- October 23rd, 2010, 12:45 am
#43509
61 photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/jhawkins/s ... 010412353/
Apparently spending the summer at Ripcord, the Skycoaster at Cedar Point, was not enough freefall. My friend Shannon was trying to get a group of people together to go skydiving for her birthday, so I figured why not? Ultimately the rest of our group bailed out for one reason or another, but Sara and I went through with it and joined Shannon for a day trip to Canton Air Sports near Canton, OH.
Since I had never seriously considered skydiving until asked about it and was not doing any of the planning for the trip, I did not do any research and had no idea what to expect. This was certainly not it, though, and in fact we drove past the place before realizing what it was. I guess I was picturing in my head a C-47 taking off from a moderate sized airport, not a single seat single prop plane taking off from a field, but this is how it is generally done.
This is good to see.
For a moment I thought I was back at Cedar Point in the Ripcord office.
Somewhat comforting to me was the fact that a parachute release system is very similar to the Skycoaster release system. Operating a Skycoaster involves quickly assembling this three ring release while someone is flying in order to prepare for the next flight, so I was quite familiar with it. The creator of Skycoaster wanted to combine skydiving and hang gliding, so a lot of the equipment is similar.
This was about the time the nerves started to set in a bit.
Only two jumpers, two instructors, and the pilot could squeeze into the plane, so Shannon went first with someone from the group before us.
Off she goes.
The parachute being open is always a good sign to see. I certainly did not mind that Sara and I were going second.
She made it.
With the pilot, and I am fairly certain he was not drunk; this is just an unfortunate photo.
Our turn awaits. I picked a Civil Air Patrol suit to wear, and then assumed that the instructor was hooking my suit up right. After a short briefing (a lot shorter than I expected), we were off to the plane.
Hopefully not our last picture together.
Cram in. We were so tightly packed that I was up against the controls, and had to lean my head forward so the pilot could get to them.
I have gone for a short flight in an 80+ year old double prop passenger plane before, but never anything this small, so I was more nervous about the flight than the jump. In fact, I was much more comfortable jumping out of the plane than I would be landing in it. I was ready to get hooked up and get out should anything start to go wrong. It is completely safe, of course; these guys go up and down all day every day, and have been doing it at Canton Air Sports since 1974. Like amusement park rides, though, it is the illusion of danger that makes all the difference. Oddly enough, though, I was pretty much at peace during the climb to 10,000 feet; it was rather pleasant. I was first, so at 10,000 feet the instructor hooked up to me, then opened the door. At this point the instructions are to turn and put one foot out of the plane onto a step, while crouching onto the knee of the other leg. This means I am now looking straight down 10,000 feet in open air. The next part is pretty easy: the instructor pushes me. Falling is basically equivalent to the launch on Top Thrill Dragster or Kingda Ka, but sustained for 30 seconds. It is incredible, but almost painful. It's not as fast as a solo jump, either, because a drogue parachute is deployed after leaving the plane on tandem jumps to slow the terminal velocity slightly. When the parachute opened it took me a moment to realize what had happened, and after that it was time to just enjoy the view.
Here we come.
I can't decide whether I enjoyed the free fall more or the parachute ride. The descent after the chute opens is so quiet and gentle; it is such a weird sensation being that high up.
Landing involves kicking your legs straight out so that the instructor hits first (ideally) and both of you just slide to the ground.
Success. Now to wait for Sara to arrive.
Oh hi!
We are now safely back on the ground, so we can get back to the hundreds of times more dangerous activity of driving the car home.
Dramatic Top Gun esque walk from the landing area.
Happy and relieved.
I wonder if they keep this on hand just in case...
A nice meal at a little local restaurant down the street to end the day as we contemplated what is different about life now that we have jumped out of a functioning aircraft from 10,000 feet above the ground.
We all agreed that this was something everyone should do at least once if given the opportunity. I would love to do it again were it not for the expense. There is just no way to really describe the experience in words. I would certainly recommend Canton Air Sports as the place to do it if you are in eastern Ohio or western Pennsylvania. The memories will stick with me for a long time.
Apparently spending the summer at Ripcord, the Skycoaster at Cedar Point, was not enough freefall. My friend Shannon was trying to get a group of people together to go skydiving for her birthday, so I figured why not? Ultimately the rest of our group bailed out for one reason or another, but Sara and I went through with it and joined Shannon for a day trip to Canton Air Sports near Canton, OH.
Since I had never seriously considered skydiving until asked about it and was not doing any of the planning for the trip, I did not do any research and had no idea what to expect. This was certainly not it, though, and in fact we drove past the place before realizing what it was. I guess I was picturing in my head a C-47 taking off from a moderate sized airport, not a single seat single prop plane taking off from a field, but this is how it is generally done.
This is good to see.
For a moment I thought I was back at Cedar Point in the Ripcord office.
Somewhat comforting to me was the fact that a parachute release system is very similar to the Skycoaster release system. Operating a Skycoaster involves quickly assembling this three ring release while someone is flying in order to prepare for the next flight, so I was quite familiar with it. The creator of Skycoaster wanted to combine skydiving and hang gliding, so a lot of the equipment is similar.
This was about the time the nerves started to set in a bit.
Only two jumpers, two instructors, and the pilot could squeeze into the plane, so Shannon went first with someone from the group before us.
Off she goes.
The parachute being open is always a good sign to see. I certainly did not mind that Sara and I were going second.
She made it.
With the pilot, and I am fairly certain he was not drunk; this is just an unfortunate photo.
Our turn awaits. I picked a Civil Air Patrol suit to wear, and then assumed that the instructor was hooking my suit up right. After a short briefing (a lot shorter than I expected), we were off to the plane.
Hopefully not our last picture together.
Cram in. We were so tightly packed that I was up against the controls, and had to lean my head forward so the pilot could get to them.
I have gone for a short flight in an 80+ year old double prop passenger plane before, but never anything this small, so I was more nervous about the flight than the jump. In fact, I was much more comfortable jumping out of the plane than I would be landing in it. I was ready to get hooked up and get out should anything start to go wrong. It is completely safe, of course; these guys go up and down all day every day, and have been doing it at Canton Air Sports since 1974. Like amusement park rides, though, it is the illusion of danger that makes all the difference. Oddly enough, though, I was pretty much at peace during the climb to 10,000 feet; it was rather pleasant. I was first, so at 10,000 feet the instructor hooked up to me, then opened the door. At this point the instructions are to turn and put one foot out of the plane onto a step, while crouching onto the knee of the other leg. This means I am now looking straight down 10,000 feet in open air. The next part is pretty easy: the instructor pushes me. Falling is basically equivalent to the launch on Top Thrill Dragster or Kingda Ka, but sustained for 30 seconds. It is incredible, but almost painful. It's not as fast as a solo jump, either, because a drogue parachute is deployed after leaving the plane on tandem jumps to slow the terminal velocity slightly. When the parachute opened it took me a moment to realize what had happened, and after that it was time to just enjoy the view.
Here we come.
I can't decide whether I enjoyed the free fall more or the parachute ride. The descent after the chute opens is so quiet and gentle; it is such a weird sensation being that high up.
Landing involves kicking your legs straight out so that the instructor hits first (ideally) and both of you just slide to the ground.
Success. Now to wait for Sara to arrive.
Oh hi!
We are now safely back on the ground, so we can get back to the hundreds of times more dangerous activity of driving the car home.
Dramatic Top Gun esque walk from the landing area.
Happy and relieved.
I wonder if they keep this on hand just in case...
A nice meal at a little local restaurant down the street to end the day as we contemplated what is different about life now that we have jumped out of a functioning aircraft from 10,000 feet above the ground.
We all agreed that this was something everyone should do at least once if given the opportunity. I would love to do it again were it not for the expense. There is just no way to really describe the experience in words. I would certainly recommend Canton Air Sports as the place to do it if you are in eastern Ohio or western Pennsylvania. The memories will stick with me for a long time.
