Flips and turns and pulling, oh my!
My apologies for this post being WAY behind schedule. Last Friday (Memorial Day weekend) I ventured out to Chicagoland Skydiving Center with my buddy John. Turns out John was on jump number five and was itching to get back in the air. Fine by me, of course!
After sitting in a ridiculous amount of traffic heading out west, we finally arrived at the drop zone. Let me just say right now: CSC is a well-oiled machine. Paperwork was streamlined, orientation was a breeze and before you knew it, we were suiting up.
I told my tandem instructor that this was my third jump and that I’d be starting AFF (accelerated freefall) in two weeks. Since both of my tandem dives before had been joy rides, where I was simply strapped to my instructor, he decided to make this tandem an instructional tandem.
Awesome.
So we went over how I’d make turns, when you need to level out and at what altitude I’d pull the cord. That’s right, I was pulling.
So we load up the plane and chat about my previous jumps at Skydive Space Center in Titusville and my most recent at Skydive Temple just outside of Austin, Texas. They asked me why I wanted to do AFF, why I liked the sport, etc, so I told them about the jump I’m organizing for my colleague, Lauren and how I was one of the lucky recipients of the No Boundaries program at work. (For those of you that don’t know, the No Boundaries program selects a handful of applicants twice a year to pursue one of their dreams. Winners receive a nice chunk of change and extra PTO days to make the dream a reality. Seriously awesome stuff. Yet another reason why I LOVE my job!)
So the jump. Totally amazing. We did two flips out of the plane, and then once we were stable and I got the two thumbs up, I started doing my turns. We did a couple 360′s to the right and a couple to the left. Around 7,000 feet we started to level out, and at 5,500 feet, I pulled the cord.
After the parachute opened, my instructor started to teach me how to fly the canopy. I learned how to locate the dropzone and the landing area as well as how to do some different turns to get closer to where we needed to be. It was so much better than just riding along. And it definitely got me excited for my solo jumps!
This weekend I’ll be doing ground school on Friday night, camping at the DZ, and starting solo jumps on Saturday, weather permitting. The original plan was to wait until July when I had all of the money up front, but I’ll be able to save up the remaining balance (after what No Boundaries covers) as I progress through the first several levels.
Unfortunately I didn’t have any video or photography from this jump, but from what I understand, a good portion of my training will be taped/photographed so I can learn from the footage.
So, here’s to a new chapter of Sydney: Unfiltered. A whole lot of Sydney Skydiving coming atcha!
Have you ever been skydiving? If you are ever feeling the urge – let me know, I’m always game!
