Is Sky the Limit?!

It seemed like a nice sunny day when I started my car and keyed-in the address of the destination for the Perris Valley Airport in my GPS. I was quite excited just by the thought that I am going to jump off an aeroplane (my first :-) that day..

I had earlier made some enquiries at Thrill Planet (LA Skydiving online website) and the Perris Valley Skydiving school for the sunday noon seemed a good option. After some thoughts, I chose to go for a tandem jump (in which I would be strapped tight to an instructor during the free fall) and not the solo or Accelerated Free Fall (in which a couple of other instructors would also jump together with me but I would not be held tight to them - though they would give some 6hrs training before the free fall). At $340 - together with the video, it did seem a li'l costly, but then I could not lose the opportunity of jumping off an aeroplane, could I?!

Thus, I arrived at the Perris Valley Aviation at noon and was surprised to see the parking lot full!!! I did not imagine there were so many sky diving enthusiasts here.. Anyways, when I went inside to the office, I found out that a group of 100 professional sky divers were doing some formations in the sky that day and that I had to wait for another couple of hours before I would get a chance to go up in the sky.

After all the wait (watching the planes take off and the hundred odd guys land in multicolored parachutes again and again and a burger to fill my stomach in the time, I was assigned an instructor, Luke. (Of course, I should have asked for a female instructor... but then, I did not want any distraction this day ;-). He gave me some training and told me what to expect and all that. Finally, after getting dressed for the occasion, we made our way to the small aeroplane that was waiting to take us. (It felt like I was one of those astronauts in that jump suit...just the all-cover helmet was missing!)

The plane took off and started gaining altitude.. It must have been a couple of minutes and I was seeing 'ants' down below through the window. I checked the altimeter strapped on to my left hand and saw that it was only 4000 feet yet. We were to go thrice that height!! The burger in my stomach started churning a bit and I decided not to look out the window again...:-)

Luke again told me what to do - how we should slide to the edge of the door at the appointed time, how I should sit with my left foot just off the door and the right knee bent to the floor next to it, how I should look up with my chin protruding and all that, how I should arch my back just after we jump, how I should hold my legs bent and hold tight to the shoulder straps....etc etc. And then, he checked my gear and tightened the straps one final time, before letting me chat on video and himself playing some pranks with the co-instructors...

The final minute came and we were all set... and then, came the jump. That was the best part!!! The first few seconds felt so blissful... falling freely, throwing caution to the winds... and then, as we gained velocity, the winds literally caught up and were hitting me on the face and everything...! The difference in pressure started hurting my ears, but then, soon enough, Luke opened the trail (you would see the single rope like thing trailing us) and we stabilized.

It was time to give some poses and show the thumbs up and give a message from the batman... The video/photo guy was just beside us (This is an interesting fact of Physics.. remember the experiment from the top of Leaning tower of Pisa?! whatever be your weight, you will always hit the ground at the same time... as long as you time the jump, and start at the same time).

I tried opening my mouth and the wind was getting into my mouth and even otherwise, it was pulling my face in all directions...!!! Anyways, after about a minute of jumping off the plane, Luke engaged the parachute and the rest was a smooth landing.....

The next time, I want to do the solo jump.... Let me know if you wanna join.. :-)

Check my pics at
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/562218381OLTZiv