Skydiving
This past Saturday, I was able to go skydiving for my 2nd time. It was a beautiful, sunny fall day: cool at 55 but not too cold. Our first attempt to go had been cancelled by overcast weather two weeks before. Deanna Long, a person from my YAMs (Young Adult Ministry) group, also went.
The skydive trip was, as you can imagine, intense and exciting. Our group of four (2 jumpers with two tandem instructors) crammed into this little plane to be lifted up to our drop point by a (I have to say) wild pilot (who was great). As soon as you know it, the plane starts running down the grass strip and into the sky. I was impressed by how much power there is in take-off - we were moving pretty fast. Soon into the lift-off from the earth, the plane was taken into an ear-against-the-glass, radical vertical turn into the sky by the pilot. That was one of two moments I felt the power of G-forces, where you feel you're being squashed into a little ball. As we circled around gaining altitude, you begin to realize, "Wo, I'm up pretty high." The earth starts to recede from "big" objects in your view to a very big, large planet with small things upon it. What on the earth looks like a big distance starts to look close from above. I marveled as I looked at the square parcels of farmland. You begin to have a bigger grasp of the extent and totality of a city.
2000 ft - Man, look at that mine! You can see all the definition. Oh, wow! Look over there! That lake is beautiful! Man, look at the carvings of that river! I bet it's fun and interesting to be an aerial surveyor. What discoveries to be made!
3000 ft - Wonder how Deanna's doing? Looking good, maybe a little scared. But that may be me! Look back at my instructor - smiling, assured.
4000 ft - Whew, we're really getting up there! That interstate looks so minimal down there.
5000 ft - Feels good to breathe that cool air coming in from this cut-out in the plastic. Settling down.
7000 ft - I'm going to have to jump out of this plane in a few minutes. We saw this engine fire on a U-Haul down on the Interstate. Smoke was rising, and we could make out the fire. The Interstate was backing up.
9000 - Get ready, get yourself together. This is it. Oh, why do I feeel so nervous? Whine of the engine. Earth looks like a distant memory from here.
At 10,000 ft, we did two full 360 degree barrel rolls. Like being in a rollercoaster - only you are 10,000 feet up in a little hunk of metal. After that, it was time to get ready. We had been sitting on our butts. After Deanna jumped, I crawled up on my knees to the front. The tandem instructor hooked us in together and connected the "seatbelt" harness that held us together at the waist. The door opens, wind starts whipping in. "Alright, put your right foot on the step" - one small step for man, one very large step of faith for David. "Turn your left knee toward the back". At this point, you are halfway out of the plane and about ready to plunge. "What am I about to do?" Then it's all over before you know it - the move from seated in the plane to out the door is breathtakingly quick. Once you are at the door, the instructor checks his stuff, goes forward, back, forward, back, and then . . .
You're flying through the sky on a dead streak toward the ground. We fell for 35-40 seconds, but it feels like no time at all. You're so breathless. On this time, I had my mouth open. The first time I had not remembered much of the breathing effort. It was pure thrill. This time it was more of a mental thing, I am thinking more of it. I am gulping in air by the gallon, trying to get my cheeks and lips from blowing around like a silly face.
It's a pretty beautiful formation - two folks falling to earth, out in the wondrous heavens. Your tandem instructor is hooked in to your back, and your legs and body are arched back up against him. So you've got a connected entity there that's pretty inspiring. Looks really cool on video.
Your facefirst drop to earth stops as you feel the parachute catch and send you into a dangling position. My instructor told me all the checks to make, the steps to navigate your trip to the ground. In a skydive, you "pull" at about 5,000 feet. You have a great view from up there. You can see all around. We saw the plane. It was streaking towards the ground in the hands of its adventurous pilot. At about 2,500 feet, we looked off to the side and saw this amazing bird in flight. Soaring to the right just above us. Well down below us was Deanna's parachute. What I enjoyed most about this ride was the "streamer" position. Hands fully down brakes the parachute. Hands fully up lets the parachute stream and you are going faster toward the ground. The wind rattles through the parachute. You can have a lot of fun up there, creating your own in-air adventures. Pretty soon, it's time to land, and the instructor is steering the parachute around and sending you towards a landing in the grass. My instructor on this jump was actually the one who I made my first jump with! It was a different airfield in a different city, but there we were again. My first jump is also blogged. You can look around May 15, 2004 for it.
God got me up in the air, and God got me down. What I think is so cool about skydiving is 1) The thrill 2) Experiencing nature, the air, and the earth in a new way. I told my buddy, "You will never see the world like you see it up there." It's amazing. It blows your mind. Afterward I just loved watching planes fly or getting glimpses of the earth from above (off a bridge or something). I loved the fact of flight. What I want to tell people is, "Don't be a chicken in your life. Get out there and do something." Life must begin out that first step. I really don't think skydiving is all that big of a deal. But living in love and faith is a really scary thing that is much harder to attempt.
The skydive trip was, as you can imagine, intense and exciting. Our group of four (2 jumpers with two tandem instructors) crammed into this little plane to be lifted up to our drop point by a (I have to say) wild pilot (who was great). As soon as you know it, the plane starts running down the grass strip and into the sky. I was impressed by how much power there is in take-off - we were moving pretty fast. Soon into the lift-off from the earth, the plane was taken into an ear-against-the-glass, radical vertical turn into the sky by the pilot. That was one of two moments I felt the power of G-forces, where you feel you're being squashed into a little ball. As we circled around gaining altitude, you begin to realize, "Wo, I'm up pretty high." The earth starts to recede from "big" objects in your view to a very big, large planet with small things upon it. What on the earth looks like a big distance starts to look close from above. I marveled as I looked at the square parcels of farmland. You begin to have a bigger grasp of the extent and totality of a city.
2000 ft - Man, look at that mine! You can see all the definition. Oh, wow! Look over there! That lake is beautiful! Man, look at the carvings of that river! I bet it's fun and interesting to be an aerial surveyor. What discoveries to be made!
3000 ft - Wonder how Deanna's doing? Looking good, maybe a little scared. But that may be me! Look back at my instructor - smiling, assured.
4000 ft - Whew, we're really getting up there! That interstate looks so minimal down there.
5000 ft - Feels good to breathe that cool air coming in from this cut-out in the plastic. Settling down.
7000 ft - I'm going to have to jump out of this plane in a few minutes. We saw this engine fire on a U-Haul down on the Interstate. Smoke was rising, and we could make out the fire. The Interstate was backing up.
9000 - Get ready, get yourself together. This is it. Oh, why do I feeel so nervous? Whine of the engine. Earth looks like a distant memory from here.
At 10,000 ft, we did two full 360 degree barrel rolls. Like being in a rollercoaster - only you are 10,000 feet up in a little hunk of metal. After that, it was time to get ready. We had been sitting on our butts. After Deanna jumped, I crawled up on my knees to the front. The tandem instructor hooked us in together and connected the "seatbelt" harness that held us together at the waist. The door opens, wind starts whipping in. "Alright, put your right foot on the step" - one small step for man, one very large step of faith for David. "Turn your left knee toward the back". At this point, you are halfway out of the plane and about ready to plunge. "What am I about to do?" Then it's all over before you know it - the move from seated in the plane to out the door is breathtakingly quick. Once you are at the door, the instructor checks his stuff, goes forward, back, forward, back, and then . . .
You're flying through the sky on a dead streak toward the ground. We fell for 35-40 seconds, but it feels like no time at all. You're so breathless. On this time, I had my mouth open. The first time I had not remembered much of the breathing effort. It was pure thrill. This time it was more of a mental thing, I am thinking more of it. I am gulping in air by the gallon, trying to get my cheeks and lips from blowing around like a silly face.
It's a pretty beautiful formation - two folks falling to earth, out in the wondrous heavens. Your tandem instructor is hooked in to your back, and your legs and body are arched back up against him. So you've got a connected entity there that's pretty inspiring. Looks really cool on video.
Your facefirst drop to earth stops as you feel the parachute catch and send you into a dangling position. My instructor told me all the checks to make, the steps to navigate your trip to the ground. In a skydive, you "pull" at about 5,000 feet. You have a great view from up there. You can see all around. We saw the plane. It was streaking towards the ground in the hands of its adventurous pilot. At about 2,500 feet, we looked off to the side and saw this amazing bird in flight. Soaring to the right just above us. Well down below us was Deanna's parachute. What I enjoyed most about this ride was the "streamer" position. Hands fully down brakes the parachute. Hands fully up lets the parachute stream and you are going faster toward the ground. The wind rattles through the parachute. You can have a lot of fun up there, creating your own in-air adventures. Pretty soon, it's time to land, and the instructor is steering the parachute around and sending you towards a landing in the grass. My instructor on this jump was actually the one who I made my first jump with! It was a different airfield in a different city, but there we were again. My first jump is also blogged. You can look around May 15, 2004 for it.
God got me up in the air, and God got me down. What I think is so cool about skydiving is 1) The thrill 2) Experiencing nature, the air, and the earth in a new way. I told my buddy, "You will never see the world like you see it up there." It's amazing. It blows your mind. Afterward I just loved watching planes fly or getting glimpses of the earth from above (off a bridge or something). I loved the fact of flight. What I want to tell people is, "Don't be a chicken in your life. Get out there and do something." Life must begin out that first step. I really don't think skydiving is all that big of a deal. But living in love and faith is a really scary thing that is much harder to attempt.
posted by David at 12:21 PM
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