Skydiving
Jumping out of a plane typically isn’t an ideal spring break plan, but for me it was. On Saturday April 11, my sister and I decided to skydive. What possessed us to do this? I wanted to have something thrilling to do over break, and for my sister it was my constant nagging/begging that persuaded her to jump. When we first arrived to Skydive Indianapolis we were forced into a small room to watch the “first divers video” and sign all the wavers. While reading the papers I was reminded of all the bad that could come from jumping. Unfortunately there were lower staff members than usual that day, which made us have a two hour wait before even suiting up. However, the wait allowed my sister and I to calm down a bit so we weren’t as nervous. When it was time to suit up the instructors jumping with us went over the basic instructions again. Even though the rules were pretty simple I still had a terrible feeling I was going to mess something up.
After all the instructions and a double check on our suits, we loaded the plane. There were four other people tandem jumping with my sister and I. Since my instructor and I were the first on the plane that meant that we were the last to jump. At first I figured this was a good decision because I knew I didn’t want to be first, but then I realized that I would have to watch all five people jump out. The plane ride was about 5 to 6 minutes. The instructor jumping with me noticed I was getting nervous on the ride. About 2 minutes in he asked me if I had ever ridden in a plane before, I said yes but never a small plane (turbulin). He was trying to lighten my mood so he responded with “Small planes are about the same as a big plane. They just crash more.”
About half way through the ride the instructors had us get up and sit on their laps while they made the final attachment adjustments. When we finally got to the right height the door flied open and the instructors walked us up to the door. I watched all four people jump out and then once I saw my sister go, my mind flipped out. All the voices in my head were screaming “don’t do it!” Soon enough we were at the tip of the door ready to jump.
What most people don’t realize about tandem jumping is that when the instructor stands at the door you are basically dangling below the instructor over the open door. At that point, you have no control and are just waiting until the instructor jumps. When you get up to the door, the wind and sound of the plane makes it near impossible to hear. The instructor is supposed to yell “Ready, set, go!” but all you really can hear is “GO” as they jump out. Once they jump it is a 60 second free-fall until the instructor pulls the shoot at 5,000 ft. On the free-fall the jumper can reach speeds up to 120mph, in other words 176 feet per second.
The only thing I remember from the free fall was how cold it was. My hands and face were both numb. If I learned anything from this experience I would say, only go skydiving in the summer. Once the parachute was up I could focus on the scenery, which was mostly brown squares but was definitely better than being on the ground. Next my instructor let me steer the parachute. Spinning was one of my favorite parts. When we started getting closer to the ground the instructor explained the landing rules once again, and before I knew it I was on the ground.
I would recommend skydiving for anyone who enjoys thrilling adventures, but I would suggest doing it in the summer. One other consideration to note is where you jump from. Skydiving in Indy was a nice place to jump, but places with better sceneries would make the experience much more enjoyable.