Skydiving From 10,000 Feet
On April 8, 1994, I had the opportunity to tandem skydive at the Richmond, Indiana airport, which is apparently one of the most skydiving-friendly airports in the Midwest. We jumped from 10,500 feet with a 35-second free fall, with both the instructor and myself using the same parachute to jump together.
The only truly difficult part of the experience was actually leaving the airplane. When it came time to jump, I moved to the edge of the open doorway with my feet dangling out into open space, with the instructor to whom I was tied on his knees right behind me. We rocked back and forth to the count of "one, two... THREE!" and then tumbled forward out of the airplane.
We fell for 35 seconds and then it was time to open the parachute. He had told me to pull the ripcord (attached to my upper chest), but had only shown me where it was one time. When he tapped me on the shoulder as the signal to pull the cord, I began groping for it but couldn't find it. The instructor quickly reached around me and pulled it once he realized that I was having trouble locating the ripcord handle. There was never any danger and we were still a few thousand feet above the ground.
The drag of the parachute pulled hard on the leg straps when the chute initially deployed and caused me a good bit of pain, since I'd never been fitted into a parachute before. But otherwise, I actually enjoyed floating down under the parachute more than I did the free fall. The landing is very hard - even harder than you'd expect - and it's pretty tough on your ankles.
But overall it was a fun experience that I'd recommend to anyone if they have the opportunity.
The only truly difficult part of the experience was actually leaving the airplane. When it came time to jump, I moved to the edge of the open doorway with my feet dangling out into open space, with the instructor to whom I was tied on his knees right behind me. We rocked back and forth to the count of "one, two... THREE!" and then tumbled forward out of the airplane.
We fell for 35 seconds and then it was time to open the parachute. He had told me to pull the ripcord (attached to my upper chest), but had only shown me where it was one time. When he tapped me on the shoulder as the signal to pull the cord, I began groping for it but couldn't find it. The instructor quickly reached around me and pulled it once he realized that I was having trouble locating the ripcord handle. There was never any danger and we were still a few thousand feet above the ground.
The drag of the parachute pulled hard on the leg straps when the chute initially deployed and caused me a good bit of pain, since I'd never been fitted into a parachute before. But otherwise, I actually enjoyed floating down under the parachute more than I did the free fall. The landing is very hard - even harder than you'd expect - and it's pretty tough on your ankles.
But overall it was a fun experience that I'd recommend to anyone if they have the opportunity.