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It's a Bird, It's a Plane, No - It's Just Me
This is one of those stories about my life that had some type of profound effect on who I am. It was a wonderful Summer in Ohio and I had decided to go sky diving with my buddy Joe. I worked with Joe and he moved from Cleveland to Chicago for a better job and to be closer to his family. I traveled to Chicago often for work so I tried to schedule business on Mondays and Fridays and I would spend the weekend with Joe.
I have an adventurous side but I was going through a very adventurous phase. So Joe, his roommate, and myself headed out early one beautiful summer morning for Juliette Illinois for a place called Sky Dive Chicago. I had always wanted to try it and how hard could it be to open the door of a plane and jump out? So, we got to the Juliette airport (a small airport in the middle of corn fields) and signed up for the class and our chance to jump out of a plane. We had to watch a video about the dangers involved and then sign a waiver and then pay. Then it was about 3 or 4 hours of class time. You see, I wasn't happy to just be strapped to someone hurled towards the ground. I wanted to do it myself, a solo jumper. We had a static line attached to the parachute rip cord and the plane. You hand to get 5 jumps under your belt before you could pull your own rip cord.
Class consisted of video instruction, classroom instruction with a book, and field exercises. We had to practice as a group holding out hands up in the air like we were holding onto the wing strut. OH yeah, I started to get a little nervous when I heard that. You see, when you're learning to jump you go up in a little 4 seater and climb out on the wing strut and hold on then release. You don't just open the door and jump out. Anyway, over and over we practiced climbing out, holding on, releasing, and arching the hips. There were steps and a form you had to keep so that you remained face down towards the ground as you free fall.
So the time comes and we Joe, his roommate, and myself climb into the little plane with our Jump Master. I was elected last to jump. As we headed up about to our jump altitude of about 5000 ft I was wondering if I could actually do it. Could I climb out on the wing strut? See I know I could through my body out the door and "jump" but to sit in the doorway and then climb out on the wing strut was something else.
My turn came and I think my Jump Master could see the look of nervousness in my eyes. I sat in the door way and put my foot out on the step. I reached my right arm out and then my left to take hold of the wing strut. Now all of a sudden I no longer feel nervous, I feel like Super Man. Here I am, so far above the Earth holding on the wing strut of the plane with my legs just flapping in the wind. It was so effortless, so incredible. I kept my eyes on my Jump Master for the thumbs up which means open your hands and fall away from the plane. Then it came, the thumbs up. I had the biggest shit grin on my face. This was so cool. I looked up and released.
It was the most peaceful soulful experience. You parachute opens about 1.5 seconds after you fall away from the plane. The flight down is incredible. You feel like you are flying, this must be what it's like to be bird. You can see for miles and the only sound in the entire world is the wind gently rustling your parachute. Until you hear the voice on in the helmet telling you to turn right or left 90 or 180 degrees. They are there to guide you in to your target as you don't know how to navigate the skies yet. You feel as though you are one with nature, with the very spirit of the world. It was both exciting and extremely profound at the same time.Then you land and you flair you parachute so that you land all nice and soft like. When you land your Jump Master evaluates your jump and puts in some comments in your jump log. Mine starts off with "Nice Smile!".
We signed up for another 5 jump package so we could go higher, free fall longer, and pull our own rip cords. Later that month Joe and I went back and we did all 5 jumps in the same day. Each of my jumps starts with "Nice Smile!", as I am just grinning from ear to ear out there on that wing strut. I know what's ahead of me and I can't wait. We have to go though some extra training so we can learn how to position our bodies and pull our rip cords. On my last jump I am extra excited because I am pulling my own cord. So, I release from the plane and the next thing I know I'm doing a couple of summersaults though the air. I look up to make sure my parachute is deployed after pulling the rip cord. It's there but it's not open. It's just spinning above my head as I'm falling through the sky. In all my excitement I wrapped the cords around my thigh during the summersaults. I wasn't supposed to do summersaults but I broke form when reaching for the rip cord because I was so excited. So I had to make a split second decision. Pull the emergency cord to release the first parachute and open the backup or get myself unraveled. With one hand I lifted my leg above my head and with the other I an wrapped the parachute cord from my thigh, all while falling through the sky. This did the trick and my parachute opened up and I landed safely. Off course in some corn field but safely none the less.
As we went over my jump with my Jump Master I got Nice Smile and Nice Recovery in my log. You see, I made the right choice. Had I panicked and pulled the emergency cord I would have crashed to the ground. Since the first parachute cord was stuck by being wrapped around my thigh it would not have fallen away when I pulled the emergency cord like it should have. So chances are it would have gotten tangled with the emergency parachute and I would have gone splat. You have to remember that all this happens and you have to make the choices and take action in just seconds. I had a wonderful time even with that last little incident and I totally recommend this experience for anyone that wants to try it. It is just and incredible feeling and experience.
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