Two Boogie Weekend

As I sit here and drown myself in coffee’s caffeinated goodness, I can’t help but think back to the incredible Labor Day weekend.

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

Knowing Your Limits

This weekend was another skydiving lesson learned – this time, from the comfort of the ground.

Or really, I should say the uncomfort of the ground. As anyone who’s engrossed in any sport knows, having to sit on the sidelines while fellow athletes are out doing what they love has a tendency to make you quite antsy.

At one point, one of the jump masters asked me “are you okay, or is this killing you?”

Sure, I wanted to be jumping, but I was not about to enter into the risks under canopy yesterday.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Cleveland Parachute is a place where friends gather every weekend, and we’re getting a great core group of jumpers. We’re out there supporting each other, giving each other a hard time when our landings are sub-par, and learning from one another.

It’s great to have other jumpers with similar experience, and those with significantly more experience to provide pointers. And although skydiving is one of those sports where you have to learn the little tricks that work for you, it never hurts to hear and see what the experienced jumpers are doing.

This weekend was a great learning experience for us all. 

Winds were high – higher than normal anyhow – and there was lots of discussion on canopy control and staying West of the drop zone as long as possible.

Unfortunately, for us students, with larger canopies and less experience, the winds were very much against us. As I watched two of my friends who are current AFF students get pushed backwards into fields far past the drop zone I quickly decided that jumping was not a smart idea. And given that I jump a ‘chute the same size as these guys (who are both 40 pounds heavier), who knows where that wind would have pushed me.

So, to save myself from ending up in Pennsylvania, I stayed grounded.

In hindsight, it probably didn’t hurt to give my elbow an extra week to rest from last week’s fall. 

Regardless, it was a great day spent at the DZ with my weekend family. And if the weather stays true to the forecast, we’ll be headed back out this coming weekend for some more jumping.

Blues Skies!

-A

Lessons from Under the Canopy

The more I participate in skydiving the more I realize that it’s numerous sports wrapped up in one. For those of us who are drawn to the thrill of free fall, we’re also forced to become sports parachutists as well.

At least, if we want to do it more than once, that is.

Canopy skills are imperative to a successful skydive. You have to learn how to check the parachute upon opening to make sure it’s safe to land, maneuver with toggles and flare for landing. On top of that, you need to learn how to spot and navigate properly for a safe landing.

These skills are learned and perfected over time, but it’s important to start early. From my first AFF jump my instructors were talking over the winds with me and teaching me how to spot. At first I thought, “this is so foreign to me, I’ll never get it.” But once you’re jumping regularly and on your own, it forces you to focus and learn quickly.

This weekend I made it my goal to maintain a heading in free fall to drop nearly straight down. When my ‘chute opened I was directly overhead the drop zone and in good position.

I was feeling great about my navigation skills and at 800 feet started heading toward the target. It looked great, so I made it my goal to land in the middle of the target. There was no wind that day, I could tell it was going to be close. Coming in a 1/4 brakes to slow forward motion then letting up toward the end so I had a good flare.

One thing to remember when you’re under canopy is that you’re moving 10 mph forward. This can seem pretty quick when you’re getting close to the ground. This became apparent when I let up on the brakes. In turn, I flared a little soon and stalled my canopy about 5 feet above the ground.

Yep, you guessed it, no where to go but straight down.

This is why PLF (parachute landing falls) are so important. I rolled it out and walked away, ankles in tact. Though I do have a sore elbow as I didn’t keep my arms in flare position during the roll out.

Oops! Looks like there are two lessons here:

1) Don’t flare too soon, and if you do, be prepared to roll it out and,

2) Keep your elbows in!

Precision will only come with time and experience. But on the plus side, I landed about 10 feet from the target and felt pretty great about it.

(Feeling pretty great about my landing!)

Do any of y’all have tricks you learned to help with canopy control?

Blue Skies!

Ashley