On Friday I was lucky enough to get out of work at 3 p.m. so I could head down to Cleveland Parachute to get in a couple jumps. It’d been forever since I was there and it was about time I got into the sky with some of my long-lost friends. 

Well it turned out to be a bust, with no pilot to be found. So I made a last minute decision to head to Skydive Tecumseh for the Hellfish Boogie – knowing full well that I wouldn’t be staying for the toga party Saturday night. But the 5 jumps of the day made it worth while.

It was a day of 2-ways, 3-ways, 6-ways, and even a 10-way to end the day. Every jump had points, too. Even if it was only one!

After the 10-way I packed up and made the two and 1/2 hour drive back home, cleaned up and drove out to meet Rick for our trip down to Start Skydiving for the Work Stinks Boogie.

A sleepless night and a four hour drive later we made it just in time for the sunrise load – can’t beat a $14 lift ticket!

There were three 2-way groups on the caravan – Rick and I were out last with a head down attempt. I really shouldn’t say attempt- it was a success. We were head down and stable almost immediately out the door. The speed of this freefly is incredible!

We broke off a little high and I decided to pull early so I could play around under canopy and be sure to find the dropzone. Of course, with me, that doesn’t mean I’m going to land on it. What can I say, the soy beans and I are becoming great friends.

The second jump of the day was our helicopter jump. A quick briefing on where not to grab and how not to fall, we were off and ready. Just as we got loaded, Norman Kent came over to us to film our ride up. I’m honored to have been filmed by him.

Here’s one of the stills he sent to us!

Helicopter jumps are amazing. The pilot took us up to 4,500 ft and hovered while we literally fell off the aircraft. My exit was incredible. I stood, facing away from the helicopter, put my arms out and just fell. Into dead air. It was the most peaceful thing I’ve ever experienced. It took only 500 ft to make one full body rotation and get back belly to Earth. I pulled by 3 grand and made a beautiful slide-in landing, on the dropzone.

After packing back up it was time to relax. We met up with a group of former Cleveland Parachute jumpers and chatted for a while. Always great to meet skydivers who grew up where I did.

30+ hours of no sleep was setting in, so a couple hours in the afternoon was spent curled up in the corner of the hangar, napping. We woke up refreshed and ready to jump.

We manifested on an Otter load – Rick’s first time jumping an Otter (BEER!) and we did another freefly. Train exit to a sit. Rick let me go after about 1,500 feet and I held my first solo sit for about 20 seconds before flipping back belly to Earth and tracking away. Another fun slide in.

Clouds started rolling in and we called it quits for the day. It was by far the best day of skydiving I’ve ever had, with two incredible freeflys and a helicopter jump.

Labor Day was rained out. We cashed out at manifest and mingled with some regulars, Norman and the DZO for a bit. The dropzone is incredible. Located at the Warren County airport, the facilities are new and modern, with a hangar just for sport jumper packing. The crew there is incredibly down-to-Earth. I’ll certainly be headed back in the near future.

Soon after we made the drive back home and back to reality.Thankfully, it’s a short week and Patriot will be back at Canton Air Sports this weekend. Y’all know where to find me!

Blue skies!

Ashley

If you live in my neck of the woods and you looked skyward this weekend, it may have seemed like a bust for us skydivers, but for me, that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Saturday morning I got up bright and early to make the trip up to Skydive Tecumseh to take advantage of the Aerodyne demo tour that was in town. With the consistent cloud cover throughout the day, the Cessna was only running hop & pops, but that was sufficient for canopy demos.

Though don’t get me wrong, I would have loved a couple trips up to 14,000 in the Otter, but for the purpose of testing out the Pilot, I was completely content with what we got.

When I arrived, I headed straight over to the reps to get myself a rig and canopy to demo. Naturally, we ran into the issue that I’m a small girl with a low number of jumps. So they had rigs that would fit with canopies that were way too small to even consider jumping, or canopies that would fit into a smaller rig, but then the reserve is entirely too small.

But, with some quick thinking and innovation, the Aerodyne team put together a rig for me to test out. I was happily able to jump an Icon with a Pilot 188. It was a great ride. Still a bit too big for real excitement under canopy, but it got me to the ground safely and smoothly, which is all I can hope for at this point.

Now, I’ve always been a huge fan of the Pilot. It packs easy – well, at least the one’s I’ve packed before – and opens comfortably. It flies flatter than some of the other canopies I’ve tried out in the past (you know, those 10+ different rigs you jump as a student) giving me time to get back from a long spot or just to play around a little longer and still know I’ll get back to my target.

I also learned that the Pilots tend to react better to turbulence than some of the other canopies on the market, too. A huge plus for me!

It definitely looks like I’ll be purchasing a Pilot in the near future. After this hop & pop and the great customer service of the Aerodyne folks, I’m sold!

Once it appeared that the clouds were just not going to cooperate, the rest of Saturday was spent back on the road to Cleveland so I could get home and rest up for a big Sunday.

Sunday morning I was back on the road to Canton Air Sports for my friend Rick’s 200th jump. The weather wasn’t looking so great for us this day, either. 

I sat around the drop zone for a few hours, watching BASE jumping videos with the other regulars, while trying to will the clouds away. Just as I was about to leave we got word that the weather was clearing from the North. So I stuck around. After all, I didn’t drive all that way to miss Rick’s 200th.

Around 5:30 we were able to get into the air. Rick decided on a shirtless, shoeless hybrid (him, not me), with our buddy Tod doing outside video for us. So we piled out of the Cessna-182, with me and Nick as the linked base, and Rick hanging from our chest straps.

*Photo courtesy of Bill Ramey. Thanks Bill.                

This is what our hybrid looked like!

The exit was flawless – except that Tod couldn’t see Rick’s count and ended up shooting video a little higher above us than expected. Nick and I kept a steady base from which Rick hung straight down. He even kicked his leg out for a bit and put us into a fun little spin. We broke off at 4,000 and met up back on the ground to celebrate Rick’s accomplishment. 

So glad I got to be a part of your 200th, bud!

Thinking that was going to be the last of the day, I finished logging the jump and packed up my stuff. Naturally, I was convinced to get on the sunset load – really, who can pass that up – and headed back up for a three-way with Rick and Tod. 

We were going to do the hybrid again, with me in the hanging position, but changed our plans on the ride to altitude. Instead, Rick and I did a train with a rolling exit. This was my first true freefly attempt – yes, I know, beer – and was a little bummed when it didn’t go exactly as planned. But we did manage to exit smoothly and stay linked for about 4,000 feet until we spun apart.

With a little post-jump coaching on the ground I completely understand how it should have worked to get us vertical. Next time we’ll get it!

And yes, I did mention that video was taken on both of these. As soon as they are in my possession I’ll be sure to post them. With three jumps, I definitely made the best of what otherwise would be seen as a cloudy, gloomy weekend.

Blue skies!

Ashley