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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1992-08-05, Page 2Pape Tines -Advocate, August 5, 1992 \\ • • he first reaction from many when i told th . ,,Avas skydiving was, ' 're crazy. Fd ]ever ala it," then )"dtelt meahorror they heard in- 4port. crazy, so are the 'hundreds of 4r people Bob it: has taught the •skydiving every 'year gat the Grand Bend Sport Parachuting Cen- ter. Who are these coura- genus, crazy people? •iklypicatjupver would twin by _4814*- : SPFCLT4II FFT1JRF GRAND BEND A 6,000 foot ascent into the cloud dis- persed sky. I spot my reference points from the window of the six seater Cessna 206 airplane. Lake Huron, Highway 81 and my destination; the triangular runway of the Grand Bend Sport Parachuting Center. To keep my mind off the reality that I am about to launch my 20 year-old body from an eight inch step attached to the side of this aircraft, l sing the song that reminds me why I am here. "To live's to fly, low and high. So, shake the dust off of your wings and th% sleep out of your eyes." That's all I get in before I feel the adrenalin begin to pump through my veins. Myaltimeter reads 5,800 feet. The door opens and for the first time I am faced with the tangible outside world. No more practices on the mock plane, no more videos demonstrating the proper inflation of my parachute and no more arch positions with the ground as support. "Ready," queries Bob? 's the limit "Ready," I answer, giving a dubious smik and "thumbs up" to the cameraman as I make my way out into the 100 km per hour relative wind. Concentration is the key I remind myself as I perform my dismount from the aircraft into 6,000 feet of nothingness. A sinking feeling. Like the fust second in an elevator. Feature by Michelle Ellison Photos by Mandi Fields, Mark Hrycay, and Adrian Harte But then, I feel the incredible rush of adrenalin as the wind sweeps over my face. You cant help but smile. It's like touching the untouchable, flying not falling. Total freedom. 'Piece of cake' I'm thinking as I casually make the checks we were taught in the seven hour course. No signals from Bob except to remind me to look at Mark the cameraman, so I enjoy the last second before Bob deploys my parachute. A decisive smile and "thumbs up" to the camera My descent is interrupted as my chute is filled with the air that just supported me for 2,000 feet and my instructors fall away from me to make the most out of the freefall time they have left. I peer up into a fully inflated canopy. I let out a squeal for joy to let those eagerly awaiting me on the ground know what they're missing. One pull of the steering handles and I know I'm in for the rollercoaster ride of my life, but I'm in control of the ride! The directions crackle from the transmitter around my neck with enough time to take in the view like never before. It can't get better than this! My chute carries me like a glider as. I prepare for landing. From my transmitter Bob gives me the familiar instruction "three... two... one...flare...now," and I touch ground with the greatest of ease. Weak knees result in a slight stumble, but otherwise a perfect 10 from the Canadian judge. "What can I say? Wow." Amin trrnpets for ming says thus rs ften -ac- tuuttpmiiiuf by•a goal =of ae]f- � ishtaattt. "Baine .twine eat o grave to �bcm rr$n <; tlo somethtn atm ss risky," '>irld 10` , merit: 'Ficids 'for f jump for *he sense= iioo oiBte 6 000 footdrop. 47'.:;*iiitti ,10 fent tbat'Itatur Wit." ahe.uid at the beginning iOf the alev n hour co se ..when .we r+e':askedfor our reason for ingsi>n. Deny <'Alltttl x '<'Totooto .: +rho equen*s ;the Otattd Bdtd *Op :sone Alh t cv'dy wel trend tnd a�pubrdcd 260 �tttYtpg-.iin the 14nattunl first reac- *-always sim- r<puidgOff a roller - mediately wants initial reaction is an over on to the elation of cotn- . ithing successful," Barely alible remarks such is "that was awesome" and "that =vas great" were titular the fust >»words tittered upottittbding from :first tittle jumpers still riding the "high". it's like the best think in the -,:world. It's oveTWheiming. _ I =don't even know how:. At. said Fields between ttpttrts of ;;,laughter. "That was great. It was over otniltaew it," said John Van tintliOntbf Toronto. nes indescribable," said 20 year-old Tom Lancaster. "You ilide a high for a long time after." The reason the freefall feeling so difficult to describe, says .:Wright .:a,use of what he I�a115 "otiibt*y overload". The ;jturupa struggles to take in so eunuch stimuli at once that much 3vf it is blocked out leaving him ;overwhelmed. Although .main thing 1 re- member abtlttt my Furst jump •-;was the inanie gush of adrenalin during my freefall and the tie- ::mendous view from my para- bute. the :revelation that 1,had Aust fallen from more than .a.n in the air and landed on my feet .:Was enough for me to realize I just experienced something cry unique. "i think 1 saw God, were my The 15 -second freefall is unique to the Grand Bend Sport Parachuting Centre gives the thumbs up to the camera with Bob Wright (left) and Ken Watson sta- tor first-time jumpers. Here, T -A summer reporter Mictjelle ,Ellison (centre) bilizing her before the chute was deployed. Skydiving centre offers unique program GRAND BEND - When 1 decid- ed to take my fust skydive, I inad- vertently chose the Grand Bend Sport Parachuting Center thinking more about the magnificent view I might catch of Lake Huron during a nice sunny, summa afternoon than any sort of jumping methods they had to offer. I soon realized that when choos- ing this drop zone, I had chosen one of the best in Canada "with a reputation for being the first to of- fer new ruethods of teaching sky- diving and the first to offer new or better facilities." (It sounded reas- M l portant port of the seven hour training course fo' a first jump Is simulating the jump process. Here, Ken Watson straps the parachute risers to Michelle Ellison's harness to practise hanging from the chute and pulling the reserve chute. suring anyway.) Bob Wright, who has operated the GBSPC since 1982 has been jumping for 21 years and has per- formed 5,600 jumps, 2,000 of than as an assistant to student jumpers. (Even more reassuring!) He offers a teaching method called the Pro- gressive Freefall program. This set up, involving six jumps. enables an inexperienced jumper to gradually fine-tune freefal! and par- achuting skills until he or she can safely perform solo jumps. Al- though many other Canadian cen- tres offer the PFF program, Wright's extensive experience al- lows him to supply an added bo- nus. "What we do different here is the freefall. You won't find that any- where else in Canada on a first jump," says Wright. Since 1988, Wright has offered a 15 second freefall on a student's first jump, while other drop zones employ techniques such as static line jumps or instructor assisted deployment (IAD) what an instructor deploys the parachute from the plane giving a three second freefall or tandem jumps where the student is attached to the back of an experienced in- structor. Vicki Paine of Kenwood has made three jumps and her first was a static -line jump at another para- chuting centre and she says her sec- ond jump at the Grand Bend centre was much more exhilarating. "The freefall was a lot better. I probably would have been a lot more scared doing the [rectal! (the first time), but I think this is a lot more fun. 111 stick with this," said Paine. Although initially this type of first time exposure to the sport sounded more risky to me as well, Wright explained he specifically switched from static -line jumps to the freefall technique because he feels it is more safe. "We use fractall for various rea- sons. The main reason being the control of it," says Wright. "We are there to control the exit from the plane and make it rows stable (for the student) when the para- chute deploys." For the first 6,000 foot jwnp, two experienced instructors bold on to the tandem's harness and jumpsuit and diamotuot the aircraft alongside the student. Once the student is in a stable freefalling position, after a 15 sec- ond freefall, Wright deploys the parachute while the other instructor secures the jumper as the chute opens. This method prevents poor para- chute deployment caused by rolling or tumbling of the student as the parachute abruptly stops the accel- erating freefall descent, says Wright. The second PFF jump still in- volves two instructors and is from a height of 9,500 feet and has about a 35 - 40 second freefall. The sub- sequent four jumps involve just Wright and the student from 10, 500 feet with about the same amount of freefall time. For good reason, the PFF process isn't cheap. First jump including equipment is 8250. (It was worth every penny.) The second jump costs S135 and a 8345 package gets you your last four jumps. Subse- quent jumps, however, only cost 820 plus equipment. To begin the PFF sequence, how- ever, I had to complete the seven hour First -Jump Course. "Tire main purpose of this week- end is to show you what skydiving is about and give you a taste of it. Then you can decide if you want to go on with it," explained Wright on the first night of instruction. The course involved a took at alt aspects of the jump including drop - zone orientation, aircraft exit proce- dure, freefall routine, equipment, canopy control, landing and unusu- al situations which may occur Continued on page 3 Mandl Molds wlanding after making her esB�frst /unp. The sone uses rectangular para- chutes which enable a stand-up landing.