February 20th, 2009
After completing a few fun jumps, I took to the skies to attempt the card trick a few more times.
The first attempt, we lost our camera man. We should have had him in a wing suit to show his fall rate. Luckily this time, we had a camera on Lindsay, the volunteer. Her footage turned out great but I still wanted another view.
Our second attempt, we had Matt in a wing suit and hired on a great friend and professional aerial cinematographer and tandem instructor, Nick. He also happens to be Lindsay’s boyfriend so it worked out great! Our exit was great, and the trick went great. The only downfall was Lindsay let go of the cards! I took about half of the deck in the face and the cards hit SO hard I thought my visor was going to smash. Had I not been wearing a full face helmet, I’m sure my face would be un recognizable. When I caught the card, it was on it’s side and it REALLY hurt my hand. It’s a day later and I still have a big red mark on my hand from where the card hit. The footage looked great on this run though despite losing Matt again.
The third attempt of the day was the sunset load and we had to do it on the sky van. My body position wasn’t great on this one but the trick still worked. Lindsay’s footage looked good but Nick’s wasn’t great due to my body position. This was the fastest attempt with an average speed of 127mph. I’m going to submit it to Guinness as soon as I’m home. Right now I’m going to call it an unofficial record.
I’m still in search of a drop zone and am about to board a plane for Vegas to meet with some people there about it. I’m going to keep you posted!
February 19th, 2009
I came to Southern California expecting to face and conquer one of my fears. One key part of my planning that I forgot to factor in was having other people conquer their fears at the same time. It was this unplanned factor that looks like it’s going to topple my stunt… for now anyway.
After weeks of back and forth, reaching top people, finding out there are more people above those top people, I finally ran into the decision makers. The real decision makers at the end of the day. The lawyers. It seems they aren’t willing to work to overcome their fear of being sued. I understand. I’ve been training at a world class facility. So big in fact that they have two schools successfully operating out of the one airport. They are probably one of the only drop zones in the world to have a jet. That’s right, an actual jet for when it gets REALLY busy. And overall, just a really big and great Drop Zone. Basically, too much to lose.
It seems they aren’t willing to overcome their fear of being sued in the unlikely event that something goes wrong. It’s not my skills manipulating the handcuffs as I have proven those. Although I’m new to the sport of skydiving, I don’t think it’s fully the fact that I’m “inexperienced” as they have given me national permission to pull at a low altitude, do water jumps, and even jump at night. I didn’t think it would come down to me suing anyone as my first day on the drop zone was spent filling out pages and pages of documents stating that I wouldn’t sue, but apparently I was wrong. I guess sometimes when you’re trying to reach your goals, there are always going to be people standing in your way. I’m glad these lawyers and decision makers didn’t even meet me face to face. Honestly! They would have known they were actually inspiring me.
They did something they really shouldn’t have. They told me “No”. Maybe they were trying to ensure my success! So far, every time a situation like this has come up and someone told me “No”, I’ve gone on to accomplish and exceed my goals. My first stunt, Escape To Cloud Nine, was cancelled two days before the stunt was supposed to happen. They weren’t the only balloon company out there. This time, I’m given one day notice (on the third time rescheduling this effin thing!) but again, there are other drop zones out there. Drop zones that don’t fear a non existant legal team.
When I heard my favourite two letter word this morning, I could feel my heart sink. Here I was, far from home, broke, exhausted and bleeding. (It was only a little cut on my knuckle and I don’t even know how I got it but I was actually bleeding. Go with it, it adds to the drama of it all). I was one day away from my scheduled stunt, and three days away from my scheduled flight home. Part of me wanted to give up, pack it all in and go home. That thought lasted about a half a second and then I realized there are still lots of things I can do. First and foremost, find another drop zone. Done that’s a given. But there is always more you can do.
Why not go for another world record while I’m here? I have had the thought in my head all along and decided today would be the perfect day. Sure it sucked finding out I couldn’t do what I came here to do, but there is always a turn around. I could turn the day around by doing the “World’s fastest moving card trick” (or at least that’s what I think it will be!) I got Hannah to film it and one of my packing coaches to come along for the jump as my volunteer.
While we were rehearsing, I had a whole load of skydivers telling me that it wasn’t going to happen. They laughed at my idea! The two people that went along with it were the only ones I needed. Hannah and Carmen I knew I could count on. After all, one I trusted with my life when it came to packing my chute, the other I trusted with my life for the stunt! Again though, tell me “No” and I’m gonna do it. Even if it is just to prove you wrong!
“There is NO way you can hold a pack of cards with 120mph winds.”
“and you expect someone to pick a card and find it? HA!”
My roommate made a GREAT half prediction on this though. He thought I was only going to be able to hold onto one card, the three of clubs! Ha ha ha ha, laugh it up!
The idea of the trick was this. I wanted to jump out with a volunteer (not just ANY volunteer, a skydiving volunteer!) have them select a card, return it into the deck, grab the deck, throw it and I’d hopefully catch one and only one card, the selected card. Simple enough right? Well again, factor in 120mph free fall speeds, cold temperatures, a definite end time to the trick (the ground) and flying with three people! Oh, and I don’t usually need to constantly check my altimeter when I’m doing car tricks on the ground.
Reaching altitude takes a while. I’ve seen people reading books and then tucking them into their jumpsuits, listening to ipods, even talking on cell phones! Today I was able to entertain them with some card magic on their way up to help pass the time. It was a riot! My hands were freezing and it was hard to manipulate the cards but I was able to manage just fine. As we approached 12 500 feet though, I needed to get ready and try not laughing at the ridiculous nature of this trick! We get into position and GO!
After a terrible exit (my fault!) we leveled off. Now it was time to prove everyone wrong. Years of performing for drunks at parties has given me a firm death grip on the cards. Handy for keeping cards out of the prying hands of drunks and apparently doing card magic at 12 000 feet. The card fan worked! My volunteer picked a card and in typical TV fashion, showed it to the camera. Naturally the magician turns his back as to not see the selection so I did just that. I usually wait for an audible cue that the volunteer is ready for me to turn but that would have been pointless. I turned back, had the volunteer put the card back into the deck and passed it off to her. She released the cards into the screaming winds and WAM! The three of clubs? WTF! I guess my roommate was right after all! Unfortunately, I caught the card at about 5000 feet and I didn’t have enough time to get a close up on camera of it.
You better believe I was able to open my chute, do a proper canopy control check and fly down with that sucker in my hand. If I could fan a pack of cards during terminal velocity, I could do that. I got to Hannah laughing and laughing and laughing. Apparently she was laughing the whole time! When I showed her I still had the card she thought it was a riot. I THINK I’m the first person to do that!
When we checked the footage, we determined that the exit wasn’t great, I should have straightened my legs a bit more during flight and we should have given Carmen a weight belt so that she’d fly a bit faster with me. We now knew it was possible so why not try it again with the necessary changes. We went over the changes and rehearsed again.
Take two:
Smoother exit. Not perfect, but it was a lot more stable. The card selection was a lot faster this time too. Everything seemed to be a lot smoother and faster. She returns the card, takes the deck, lets them go and WAM! I did it again! I noticed we had about four more seconds before we had to track away so I started flying towards Hannah with the camera. Closer, closer, closer AHHHHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I dropped the effin card! We had to pull anyway and it was the sunset load so it would have been tough to see. MAN we were close though!
Nonetheless, two successful attempts at a trick I was told I couldn’t do. I’m planning to spend my whole day tomorrow searching for a new drop zone between filming that trick until its perfect.
My day started with a big fat ‘NO’ and ended with a big fat smile on my face! I jumped my own rig today (it was my first time on a 190 chute but it felt great!) I got to jump out of the skyvan again today, and I got to have fun doing card tricks on the way up AND the way down from a flight. I’m going to have to do the research but I also think I was able to do the “World’s Fastest Moving Card Trick”.
Jumps today: 5
Total Jumps: 63
February 18th, 2009
Today I started jumping on a smaller canopy. My goal was to get down to a 190 by the end of the day. Although the smaller canopy flies a lot faster, you soon find out that speed is your friend. The faster you’re going, the more responsive the parachute is going to be when you flare (put the breaks on at landing). I jumped six times today and landed standing each and every time. I was ready to hop down to a 190 (the size canopy I just bought) by the fourth jump but unfortunately, my chute was being worked on, and all of the 190 rentals were out. I know it will be ready first thing in the morning and I can’t wait to try flying it.
I started the jumps with three solos working on stable and unstable exits while holding my waist. All the jumps felt great! It was a little freaky at first as my chute took longer than normal to open but I was going into it expecting it.
My second jump had a minor line twist but again, I was trained to fix the problem. Also, I realized on the ground that one of the reasons I had that happen, was because I was opening with the wind and not facing it. This, especially on a windy day, causes you to spin a bit twisting your lines.
Right before my fourth jump, I was asked if I wanted to work with another new skydiver on a two way. I decided it would be a great opportunity to work on some of my new belly skills learned with Hannah the night before in the wind tunnel.
Our first jump was good not great. We had a really stable exit and it felt great. While we were flying, it was hard for me to match his speed. We were able to do a few points (formations in the air) before we had to track away and pull. I also got caught in his burble (the air bubble right above him with dead air). This causes you to collide in the air. I think it caught both of us by surprise but we were able to keep flying.
Our second two way was a lot of fun and much better. We did an exit known as a “Horny Gorilla” Essentially you lock legs and grab arms and flip out of the plane. I had flipped by myself several times but flipping with someone else was really fun. We REALLY flipped fast! Once we were stable out flight was a lot better. This time instead of me matching his speeds and heights, I had him meet me half way. (So when he was flying lower then me, he would slow down and I would speed up) The first time it was me doing all the work. This allowed us to make more points.
I finished off the day with a solo fun jump. This was the sunset load and as the plane reached altitude the other divers all started to whistle and holler! The pilot was taking us up an extra thousand feet which everyone was excited for. It was a beautiful sunset load to begin with but we all appreciated the extra free fall time. Going up on that jump was a guy doing his 25th check out dive. (this is the jump that gets you you’re a license and allows you to jump with other divers). It was excited to see him go for it and I remember exactly what he was feeling having been there just a few weeks earlier.
The long walk home gave me time to think about the day and get excited about finally jumping my own rig tomorrow. I will be there as soon as it opens, ready to jump as much as I can.
Jumps today: 6
Total Jumps: 58
February 17th, 2009
Today I had to make a critical decision. I decided to purchase my own parachute. Parachutes are not cheap and while I was making the decision, it felt a bit like going skydiving. On one hand, your critical mind is telling you that you can’t afford this type of investment, and that it’s crazy but then the memory part of your mind kicks in reminding you that when you make the jump, it all works out.
The thoughts battle withing, pros and cons.
I could borrow more chutes.
I don’t need permission to do my stunt in my own rig.
It costs a lot of money
Renting gear adds up.
What if I grow out of my chute?
I can always resell it.
Like skydiving, I decided to take the plunge knowing that everything will work out.
Following my big purchase, I made my way over to the Wind Tunnel to practice some more and show the head guys that I can, if for whatever reason, make it out of the cuffs should I fall onto my back. As I thought it would, the rehearsal went great. I had booked a 15 minute block (again, a LOT of time in the wind tunnel as that is equivalent to about 15 skydives) and following my rehearsal worked on flying skills with Hannah. She proved to be as helpful and knowledgeable in the tunnel, as she is in the sky. She really is a world class flyer and an AMAZING coach. If only my finacial resources were unlimited as I could see how helpful and beneficial the time spent with her was.
Unfortunately the weather didn’t allow for any skydiving today but it did start to clear up towards the end of the day. There was also the most spectacular rainbow I had ever seen. I got pictures on my phone and will try and figure out how to get them up on here so you can see how vivid the colours were.
I’m excited for tomorrow to start testing out some smaller canopies. I purchased one that is two sizes smaller then what I’m currently flying. This means I’ll be coming in MUCH quicker.
February 16th, 2009
As expected, there was no jumping today again due to the weather. I started off my day by returning my rental car and when I returned back home, I was locked out. I forgot to get the combo to the garage and it was a cold lesson learned.
I took it easy today and it felt great. I also got another lesson in how amazing the skydiving community is. I got a call from a friend that told me that the place I’ve been renting my gear isn’t wanting me to jump with one of their rigs. When I heard that, my heart sank. “don’t worry man, I’m gonna make a few calls and get you all set up.”
A few hours later, my phone rang.
“hey Scott I think I have a solution for you but it’s going to involve some work”
“alright, sounds great, what do I need to do?”
“Well, I’ve got a rig for you but you have to get down from a 230 (square foot parachute) to a 190”
I can assure you at this point there was a nice period of silence. After some thought though, I was down.
“don’t worry buddy, we’ll find you a rig and make sure you get this done and done safely”
I really can’t tell you how nice it is to experience this type of family dynamic when I’m far from home. I learned a little bit more about this from one of my new roommates as we talked all night.
“I think one of the reasons there is such a bond between skydivers is that we understand that you can be here one minute and one the next. Obviously you don’t go out expecting that, and it rarely happens, but anyone who has been in this sport long enough understands that and understands that family is important. It’s probably not going to be the last time you see that person but if it is, make the best of it.”
Katie was very candid with me about her recent experience losing a close friend in the sport.
A lot of my friends have expressed some serious worry about me doing this. I can’t say that the thought hasn’t crossed my mind but again, my whole philosophy is that you never know when your time is up, so make the best of it while you’ve got it! Once I own a rig, I will be happy to share with everyone how it works and all of the things that need to go seriously wrong for something bad to happen. I think once people see how everything works, they’ll understand the sport better and feel better about me being out there doing what I’m doing. Katie did that with her family and said that it really put them at ease.
Again though, I really feel great about the people I’ve met here and they have really made a lasting impression on me. It reminds me a bit of the magic and music community where people will just open up their homes to you. With this though, people are opening up way more than their homes to me. People are going to great lengths to insure that this stunt happens. They believe in the stunt and they believe in me.
Tomorrow’s weather is calling for rain in the morning, but by the end of the day, it’s supposed to clear up. I have a 4pm tunnel time booked with Hannah for 15 mins. (15 mins is a LOT of time to spend in the tunnel at once.) We are going to work on getting the stunt filmed in a back fly position. It’s pretty unlikely that I will have to do my stunt in a back fly position but it’s better safe to prepare for it and be comfortable should the situation arise.
All in all, things seem like they are really coming together. I feel safe, I feel ready and I don’t feel rushed. I do have a goal to get this done before I head back to Toronto, but understand that I’m NOT going to make any stupid decisions to make sure that that happens.
February 15th, 2009
Last night, after being unable to reach the woman who I’m renting from, I was graciously taken in by two instructors of the school. From day one, Lindsay has been one of the nicest people I’ve met. When I say the nicest people I’ve met, I’m not just talking about on this trip. She is, plain and simple, one of the sweetest people ever. A few days earlier I had the privilege of meeting her boyfriend. I had nothing to do yesterday and he was waiting for her so I decided to hang with him at the airport bar. We shared stories, life philosophies and jokes. I soon found that this was a match made in heaven because he is just as nice as she is.
He not only invited me out for dinner (keep in mind, it’s Valentines day and he’s got an amazing girl) he invited me over to crash at his place for the night. In the two days I’ve been at the Drop Zone more than usual, I’ve realized how tight nit everyone is and how they live their lives selflessly around accepting people into their homes. This is the second skydiver’s home I’ve been in where they have extra blankets and space set aside for these types of situations.
Lindsay, Nick (sorry… that’s her amazing boyfriend’s name) and I went to a sushi spot about ten mins away. As we were walking into the restaurant, we noticed it was already occupied by some other skydivers who had just sat down at a table. We joined them and had a nice meal.
When we got back to Lindsay and Nick’s place, we watched some skydiving videos (which were AMAZING!) including one that involved Nick in a REALLY bad situation that bettered itself as quickly as it went sour. Basically, Nick, Lindsay and another person were already flying in a canopy formation. (this is where they sit on each other’s canopy and stack on top of each other.) A fourth person came in to join the formation but didn’t come in smoothly. Her canopy hit Nick and wrapped around him completely like a sleeping bag. It immediately lost all of it’s shape, which you don’t want to have happen, and twisted Nick up. Naturally, when a parachute loses it’s shape, it deflates, and it deflates, the person under it drops. Luckily for everyone involved, when the chute lost shape, and the girl who it belonged to dropped, Nick didn’t get caught up in it.
We finished off the night with an amazing game of rock band and I caught some much needed ZZZzzzZZZ’s.
I woke up today and headed straight for the drop zone early enough to be on the first load. This was the first time I didn’t have to drive for an hour and a half in traffic to get there either, which felt amazing. I started my day by doing three solo jumps working specifically on stable exits and my flying skills. This was jump 49, 50 and 51. I have been working on accurate landings as a criteria for your B license is to land ten jumps within ten meters of a pre determined spot on the landing area. (predertermined before you jump, unfortunately not, “I wanna land THERE” right before your feet touch) Think about that though, you have a window of a few miles to land once your canopy is open and you never really know exactly where you’re going to get out of the plane. Landing within ten meters of a spot is pretty amazing.
I’ve also already done the aerial maneuvers necessary to qualify for my B license. This was done on jump 48 where you have to:
360 degree turn left
360 degree turn right
back flip
repeat
all within 18 seconds.
That was the “easy part”. The last thing for me to do was my water training. Unfortunately my training is taking place in January and February and the outdoor pool isn’t heated.
The first part of the water training took place back in the classroom to discuss theory. My teacher for this was non other than Mr. Jim Wallace. He is a skydiving LEGEND. He has over 20 000 jumps (he just got his badge for 320 HOURS of free fall time). He’s worked on major stunts and Hollywood films and has really done it all.
Part of the class was learning about a bunch of skydiving fatalities involving water. As you can imagine, with all of his experience, many of the stories involved people he knew, his friends, and even jumps he was on. It was a very real reminder as to how quickly things can go wrong. Also though, it was eye opening to see how meticulously these cases are studied in order to make the sport safer for everyone.
The second part of the training involved spreading a canopy over the top of the pool, getting in a harness, and jumping in the pool. You have to swim under the canopy and all of the lines, and then back the other way, and then take off your harness in the water. The cold water made taking off the harness extra difficult as I couldn’t feel my hands. My training session created quite an audience and I was able to get it on tape. I want to say that it was brutal but it was actually pretty exciting! The best part was the hot shower after. Although it took me forever to figure out how to make the water hot in the shower.
I was able to squeeze in ONE more jump and it was wild! I thought my last formation flight was done last minute. Oh me oh my. I was asked twice on the ground as I was putting on my chute if I wanted to join a three way flight. I declined but somehow, at six thousand feet, decided, what the hell! We literally planned the maneuvers and the exit while we were in the plane. Surprisingly though it was a really smooth jump! And it was a lot of fun!
I was able to get a hold of my instructor and am now writing from my new room in her beautiful home. I LOVE skydiver’s home. Their walls are full of amazing pictures of some of their friends and accomplishments. It’s really neat to see.
February 14th, 2009
Happy Valentine’s Day!
I was able to track down an available car (on the fourth attempt) so decided to take it. As luck would have it, the car was on empty when I got it, and since the rental place isn’t open on Sundays for a drop off, I had to agree to rent it for an extra day. This was now a two day rental on an expensive car (as they were out of cheap ones) two days of the “under 25 fee” and two days of insurance which is necessary with crazy Californian drivers.
My day was made a bit better when Scott called wanting to do more shooting before he flies back for Toronto. I met up with him and filmed on the way to the Drop zone in search of a place to live. If I wasn’t able to find a place to stay, I had rented a car so sleeping in it would hopefully make me feel better about wasting that money altogether.
I rolled into the Drop Zone and was able to meet up with Jim Wallace as he was on his way home for the day. We discussed my training, my coaches, some of the safety features involved in this stunt and getting my B license. It was an honor meeting with someone like Mr. Wallace. He has over 20 000 jumps under his belt and obviously LOTS of experience and wisdom to share. After hearing my plans and all about my training, I knew things were going well when he repeated, “wow, you’ve really done your homework on this” several times. The meeting ended with him saying that he’d give his blessing on the stunt if I was able to complete my B license requirements within the next few days.
On my way out of the meeting, I was able to catch up with Hannah (my safety instructor) and tell her the good news. She seemed really excited to continue on with this adventure. I was also (as far as I know) able to solidify a place to stay.
I’m currently sitting in the Drop Zone’s restaurant looking out the window at sky full of happy skydivers. The colourful canopies and bright jumpsuits accent the beautiful blue sky with variable clouds. It’s fun to see how many couples are here looking for a romantic way to share Valentines Day.
I’d like to apologize for taking so long to post these blogs. I’ve been extremely busy and without internet for the past few days.
I’m realistically expecting my stunt to happen by the end of this week and the weather reports seem to concur.
February 13th, 2009
Although my birthday wasn’t filled with skydiving, it still was jam packed with ups and downs. After another late night, I was able to start my day with a nice sleep in. It was much needed and felt wonderful. Scott Boyd soon picked me up and treated me to lunch/breakfast at one of my favorite restaurants. We had a great talk and had a lot of fun.
He dropped me off at home and just as I was settling in for a nap (I don’t know if I was SO exhausted and needed more rest, over rested or ate too much but I did need a nap) and my phone rang. “Hey Scott, my production schedule was changed, I’ll be at your house in five mins to pick you up to go to ifly”. An energy drink later and I was back in and ready to go.
We showed up to ifly and there were some familiar faces. Brian, his wife and Jeff were already there and just on their way out as I was on my way in. I got strapped into my gear except this wind tunnel visit was a little different. Today I decided I would try (and film) doing my stunt in the wind tunnel. I was eager to experiment with the winds and the different feelings this would bring. Although I won’t be flying with a handcuff key during my actual stunt, I felt that I would fly with one for this practice run just in case. The funny thing about it though, was this was a big mistake! Funny how actually having the key slowed me down. I wasn’t used to practicing with it and it got in the way. The last thing you want to do on a stunt like this is add in a new, unpredictable variable that you haven’t been training with.
The great thing about the wind tunnel though, was that I was able to try out the stunt about 20 times. My speed and accuracy felt great and it made me a lot more confident about this stunt.
Following the wind tunnel, I did some more filming with Scott and headed home. Brian wanted to talk to me after watching some of my wind tunnel session to bring up some concerns. I was happy to hear his criticisms and advice but the conversation abruptly ended when I brought up some of my concerns.
Luckily my friends were outside waiting for me to drive me to a wonderful dinner. The ride to the restaurant was spent on the phone with my brother who was attempting to diffuse the situation. I was still able to enjoy my meal and it was one of the best meals I’ve eaten in my vegan life.
I decided that I should focus more positive energy on the reason I came to California and I moved out of Brian’s house. I thankfully had an open home to go to and a great friend willing to help me sort everything out in the morning. Part of the details involved finding a way to the drop zone, and a place to live. In addition, I had to prepare for my meeting with the head people at the drop zone to discuss my stunt.
February 12th, 2009
Today was great! Here’s how it went;
I started the day getting geared up and went out for an early jump. Early jumps are great except for the temperature. It’s really cold in the morning! It was really cloudy this morning and I thought that I wasn’t going to be able to jump. After I got the o.k, I decided to do a coached jump. I booked Hannah again, and we went up for a jump. I wanted her to film this jump to show the powers at be that I can exit the plane stable while holding my waist. Despite doing a stable exit yesterday while holding my waist, Hannah wanted me to try a new exit.
The ground winds were light but the winds at 13 000 feet were REALLY strong! When the winds are really strong you have to give a LOT of time for people to get out before you go out. The strength of these winds called for about a 25 – 30 second wait between diver/group.
Hannah climbed out and stood on the side of the plane while I got into my new position. We waited for the other divers to get a safe distance to go, and we went. Hannah later apologized for the “bad camera work” as she jumped a bit early assuming I wasn’t going to be as stable as I was. I was instantly surprised at just how stable I was on my exit. I had been doing stable dive exits until now and this was SO much easier. This only reassured my decision to bring Hannah on as part of the team.
Once we were out and flying stable, we were coming up on some big clouds. I’ve flown through some light clouds as part of my training but non-like this. Another thing I should point out about this jump is that my audible altimeter was beeping at unusual times during this jump. At 12 500 feet, it beeped as if I were at 1000 feet. While I was flying through the clouds, my altimeter started to beep. A look at one of my analogue altimeters showed it was at a different altitude. Since I was think in a cloud, and couldn’t see the ground, I wasn’t sure if I should follow my analogue altimeter or the digital one. I looked up at Hannah and she gave me a signal to track away. This meant that my analogue altimeter was likely correct and I was still flying at about 6500 feet. As soon as I was through the clouds, my altimeter read 4500 feet and by looking at the ground, that seemed about right.
I was facing Hannah when my chute opened and she was about 50 feet away from me. (Typical for a two way jump) To my horror, out of the clouds, flies another skydiver. He missed hitting Hannah by about 50 feet. It was clear to both of us that he did not leave the right amount of time between divers. A collision with him flying terminal velocity would have likely meant a double fatality. Once we reached the ground, I could see that Hannah was pretty upset about his careless diving. She did the right thing by stopping him and explaining how stupid and dangerous his flying was.
Following that, I did two more jumps before Scott Boyd arrived at the drop zone. I spent those jumps just working on my stunt skills and they went great. I had stable exits, stable free falls, and no canopy trouble. Because of the winds though, I was jumping out of the plane in a much different area. It was disorienting at first opening my chute a few miles north or a few miles west of the drop zone. Had I not opened at such a conservative altitude, I would not have been able to make it back to the airport in time. I had to fly in a straight line for my whole flight in order to BARELY make a landing area.
My fourth jump of the day was pretty exciting. It was my first time jumping out of the “sky van”. Up to this point, I’ve been jumping out of a regular plane that has the door on the side at the rear of the plane. On the airbus, the back hatch opens up. Not only is this a roomier airplane to ride up in, once the door is open, it’s REALLY beautiful! ESPECIALLY on a cloudy day like today. The only draw back is that it’s REALLY cold.
One of the neat things is that you can just stand on the edge of the plane, and fall backwards or forwards out of the plane. Since this was my first time jumping out of a plane like this, I wanted to see what would happen. I found on my jump out, I experienced an almost weight like feeling right when I left the plane. As soon as I hit the relative winds from the plane, BOOM! I was FLYING! Next time I’ll have a more creative exit but it was still a lot of fun.
My next jump, more skill building, and then it were Scott’s turn! Scott was convinced that he should experience the feeling of skydiving in order to accurately cover this story for his documentary. Like 90 + % of new divers, he was feeling a combination of nervousness and excitement. The instructors do a wonderful job of making new people feel comfortable.
Scott lucked out on the flight we were on. Not only was it the sunset load, but also he had great instructors and a very light load (the plane wasn’t crammed full of skydivers on the way up) I jumped right before him and the look on his face was amazing. There is nothing like seeing people jumping for the first time!
One amazing thing Scott said when he was safe sound, and on the ground, was that he had a new understanding for this adventure I’m doing. He didn’t really ‘get it’ until this experience. I’ll be interested and excited to see how this experience will shape his work. It was also neat for him to experience all of the culture surrounding the sport. This was his second day at the drop zone and he saw everything from the packing to the landing and everything in between. I would LOVE to get him started working on his A license so he can fly with us on the actual stunts!
Unfortunately the weather doesn’t look great for tomorrow. I don’t usually like to rely on weather reports but I find the reports in California are fairly accurate. Considering I did seven jumps yesterday and six today, with only two hours of sleep in between, I think my body will appreciate some much needed rest.
My left ankle is sore from landings, my right leg feels like it’s run a marathon, my back is a bit tight, and my left shoulder is tired from having to make so many left turns to stay on course back to the airport.
I will keep you posted as to when we are going to attempt the stunt! Hopefully ASAP. I’m mentally ready and my coaches say that my skill is order to get us the desired results.
February 11th, 2009
With no word from Brian yet about what’s going on with my team, I spent most of the day today building a new team from scratch between my seven jumps. It was funny explaining my plans for the stunt to some divers and it reminded me of grade eight the way the word quickly spread through the Drop Zone. Divers that had seen me here training and new divers from around the world coming up and sharing in the excitement was a wonderful way to spend the day.
It was also neat to see the perception of some of the military officers training here change and their approval of the concept was greatly appreciated.
I decided to take a one-jump break from my training and try a fun jump with a friend I had met from Turkey. We had been on the same load (plane ride of skydivers) several times and since we have similar jump numbers, and are working on similar things, we’d usually ride up next to each other sharing stories and experiences. I decided to make my first fun jump two way with him and we planned out our jump. (A two way is a jump where you jump with a friend and do maneuvers together in the sky).
We jumped out fairly stable but as we were falling, some how, we got flipped around and collided in the air. I don’t want to make this sound more dramatic than it was. Basically we were already holding onto each other so it’s not like we were free falling and crashed. After that bump, we separated and took turns showing each other our flips, spins and barrel rolls.
I also spent a few jumps with an adorable British world champion skydiver. She wasn’t too excited about doing a coached jump at first, until she asked me what I wanted to work on.
“Well, I’d like to jump out of an airplane handcuffed to my waist. I’ve been practicing my exits and free falls in position but have yet to fly with someone who can tell me how straight I’m flying. I’d love a second pair of eyes on me and a debriefing once I land”
I really wish I could have captured her reaction on camera! She was really excited and interested in the stunt.
I felt really comfortable flying with her and asked her to coach a few more jumps. I had a great enough feeling after a few jumps with her to ask her if she would be interested in being my safety instructor for this stunt. She excitedly accepted.
Next on the list was establishing who would capture the event. I decided to ask the woman who’s house I almost rented. The same woman and expert flyer that I had done some of my coached jumps with and again, was already comfortable flying with. She was also excited about the project and I was happy to lock down such an accomplished ariel cinematographers. Upon Hannah and “Lew’s” recommendation, we locked down a second ariel cinematographer.
The team was assembled, seven jumps were had but my day was far from over. After more than a two-hour drive home, I ate dinner, showered, and headed over to Scott Boyd’s place for a production meeting. We discussed the possibility of filming the stunt the next day and our discussion quickly turned into an on camera interview.
It’s really inspiring for me to see Scott work. His natural ability to make interviews very conversational amazes me. He is so engaging that I always forget there is a camera there. His interview skills are evident in the quality of his work. I got home from the filming late and naturally, the thoughts of doing the stunt in one day, didn’t allow for much sleep. It was a great day though!
