About me
Up until the summer of 2009 I was an elite level bicycle racer. Because of some health issues I had to stop racing (hopefully temporarily). Being an active person I searched for some other activity to keep me focused. I had failed to find anything for around a year and was beginning to get depressed. Then while on an extended business trip to Oklahoma this summer I decided that I was going to get my skydiving license. The main reason I decide to go was the cost at the local DZ.
Where I live the only training method is AFF and the cost is over $3000 to get an A license. While I assume there are plenty of arguments on each side as to which method is better, cost was a big factor in my decision. The drop zone I was looking at had a good record and was listed on the USPA site. So I decided to sign up for the first jump class using the static line method.
Finding the drop zone proved to be my first challenge. I assumed my GPS would have no problems finding an airport. Although the website for the DZ stated that it was at an airport that might be argued. It was more a place that an aircraft could land than where one should land. I will say that the pilots there proved to amaze me and I assume that since the place has been around for decades without any problems that it is perfectly safe.
After a call to the drop zone I quickly found my way. I believe I was the first student to show up that day and did not know what to make of the place. The runway was nothing more than a strip of recently mowed grass and the facilities looked a bit dated.
The hanger was carpeted wall to wall and had two old Cessna 182s parked in the middle. There were a dozen or so old couches and recliners around the perimeter with stains of unknown origins. I was quickly greeted by the older British fellow whom I had spoken with on the phone. He ranted a little about how he didn’t understand why people couldn’t read the direction on the web site and complained about GPS never finding his airport.
Other student trickled in and we filled out our forms and started the class. Throughout the morning two other instructors made there way in and went over a couple of sections each. As the day went on the Oklahoma heat began to rise and settled in at around 110. With the heat came the wind and although we had finished the class we were grounded because of the wind.
Although miserable there was a weird sense of being sent back in time. The only sounds were people talking and the slight sounds from the wind across the top of the hangar. It was nice to not have the constant chatter of radio or TV for a while.
The planes were pushed out halfway through the day and some of the real skydivers showed up and clustered together and spoke, in what at the time seemed like a foreign language. It reminded me of when I started bike racing and listening to others talking about the sport. This not only brought a smile to my face but a sense of determination to become one of them.
After expressing my desire to get my license I noticed a sense that people had doubt of my ambition. This doubt was later explained by witnessing others speak the same way only to never be seen again after their first jump.
After spending several weeks in a hotel with little to do I jumped at the invitation to stay and drink some beers when the day was over. The sun set at the drop zone with out me stepping foot in an aircraft.
The first night at the drop zone passed and I had already earned my nickname. I didn’t ask for a nickname or even expect one for a while. I had made it through several years of cycling without managing one and I have never been one to push for things like that. So it was to my surprise that I had earned one in a single day.
The policy at that drop zone was that when the last load of the day landed the beer light would be turned on. And when that light turns on, I later learned, you better be prepared. I wasn’t prepared, I was dehydrated, hungry, and tried to keep up. That led to me getting very inebriated and I started telling stories.
My stories were not the problem it was my inability to recognize the fact that I had a full beer every time I would swing my hands around, this resulted in a large quantity of beer being spilled. I will blame the high heat and probable dehydration on how amazingly drunk I got that first night. After that night I was dubbed “spills” and even acquired the logo of the wet floor sign which is destined to be a tattoo.
After several months and several trips to Oklahoma, I had twenty jumps in my log book. I am not a natural flier and have encountered several obstacles along the way. In the beginning it looked as though I would have several hours of freefall time all racked up in 5 second increments because of a tendency I had of rolling onto my back when reaching for my pilot chute. I eventually worked my way past it and then got stuck on turning, which I still have yet to master. I breezed past flips and rolls and have started working on RW at my new drop zone.
I have read some reviews about the drop zone I started at and some people where quite negative about how the place looked. I can say that after spending a summer at the place and learning about the people running it, that you can not judge a book by its cover. I was truly amazed at how objective the instructors could be, even after hanging out weekend after weekend they had no problem telling me that they thought I needed to redo a jump because my skill where not perfect. The first thing the instructors usually asked was how they thought I did during the jump. This led to a lot of self examination and improvement. I can truly say that I am confident in my abilities to not only skydive, at my current level, but to recognize my weaknesses and seek help to improve. I am glad I got to spend time there everyone was great.
Hopefully I will have my A license in a week or two. But I am somewhat disappointed that I will not be able to finish at the drop zone I started. I am however looking forward to getting stamped by them when I visit. I can see how friendships created in this sport can have a unique bond. I guess that type of bond is established when someone does a pin check or teaches you how to save your own life. I look forward to continually learning and progressing through the sport.
