View Single Post
  #1  
Old 10-22-2006, 06:07 AM
halistan's Avatar
halistan halistan is offline
Grand Poo-Bah
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Texas
Posts: 495
Send a message via AIM to halistan Send a message via MSN to halistan Send a message via Yahoo to halistan
Registered SVX
Quit Scootin Forward!!

I don't think you guys got this when I first sent it out.

First of all, Skydiving was a BLAST!!! I'd highly recommend it to anyone that's even had an inkling of a thought about it.

We arrived at the drop zone in Cushing, OK at right about ten till ten a.m. It was a perfect morning, not too hot, not too cold, almost no wind and unlimited visibility...it was great. Judy, my friend Gannon’s mother and avid skydiver for the past twenty years, led us inside to get our paperwork and pay for our jump.

As we entered, we were greeted by a young girl sitting behind a desk that sat in the middle of the airplane hanger. Mats covered the floor where people could repack their parachutes and the walls were adorned with pictures and all kinds of fun paraphernalia like the “Beer Light”, which was a stop light that indicated when the plane was on his last drop of the day. Once the plane was landed, the green light could go on and the divers were free to start drinking.

The young woman handed us each a clipboard asked us to fill out their company release form. The release form was funny to me, as I’d never seen one this direct before. It had a large stop sign in the middle of the page with big text saying, "EQUIPMENT CAN AND WILL FAIL, YOU CAN DIE FROM THIS ACTIVITY. BY SIGNING THIS FORM YOU CANNOT SUE US FOR YOUR DEATH". That instilled all sorts of confidence in me, but like the fool I am, I signed it anyway and happily handed it back to the girl at the desk along with my one hundred and seventy five dollars.

Once we got the paperwork out of the way, we had to attend the training. This consisted of little more than the Tandem Master walking us over to what used to be a plane but was now just the shell of the cockpit, part of a wing and a footstool, all welded to the side of the hangar wall. He told us to get in, and then had us stick our foot out on to the stool and WA-LA, we knew how to skydive. It went so fast that Judy didn't even have time to get her camera out of her pocket and take a picture, so she made us get back into the shell so she could get one anyway. We then followed Andy (the Tandem Master and our instructor) to the back room and he had us put on our harnesses. He had a full harness with a parachute, but Daniel, my friend from England and partner in this adventure, and I only had the harness with some clips on the back.

Then we were ready to go up. We had to go one at a time and Daniel wanted to go first. I figured if someone was going to die, it'd probably be the first one, so by all means, I let him go first. Fortunately, he lived, and the tandem master went in, threw on another chute and was back out and ready to go in seconds.

When it came to my turn, we got in and Andy crawled to the back of the little plane and he told me to sit up next to the pilot with my back towards the control panel. Once I was situated, he reached past me to close and lock the door. The door concerned me a bit, because upon closer inspection, the door was only latched with a twist of a handle that stuck a thin (wire clothes hanger thin) rod into the body of the plane and to be honest, didn't really secure it that well. I did my best to ignore the fact that I was sitting right next to the door and was the only one NOT wearing a parachute.

After a few minutes we reached ten thousand feet and the view was gorgeous. The money I paid was well worth it just for the ride up to see the beautiful Oklahoma countryside. Andy crawled over to me and said he was going to take a look, so he unlatched the door, and poked his head out. I did the same and he pointed out that there was a prison just a few hundred yards from the drop zone, then turned to me and said, "We're going to TRY and NOT land there". I told him I would appreciate that as my soft hands and ‘perty’ lips wouldn't last long in a place like that! He laughed and shut the door.

Andy then asked if I was ready, and I said I was. I thought I was going to be more scared at that point, but surprisingly enough I wasn't worried at all. Of course, that was to be short lived...

He pointed at me and told me to turn around and get on my knees. My eyes shot open like saucers, and suddenly I was scared for the first time during the whole adventure. All I could manage to say was, "WHAT??"

He told me that he had to get us latched together so we could go. I reluctantly turned around. He pushed me slightly on the back and told me to bend over a little and the "slippery duck defense" kicked in and instead I clenched up and scooted forward. He did it again, and again I scooted forward. He then pulled me back so he was closer to my ear and said, "Quit scooting forward!” I meekly replied back, "I can't help it!" He laughed and managed to get the clips connected anyway. He pulled the straps tight and I was at that point closer to any man that I had been in my entire life....closer than I had been to some girlfriends to be honest, but I tried to ignore it.

We scooted almost all the way up to the console and he opened the door. He told me to reach out and put my foot on the metal plate that was welded to the plane as a step (ah, the training now comes into play) and as soon as my foot touched the step, Andy pushed us out.

Instantly we did a tumble, several actually but I am not sure how many. Then before I knew it he tapped me on the head, signaling to spread my arms, and then we were in free fall. It was amazing! It didn't seem like we were falling. In fact, it barely felt like we were moving and you could see for miles and miles. I could see the fields, the drop zone, the prison, everything! Before I knew it, we had reached five thousand feet and he pulled the rip cord.

The chute deployed and then I was suddenly made aware that gravity did in fact work as I was quickly jerked upright. Andy gave me some slack in our rig and told me that if I lifted my legs I could slide the harness underneath me and it would be more like a chair and he was right.

He pulled the reigns down in front me and asked if I wanted to drive...so I figured, “Why not?” and took them. Andy had me do a left turn, and a right turn, then a full 360. It was fun, then he asked for them back so I gave the right one some slack so he could get it. I looked up and thought I saw him take it before I let go and started to do the same with the left. Then I heard him say, "Crap, you let it go before I got it!" and I panicked!!!

Normally I would have probably cursed profusely but I was too scared to even speak. I just snapped my head right to see what I did when he laughed and said that was some Tandem Master humor and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Moments later, we were getting closer to the ground and as we approached I got a better idea on how fast we were really traveling. We flew past Daniel, Gannon and Judy who were waiting for us. I put my feet up for the landing and next thing I knew we were on the ground. He unhooked us and an assistant came out and helped him collect the parachute.

We all took some pictures, and I shook Andy's hand. After being that intimate, I felt that was the least I should do. A second later, we both laughed and I thanked him for the ride and headed back to the hangar. The ride back was filled with laughter and talking about how much fun we all had.

All in all, it was a great experience. If you get the chance, I'd encourage anyone to do it. It’s not near as scary as you'd think it would be. I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it Take care and talk to you soon.

~Ray
Attached Images
File Type: jpg P1010062.jpg (60.0 KB, 121 views)
File Type: jpg P1010084.jpg (21.6 KB, 116 views)
__________________
'93 LS-L named "Samantha Victoria Xavier"...Sam for short.
All new and improved custom built engine with forged internals, lowered compression, upgraded cams and a stage III supercharger. AMR Engineering struts, Custom exhaust --All 3 Subaru cats removed, and replaced with 2 high flow mustang cats-- Cross-drilled & Slotted rotors, steel braided brake lines, bypassed stock Tranny cooler replaced with aftermarket B&M super-cooler, and a K&N drop in air filter.
Reply With Quote