- Author
- Patrick Audley
- Date
- Skydiving for the first time1996-09-141996-09-15
I’ve always wanted to do sky-dive and this weekend I finally did it. I jumped out of a small Cesna from 4500ft on a static line and was followed a few minutes later by none other than Elaine. We took about 6hrs of ground school and then up we went.
It was really freaky flying in a small plain with the side door open the entire time. I was right next to the open space (kneeling behind the pilot’s seat) and the entire time there was nothing but air a few inches to my left. We reached altitude and I was the first one to jump. When the jumpmaster called “Go”, I turned and grabbed the doorframe right next to me and placed a foot outside the plane on the step. I turned and grabbed the wing strut with my other hand and was fully outside the plane. Next came my right hand moved to the strut and the (supposedly slow) hand-over-hand hanging from the wing until you get to the end of the strut (so you don’t hit the tail when you let go). I was so wired that I did all this so quickly that the jumpmaster hadn’t even left her seat before I was at the end of the wing.
I hung there by my hands for 20secs while she got outside with me and checked my line. It’s amazing how strong you are when you’re life depends on it; I was supporting my whole weight and the drag from the wind with only my fingers… She finally yelled “Jump!” and I let go.
It was… the oddest physical experience of my life. I was completely disoriented and remember with crystal clarity looking straight up and thinking I was falling the wrong way; trying to fall upwards is difficult at the best of times and no matter how hard I tried for those 4secs before my chute started to open, I couldn’t go up.
Then it was a 3min serene glide to the ground. It was amazing.. The world opened up and I could see the curvature of the Earth as I hung there, a point in space. It forced the reality of three dimensions into my mind like nothing had before (Scuba Diving is similar in this way for me). I loved it!!! I felt powerless and yet free.
I landed with a perfect landing; it was like stepping of a step, no jolt, just a soft step out of the air. I decided then that I had to do this at least once more in my life.
