Flying Dreams

Flying 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