Falling 11,000 feet
Saturday, August 2nd, 2008Today has been an awesome day!!! 
I jumped out of a plane - I went skydiving!!!!!!!!!
It was the most intense experience I have ever had. I went to Jumptown in Orange, MA. I wanted to start of the month of August with a rush, and this did the trick!
I have always wanted to go skydiving. With the difficulties I have experienced over the last two years, I knew I was carrying around much negative energy. I believe I have eliminated it now myself. Once I landed, I felt like I had been reborn. It was truly an amazing experience!
Of course, there was a bit of time before I jumped from the plane. First, I met a nice guy named Cameron King. He was my instructor. He told me what to expect. Basically, he said he was going to deluge me with more information than I needed to know; really only three things were important: 1) Arch your back and kick up your feet when you first leave the plane; 2) After the initial jump, place your arms out at right angles; 3) Keep your legs out in front of you during the landing.
Man! It was an experience! Just thinking about it now, I can hardly believe I did it. I feel awesome. I am proud of myself. 
I am going to be smiling for a long time, smiling and laughing.
Cam went through the training with a demo parachute. He showed me how to pull the cord. It had a bright construction-orange knob at the end. He said I could pull it; however, I declined, I felt it was best he take care of everything. I am glad I did! Hahaha!
Cam showed me the second parachute that would open in case the frist failed. He then told me a third parachute opens automatically at a certain elevation if neither of the other two have successfully opened. “This will keep us alive.” he said.
I was, and am, amazed how calm I was in the hangar. People were gearing up. I went to the water fountain and drank heavily. It is funny - I knew I was scared, but I did not feel it. They make you sign almost 10 pages of forms in case something bad happens. LOL!
My hands were a bit unsteady, but as I said, I felt strangely calm. I knew it was something I had to do for myself. My life depended on it.
There would be no going back.
Cam put the gear on me. He told me to hold up the jewels as he secured the straps around my legs. “You don’t want to get caught when the chute opens…” :O
Yes, I was nervous. They anounced the flight was boarding. I paid the extra $100 for the videographer. It was totally worth it! I am so happy I have a DVD of the experience, proof of my accomplishment.
The camera man asked me some questions and made small talk as we boarded the plane. To be honest, I did not even look at the plane. I just followed the crowd. It was weird. The plane was a small propeller plane. I sat in front of Cam. There were two benches running parallel to the fusilage of the plane. The videographer asked me how high I thought we were. “Eight thousand feet,” I said. It was a remarkable guess, because we were excatly at 8000 ft!
I looked down at the altimeter gauge; it was reading ‘8′. I did my best to remain calm as we kept going ever higher.
Cam told me he was from Great Barrington.
“I once knew someone from Great Barrington,” I said. “He was my roommate in college.
His name was Rubin Schmulsky.”
“I know him,” Cam said.
Amazing! Fifteen years later at an altitude of 11,000 feet I meet someone who has actually met my former roommate in college, back in the days at UMass! Oh Wow!
The fact that Cam said Rubin was a carpenter made me sure we were talking about the same person. I last remember Rubin was heading to grad school for wood technology. I beleive he got his PhD degree. Pretty cool. What a coincidence!
I made some small talk with Cam, and then we were ready. He told me to fasten my helmet and put down my goggles. I opted not to wear my glasses, and I am happy with my choice. I am only slightly nearsighted, so I could still see pretty well.
The plastic door slid upwards, moved by some guy at the rear of the plane who nonchalantly raised the screen with his boot.
Some Russian guy next to me gave me the official jump salute. (I am not sure, I call it that because everyone was doing it.) We slapped hands and punched knuckles.
People started moving out the door. I was hardly aware of it. I was too focused on what I was about to do, what I knew I would do. I knew it had to be done! I had to jump!
The videographer stood on a ledge outside the plane in order to get that crucial shot, the one where I take the leap of faith, entrusting my life to a stranger. LOL!
It was an amazing moment to step on the edge of the plane and see down, down, down …down! Good God! What a feeling?
Cam was behind me. “One. Two. Arch!”
And then I was falling. I arched my back correctly, but I think I forgot to tuck my legs up under me. We were falling upside down for a little while. It was terrifying!
The Jump
Man! I am laughing as I write this! I think I remembered to move my feet, else Cam made some adjustments because soon we were righted and I was falling, falling, falling …
The sound was deafening. The wind was incredible! I was moving at 120 miles per hour! The wind was so powerful I had trouble breathing. I was a bit panic-stricken at one point. To tell you the truth, my main focus was on survival; however, I tried to pretend I was enjoying it.
Having Fun
The cameraman, PJ, came over to me and shook my hand. He then gave me a “thumbs up” sign (which actually meant death for the fallen gladiator back in ancient Roman times, but that is another story) - I returned the favor and gave him a thumbs up, though it lacked ardour, and I did not feel it was very convincing! LOL!
For some 90 seconds we fell! Then Cam pulled the cord and I felt a massive deceleration. The cameraman disappeared like magic! He kept falling so that he could arrive ahead of us and record my landing.
Once the parachute opened I felt less anxiety. It was still pretty intense though. There was nothing! Nothing around me! Think about it. The closest thing to me was the ground over a mile away! It was awesome!
I saw the Quabbin Reservoir and the Connecticut River. I made some small talk with Cam. We could actually hear each other quite well. I asked him what things were, mostly to keep my mind from the obvious fact that I was very high in the air.
Reservoir
I did my best not to think of what would happen if the harness broke. I knew it would not, but still I fought hard to banish such feelings.
The remaining descent took about five to six minutes. I was pulling on the harness loops by my shoulders. There was no point to doing this. It was just the only thing to hold to give me a feeling of comfort. After three or four minutes, I was experiencing severe pains in my forearms from holding on so tightly and still I held! LOL!
Occasionally, Cam would steer us. These were the worst moments. Sometimes I closed my eyes and concentrated when it seemed too overwhelming.
The area was beautiful. It certainly allowed for a unique perspective, a unique opportunity … and yet the ground still could not approach fast enough.
Beautiful (The light blue dots are swimming pools.)
Eventually, I realized we were getting reasonably close. I saw the runway - it looked about the size of a yard-stick, if I were to hold one at arms length.
The plane appeared. It was about to land on the runway.
“I hope they don’t hit us!” I said.
We circled around the runway. I saw the patch of green where we were to land. The cameraman was there, a little figure on the ground below.
We came in at an angle and were suddenly parallel to the ground. Cam told me to put out my legs, which I did quite dutifully. I held them out, and suddenly we were brushing the ground.
He told me to stand. I did.
It was a perfect landing!
I was so psyched!
I gave a roar of triumph and slapped the cameraman a high-five.
It was an awesome feeling!
I was reborn!
