I was absolutely petrified before going up. I didn’t know what to expect for the first jump and was so focused on not forgetting anything that I had just done my check-in, check-out, out-in-out (go!) before I’d had time to really register what I was doing. By the time I realised, I was stable, flying level and was already into my drills.
This time I remembered the terror I’d experienced
immediately after jumping out and wasn’t convinced I’d be able to do it
again. I vaguely remembered the
exhilaration after landing and being so eager to go straight back up again, but
after a long wait on the Sunday, then all day Monday, plus an insane week at
work trying to squeeze 5 days worth of work into 4 days, that was just a
distant memory.
I was still calm in the plane, ran through all my
checks with a degree of confidence, answered all the questions correctly but
with a growing degree of apprehension.
When the door was opened, I had a real jolt again (guess that’s my door
monster!) and watched with mounting disbelief as several people gaily threw
themselves out, laughing and joking. Am
I the only sane person here?? No, wait, I’m here so I’m not sane either….
We moved to the door, Fletch got out, Paul had hold of
me inside, I got into position – check in - check out – out – in – out….WTF am
I doing, “no, no, wait, I’m not ready” and I’m back in the plane. Deep breath, move back to the door to get
into position but Fletch has already signalled to the pilot to go back around
and is climbing back in through the door (no mean feat at 90mph!!). They both still had hold of me, he closed the
door and we moved back onto the benches.
I can remember taking deep breaths and both of them just waiting. Paul told me we had plenty of time, then they
asked me what was wrong. I stammered
something about not being in the right position and not being ready, but inside
I was screaming “get me off this $%&*£* plane”. They assured me we had plenty of time and to
just take some deep breaths. Fletch
asked me if I still wanted to jump and I said yes. I have paid for this jump, I’ll be damned if
I’m landing in the plane. I’ve got two
instructors to hold onto me, I know I can land so all I have to do is throw
myself out of the door, they will stabilise me, they’ll even pull for me if I
can’t do it and then I just have to get down.
Then I can get in the car and drive away from the dropzone and never
come back…. Rich can still come and play and I will go and do all those other
things I promised myself I would do if he got hooked all over again….
So the red light goes on, Fletch opens the door, looks
at me – are you ready to skydive? Yes. To the door.
And I get myself into a better position than last time,
deep breath, check-in – check-out – look at wingtip, deep breath – out – in -
out – hard arch…… and suddenly I remember why I wanted to come back and do this
again! I’m flying, I’m stable, the horizon is coming around level – yes, this
is it, this is exciting. Circle of awareness – practice touches – horizon,
altitude, position, breathe… woah, wait, who’s that? There’s someone in front
of me! How? What? It’s Fletch!! I didn’t even feel him let go and he’s smiling
and giving me the thumbs up. My grin is
splitting my face and I stick my tongue out at him as I give him a thumbs
up. Altitude is fine, body position seems
ok, breathe – woo hoo! And now it’s
time, 6000’ lock on, 5:5, reach - locate – throw and this time I remember to
count and it’s not such a shock when Paul lets go and I’m flying under my big
orange canopy. CATTS done, found the
holding area, managed to stay in the right place this time. Had a play with spirals and turns, always
keeping the landing area in sight, then had to fly into wind with my back to
the landing area until it was time for my downwind leg. Radio support all the way this time, and I
landed on my feet! Awesome, awesome jump :-)
Debrief was similar to the previous jump – both
instructors very happy with me and this time the weather is holding calm, so on
to Level 3!!
No comments:
Post a Comment