I called around, and set up an appointment for a Sunday last August. The DZ was small, and had one C-182. When I arrived, I had to sit down and sign my name about 100 times on the waivers, and really started wondering "If you have to sign this many releases, it MUST be dangerous--are you SURE you want to do this"? The little voice in my head said "Hell, YES", so here I go........

Went to class from 10:00am until 5:00pm (static line progression). I was a little worried, because we covered a lot of things, and I was afraid I might miss one or two important points. My JM was very knowledgeable, and answered my hundreds of questions with very good grace.

Then---IT WAS TIME--HERE WE GO !!! Geared up, 2 gear checks, then we loaded the plane. I was last in, and sitting in the "student position"--on the floor beside the pilot, right up tight against the door. I was afraid that I would lean back into the pilot's controls, and make us crash or something !! The pilot played with me on the way up, saying he would NEVER jump out of an airplane, and did I really realize what I was DOING, and did I have any NEXT-OF-KIN at the DZ with me, etc... He was smiling all the while, so I knew he was just kidding with me, but it still made me think of things I didn't want to be thinking of at that particular time in my life--I just wanted to get through this in one piece !!

We get to 3500ft, the door opens, and the interior of the plane immediately cools down about 30 degrees. Then my JM yells the second scariest thing I ever heard, "Don, ARE YOU READY TO MAKE A SKYDIVE ?" And I answer with the scariest thing I've ever heard--"YES !" He told me to put my feet out. When I swiveled around to sit in the door, I still felt really good, but when I looked down betwwen my feet and saw 3/4 of a mile of air beneath me, my heartbeat went to about 120, and I got VERY nervous. I look back over my shoulder, and my JM yells "STEP OUT !" Now, on the ground in the mock-up, I put my feet on the step and went hand-over-hand up the strut in about 5 seconds--up here, it took me more like 30 seconds, because I would move my grip only about 3 inches at a time---I did NOT want to let go of that strut! I get into my hanging exit position, and look back in the plane, and wonder how hard it would be to climb back in. Unfortunately, during FJC my JM told me he would not let me back in the plane at this point, so I knew it wasn't an option, but at that time it looked like a VERY safe haven !!!

I look up at the wing (to promote a good arch), count to 2 (with a very short, but very intense prayer thrown in for good measure), and LET GO!! I SEE THE PLANE--I SEE MY JM--WHERE ARE THEY GOING ??!?!!??! AND WHY ARE THEY FLYING AWAY WITHOUT ME !??!!?

Then, the prettiest sight in my life--a good canopy. This is when I started laughing like a lunatic, and never stopped until I had been on the ground for about 5 minutes---I couldn't stop, and my throat was sore for the next 3 days.

I never heard the radio for the first minute or two, and I'm just cruising around in my play area, just having a blast and a half ! Then, about 2 minutes into my flight, I turned my head down and to the left to look at some cows, and I hear the radio screaming "TURN RIGHT ! TURN RIGHT !" It turns out that the radio man had been telling me to head straight back to the DZ because the winds had shifted, but I wasn't hearing him, and when I finally did, it was too late to get back. There was a four-lane highway between me and the DZ, and when I got to it, I was at 100 feet instead of 1000ft, saw I couldn't clear the trees on the other side, and aimed for the median strip instead, still laughing like crazy, but scared shitless also!! The wind was picking up, and I was trying to crab my landing ( the feeling of being over traffic at 20 ft is not something I would ever care to experience again, let me tell you--my balls were trying to climb up inside my body, and my feet and legs weren't far behind !! ). I landed on my feet, then sat down in the mud. I was still laughing my ass off, and the radio was asking if I was okay, but I could not stop laughing--it was so exhilirating !!

After they picked me up, and we got back to the DZ, I got a standing O from all the up-jumpers, and felt pretty good about myself, until one of the other JMs told me that when I disappeared behind the trees lining the highway, they all "started listening for the sound of brakes

squealing"--they thought I was going to get run over on the highway. Then, the other guy in my class jumped, and broke his back upon landing--he never flared at all, his feet slid out and he landed flat on his ass with a thud you could hear for a long ways That night I didn't sleep a wink, as I was continually amazed that I had actually done this, and lived to tell the tale......

For the next 2 weeks, everyone at work was asking me what was going on, because I had a constant shit-eating grin on my face !! (and still do every Monday, if I jumped that weekend !).