I flew today

Diana said:
Were you in an airplane Dave? :)
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only on the way up.

Talk about an emotional, visceral experience.... its going to take a while to get over it, and to get the grin off my face.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
only on the way up.

Talk about an emotional, visceral experience.... its going to take a while to get over it, and to get the grin off my face.
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OH!!! Did you do a jump?!?! Tell us more!
 
Ugh. I didn't get to fly. I mowed the grass, after first repairing the damage the gas company did to my electronic perimeter wire (Robomower). I purchased a replacement second battery pair (18AH x 2 in series) for same mower. Then I replanted the 3x4 foot patch torn up by the Gas Co. to get to a main valve for the shutoff. Then off to the airport. The weather was SO NICE, I decided to swap out the Miata (get the TOP DOWN!) for the Ford 500. Got the 500 to fit in the hangar (that was tight!). Checked out 20 automobile tires for pressure, 3 aircraft tires, vacuumed out my old Camry (daughter's car- she is sort piggy- there's dried coffee on the console, crumbs on the seat, etc)....checked 6 oil sumps, four power steering reservoirs, four radiators, put the 500 on a battery desulfator. Noticed new partial thickness scrape on the Camry- touched it up. Then got home and a Jepp datacard had arrived-->back to the airport. Oh yeah, changed the oil on the A/C tug. Was gonna fly but just too dang worn out. My neighbor spent the day polishing his T6. Gorgeous.

Then did last month's statements. Thankfully the taxes are done. Pager didn't go off--> nice. But, didn't get to fly.
 
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Dave, we want to know every detail!

During the long nasty winter my instructor forgot to remind me that I had to do a jump, and I never brought up the subject. This made me happy. Then today, out of the blue, we were flying past Calverton and the parachute jumpers were out. The subject came up. My time is coming soon. :eek:
 
Nope. Because I am forever unable to forecast my earnings, I just write it to the first quarter 05 withholding and subtract that from my first quarter withold. I know, I know Uncle gets a great deal. But Form 2210 is just too brutal to risk going there.

Toby-be prepared but also be prepared to be a blubbering idiot. That was me once upon a time. Thank heaven for very well rehearsed and composed NCOs (noncomissioned officers). "Lt, SIR, it's your turn...."


Sigh.
 
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Let'sgoflying! said:
only on the way up.

Talk about an emotional, visceral experience.... its going to take a while to get over it, and to get the grin off my face.
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Uh oh. He jumped out of a perfectly good airplane. Get ready for another expensive hobby, Dave.
 
I got to fly late today and Oh how sweet. The plane and I were one. What a great day to sniff the air and stretch those wings. Wow it was great.

John
 
Dave? Dave? Are you there?

:eek:


Oh, dear, I think he passed out from excitement. ;)
 
bbchien said:
Ugh. I didn't get to fly. I mowed the grass, after first repairing the damage the gas company did to my electronic perimeter wire (Robomower). I purchased a replacement second battery pair (18AH x 2 in series) for same mower. Then I replanted the 3x4 foot patch torn up by the Gas Co. to get to a main valve for the shutoff. Then off to the airport. The weather was SO NICE, I decided to swap out the Miata (get the TOP DOWN!) for the Ford 500. Got the 500 to fit in the hangar (that was tight!). Checked out 20 automobile tires for pressure, 3 aircraft tires, vacuumed out my old Camry (daughter's car- she is sort piggy- there's dried coffee on the console, crumbs on the seat, etc)....checked 6 oil sumps, four power steering reservoirs, four radiators, put the 500 on a battery desulfator. Noticed new partial thickness scrape on the Camry- touched it up. Then got home and a Jepp datacard had arrived-->back to the airport. Oh yeah, changed the oil on the A/C tug. Was gonna fly but just too dang worn out. My neighbor spent the day polishing his T6. Gorgeous.

Then did last month's statements. Thankfully the taxes are done. Pager didn't go off--> nice. But, didn't get to fly.
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Bruce? It sounds like you need to go have some fun. :)
 
Diana said:
OH!!! Did you do a jump?!?! Tell us more!
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I am in kind of a daze still even though it was hours ago.
I think its a post-adrenalin rush, or maybe the near-death experience syndrome. Colors are brighter, my heart is still about 100bpm and I am staring off into space with wide eyes, the wind on my face feels like life itself, I can't stop smiling.
It was fantastic, it was wild, after this I may never fear anything again. In the video on the way up to 13K I looked positively green... I surely felt grim. I distracted myself by reviewing procedures, pretending to nap, we talked about airplanes. I could hardly breathe. The cramped, dirty cabin floor felt so safe, so comfortable and solid. We hook up. The cameramen open the door, we take our positions on the edge of the abyss. Everything in my view is swimming a little; this is it. One camera man is hanging on the LE of the 182 wing, I've lost sight of him - the other is facing me, hanging onto the strut, I know the camera is rolling but I'm 'busy' with other things. Brent, my greying, small framed, witty....and fatherly instructor is attached close behind me to my harness with a few piddly straps of nylon.
We rock back and forth in the door frame as planned and practiced, and he shouts "READY, SET, GO!" over the wind noise. He pushes us off and the planet appears, is replaced by sky, reappears a few times and I get the greatest sensory overload of my life. I take the arch, remember to tuck my legs, arms out, and the oscillations settle down, we are hurling towards the 'source of the force' at 120mph - the noise is deafening. I am vaguely aware of one camera man in my face with a green, winged suit on. The video shows me scoping out the horizon, I remember trying to find the airport. I shake hands with the cameraman, he floats off. I can't breath well. Is it the wind in my mouth or the adrenalin? Brent gives me the signal to pull - I lost track of altitude, a common problem with new jumpers in sensory overload. I reach and pull,... will it work? I hear snapping noises as the straps dig into my crotch, the only way I really understand we are slowing is the cameramen are suddenly almost out of sight below us.... they pulled as well - two good chutes. I feel suspended by a crane, over miles of rock-hard west Texas. Will the crane suddenly drop us? Those suspension lines look like silly kitchen string.
Brent and I can talk now, he says take the steering lines and practice. We do some mild turns, and practice two landing flares. We talk about legs on landing. He steers us towards 'downwind', I see the landing site, people and cars. He coaches me on turning. We come over the spot - this ain't no 3 degree approach! and he shouts "Flare!",... pretty smooth - although we fall on one side, no big deal. Arms pull me up otherwise I would remain collapse in my puddle of jello. The video guys are still at it, I hug the instructor and we are all smiles and shaking hands, Brent says 'fantastic form'.
I want to go again sometime, but not right now.

:)
 
I'd say you decribed the experience very well. The adrenaline rush is unlike any other experience you could ever have. So is the adrenaline drain. Be mindful of that.

I am glad it was a good experience for you. My first one was.

It will be interesting to hear if you continue jumping.

Pictures! We want pictures! And details.
 
I'm feeling better. Had a stiff drink to regain normal perspective. ;)

My biggest mistake I think, was to believe it would roll off me like nothing... and then hop in the plane and fly home. I was in automatic mode which is very bad. I would recommend at least taking a check pilot if you fly to one of these. I tried to get one before (in case I broke a leg or something) but no luck. I wasn't IMSAFE but didn't realize it. The pics are all non-digital, it will take me a month to fix that.
 
I believe these kinds of experiences change you much more than you think.
 
Carol said:
I am glad it was a good experience for you. My first one was.
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Wow, Carol, is that you in the picture? Solo? How many have you done?
 
Diana said:
Wow, Carol, is that you in the picture? Solo? How many have you done?
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My first jump was a tandem. I got back home and started taking lessons. I quit though. I never could get past the stark terror of exiting the aircraft.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I'm feeling better. Had a stiff drink to regain normal perspective. ;)

My biggest mistake I think, was to believe it would roll off me like nothing... and then hop in the plane and fly home. I was in automatic mode which is very bad. I would recommend at least taking a check pilot if you fly to one of these. I tried to get one before (in case I broke a leg or something) but no luck. I wasn't IMSAFE but didn't realize it. The pics are all non-digital, it will take me a month to fix that.
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You FLEW yourself back?! :eek: My word, man. I cannot imagine doing that. I flew IN an airplane to another field after my tandem jump and I was still freaking. I doubt I could have found my butt with both hands and a roadmap. Glad you made it alright.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I'm feeling better. Had a stiff drink to regain normal perspective. ;)

The pics are all non-digital, it will take me a month to fix that.
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Dave, what a great description of your jump today! How cool! :cheerio:

How bout bringing your pictures to Gaston's?
 
So Dave, how looks the world today after your life-changing experience?
 
13,000? No wonder you can't remember the first half minute...you were hypoxic! The effects last 15 minutes.....
 
Toby said:
So Dave, how looks the world today after your life-changing experience?
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Hi thanks for the concern, I am great.
I had planned on popping the video in during my BD party in a month and surprising everyone including my wife with the little bd present I gave myself - but I just could not keep it inside me that long, so I showed it to her this morning. She was pretty shook up at first (during the time of the jump she reported strange feelings of unease about me to her friend as they were coming back from Atlanta yesterday) anyway she says I did the right thing to not tell her about it beforehand. (There is no way I can keep any secrets from her I guess.) She is feeling much better about it and is kind of in awe that I did it, although she says 'Promise No More' as one might expect. [And I think I noticed a little harder praying in church this am;)] I have not promised 'no more' - but I did say no more surprises; and I am very concerned for her anxiety. I think it helped her when I explained the way I vetted the drop zone, visited with some of them beforehand, told her the instructor did 10 tandems last weekend, has over 4000 tandems, 9000 total jumps over 30 years and all about the backups and automatic devices. We also reviewed the situation with the accidents we had heard of (exactly parallels of our Stupid Pilot Tricks in most cases).

As for myself, now that I have had time to 'review the tapes' a dozen times and run it over in reverse and sideways in my brain, remove the emotion and apply more physics.... Damn, I want to go again!!
Diana, I will try to digitize the tape and bring it to Gastons so you can see a fairly normal person get gape-mouthed and bug-eyed.
Toby don't be put off your jump by my report. The drop zone was full of people doing the same as me; from teens to mothers, accountants and teachers, none of them seemed to be phased by it.
It is certainly a higher-risk sport but like flying there are things you can do to minimize the risk to an acceptable level I think.
The hardest part, that first step into oblivion, is made so much easier by the tandem rig. It is very comforting to have another (very skilled and experienced) human right there, slapping you on the shoulder and encouraging you on. Once you make the decision to do it, just blank out your mind and hand yourself over to them, follow their instructions. You will learn a little more about what faith means!
Jump!
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
The hardest part, that first step into oblivion, is made so much easier by the tandem rig. It is very comforting to have another (very skilled and experienced) human right there, slapping you on the shoulder and encouraging you on.
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Pushing me out the door :eek: would be more correct - for me, at least!! That's WAY COOL, Dave! :cool:
 
Dave,

I am glad you have regained your wits. With regards to future jumping, just remember that it is an additional expensive hobby :)

C
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Toby don't be put off your jump by my report. The drop zone was full of people doing the same as me; from teens to mothers, accountants and teachers, none of them seemed to be phased by it.
It is certainly a higher-risk sport but like flying there are things you can do to minimize the risk to an acceptable level I think.
The hardest part, that first step into oblivion, is made so much easier by the tandem rig. It is very comforting to have another (very skilled and experienced) human right there, slapping you on the shoulder and encouraging you on. Once you make the decision to do it, just blank out your mind and hand yourself over to them, follow their instructions. You will learn a little more about what faith means!
Jump!
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Dave, first, you said all the right things to your wife. I think it's true that people who are close are tuned into each other, so you really can't get away with any surprises.

Today, of all the ironic things, I got to the airport before my friend arrived (we were flying up to CT) and lo and behold, my skydiving friend who I haven't seen in a while is sitting in the diner. So I sit down and he says, "Are you ready to jump? The season has started." I say, "Funny you should ask...."

And I told him how I've been building up this fear thing. He has over 500 jumps to his credit and in fact was a skydiver before he became a pilot. Last fall he agreed to go up and jump with me for moral support. (He will jump alone, I will do a tandem with an instructor. But we'll be in the plane together.)

So he told me every detail about the procedure, how the guy behind me will pull the chute open if I freeze up, how I'll be wearing a wrist altimeter, what the first few seconds will be like, everything. I'm feeling a little better about it now. Yes, I can see how it will be a literal leap of faith.

Can you put your video online somehow so we can watch it? I have one we made when my daughter did a jump as her college graduation present. It still gives me a thrill to watch it (now that I'm no longer the anxious parent waiting on the ground looking up).
 
Dave:

Hate to mention this but :zap!: second jump was much more difficult for me that the first :rolleyes:

The first time, I really didn't appreciate what I was doing :D

Second time, you know what's going to happen!!!

Then there was my night jump with full equipment in the rain :cool:

Then there was #13 :eek:

Always something else to look forward to ;)

Dave S.
 
Dave Siciliano said:
Dave:Hate to mention this but :zap!: second jump was much more difficult for me that the first :rolleyes: Dave S.
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"It your turn, LT, SIR!" followed by the hipcheck. Thank g_d for baro deployed backup.
 
Fast n' Furious said:
All the Way, Sir! Airborne!
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Hey, John:
I didn't fly today; few seemed to be in the air. At Auburn/Lewiston the wind sock had St. Vitas dance; Wiscasset was dead; Twitchell's was fodder for crosswind landings. Oh, yes; Twitchell's. It seems that I had an appointment to meet this fellow from some place called Jay, Maine. So, we talked a bit, compared notes about his plane, and did the customary Maine business handshake.

Coming soon to an airport near me:

HR
 
bbchien said:
Good on you. A local sale is always easier, and more known :)
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Twitchell's did the Annual in January; the compressions varied from 73 to 80; Mike Twitchell says for a high-time she's been very well-maintained. There's a white-domed GPS antenna the owner had installed on the roof for his AV-MAP GPS. The GPS doesn't come with the plane but he'll sell it for $1200.00; claims it was $1800 as new. Plane has original paint.(And without a repainting needed I can keep the small lettered tail # up on the vert. stab.)

Thank you, Nextel stock, for your recent rise. (54.4% gain in 8 months)

HR
 
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Lawreston said:
Twitchell's did the Annual in January; the compressions varied from 73 to 80; Mike Twitchell says for a high-time she's been very well-maintained. There's a white-domed GPS antenna the owner had installed on the roof for his AV-MAP GPS. The GPS doesn't come with the plane but he'll sell it for $1200.00; claims it was $1800 as new. Plane has original paint.(And without a repainting needed I can keep the small lettered tail # up on the vert. stab.)

Thank you, Nextel stock, for your recent rise. (54.4% gain in 8 months)

HR
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Congratulations! Now get that ticket!
 
Carol said:
Congratulations! Now get that ticket!
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Certain recent changes-of-plan will not release you from visiting Maine, however.

(Twitchell's Airport appears, below)
 
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