My first time was at High Adventure in Chattanooga, TN in 1993. A guy named Leon had a Bungee Tower, Hang Gliding Simulator and also Skydiving. I was in my mid 20`s and my Dad was in his mid 40`s. We decided to both jump together for the first time. This place was straight out of Fandango. We watch a short Video Tape and then Leon drags out a mattress and has us start jumping off a 4-foot platform and practicing "Banana Rolls". We were going to be using Piglet-23 Rounds and we were told Banana Roll was the only way to land it. A little more instruction and we headed to a nearby airstrip where Leon had a Cessna 152. This plane was a complete POS. It looked like spit and duct tape was the only thing holding it together. The plan was that Leon would fly the plane with me and Dad packed in to the 152, Dad would jump first. He was to hand his pilot chute to Leon who would be flying the plane and the step out on the wing, arch hard and pray!! Leon had an assistant on the ground with a big Arrow that he would guide us in with. The assistant had only done this once before and had never jumped. Well we get into the plane and it will not start. Leon finally goes out and spins the prop to get it started and off we go. We climb to 3000 feet and Leon tells my dad to get ready. He cuts the engine on the plane and tells dad to get into position (I am remembering the problem getting the plane started and wandering if maybe I shouldn’t be ready too). Dad hands his PC to Leon and gets in position. He Goes. A few seconds later we see that he is safely under canopy. Leon is radioing the assistant on the ground with the arrow to help guide him in. Everything is fine until dad gets to about 800 feet and the radio quits working. The assistant flips out and spins the arrow 180 degrees. Dad turns hard only to hit dead center of the asphalt runway, Feet straight out in front him, Flat on his ass. Up in the plane all I see is the canopy deflate and no one is moving. Leon is trying to get the radio working. I just know that I have just watched my father die or at least get crippled. We start bringing the plane in but realize that we can’t land with dad still lying on the runway. We have to circle for a few minutes. Finally we see him get up (with assistance) and walk away. We land and he tells me he is fine, just a little shook up. He says I should still jump if I want to. Back up we go. 3000 ft, Jump run, Ready, Pilot chute to Leon, Out on the wing, In position, GO!! Hard Arch, Chute opens, I look up.. Line Twist. I am thinking Ohhh Shit. A few kicks and it clears. Arrow guy brings me in just fine. I Banana Roll perfectly on the landing.. Get up screaming "Hell Yea!!". I run up to dad, he says did you like it?" "Hell Yes!!" I reply. Good, Now get me to a Hospital right now. Dad had cracked 3 Vertebrae in his back and cracked his tailbone. He couldn’t walk to the car on his own. The scariest part of this whole story is that I jumped there again 3 weeks later. That jump was relatively uneventful. I have since done 2 Tandems in Rome (Once when it was Air Ventures and Once now that it is Air Sportz). Great people and a great DZ. A totally different world.
