Embedded Files
Back in 1995...
Skydiving .. it was always been something that I have wanted to do, and it took my friends to asking me twice, before I took the plunge - twice! I scraped up two-hundred dollars and went to Skydive San Marcos, Inc, located in San Marcos, Texas. On February 11, 1995 and October 16, 1995, I performed satisfactory "Tandem Vector I Parachute Jumps".
A Tandem Vector Jump is one where you are placed in a specially designed harness that is attached to your instructor's suit through the use of special holding pins. Basically you wear the instructor on your back (who is wearing the parachute) instead of an actual parachute. When jumping, you watch the altitude, pull the rip-cord, and steer the chute and land at a target spot on the ground all with coaching from your instructor.
It was overwhelming the sensation of just falling. There is nothing to hold you back, nothing between you and the ground except the the clouds! It took a lot of personal coaching to finally place myself into a tandem harness, get on a plane, wave to my friends staying on the ground and hug those that were going with me.
Two instructor/student pairs and a videographer crowded into a small prop plane that had been modified for jumping, with a small opening and no door for us to exit the plan. During the flight up, we sat with our backs to the instructor and he showed us that he was attaching the tandem harness holding pins, to his harness. As we make the ascent with a steep but steady climb up into the clouds he shows you the altitude every 3,000 feet. The instructor then explains how to shimmy up to the door and place your feet on a little ledge outside the plane and reviewed various signals like tapping you on the top of your head (tuck your arms into your chest), tapping your shoulders (straighten them out like wings) and a couple of other hand signals, including pulling the ripcord and handing you the steering lines.
It was go time .. a friend and his tandem instructor went first. The cameraman went next and then we shimmied up to the door. Strapped to the instructure, I put my feet out on the ledge. The wind is so loud and the roar of the engine — it would be impossible to hear the instructor — and the use of physical signals made sense!
A buzzer goes off — the pilot is telling us are over the landing spot. I looked out and the adrenaline immediate pulsed through me looking out into the sky seeing nothing but clouds, a rush of emotions hit me all at once and the instructor taps me on my head, and snapped me out of my trance, and he taps me again, and like instinct, I cross my arm to my chest, and he rolls us out.
There I am, looking around and falling. At first there was only amazement that I did it, no sensation in my body, then I caught myself yelling. The instructor taps my shoulders and points out in the sky were a fellow skydiver with a recording rig on helmet was recording me with a huge smile on my face and hooting and hollerin! You could not wipe the smile from my face, I was having such a good time. We free-fell for about 10-15 seconds, which seems to just last forever. There is a sensation that I will never forget — as we fell through a cloud – just white around you and then what felt like pin-pricks on my face, which stopped almost as soon as they started when we exited the cloud. I would later find out that was water droplets that were in the cloud that was hitting my face.
I feel the instructor pat me on my head, and I folded my arms into my chest... and then whoooosh, and then you feel yourself being jerked up in your harness as the canopy was released and filled with air. Then everything slowed way down .. and I could all the sudden hear the instructor talking to me, the flapping of the canopy overhead and some wind whistling past. We sailed around a little bit, spinning me around slowly at first as I took everything in - just awe-struck with the sensations and view around me. ..and just as he said "lets have a little fun.." we start to spin around and around .. fairly quickly causing me to hoot and holler and then we slowed down again.
He told me to reach up and grab, put don't pull the steering lines (a second one attached to the one he was holding) and he then explained how we would pull both to slow down (known as flaring) and let up to increase our speed, and pulling down on either side individually would cause us to turn in that direction. The spinning around and around was caused by him pulling down just one steering line and letting us spin. I was given a few minutes to turn left and right and look around and I could look up and see others flying around above me.
The ground was getting closer and closer and he then explained to bend my knees and bring them up to my chest as much as I could. Making a couple of turns to put us into the approach of the landing area.. it came quick, and he yelled .. "flare, flare!" and we pulled down on the steering lines and came to gentle landing, and almost like instinct, I straightened my legs and pushed back up .. and I was one the ground! The chute fell down around me, and there were other staff running around grabbing and gathering the material. The videographer was already on the ground and he was videotaping the event as my instructor unpinned me. The videographer came running up to me .. "what did you think?" "I loved it!" (was the only thing I could think to say, with the adrenaline still high. I walked up to my friends, gave them high-fives and hugged another one. We were congratulating each other and asking each other a ton of questions.
I did it one more time, this time paying more attention to the falling part, being more alert now than I was the first time. It was just as exciting and as much of an adrenaline rushing event as I remembered it last time. If you haven't done it yet, shut-up and jump!
I did a thing in 2022...
My really good friend Beth, who was going skydiving for her sixtieth birthday asked me to join her. I had gone twice before when I was 25 years young in San Marcos. I remembered how much fun and what a total adrenaline rush it was. One of the memories that sticks with me even to this day, was that we fell through a cloud that had moisture in it, and you could feel the water droplets hitting your face - what a strange and also slightly painful experience, as the water droplets were hitting you as you are traveling at terminal velocity!
Oops, I did it again!
This was my FOURTH time going tandem skydiving. Just as much fun as the first three - you just never get over the feeling and adrenaline rush! This time I jumped with my two boys (Evan and Eron), who were performing their first tandem jump!
Page updated
Report abuse