Part II - The jump

Friday morning came and we woke very early to eat breakfast and head out to the meeting place for the jump. We got into the place's van and signed our lives away saying if we got hurt we would hold them harmless. We got to the place and got to watch a video with the oddest looking man I have ever seen, this guy was bald and apparently took it to heart because he had a beard that was long and scraggly and must've been 2 feet long. As an aside I was the only chick in the group. We got out and were told we would be the first ones on. COOL! We donned our suits and got to meet our Jumpmasters, I was jumping with Troy and Pat with Kevin. They showed us how to position our bodies and hands at the time of getting out of the plane and once we were free falling. We got our harnesses on and paid for our jump, the guy jokingly said he wanted to make sure he got our money in case something happened, LOL

We went out to the plane that was miniscule to say the least. They showed us how to position our feet at exit and stuffed us in the plane. THere was a pilot that had a seat and said not one word the whole time, there were no other seats and we all sat facing backwards, Troy was kind enough to buckle me in, LOL, I was seating with my back to the plane controls. The plane was very smooth riding and the view was breathtaking. At some point maybe 15 or 20 minutes into it we started getting hooked up to each other. Troy said we were going first which was fine by me. He opened the door and looked out a few times. Then he said are yhou ready and boy was I ready. He put he foot on a part of the wing and asked me to do the same, then I put my arms holding my harness and he stuck me half out of the plane. Then we both fell.

It's hard to describe all the sensations, we went backwards and did a flip, the noise was incredible, I felt no apprehension or fear and frankly I was exhiliarated. As we flipped belly down I instinctly pulled my head up and bent my knees and got into the position. Troy tapped my shoulder and I opened up my arms as we had been told to. As I had read there is absolutely no sensation of falling or roller coaster belly drop, it was as if I was floating, almost like I was sticking my face or my hand out the window of a moving car and the wind is just pushing at you. I felt so calm and collected and felt myself smile with joy. It was just so amazing, it almost felt natural to be doing it. This is of course coming from someone that hates planes and takes medication when I have to fly. Weird huh?

Too quickly for me Troy pulled the ripcord and the parachute opened. The ride down was so peaceful and quiet, I could see Pat occassionally in his parachute. Troy guided the parachute and did some twists, the first one caught me off guard and kinda freaked me but afterwards I loved it. We landed and waited for Pat. It was amazing. Just amazing.

I'm looking into doing the course on AFF, which is Accelerated Free Fall Trainning so I can jump by myself.

Later I will account for the rest of Friday but for now here is a link to the video:

http://clipshack.com/Clip.aspx?key=9EC62946DB2FBA29