Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: StSanta on August 04, 2003, 04:31:47 AM
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There I was at the drop zone, all dressed up with somewhere to go. Competitions at my DZ but lots of possibilites for fun jumpers.
Gear check ok. Extra check on altimeter which has a tendency to be off by 100 metres at 1000 for some reason. Big smile to sister who looks incredibly bored, waiting for the Caravan to finish refuelling.
In we go - the two tandem pax first. Then us free flyers and finally the RW teams. The Cessna Caravan is crammed with boisterous people and two tandem passengers that look like they've regretted their deicision to go up. Plane takes off and someone is passing some chokolate around with a small piece of paper around it reading 'eat now - you won't want to once we start offgassing'. A dude notorious for his stinkers is wearing his sh|t eating grin. Oh no.
One of the tandem instructors starts singing 'What a helluva way to go' and others join up to the chagrin of the tandem passengers. Heh, this is funny.
3800 meters. GEEEESH. Ugh, am fighting urge to throw up! This is the worst stinker EVER! fark reaching 4k, let's get out NOW! Oh man poor pilots must fly down in this...this...cloud of bile. Hold breath. Climb, oh plane, climb!
4000 meters, red light is on. Door opens - it's cold up here, but at least the fart stink isn't quite as strong. Get out of the damned plane, you silly belly-fliers! Have to wake sis as she is sleeping. She just had a 24h shift at the hospital but decided to go anyway. Last team exits - finally my turn! Look back at the tandem people with a wicked grin on my face and do the obligatory 'handshake routine' with my sis.
Whoa! Pilot hasn't chopped the throttle very much. Lots of blast as I stick my head out to check for horisontal separation from the last team. 45 degree angle. Let's make this a cool sideways exit.
Roar of wind in my ears. Something is pushing me over and to the side, like a giant with a big woolen glove. Right arm left leg input - now in a head down. Can see the plane between my legs and my sis exiting. Have a crazy punk tune playing in my head. Up on belly, then transition to a rotating sitfly. Amazing how just an upturned hand can make ya rotate that fast. Sis swoops by in a stand - she must be doing a good deal above 300 kph. She transitions to a head down and slips backwards a bit. My rather unstable head down makes me track the opposite way.
Oh ****, better check altitude. 2500. Where are the others? Ah flat flyers to my 12 oc, 300 meters horisontal, far down. Time for a screwdriver. WOOOOH! BlueGreenBlueGreenBlueGreenBl ueGreenBlueAndGreen STOP.
2000 meters. What to do? Let's see how fast I can track. 90 degree angle to line of flight. Extend and collect legs, arms near side. Shoulders down, use tummie muscles to get legs down. Hm, going almost as fast as that little dot down there on the highway.
1400. Quick barrel roll to check airspace above me. This is flying, dude! Airspace clean. Watching the needle on my altimeter go down. Earth is visibly moving closer, but where's the runway? 1100 - big arsed wave off, clear left, right and up. Delay a second, reach back, deploy.
A seconds delay. 'Uh oh - reserve ride?' - then the familiar tug on the harness. Hard opening - cannot keep a big 'UUGHFFFH' in. That's gonna leave some bruises. 'YEEHHAWS' from somewhere to my low right - that's sis after a slow opening.
Where the f am I? Where's the fiel- oh over THERE! Back risers ride all the way home. Very choppy winds. Hope that glider has seen me - better give a signal with my legs that I've seen him.
Nice landing just a little bit away from the packing area.
Heh, this is what I live for nowadays. Haven't felt so passionate about anything since I was a teenager. All the pretentious BS of 'real life' melts away. If you're beginning to feel tired and feel life is all the same, start skydiving. Might not change the facts, but it sure is enjoyable :D. Everything else in life is secondary.
So Ripsnort, you coming or what? Saw those pics of you in Old School gear - you'll be surprised to see what ya can do in a sleek new sports rig.
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For all of your competition skydiving needs. I will be glad to introduce you to the inventors as they are brothers of mine.
Click here for Omniskore!!! (http://www.omniskore.com)