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I WANT TO FLY
LIKE AN EAGLE
by Autumn Rhea
“I hereby agree to assume any and all risks of
injury or death.” Those words resonated in my head, as the Cessna caravan plane
gained altitude and I watched clouds weaving together hoping they would
secretly form an invisible safety net to save me if my rip chord suffered a
major malfunction……… Not
really. I mean, yes, I was in a caravan plane and I did sign my name on the
dotted line, promising not to sue if this skydiving escapade promised to be my
last - but for some reason, I felt calm about the whole experience. I had been
preparing for it in my mind for years. The
day began at Skydive Dallas in Whitewright, Texas, which is less than an hour
northeast of Dallas, Texas. I was there to see a friend, Stan Schrimsher, who
was jumping with his skydiving team. His team is in the Texas League Skydiving,
vying for the national league competition. The atmosphere was thick with
friendly freefall formation competition between dedicated veterans and
newcomers, who would jump about ten times that day, just to perfect one move.
It reminded me of synchronized swimming and square dancing - with an aerial
twist. Stan, a 14-year skydiving veteran, and I casually skimmed his photo
album, filled with his father’s skydiving adventures in the 1950s and even a
shot of his dad awarding Raquel Welch with an honorary skydiving certification.
I remembered that my dad and brother had already made the thrill seekers list
by skydiving a few years earlier and my urge to join the ranks of the flying
emerged. I decided to take the jump. I
completed the paperwork and waited to hear my name from the scratchy intercom
system. There were some pre-jumping requirements to be completed, including
watching an instructional video, signing liability papers and learning the
proper methods for exiting the plane and landing in the drop zone. After all of
the necessary precautions were met, it was time to suit up. In the August heat,
I wore a full body wind suit, complete with an altimeter, goggles and helmet. I
was jumping tandem that day, which meant I was attached (literally) to an
instructor, who did most of the real work during the jump. Dave from South Africa was my tandem partner
and managed to calm my worries and inform me on the essentials for a successful
jump. “It’s all fun,” he joked. “This is actually my third time in the
air.” I could tell this was going to be
an interesting Saturday.
The
facility provides state-of-the-art equipment, which exceeds the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA), US Parachute Association and the Parachute
Industry Association’s standards. At Skydive Dallas, each jumpmaster’s skills
are routinely evaluated. It is the only area facility affiliated with Skydive
University, a program designed for postgraduate work for skydivers. There are
more coaches on staff at this particular facility than at any other skydiving
school in Texas. If
you’re interested in taking flight, contact Skydive Dallas at R.R 2 Box 15,
Whitewright, Texas, 75491 972/251-5093
or 1-800-SKYDIVE (800-759-3483) 903/364-2934
– FAX SkydiveDal@aol.com– E-mail |
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TM
I
posed in my blue body suit, feeling like an “oompa loompa” character from
“Willie Wonka’s Charlie and The Charlie Factory” then boarded the plane with
the 15 other brave (or crazed) souls. A feeling of ease took over and I never
worried about looking down or my impending doom. It’s possible that my
adrenaline was pumping so fast, that my brain hadn’t had time to catch up.
Regardless, I was in a state of euphoria before ever leaving the plane’s
safety.
Dave
coached me more and told me that we would play the “paper, rock, scissors” game
for the videographer, for entertainment value later. I agreed. This conversation fled my brain for a few moments after
the initial jump. Finally, at 13,500 feet, the jumping commenced. Dave and I
were the last to go and I could feel my heart beating an amazing rhythm. I was
really alive at that moment. The teenager in front of me whispered the Lord’s
prayer and then I was magically transformed into bird. I was flying! We twirled
and spun and Dave motioned for me to look at various landmarks and rivers. He
started signaling for me to play his “paper, rock, scissors” game, but my mind
was a blank slate for the first few seconds. Suddenly, it all clicked together
and I won the game by the old stand-by - the “bomb” hand motion. (Everybody
knows that the bomb crushes paper, rock and scissors!) Dave signaled for me to
pull the rip chord and within minutes, the parachute expanded to its full
peacocked form. Red and yellow swirls engulfed the sky and I was hypnotized.
We
glided through the air for four minutes, which seemed much longer, practicing
360 and 180-degree turns. The minuscule drop zone slowly grew larger and larger
and finally we returned to the Earth, never to be the same. I bent my knees and managed a graceful
landing, complete with a whoop of accomplishment from Dave.
Skydive
Dallas is open for jumping Wednesday through Sunday and first jump classes are
also available every Saturday. There are weekday classes available for groups
of three or more. Tandem jumps are scheduled daily, by the hour. Due to the
limited number of students allowed in each class, reservations are recommended.