I shuffle forward into the doorway - my right leg hanging 3,500 feet above the ground. I lock eyes with Doug. He smiles. "Have a good one, Sid" "Go!" I pushed off with my left, spread my arms and legs, arch my back and started counting. "1000!" The plane seems to veer away, but I know it’s me plummeting. "2000!" It’s a tiny speck in a big sky. "3000!" I feel the "ram air" canopy deploy above me. Not a sudden jerk, more like being caught, gently, in God’s hand. "4000! Check Canopy!" I look up. Above me the parachute has fully deployed, but my lines are twisted around each other - what - seven, eight times? Suddenly I have only one problem in my entire life. Nothing else matters. Can I fly the ‘chute? No. Can I land it safely like this? No. Do I need to cut it away and go to the reserve? Doug had been a fantastic instructor - leading us through the scenarios and drilling us in the emergency procedures for each. I was glad he had clearly explained the difference between a tangled ‘chute - malfunction: go to emergency procedure, and twisted lead lines - an irritation, easily resolved. NO! Do not cut away! I reach as far up the lead lines as I can and kick in the opposite direction to the twist. Slowly I come round. One twist out. Good. Keep going. Two twists out. Three. I check my altimeter. 2,700 feet - should I think about cutting away if I reach 2,000? Plenty of time yet. Lots of long lazy seconds. I keep twisting and pulling and then - snap - the last twist comes out and I pull the lines apart - just like in training. Phew. I’m Gonna make it. Crisis over I start the rest of the drill. Pull down the toggles - to control the ’chute. Test pumping them, test turning then check for the other parachutists. I see Cleggy and Dave about 1000 feet below, lazily turning over the "play area" before they start their approach. The radio on my chest crackles with chat from the talk down guy. "Number two - left toggle down, Hold it there number one". I get put in a holding pattern over the play area while he brings the first two in. Time on my hands now I can play with the controls and admire the view. A fantastic expanse of Northamptonshire below me. A tremendous sense of being "in" the air - a part of it, nailed to it almost. No sense of falling, little sense of movement unless I use the controls to turn. I’m down to 1,000 feet before I know it. Time to start my approach. The talk-down guy is giving instructions, but we know what to do. Head upwind of the drop-zone until we get to 500 feet. A turn into wind and then get ready to land. The ground doesn’t rush up. With ram air canopies you fly in like a bird. Almost down and "Flare!" says the talk down. Breaks on, the ‘chute stops, lifts slightly and puts me down as gently as you like. I fall over anyway - but only because we were trained to keep our feet together on landing and there didn’t seem a lot else to do. I stand up, wave and let out a huge holler. I just got me a brand new hobby! |