I might have made a horrible decision this winter. After the frustration of the last couple of seasons, I might just sit out 2015. The frustration has nothing to do with Chambersburg Skydiving Center, or any of the people who work there, or any of the people I've jumped with. God knows the staff has been great. The instructors and coaches are helpful. Even when JR or Bill gives me shit for screwing something up, they do it in a way that makes it clear that it's a learning process every step of the way, and that I should keep on jumping. They definitely want me to be a better jumper with every jump. And it's not the other jumpers. I've jumped with a bunch of guys and we've had fun and laughed even when stuff went screwy.
The problem is life. Matt is in his senior year of high school. Abby is in middle school. It seems like there's something going on so often that I can't make time to jump. I can't count the number of times that I've been planning all week to head up on a Saturday only to find out on Friday that something came up and I'm doing something with one or both kids. Not that I'd want to miss out on spending time with my kids - let's be clear about that. But it's not really spending time if I'm just driving to a clinic or a practice and waiting to pick them up later. Games, matches, meets - I'm there, and I want to be there. But practices, lessons, and clinics aren't the same thing.
This year is already going to be busy. Matt's going to be visiting some colleges. Graduation, Eagle Scout Court of Honor, vacation, moving Matt to college, God help me! And that's just one member of our little 4 person family.
So I think the smart choice is to plan to sit out 2015. It really hurts to write this down, but it's probably better than the frustration of the last couple of summers when I planned on jumping and kept getting stopped at the last minute.
Will I still think this is right in the fall? Not sure. But maybe things will break loose in the fall and I can start jumping again. Damn I'd really like some air time right now.
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Saturday, September 27, 2014
2 jumps
Not much to say about the jumps today. Both were solo. First from the 206 with the 280 canopy, second from the 182 with the 260 canopy.
First - Worked on turning with just legs. Opened at 3500. I think I overcompensated for some landings that were close to the taxiway or maybe the wind at a couple hundred feet was stronger than the board said. I landed in the grass in front of the other hangar.
Second - With Grant and Sig. I told Grand I was going to dive out. Grant spotted, then got out of the way so I could go. No way could I climb over Sig and still dive, so I went out on the step. Landed in the grass off the corner of the asphalt in front of the hangar.
First - Worked on turning with just legs. Opened at 3500. I think I overcompensated for some landings that were close to the taxiway or maybe the wind at a couple hundred feet was stronger than the board said. I landed in the grass in front of the other hangar.
Second - With Grant and Sig. I told Grand I was going to dive out. Grant spotted, then got out of the way so I could go. No way could I climb over Sig and still dive, so I went out on the step. Landed in the grass off the corner of the asphalt in front of the hangar.
Sunday, July 20, 2014
2 hop and pops
Arrived at about 10:30 after spending much of the morning at Mt. Hebron getting the Troop off to summer camp. Cloudy skies for the whole drive.
I got on a 182 hop-and-pop load with a 3 other guys. We got 6,000 feet. Got out, hung out for a few seconds, opened at 4,500. I skirted back and forth across the face of a cloud until about 3,500. Landed directly in front of the hangar door.
Sat on the 182 with Chris, Dave, and Wayne hoping to do a 4-way. Couldn't find a hole. Circled 3 times. Eventually, we started coming down. Rob didn't get the word that 3 of us wanted to get out at 5,000 or so, and we landed. Ugh.
Vern and I convinced Harry to go up for one more hop-and-pop to end the day. Only got 4,000 feet. Harry forgot goggles. Vern did a backflip off the step. I stepped off, got stable, opened at 3,000. Landed into the wind by coming between the far hangar and the picnic table canopy. Beautiful landing where I dragged my feet across the tips of the grass while flaring. JR said that I should have picked a different place because if something weird happened, I didn't have anywhere to go. Always leave yourself an out. But what a wicked cool landing!
I got on a 182 hop-and-pop load with a 3 other guys. We got 6,000 feet. Got out, hung out for a few seconds, opened at 4,500. I skirted back and forth across the face of a cloud until about 3,500. Landed directly in front of the hangar door.
Sat on the 182 with Chris, Dave, and Wayne hoping to do a 4-way. Couldn't find a hole. Circled 3 times. Eventually, we started coming down. Rob didn't get the word that 3 of us wanted to get out at 5,000 or so, and we landed. Ugh.
Vern and I convinced Harry to go up for one more hop-and-pop to end the day. Only got 4,000 feet. Harry forgot goggles. Vern did a backflip off the step. I stepped off, got stable, opened at 3,000. Landed into the wind by coming between the far hangar and the picnic table canopy. Beautiful landing where I dragged my feet across the tips of the grass while flaring. JR said that I should have picked a different place because if something weird happened, I didn't have anywhere to go. Always leave yourself an out. But what a wicked cool landing!
Sunday, June 29, 2014
3 hop & pops, 1 (almost) 3-way
Left the house - sunny, blue skies. Got to Hagerstown, cloudy.
1st jump - Chul jumped at 5,000 feet. John & I circled to try to see how why we could get (we were the test load) and only got to 5,500. Exited off the step of the 182. Landed in front of the hangar. Still jumping the 280 today.
2nd jump - I spotted, got out first. Harry & Gary were on the load. We got 5,500 feet. On final, I thought I was heading for the taxiway, so I used the rear risers to get past.
3rd jump - John and Harry were going to do some crazy back exit. Previous tandem load got 11,000 feet. We got to 10,000, John opened the door, and there was nothing but clouds. We ended up at 5,500 feet. I went last, and was a little long. Basically flew straight back to the 6, and turned into my downwind leg. Maybe a little low, but I did a good pattern and landed in front of the hangar.
4th jump - Wayne, Harry, and I were going to do a 3-way. We got 11,000 feet. Wayne way out, Harry 2nd, me on the step close to the plane. Harry was supposed to take a grip on my arm and do the count and Wayne would follow us down. Harry things Wayne left early, which made him mess up his count, and I might have gone a little early. Tumbled, broke apart, bumped each other, and got stable. We found each other, and Wayne flew to Harry to make a 2-way. I closed in on them, and got a grip with my right hand on Wayne's left. Harry was a little higher than me, so he reached for me, which sent him higher. 4,500 feet, so we broke off. Landed on grass near picnic tables.
1st jump - Chul jumped at 5,000 feet. John & I circled to try to see how why we could get (we were the test load) and only got to 5,500. Exited off the step of the 182. Landed in front of the hangar. Still jumping the 280 today.
2nd jump - I spotted, got out first. Harry & Gary were on the load. We got 5,500 feet. On final, I thought I was heading for the taxiway, so I used the rear risers to get past.
3rd jump - John and Harry were going to do some crazy back exit. Previous tandem load got 11,000 feet. We got to 10,000, John opened the door, and there was nothing but clouds. We ended up at 5,500 feet. I went last, and was a little long. Basically flew straight back to the 6, and turned into my downwind leg. Maybe a little low, but I did a good pattern and landed in front of the hangar.
4th jump - Wayne, Harry, and I were going to do a 3-way. We got 11,000 feet. Wayne way out, Harry 2nd, me on the step close to the plane. Harry was supposed to take a grip on my arm and do the count and Wayne would follow us down. Harry things Wayne left early, which made him mess up his count, and I might have gone a little early. Tumbled, broke apart, bumped each other, and got stable. We found each other, and Wayne flew to Harry to make a 2-way. I closed in on them, and got a grip with my right hand on Wayne's left. Harry was a little higher than me, so he reached for me, which sent him higher. 4,500 feet, so we broke off. Landed on grass near picnic tables.
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Jumped twice
First just was a 2-way with Harold on the 182. Wanted to work on diving down to catch up. He went off the step, I dove after him, but put my arms down so I got a little over and turned. I got stable, found him, and dove down. Got level, closed and docked. He backed off, sort of cannonballed down, and I came down again. I closed a little too quickly this time, but slowed down in time. He wasn't too worried about it. Landed directly in front of the hangar. 280 with no wind, so didn't manage to stand up.
Second was a solo. I intended to jump a third time, but I felt too tired after this jump. I dove out of the 182 after waiting about 8-10 seconds for Bill and Chris to go. Stable, dove again, turns, tried slipping sideways. When I opened, I was level with one of the guys and just below the other, so I spiraled down just to get some separation. With 3 of us, it probably wouldn't have really mattered. Started my pattern a little high, so I stretched out the down wind leg, and ended up landing at the picnic table end of the field.
Second was a solo. I intended to jump a third time, but I felt too tired after this jump. I dove out of the 182 after waiting about 8-10 seconds for Bill and Chris to go. Stable, dove again, turns, tried slipping sideways. When I opened, I was level with one of the guys and just below the other, so I spiraled down just to get some separation. With 3 of us, it probably wouldn't have really mattered. Started my pattern a little high, so I stretched out the down wind leg, and ended up landing at the picnic table end of the field.
Monday, May 26, 2014
3 jumps and I'm back in the air
About time, right? I finally got a free day to head up to the Burg. I wasn't sure what I'd have to do for recurrency after 7 months on the ground. The guys didn't make too big a deal about it, and things came back easy. Grant told me that I should do a coach jump and just do whatever I wanted to do. Mostly, I think the idea is to see if I can stay stable in the air. I would have waited for a coach, but then Grant said I could get on load 1 and do a 5000' clear-and-pull with John Howard watching if I wanted. I went for that option.
Jump 1 - 5000' clear and pull. Matt (the pilot) trimmed up the 206. I opened the door to spot. Looked good, John said something, so I left. I sat on the edge, grabbed the frame with my left hand, and rotated out into the wind. Easy exit, instantly stable. Counted 5 seconds, during which I went over the hill, and pulled. It turns out that I never asked Matt to cut, so we were going faster than we should have been. Don't think that matters as much in the 206. On final, I thought I was heading for the taxiway. I used some brakes, then I was still looking at the taxiway. Cleared it be about 2 feet, standing up in the PD 280.
Jump 2 - solo. Cessna 186. Doc Larry told me to dive out toward the tail and wrap my right arm around my waist to make me spin. Probably wasn't the prettiest spin, but it worked. Corkscrewed twice, opened up into a neutral position, and got instantly stable. I tried to work on sliding sideways by tucking the same elbow and knee in close. About 1/2 the time it seemed to work. The other half I turned. Something to work on. Landed on the field in front of the other building, flared a little high, and rolled. Made a pretty crappy step-through.
Jump 3 - 2-way with Mark Muller. Cessna 186. He was going to float off the strut and I was going to dive down to him and dock. He got a little unstable and dropped faster than he wanted to. I dove, went a little bit over, got back to a good position, aimed at him, and then overshot him. I turned, he turned, and I was below him. I started to close, then tried to rise up. We got pretty close, but I saw us at 5000 so I waved off the rest, turned and tracked. Higher winds now, so I ended up landing on the end of the field near the picnic tables. Stood it up in the little gully.
I'm back.
Jump 1 - 5000' clear and pull. Matt (the pilot) trimmed up the 206. I opened the door to spot. Looked good, John said something, so I left. I sat on the edge, grabbed the frame with my left hand, and rotated out into the wind. Easy exit, instantly stable. Counted 5 seconds, during which I went over the hill, and pulled. It turns out that I never asked Matt to cut, so we were going faster than we should have been. Don't think that matters as much in the 206. On final, I thought I was heading for the taxiway. I used some brakes, then I was still looking at the taxiway. Cleared it be about 2 feet, standing up in the PD 280.
Jump 2 - solo. Cessna 186. Doc Larry told me to dive out toward the tail and wrap my right arm around my waist to make me spin. Probably wasn't the prettiest spin, but it worked. Corkscrewed twice, opened up into a neutral position, and got instantly stable. I tried to work on sliding sideways by tucking the same elbow and knee in close. About 1/2 the time it seemed to work. The other half I turned. Something to work on. Landed on the field in front of the other building, flared a little high, and rolled. Made a pretty crappy step-through.
Jump 3 - 2-way with Mark Muller. Cessna 186. He was going to float off the strut and I was going to dive down to him and dock. He got a little unstable and dropped faster than he wanted to. I dove, went a little bit over, got back to a good position, aimed at him, and then overshot him. I turned, he turned, and I was below him. I started to close, then tried to rise up. We got pretty close, but I saw us at 5000 so I waved off the rest, turned and tracked. Higher winds now, so I ended up landing on the end of the field near the picnic tables. Stood it up in the little gully.
I'm back.
Monday, September 2, 2013
No plane?
I finally got back up to Chambersburg today. Between vacation, a short downtime because of some lower-back muscle pain, and a couple of long days handling merit badges, I haven't been able to get away. So I did today.
The left engine of the KA wouldn't start. The C-182 already had its engine out. Sat around for 3 1/2 hours or so hoping the mechanic would be able to fix the plane. No luck. Crap.
The left engine of the KA wouldn't start. The C-182 already had its engine out. Sat around for 3 1/2 hours or so hoping the mechanic would be able to fix the plane. No luck. Crap.
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