FargoCurt

ND RW - 16 It is one thing to be in the proximity of death, to know more or less what she is, and it is quite another thing to seek her. — Ernest Hemingway

First rip cord pull First stand up landing First jump off of radio. It is one thing to be in the proximity of death, to know more or less what she is, and it is quite another thing to seek her. — Ernest Hemingway

Cat urine glows under black light. That will help you find where you need to wash. It is one thing to be in the proximity of death, to know more or less what she is, and it is quite another thing to seek her. — Ernest Hemingway

yeah, i was 36 (still am) and got the "mid-life crisis" things from a coupla guys too there's a guy at my DZ who's been jumping since the year I was born At 43 I bought a Convertable. At 44 I lost 75 lbs and took up marathon running. At 45 (last monday) I made my first skydive. Mid life crisis, naw I don't think so. It is one thing to be in the proximity of death, to know more or less what she is, and it is quite another thing to seek her. — Ernest Hemingway

Weee hooo. I made my first jump tonight for the second time. 26 years ago I did a S/L on a round chute. Tonight I did it on a square. I did my S/L course on Friday/Saturday. Of course it was windy/rainy/cloudy both Saturday and Sunday but tonight, Monday, it was perfect. The Drop zone called me in the afternoon to make sure I would be there and I told them I would. There were four of us doing our first jumps. Myself a man my age named CJ and a younger guy whos name I don't remember were going to make a load in a C182. Our JM was Chris. Of course every first JM is the best but Chris rocked. He made me feel confident the whole time. I was the lightest of the three so I was going last. CJ would be first. We get to altitude with very little talking. I was running EP's in my head. Then the door was open. CJ got the order. 'Feet into the door.' Then 'all the way out.' But he didn't' quite make it. His right hand had slipped from the strut. He was hanging from his left hand with his left foot on the step. Chris was giving him the thumbs up but he wouldn't let go. Suddenly Chris was on the step he kicked CJ's foot off of the step and he was gone. I thought to my self: Holy cow, he just kicked him off the plane. Of course it was the right thing to do because he wasn't going to make it back onto the plane, he had to go. Jumper two was up next. He did a picture perfect exit. Climbed out, 'Dot go, Arch 1 thousand and he was gone. Since it was just me and Chris in the plane I tell him he would have made a good Army Jump Master. 'Throw them out of the plane.' Now it was my turn. I get the command 'Feet in the door' No problem I wasn't even nervous. 'All the way out' For one quick second I thought: 'What am I doing?' I took a deep breath and reached out. There I was hanging from the strut. I saw the tumb's up. OK I think here we go 'DOT I yell', I look at the bottom of the wing (there is no dot). 'GO' I let go. 'ARCH thousand TWO thousand' Screw that I think, where is my chute. I look up, there it is, a big beautiful green chute. I think to myself OK what next. Oh yeah brakes. I look up and find the brake toggles. I grab them, pull them to my crouch, everything is OK. Then I hear it in my ear. brpasts sstpc ssstp yarptwt. Oh shoot I can't hear the radio. More static, Suddleny I hear 'right' Ok they want me to turn right. I look around. I am the son of an aircraft mechanic and know very well how a landing approach works. Right will put me on the cross wind leg of a left hand pattern. So I turn right. More static in my ear. Suddenly I hear 'ready ready ready ready' OK I know that a practice flare is coming up. So I flare. Man that is cool. Everything slows down and gets quite. I let up on the toggles. Again I hear 'ready ready ready' another flare so I do it again. I look down. I look like I am getting close to the river and they had said we would not fly over the river. I check my Altitude. 2,500 ft. OK I know I have to play around for a while so I do a slow right 360. I check my altitude again 1700 ft. I remember 1500 no more 360's but a 270 will put me on down wind leg, so I go for it. 270 right hand turn. I check my altitude. 1000 feet time to start down wind. I know I am suppose to line up on the dirt road so that is what I do. In the radio I hear more static. I get to 500 feet and hear 'left' in the radio so I start my base leg. I am now flying a good base leg once again I hear 'Left' but I know its too soon but I start to turn anyway. At 45 degrees I hear 'green dot' I look ahead and see the green dot in the field. I am headed right for it. Then in my ear: 'ready ready ready ready FLARE' I pull hard on the toggles. The ground seem to be screaming up at me (we had Zero wind today). Instinktivly my feet and knees go together. I hit the ground, perfect PLF. I lay there for what seems like 5 minutes but on the tape was a matter of seconds. 'WEEE HOOOO I yell. My first jump, the second time, is over. My log book notes says 'good job, great arch' I can't wait to do it again.

Ok now that you have said that and I have re-read it. I get it . Some of us are just a little slow on the up beat. It is one thing to be in the proximity of death, to know more or less what she is, and it is quite another thing to seek her. — Ernest Hemingway

Ok lets analyze this just a bit. You are landing over water, far enough out that just a quick swim in is not an option. Even the most experience skydiver is going to have some pucker factor. You are wearing equipment that may or may not help you float (did you use your reserve?). Now your plan of action is to blow up a condom in water you cannot stand in. For our example let’s say there is some wave action going on. Now to blow this thing up you would at the very least have to float on your back (if your still wearing your reserve and it does float, it will want to force you into a face down position), but with waves going on and the fear factor you will probably try to inflate the condom treading water. So you will have to tread water without using your hands long enough to fill 2 condoms and tie them up. How much energy did you just use up trying to create a floatation device? Now I am a pretty good swimmer (former life guard), and swim every week as part of my fitness routine but I would not want to tread water with only my legs for that long. Of course all of this must be done after possibly a hard landing. Somehow I just don’t think this is a good plan. Leave the condom on the bed stand and wear approved life support. It is one thing to be in the proximity of death, to know more or less what she is, and it is quite another thing to seek her. — Ernest Hemingway

Having spent 10 years in the Army I too knew where that story was going half way through. Man that is some funny shit.