... skydiving 101

The joy of jumping out of a perfectly good airplane at approx. 10,000 feet with a parachute-- AKA skydiving. 

This past summer 2011 I had the pure joy of experiencing first hand what plummeting to the ground at 120 mph felt like. It felt AMAZING!  Thoughts have ran through my head about trying to get my skydive certification. Yes, this would be a fun spring/summer hobby... slightly on the expensive side for the beginning but well worth it at the end. 

Propeller airplane...need I say more?

Skydiving has always been on my bucket list. So many people talk about doing things, or going on adventures, and use the phrase "one day."  Well, I am part of the club. In high school I said, "one day I will jump out of an airplane."  Mentally, the only thing that shifted from 17 years old to 25 years old was simply--  I will tell my family after I skydive. Plus, it helps skydiving in Iowa. 


The worst part is probably the waiting period. You arrive, sign your death liability form eliminating all angles to sue them in case your parachute did not open, watch a sweet 1990's video, be instructed on how to fall out of the airplane while your instructor smokes his cigar, then wait...

JB and I 

Yes, waiting on the sidewalk but getting a good tan out of the painfully anxious 50 minutes.  The day was PERFECT-- no cloud in sight. Being halfway tempted to text my family that I loved them before I did suit up, ended eating a handful of mini-snicker bars. Ahhhh chocolate, how I love your taste but loathe your calories.

Back on subject... I would watch people walk to the propeller airplane, then the airplane would disappear for about 5 minutes. Without any warning it would reappear going at a blistering 45 mph. Yes, this is no Boeing 747.  The ride up to the dropping point takes about 25 minutes to reach 9500 feet. Again, very slow gradual process with excessive turbulence. If you were to thesaurus-ize (proudly made that word up) hate, all those words is how I feel about turbulence. Great relationship, right?

Such a joyful ride up, minus the turbulence and having the side door wide open, plus the continual circling. Over all, I lost a good 2 lbs of sweat and practiced singing "All of Creation" by MercyMe. (Great band, should Google them!) I chose not to sing aloud because I didn't want the last moments of my life to be damaging the eardrums of four other people. These four people would be-- my jumper, my friend and her jumper, then the pilot. Did I mention the pilot even has a parachute pack on?!  Talk about feeling secure ... 


Five minute warning by the pilot-- means you sit on your instructors lap, he tightens his hip straps and shoulder straps to you, then you put on your goggles. I had the delight to be the first jumper and this meant that I was dangling outside of the airplane, connected to my instructor, while he looked for the "spot." At this time I could only think two words-- holy cow. Second phrase-- hurry up and find this freakin' spot! 

Landed!

I'm very thankful for my instructor saying the jump is on 3... turns out 3 means 2 to a certified skydiver. It was a fast 5 seconds twirling in the sky before we end up in the right skydiving position-- flying squirrel. For the next 35 seconds ish I learn that even the slightest twist of the wrist makes you turn counter clockwise. INCREDIBLE!  Instructor pulled the parachute cord and because of the adrenaline I could not feel my underwear being instantly shoved up my butt. So thanks, adrenaline. Then comes the relaxing part-- coolest instructor!-- he let me hold the guiding cords and we vortex-ed down to the ground by pulling one cord on my side;  also included pulling both cords down to my side that caused us to stay in flight. Personally prefer vortex. Landing was easy but should have worked more on my flexibility because raising your legs up to your chest sounds easy but when you can't feel your legs, that makes it a little more interesting/difficult.

Someone is feeling a little sick...

Once I fixed the worst wedgie I have ever had, it was time to grab the parachute and hurry up out of the field since the airplane was landing. If you can dodge an airplane, you can doge a ball!  Perhaps a new video needs to be created and called the 5 D's-- dodge, dip, duck, dive, and doge. 


Thanks to Shannon, Jessica and Matty for a great afternoon!!! Looking forward to more skydiving opportunities, plus more adventures!  May the force be with you.

In the words of White Goodman: nobody makes me bleed my own blood. Nobody.

Whit, Jess, Matty and Shannon-- July 2011