I had originally planned a trip to Spain this year, but since we elected not to go I treated myself to a few things. For starters, I bought a new Trijicon TA31RCO-M150CP scope for my M4 early in the year. I had been wanting one for a while and finally decided to buy it. For those of you that know me, I’m a cheap bastard and have problems letting go of my money. Expensive purchases aren’t very common for me.
The next thing I bought was my new guitar:
http://invioletlight.blogspot.com/2011/02/bought-it-music-mann-family-reserve-bfr.html
This was really my 40th bDay present to myself and I’m really glad I picked it up.
But the thing I’ll probably remember most was throwing myself out of an airplane. Ever heard the phrase “why would anyone throw themselves out of a perfectly good airplane?” Well, I can tell you for a fact that no such thing exists, but that’s not why people do it.
My g/f and I were talking a few weeks before my bDay. I was out of town at the time and she asked if I had been thinking about what I wanted to do for my bDay. I don’t think she was quite expecting me to say I wanted to go skydiving.
Her: have you been thinking about what you want to do for your bDay?
Me: Yeah. Yeah I have. I’d like to go skydiving.
Her: what?
Me: skydiving.
Her: really?
Me: yeah.
Her skydiving….
I had been thinking about going for years, but it always seemed like there was an excuse not to go. The two big ones being my schedule and I really wanted to go with a friend or two. We sent out a few feeler emails and got some responses back. My g/f took the time and effort to pick it up from there, look into going and taking the time to coordinate a date and time for everyone. I’ve gotten where I hate doing that kind of thing and that really meant a lot to me that she did that.
She picked Skydive Dallas and while I can’t say I’ve ever been anywhere else she made an excellent choice. Again I wasn’t involved in the scheduling process and what not but it was pretty evident from when we first showed up and the web site that they had really taken the time to put a top-notch facility together. They were very enthusiastic, professional and ran the organization in a most excellent manner. In short, they had their shit together. As Jenny said, she never felt like she was about to get on a ride that was put up at the carnival by someone making $3.50 / hr.
Once we had all the takers my g/f locked in our reservations by securing our deposits. We had a few people that really wanted to go, but just couldn’t afford it. It’s about $220 for your first jump. Once we were locked in it was a matter of looking forward to going. I have talked to a lot of people about skydiving and most people immediately say that they’ll go, or they would never go, but once you get someone committed it’s a whole different story. You could tell right away that everyone was pretty excited, and scared all at the same time. Personally, I would get really excited just thinking about it. Imagining being on the plane and jumping. Could I really do it? Would I chicken out? One night I made the mistake of thinking it through and got my heart rate up high enough that I couldn’t sleep. I’ve since decided that part of the whole experience is mind-fucking yourself until you actually jump out of the plane. As Grasshopper said the day before – “did a week really pass already? Can we wait a few more days?”
We had to get up early to be there for the 8:00am class – that means you are really there at 7:30 to sign your legal rights away and fill out all the paperwork. My g/f and I left at about 6:10am and neither of us are morning people. The night before I didn’t once get worked up over skydiving, but I did think someone was breaking into my g/f’s house at about 2:45 so I proceeded to patrol it with a loaded .45. This pretty much kept me from sleeping the rest of the night so I was exhausted by the time we got there.
Our group:
· Me – nervous, excited and admittedly scared. Hey! If you aren’t scared about jumping out of an airplane for the first time there might be something wrong with you.
· Jenny – nervous, excited, and perhaps more scared than I was.
· Bling! – pretty mellow. He had jumped in the military, but this was his first civilian jump. He was looking forward to it, but wasn’t getting too worked up.
· Grasshopper – pretty scared. He had drank the night before and wasn’t looking so good that morning. I thought he was going to yack before he even got on the plane.
· Jason – more like me. Lot of nervous energy but really looking forward to it.
· Shawn – he started jumping last year and now has somewhere around 50 jumps in. We were all really glad he was there so we could pick his brain.
· Crackula – was originally going, then chickened out. Now wishing she had gone. Still good that she was there and hanging out with us.
Sean getting ready for a jump:
...and we don't know what he's doing here:
We had to sit through a quick class learning about what was about to happen, how to position your body, and things to not do. Then the instructor worked with us a bit to see if we could get our bodies positioned correctly. Everyone was a bit nervous at this point and Hopper and Jason were nervously laughing the entire time. Hopper was white as a sheet.
After class we sat around for a long time waiting for the weather to improve. There was some gusty winds and constant cloud cover preventing anyone from jumping. Skydive Dallas has a great place with a Ping-Pong table, benches, hacky sacks, etc. In retrospect this was probably good as it allowed us all time to calm down. Even Hopper started showing some color, and some spine!!
And finally, the plane was drug out of the hanger and everyone started getting stoked! There were plenty of noobs taking their first jumps, and plenty of experienced jumpers. They usually only take up to two tandems up on the plane on any one trip. Fortunately, three of us got to jump together. Bling! Was to go first and so he got suited up and ready to jump.
The plane was a pretty good sized plane and they clearly were taking care of it. Way overpowered it could climb pretty quick and was good at hauling a bunch of people up at one time. The door is a very simple roll-up type door made of Plexiglas. You can see out of it the entire time. When they pack you in, the last people go in first. This pretty much meant the noobs!
The plane pretty much does a constant take-off, climb to altitude, throw people out, then race down to do it all over again. When I say race down, I mean a full on nose-dive towards the ground. You do not want to be on it. With the exception of the experienced guys it always beat the jumpers down and was pretty much taking off again before the tandem jumps had a chance to land and walk in.
When it's at altitude you can barely see it:
Where are they?
After a few minutes:
Bling! Made it down just fine and had a big grin on his face. He seemed to really enjoy the experience and that got me even more excited. Soon, it was Hopper’s turn to go and he had to go in and get ready. He was looking better, but he still looked really nervous and I couldn’t tell if he was going to be OK or not. Unfortunately, the rest of us had to get suited up for our flight so I didn’t get to see him climb in the plane and take off.
About that time they called the rest of us (me, Jenny, and Jason) to get ready. I had ordered a video package since it was my first jump and my bDay. Gotta go big, right? As we were suiting up Jason got really quiet, but I could tell he was mentally preparing to go. Still excited, but getting himself in the zone. I was just the opposite. I was getting more stoked by the minute. Jenny seemed kind of neutral and I couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing. After a short interview it was time to go wait for the plane!!
Since the plane took off before Hopper made it down we didn’t get a chance to see him and find out if he was OK or not. Too late, we were loading up! When you get in the plane they are very specific with where and how they want you to sit. Most of this is to get the experienced folks out of the plane and allow your instructor to secure your harness to the chute and to get everything nice and snug.
As you go up, the plane climbs rapidly and you hit your jump altitude of 13,500 feet in about 10 minutes – this isn’t Delta. Don’t expect a blankie and some warm cookies. On the way up they interviewed me a bit more. Jason and I were exchange high fives and getting excited. Since I was wearing an altimeter I watched it from time to time. At about 2000 feet I tried to get Jenny to look at me and she was white and sweating. Not good. I could tell she was really scared.
Once the door opens and the light comes on things happen pretty fast. My g/f was expecting a bit more time to force herself to jump but the guys in front of her all bailed out in a ball and so the back of the plane was suddenly empty….and here you are looking out of a door at 13,500 feet with the cold wind hitting you! Once the guys started bailing out the staff starts scooting you towards the door really fast. I think this is so that you don’t have time to think about it and freak out. I was just starting to get myself into position when my g/f bailed out of the plane – WOOSH! Gone. Just like that. And then there I was with my left foot right on the edge of the door strapped to my instructor and about to throw myself out of an airplane.
I think for everyone that is a slightly different experience and sensation. When you jump out of the plane they tell you to take a deep breath and then it’s “ready…set…ARCH!” (arching is your body position to skydive) and you are out of the plane between “set” and “arch.” For just a brief second, I thought “oh shit!” and then I was in freefall and rapidly accelerating. There is no stomach-in-your-throat sensation as with riding a ride at Six Flags. I could tell I was accelerating, but that’s not quite the same thing.
You hit about 120 miles an hour in your free fall. It’s incredible. Not only are you hauling ass, the wind is rushing by you and if you get a really cool instructor like I did he will do some spins and things. At one point he spun us so fast the earth literally became a blur. Seeing the ground rush up at you is also pretty amazing but again, it is incredible. I’m not sure there are any accurate words to describe it. Exhilarating comes close.
While we were in free fall I was caught between looking down and looking at the video photographer. It’s really bizarre that they are within a few feet of you the entire time. Close enough to give a high-five to (which I did)…. Now that I think about it, that’s a REAL high-five.
You fall 10,000 feet in that one minute and it seems like it lasts a very long time. Your adrenaline is going a zillion miles an hour and I screamed my head off the entire time – this was not your little girl scream either. This was a manly, adrenaline fueled, full on excited scream. FUUUUCCKK YEAAAAHHHHH!!!
My instructor spun us around a little bit and I think when he could tell I wasn’t freaking out he really sent us into a spin that was so fast that the earth blurred beneath us. Then he’d do the same thing in the opposite direction. AWESOME!
The chute popping is probably the most physically demanding part of the jump as your body pulls a G or two as you rapidly slow down. Once that happens, though, it’s very peaceful and relaxing. There is almost no wind noise and you can have a conversation with your instructor without even raising your voice.
He let me “fly” the chute a bit and we did some hard banking turns left, then right, then back left, etc. That was pretty cool because it sling-shots you from one side to the other and you can really get some g-force going. Fun times.
He brought us in for a just-about-perfect stand-up landing and I was still really excited. What a rush. The amount of adrenaline coursing through you is amazing. Everyone that went that day had a huge grin on their face afterwards and really loved the experience.
We all had a celebratory beer out at the car and all but one of us bought our next jump to be used at a later date. The skydiving was an incredible experience and even now, 2 days later, I am still pumped just thinking about it. I had a really cool instructor to jump with (Casey!) and all the folks at Skydive Dallas were great.
The quick stats for those of you that were skimming:
· Jump is from 13,500 feet.
· Free fall for about 60 seconds, at about 120mph. About a 10,000 foot drop.
· Chute pops at about 3,500 feet and is probably the most physically demanding as you pull a g or two slowing down.
· Once the chute is open, it’s very quiet and peaceful for about three to five minutes until you land.
It was a long drive home and I managed to grab about 45 minutes of sleep before getting up and heading to my bDay party. Hopper and his wife were gracious enough to host the party and really went out of their way to put together decorations, and great spread, and the most killer bDay cake I can remember (thanks again you two!).
I hadn’t told my folks about skydiving as my mom is a bit of a worry-wart. However, at the party we popped in the video of the jump and I just let them watch it. I could tell my mom wasn’t too happy, but I had a little trouble gauging my dad’s reaction. I think they were happy that I was back on the ground!!
