Flying dreams
Flying dreamsFlying Dreams
To Fly Has Been a Dream
On a bright sunny day with the sky as clear as crystal glass, you
peer out into the open sky to the land down below. The door opens in
front of you the wind rushes into the aircraft. You step out falling
freely away as if you were a bird soaring on the winds of time. You peer
back to the aircraft for a brief second to see it speeding away. You feel
weightless as the wind roars around you. Looking down you suddenly
realize that you are falling towards the earth. Someone once said that
the sky is the limit, but in skydiving the ground is the limit. Skydiving
is not just a free fall and a parachute ride, but an extreme thrill of
events in a short amount of time.
Skydiving begins on the ground. The equipment that you use is the
most important part of a successful dive. The most important piece is the
parachute itself. It must be packed so that there are no knots in the
lines and so that the parachute will open properly. The reserve parachute
is the second most important piece of equipment. It must be packed by a
Federal Aviation Administration rigger every 120 days or after the reserve
parachute has been deployed. The third piece is your altimeter that is
set and calibrated to altitude at ground level. Several optional pieces
of equipment are a helmet, gloves and a skydiving suit. Some jumpers like
to perform a pre-jump on the ground. It's most commonly called a dirt
dive. They walk through the skydive on the ground while talking about
what they will do on the jump and then what they will do if the jump
doesn't go as planned.
The Jump Master is a highly skilled skydiver. The Jump Master has
over 500 skydives and licensed by the United States Parachute Association.
The Jump Master is in charge of the jumper on the aircraft at all times.
He notifies the jumper of the drop zone approaching by giving a one minute
warning, a 30 second warning, prepare to jump, and jump signal. The Jump
Master also is in charge of checking that you have put your equipment on
properly. He checks to see that you have not crossed your leg straps and
that your chest strap is fastened securely. Next he checks to see that
your ripcord is properly in place, also checks to see that your reserve
parachute card is not over the required re-pack date. After receiving the
Jump Master inspection...
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