuff. LOL This time I didn't even hesitate... just signed away. Then we had to weigh ourselves on their scales and write down our weight! We were told the scales was 10 pounds light so be sure to add that on... not the best way to get on the good side of any woman I know!! And I hate how you are always having to put down what you weigh at these places. I mean... don't they know that that fact is a well-guarded secret that not even my closest friends and family members know???? LOL
After the lawyer finished, the video started going over all the things you needed to know for a tandem jump. It told you all about the parachutes and harnesses and positions. I found it interesting and was kind of sad I couldn't stay and watch it, but Ted had seemed in kind of a hurry for me to get back so I left. I guess they had originally planned on putting me on that first group going up but then realized they were out of room. They took the papers from me and told me to listen for my name to be called. So I headed back to the video room and watched a little more. I kept hearing pages but couldn't make them out from that room so I finally gave up and headed back out because I didn't want to miss being called.
Ted showed up and spotted me and took me aside and started going over some of the stuff I needed to know. This time I was going to have my own altimeter and one of the most important things to remember was to always be aware of where I was. We were going to jump at 14,000 ft. I would perform some manuevers like left and right turns and tracking (moving forward across the sky) and then at 6,000 ft. I would wave off and pull the ripcord. After working with me a bit, Ted had to go do a regular tandem dive with some guy. I watched him go over things with that guy. I heard him say to plan on being in a sitting position for landing unless at the last minute he said to stand. I thought that was kind of strange since my other stand up landing had seemed so easy. But I had read stories online of others landing on their butts, so I didn't worry about it too much. I watched that group of jumpers take off and then all land safely.... a few on their butts, including I think Ted and his guy.
Ted came over and we went over everything again. He changed the sequence a bit putting the practice ripcord touch (PRCT) at the beginning. We went over to this platform where there were these little boards on wheels which I had to lay down on and get in the arch position and go thru my routine. Upon leaving the plane I was to have my arms in the "chicken dance" position... thumbs tucked under my harness shoulder straps on the same side... put my head way back and kick my feet up between Ted's legs. After jumping out Ted would quickly go thru an equipment check and then give me a thumb's up. Then I was suppose to do a PRCT (where you reach down with your right hand to feel the ripcord on your right hip while simultaneously moving your left hand above your head and put your thumb on the top of your head. It is very important during free fall to stay balanced. If you do something on one side you have to compensate for it on the other side so you stay stable). Then I was to check my altimeter and then look to the right and drop my right shoulder to start my right turn. I would turn about 360 degrees and then straighten out and stop my turn. It was important to show you could stop. Then I was to look left and do a left turn... stop and then bring my hands straight back down by my hips which would make us go forward ... called tracking. Then I would get back into my basic arch position and check my altimeter and if there was enough time start my routine over again. At 6,000 ft I would signal a wave off and then pull the ripcord. I kept going over the routine to get the actions familiar to my muscles. Then we headed back over to manifest.
There, one of the girls told us that we would be taking the Cessna up. I wasn't too happy to hear this but I was feeling OK about everything so I told myself I could handle it. So we went back out to practice how to jump out of a Cessna. It was real small and I was told it would just be the pilot and us two. When I saw the wing struts I groaned and said, "Oh, no! This isn't one of those deals where you have to hang out on the wing, is it??" Ted said it was but actually he wasn't planning on us going out that way. Instead we were going to sit together in the door way and kind of rock out sideways. But he explained how going off the wing is actually easier because of the something or other force already having you in the right position for you to get stable in your arch quickly. Well anyway we practiced that for a while until I felt OK about it and then went back to manifest to tell them we were ready. They radioed the pilot to tell him to get ready. Then another girl asked why we didn't just wait for the next casa to fill up... I thought that was a wonderful idea...lol... so we scratched the Cessna.
While we were waiting for our casa load to fill up we watched a few groups of the skydivers go up and make formations in the sky. It looked really awesome. There were between 20 and 26 in the groups. I had seen pictures online of them doing this but I had never seen it in person. I had always wondered how they got away from each other quickly enough and I got to see it firsthand. When they break away they start tracking away from the center. It is an incredible sight to see.... these human bullets careening out and down towards earth! It looks so scary!! Then all of a sudden all the parachutes pop out! It was beautiful!!
It was past lunch time now and I was starting to get really hungry. I had only dared to eat a little half a bagel for breakfast that morning. I was still a little concerned about being so nervous I'd feel sick. But actually I thought I was holding up pretty good. Finally they called our plane and we went to suit up. I started getting a little jittery. As we headed to the plane I started thinking.. "Why the fuck am I doing this again??? What... am I nuts?? I've done it once to prove I can. There's no need to do it again!!" LOL But then I also knew I really WANTED to do this again. That this time I was more excited than being afraid. I couldn't wait to look out that door and to jump!!
I was surprised as we boarded the plane to see that it had seats!! Well... benches... along each side. But Ted and I climbed all the way in and decided to sit on the floor anyway. A bunch of the guys made remarks to me about did I really want to go up with Ted. This wasn't the first time today that I had heard that. It got me thinking but then I decided unless he was really good they probably wouldn't dare joke about it!! Or at least that's what I was hoping. Ted had told me to go over the jump in my mind on the way up and I went thru it a couple of times. It's weird, although I really was quite nervous, it was nothing like the first time. I did think a little more about the possibility of something going wrong, but that whole fear of would I really be able to jump out was gone. I knew I could and in fact, I looked forward to that moment of actually jumping. I was really excited about looking out that door and having that incredible rush hit me again as I jumped. It was just such an amazing feeling and I couldn't wait to experience it again!
It was fun having an altimeter on to see how high we were. I actually had 2 on. One connected to my chest strap and one on my left wrist. The only time I ever looked at the chest one was in the plane when I was comparing the two to make sure they said the same thing. 14,000 ft. Time to jump!! Again I was the last one out of the plane. Ted has us kind of rock out, rock in, then rock out and go. WOW!! I had forgotten a bit how strong the wind was rushing past you. I saw Ted give the thumb's up sign and immediately tried to do my right turn. I had totally forgotten all about the PRCT and my altimeter check. Didn't even remember I had forgotten it until the debriefing afterwards! I think my mind had just gone blank for a minute after jumping. And then I was so excited to see if you could really turn just by dropping a shoulder. YOU COULD!! It was so cool!! I loved it! I found it easy to stop, too. I felt so in control. Then I tried my left turn. No problem there either. I stopped and then tried tracking. That worked, too, but we didn't go as fast as I had expected. But maybe that is because we were a tandem, and I've read since you usually straighten out your legs too.... maybe Ted did that but mine were still bent back bewtween his. I stopped that and got back into regular arch position and checked my altimeter. It was near 8,000 ft so I started over again. This time when I tried my right turn I didn't press my shoulder down far enough to begin with and we didn't go anywhere at first. I dropped it a little lower and off we went! I thought it was so neat that by just changing your position a little bit, that it could make such a difference! After I stopped, Ted signaled to check my altimeter and I saw we were a little below 7,000 ft so I just stayed there and waited for it so say 6,000. I took a quick look around. Until then I hadn't even noticed the land below. I had been so busy concentrating on what I had to do! At 6,000 I waved off and pulled the ripcord. I had thought I might be a little afraid to do that but I didn't even hesitate...just pulled. No problem!! And I managed to remember to hang onto the ripcord! This time I wasn't afraid to hang onto the toggles and had no problem doing a right or left turn and going into a spiral. I just enjoyed the little flips it made my stomach do. We practiced what to do for the landings... 1, 2, 3, Flare!!!. I'd pull hard and into the middle and we'd come to a nice stop. Ted explained the importance of keeping your hands into the middle during this so you would avoid putting your hand down to break your fall there by having a good chance of breaking your wrist! He told me what he had told the other guy about planning on landing on my butt unless he said to stand at the last minute. This concerned me but I didn't feel comfortable enough to say, "Well my last guy had us land on our feet and there was no problem!" I felt he might take that as being critical or whatever so I just figured I'd be quiet and go along with it.
I enjoyed the canopy ride much more this time as I was more relaxed. Ted was explaining about how to tell which way the winds were going and how it was important to stay upwind of the airport and how to make "s" turns and how around 1,000 ft you should be in the area of the landing zone. All that seemed really complicated to me.
I'm not nervous about the freefall part. My only worry there is getting flipped on my back. I read a few scary stories about that happening to people and the canopy deploying between their legs. But Ted says you just have to get in a good arch and you'll flip right back over. But the canopy part scares me when I think about doing it on my own. I just know I'll get downwind from the airport and not be able to get back and I'll crash land in some electrical wires! At least in Minnesota there were alot of fields on the farms to land on but around this airport there were mostly housing developments and office buildings! Well I didn't have to worry about that this time.
Ted did most of the steering near the end. Time goes by so fast during a jump. One minute you are on the plane and the next you are about to land! Ted was telling me how you have to make sure you are going straight, not turning at all, when you are going to land. He had be put my legs straight out and get ready to land on our butts. So I did. And we landed. And OUCH!!!!!!!! Damn that hurt!! I didn't like it at all. My tailbone area was really stinging! But I stood up and helped Ted up and we gathered up the parachute and headed back.
Except for my butt killing I felt really good!! I was pleased with how I had done. Ted had me tell him about the jump. As I started to that is when I remembered I had totally forgotten about the initial PRCT and altimeter check!! I couldn't believe I had forgotten it! I had read stories abot other students forgetting things and I thought... How could they forget?? LOL But know I know!! I think there is just so much going on in such a short period of time that it is hard to think straight up there. It's real easy to do it on the ground but a different story when you are 14,000 ft. off the ground!
He asked me if I had a log book and I said No so he went about finding me one. They had little free ones where there was room to log 8 jumps but he said if I planned on continuing I might want to go to the shop and get a real one for about $10. That way I wouldn't have to copy things over if I went past 8 jumps. He showed me how to fill out the book and helped me fill in what I could about my Minnesota jump.
This is what he wrote in my book: jump no.2, 8-19-99, Pepperell, MA, aircraft:casa, equipment Strong Set 400, altitude 14,000 ft. delay:60, total time: 2:00, manuever:IAF, description: Right turn, left turn, track, right turn, wave off @ 6,000 Pulled ripcord Nice job!
I did end up going over to the shop and buying a real log book and then went back and found Ted who was already busy going over things with another girl for a tandem jump. He was nice enough to come rewrite all he wrote in my new book. He said I could just copy it and he'd sign it but I wanted it all in his writing. He was nice enough to oblige even though he was trying to have a quick bite to eat of his food that was already growing cold and they already needed him back at manifest to get ready for the next jump. He then went on to tell me that most skydivers had these little quirks for luck... like he could only use black ink in his logbook. And another guy had to cross himself in a special way and pattern before evety jump. So I pointed to my socks which had BITCH written across them and said, "Like I have to wear my lucky socks?" LOL I had already decided after my first jump that I would always wear them when I jumped. They told me I could do my final tandem that day if I wanted to but my kids were at home waiting for me and I had places I had to take them so I sadly declined... though it was really tempting. I headed home and found it really hurt to sit in the car on the way home. But I didn't think too much of it. I was still really pumped and flying high over the jump. I felt like more of a real skydiver now that I had done it twice and I couldn't wait to go again! When I got home and tried to get out of the van I was in real pain. I went inside and sat on ice and hoped it would get better. The next day it still hurt so I called my doctor and had to go have x-rays and see her and was told she thought it looked like I fractured my tailbone. Nothing they can do for it. You just have to wait for it to heal. It takes about 3-4 weeks. She almost died when I asked how soon I could jump again! LOL Guess she thought this would have changed my mind but no way!! I'm hooked for life!!
If my tailbone feels better towards the end of September and the weather is not too cold I plan on making my third tandem then. And then next spring start ground school for my solo jumps (well solo meaning with my own parachute but with jumpmasters next to me during freefall!) I can't wait!!
Please let me know you were here and what you thought!! Thanks!!
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