I Want to Go Sky Diving
Mother Earth'S Embrace
This story is a follow up to one I posted two weeks ago: https://similarworlds.com/3950917-I-Want-to-Go-Sky-Diving/1353302-And-ItS-Finally-Happening-I-joined-this-group
I've been in many small private planes before. Where I live there are a few nearby islands connected by a small air service company and of course to get to the main commercial airport in Boston we hop in a small plane. So I'm used to little single engine planes. It's a very different experience, however, when someone opens the door at 10,000 feet.
For the jump we drove to the nearby state of Rhode Island. My dad's inquiries showed that this jump site offered the best views and he knew I was in this partly for the view.
We got there early and watched as group after group climbed in that small plane only to become a dot in the sky. Then, one by one, we would see chutes open. The challenge was to try to see them as they left the plane and track them during the free fall. It turns out that the human body is pretty small at 10.000 feet.
We went through our safety briefing and signed away our right to sue in case of injury. The instructors explained how they would be strapped to our backs and that they would handle the chute; we were simply along for the ride.
And what a ride it was!!
As I mentioned, I've been in several small single engine planes before, but they all had seats. As we got to our Cessna on the tarmac, I could clearly see into the passenger cabin and there was only one seat (for the pilot)!?! The other three seats had all been removed!!
We all climbed in and took our places crouched in reverse order of our departure from the plane. That meant that I was last in. Yes, we had flipped a coin and I was to be first out. I made my dad promise about a dozen times that he wouldn't chicken out!
As we climbed into the sky, circling the airport, the island below us (known as Aquidneck Island) came into view. To one side was Narragansett Bay and to the other was the open Atlantic Ocean. Below us, the airport got smaller and smaller. The instructors continued to remind of of certain aspects of the safety briefing, but my attention was on the windows and the roar of the engine made it easy to tune them out. I'd already heard everything they said down on the ground, I didn't need the reminder.
We were already strapped together, my instructor and I, but now he was pulling those straps tight. I'll be honest here and say I did not like this part at all. He was on my back, strapped tightly to me from shoulders to butt. The fact that he was a foot taller than me probably didn't help the claustrophobic feelings that suddenly hit me as he secured us together.
At 10,000, he opened the door and what I previously thought was the roar of the engine, I now realize was just a little hum. THIS was a roar! He moved me quickly to the door and the first thing I did was break the first rule of our training: I grabbed for the door fr<x>ame with both hands! A quick slap on both wrists from the parasite on my back reminded me that my hands were supposed to be crossed across my chest, his were supposed to be on the door.
Having now assumed the correct positions, we rolled forward and stepped out of a perfectly good airplane!! We tumbled head over foot one time and then stabilized into the classic "spread eagle" position of skydivers in free fall.
Having just completed physics in school, I quickly realized that we were at terminal velocity where the pull of gravity was equal to the resistance of the wind: we were no longer accelerating, but rather in a steady descent. A quick descent no doubt, but a steady one. The island below us, once clearly visible from end to end, was now growing larger by the second.
I am an altitude junky. I love getting high, and no, that is not a drug reference. The view at 10,000 feet is absolutely incredible. To one side of the island is the navy ba<x>se with its aircraft carrier clearly visible. Further down the shore is Newport Harbor where so many America's Cup races used to originate. And beyond is, of course, the Atlantic Ocean. I was trying to take in as much as I could during our descent.
From the force of the wind on my body and face, and knowing that force was equal to the pull of gravity (in fact caused by it), it was clear that Mother Earth wanted us back and wanted us back quickly. She does not like when her children try to leave. We would need to loosen her grip on us, or at least slow our return if we were to survive her loving embrace.
Fortunately, that's where the parachute comes in. I see now why that parasite strapped to my back was so critical. I was no where near ready to stop our free fall when he deployed our parachute. I was not even thinking of stopping the amazing rush of the Earth looming in front of us, but he knew it was time to put on the brakes.
"Skydiving" (to me) involves two distinctly different experiences. There is free fall and there is "parachuting" for lack of a better word. Floating under the parachute is very different from the intensity that is free fall. Floating under the parachute is peaceful, it is blissful. Once the chute opened and slowed our descent, all noise stopped. My parasite and I could talk once again. Under the parachute, you are still descending, but the descent is so slow that it is almost imperceptible.
The rush of adrenaline that is free fall was replaced by a calm and controlled approach to terra firma.
While our descent under the chute was barely perceptible at 4,000 feet, it became very perceptible at 100 feet! He told us to expect the "ground rush" at the end, just before landing. Ground rush is the experience of the ground rushing up to you in those final seconds before impact, and it causes many beginners to panic. Fortunately, in a tandem jump, the parasite on your back once again does everything for you. He used the chute's controls to slow our descent at the last moment and we assumed the "sitting" position described in training and slid into the grass on our butts.
Mother Earth had her children back and seemed to relax her grip on me immediately. Of course, her grip was not really relaxed at all, it is always there ready to pull us home anytime we try to escape!
About me: https://similarworlds.com/sarabee1995/info
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