Wingsuit Flying Here I Come!

I have been trying to make my first ever skydive for a long time. I have always wanted to go, but life and other activities always seemed to keep me busy. Finally, I made the decision to just go for it. So I drove down to Florida to meet up with my friends Tammy and Josh Galt, the owner of Face Level Industries (Ya know, the company whose blog you're reading right now).

After being winded out of skydiving in Florida we were bummed, the next day looked bad too, and we all had to get back to the real world. I decided to try again up here in Virginia. My friend, Brandon Hagy, also wanted to give it a whirl, so we made the choice to take the AFF course and jump without being attached to an instructor. Some said I was crazy for doing my first jump ever AFF, and was told I should at least go tandem first. If there's one thing I've learned thus far in my life it's that I have control issues, as far as letting someone else hold the reins on activities that could potential hurt me! I'm rarely a passenger on motorcycles, I'll drive my own thanks, I even have a hard time on two-seater bicycles! I enjoy learning as much as I can about something and doing it myself, once I'm confident in my ability. So the decision to go AFF wasn't a hard one to make, at all.

The class took about 6 hours, and when we were done the winds had picked up and we were unable to jump. :( Of course I came back the very next day to try again. I was determined to jump out of a plane!

We arrived and there were people "falling" from the sky. Flippin' sweet!

Then the winds picked up again. Argh!

We played the fun game of para-waiting (as Neil Amonson, our Team FLI wingsuit flyer puts it). But we got a chance to hang out with all the instructors and fun jumpers. I spent some time speaking with the owner, Jim Crouch, and Carol Clay, the "Queen of Skydiving". She has over 15,000 skydives now! That is amazing.

Finally, it was time to go. I geared up, after being jested by my instructor, Dave Stoval, on the fact that I couldn't wear a red jumpsuit because it clashed with my hair. The rest of the gear up process was followed by, "Are these gloves okay? There's a little red on them, just want to make sure. How about this helmet?" We were laughing and having a good time, though in the back of my mind I'm thinking about what I have to do in the very near future.

I walked....er did a little dance to the plane, with my instructors, AND Carol Clay! Up we went!

I thought that once I got on the plane and we were in the air it would really hit me, the fact that I was ACTUALLY going to be jumping out of this plane. We continued our climb to 14,000 feet in the King Air, and really the only thing going through my head was what I had to do once I exited the plane. I started wondering why I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be, and thought about all the people that have ever said, "Why jump out of a perfectly good airplane?" To which my response was always, "Why not?" Surprisingly, cruising at 14k, while I scooted my bootie towards the door, and other instructor, this was still my thought. Why not?

As I neared the doorway I reached out and got my place. One foot in the door, the other out, I stood to lean against the frame, facing the front of the plane, with my head and upper body leaning out, the wind that hit my face was awesome! I was standing halfway out of an airplane cruising along the sky! I could have stayed there for a while, enjoying the ride and the view, but I knew a better ride was in store.

I "checked in" with my instructor inside the plane, he gave me the go. I "checked out" with my instructor outside the plane beside me, he gave me the go.

I raised up to a full stand, dipped down and juuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-mped!

When you jump from an airplane you don't immediately end up face down in your free fall. You glide out in the same position you jumped out, arched to the wind. Then slowly your body planes side ways, a little head first, you arch, and suddenly your butt and your head are at the same level and you're stable.

Altimeter check.

"12,000 feet!" I shouted to my instructors. I did my three practice checks, to make sure my parachute release cord was still where I thought it was.

Whew, it was! Ok sweet.

Altimeter check.

Enjoy the free fall for a few seconds. My instructor gave me the signal to extend my legs a little more. I was in a position to glide forward...we'll definitely do all that later.

Altimeter check.

Yep, still falling to the ground at 120 mph.

"This is awesome!"

Altimeter check. 7,000 feet. Gotta lock on at 6,000 and prepare to pull my cord at 5,500.

5,500. Here we go! I wave my arms three times over my head, signaling my pull. I bring my left arm over my head to remain balanced, reach my right hand back to my chute release, located in an easy to find location right above my butt. Find it. Grab it, and throw it as far away from my body as possible.

My chute deploys. Ok, that's a good sign, but it's still not open.


Suddenly, it feels as if the hand of God just reached down and grabbed me out of my free fall.

I am alone.


I look up to my chute to assess its functionality. Is it there? Yes. Is it square? Yes. Is it steerable and landable?

This I'm not sure about. From below the chute looked A LOT smaller than I thought it would, and I thought to myself, "Is this thing fully open?"

Crap!

I grabbed my toggles and executed a right turn. Ok, that's good. Left turn, good too. My chute is steerable. And it was blue, and matched the yellow jumpsuit I picked out, this is also very important ;)

But is it landable? This is what I had in question, as a chute that is not fully open can be steerable, in some cases, but may not be landable. I really did not want to have to do a cutaway on my first jump ever. I grabbed my toggles a little more seriously and pulled them down to position one to practice my landing flare.

Position two.

Position three.

The Earth stopped. There was silence. I felt as if I was just frozen in the middle of the sky. Like, if I had wanted to, I could just take my harness off and go for a walk above all the chaos.

I looked up to my flared chute, smiled, and raised my toggles back up to full flight position.

I sighted the airport and the landing zone and steered toward that general area. I swung a few turns, since the wind was blowing towards the airport, I had some time to just hang back and enjoy my decent.

I sat in my harness, dangling about 4,000 feet in the air under my chute, looking around and thinking, "I don't want to come down."

When you're flying under canopy there is nothing but peace. You can enjoy the scenery, turn your chute side to side like a swing, and take it all in. I took a deep breath, smiled, and thought of the song, "I Saw God Today." This was pretty much my version of that song.

As I neared the airport I was cruising at around 1,000 feet and I began my landing pattern. I circled around the zone, checking my altimeter and making corrections to my direction, taking into consideration the wind as well. The ground was a lot closer, and I hit my landing altitude.

Position one.

Position two.

At about 15 feet off the ground, position three, full flare.

Feet touch down and BLAM!

Yeah, I wasn't as graceful as the instructors and fun jumpers in my landing, it's on video, you'll see it at some point. :) We're taught to drop and roll (Parachute Landing Fall- PLF) to avoid breaking an ankle, which someone had done earlier that day. I think next jump I'll be able to walk it out now that I know what to expect. I never do anything gracefully the first go-round ;) This time I just wanted to go through what I'd learned, especially since this was my first ever jump, and I was landing myself and really did not know what to expect.

I jumped up from my less-than-graceful PLF and immediately broke into my "happy dance" while shouting, "that was freakin' awesome!" (yeah, that's on video too)

Once on the ground I noticed that my chute was blue AND had a white section on the end, which is why it looked so tiny. I wasn't seeing the entire thing, it just blended with the clear sky. Note to self, do not buy a chute with white ends, or white anywhere, I want to see the WHOLE thing!

My experience was awesome! I definitely recommend West Point Skydiving Adventures for instruction and jumping. Everyone there is great, laid back, and there to have fun. I didn't meet one person that was the "I'm too good to mingle with you" instructor, or fun jumper. They all love what they do with a passion. Similar to me and the river. I get excited when I get a chance to introduce people to whitewater, talk about it, be on it, live it, flow with it on my board. Their skydivers are the same way.

I have definitely found another passion! My air-drug, if you will. ;) My hobbies are way too expensive. On the bright side, once I'm certified the jumps are cheap, I'll just need to rent gear until I can save enough for my own, which I've already designed ;) Aqua, black and white....maybe some silver touches. You gotta look good when you fly you know. ;)

Then sooner rather than later I'll be ordering a wingsuit to match! I just need, oh, a few hundred more jumps. ;)

Once I landed Bay (my 4 year old son) came running over to me. I said, "Mommy just jumped out of an airplane." He responded, "No you didn't, you jumped out of a balloon!" You can't really see everyone jump, you see the white speck of the airplane, then little specks falling from it, but you have to look REALLY close. He only saw me at 5k feet once my chute opened, and I guess thinks I just appeared. ;)

I can't get any credit ; ) But I did get a flower from him.

I would like to thank the people at the drop zone who made my first skydive successful, as well as a blast!

* Ostrich, who taught my AFF class
* Dave Stoval, who geared me up and jumped on my right side, signaling me through freefall
* Matt Fitch, who jumped on my left side, and hung with me til my chute opened
* The owner, Jim Crouch- who is also the safety director for the USPA
* And of course, my camera guy, Rick Witcher

Thank you guys, you really made the experience awesome! I had complete confidence in my ability after taking the first AFF class, and I had total confidence in your ability to make sure I was safe throughout my jump. See you soon!

For those who are interested in going AFF- if you are confident in your ability go for it! You're not totally alone up there. Your instructors are beside, til you pull your chute, then you have a radio. They never leave you hanging...literally ;)