So yeah…I went Skydiving. It was amazing. But I want to be more specific while it’s all still fresh.
I went out Friday night…with the intent of being home and in bed by 1AM…which turned into 2AM. Oh well. I got up at7:45 to get dressed and ready and Dok and I headed out at about 8:45 and drove to Whitewright, Texas…home of Skydive Dallas. The nerves started pretty much the minute I got up but I kept a pretty good reign on it. It took us about an hour and a half to get there. The first thing I did was go to their pro shop to check in where they gave me the scariest waiver ever to read over and sign. Most waivers state that you know you can be injured and that you hold the company harmless….this one was really specific about being seriously injured or killed. Trippy. Anyway…I signed my life away and then waited for my Tandem Class which was to start at 11AM.
They called us to a classroom where they told us exactly what was going to happen and showed us a video. They taught us the three specific things we needed to know about how to Tandem dive. Position one: crossing your arms over your chest so you can scoot out of the plane with your instructor…the position two: thrusting your hips forward and putting your head back and throwing your arms out for the free fall…and position three which is pulling your knees up to your chest to come in for a landing. That’s really all you need to know. So we went back downstairs and waited to get called for my turn.
When they called my name I went back and got a jumpsuit and helmet and got all dressed. Then I met my instructor Waz. He was a totally neato guy. Really nice and really funny. Nice looking too. He put me in a harness and went over the positions again and exactly what was going to happen. Then he teased the heck out of me and made me laugh. When we headed to the plane he said “Hey, where’s your parachute?” I said, “Well, I thought you had it!” he laughed and said “Ok, you’re smart enough to skydive.” We laughed. He cracked jokes with me the whole time which was awesome because it kept me relaxed.
I also met my videographer / photographer. Her name was Charity and she was hilarious. I showed them my Superman shirt…at which point Charity ran upstairs and changed her shoes…she changed into shoes with The Flash on them. Too funny. She interviewed me for my video and it was quite funny because I acted like a big dork. Told her I was from Space. I don’t know where the hell that came from. I’m even dorkier than normal when I’m nervous.
Anyway – we went out to the staging area and waited for the plane. When it got there, we climbed in and were packed like sardines. There were two other instructors and their students, me and Waz, Charity, and four solo divers. I was sitting between Waz’s legs and the next guy was between mine. It was pretty darned friendly in there. We joked all the way up to our 13,500 feet jump altitude. The four solo guys went sailing out of the plane and then Charity climbed out and was hanging off the side of the plane with her video camera on her helmet aimed at me.
Waz and I scooted on our butts over to the door of the plane with my arms crossed over my chest as instructed. I barely had time to think before Waz did a three count of “Let’s…..Go…SKYDIVING!” and we went sailing out of the plane. I went quite naturally into position two like I’d been doing it my whole life.
Now…you see people skydive and you imagine what it would be like. I always thought it would be like falling and that it would be a rush and really scary. But honestly…I never felt ANY kind of drop sensation and never really felt like I was falling. It felt like we eased gently out of the plane and just hovered. It was amazing. The wind was rushing past my face but I didn’t really feel it. I was grinning like a total idiot…and with the tight goggles and my chubby cheeks and the 120 mile per hour drop…well…my face looked incredibly stupid. But I don’t care…it was awesome.
We had just under a minute of that free fall and Waz pulled the chute. I bounced in the harness…it hurt a little…I have bruises. But again…it’s ok…it was worth it. From there we just floated toward the earth. We did some turns and spins…Waz let me hold onto the straps that control the chute and make us turn…that was cool. Then he told me “You see those hawks over to your left?” I automatically looked up. But no…they were BELOW us. Moment of “oh wow” there. But he said “You wanna scare the crap out of them…watch this.” So he sails us around over the top of them and starts making these horrific bird noises and the hawks bank like crazy and get the hell out of there. WAY funny.
When we were about 20 feet from the ground, he told me to pull my knees up so I grabbed the sides of my jumpsuit and pulled my knees as high as I could get them and we just gently floated right down to the ground. It was so cool. I put my feet down and took a few steps and we were good. The chute caught some air and we stumbled a little but never fell…which I thought was cool. I saw a lot of tandem jumpers come in and slide on their butt. I was glad to have an on foot landing.
That was really all there was too it. Waz and Charity were incredibly nice to me. Everyone in the whole place was super nice and they just make you feel really at home. It was pretty awesome. I had a great time. They offer you a second jump at a seriously discounted rate and I took it. Bought it right there on the spot. I can see myself getting hooked on this seriously expensive hobby.
Anyway – so that was my awesome first skydive experience. I can’t wait to go again. It’s really an amazing feeling. I highly recommend it.
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