Jumping out of an Airplane
I did it; I just jumped off an airplane and fell more than two miles —fifteen thousand feet. It was unbelievable. You jump and you are like not attached. Everything is gone. You are just falling.
Finally, I strike off one more item on my bucket list. Before the jump, I finished signing all the waiver forms which practically said I am solely responsible for myself if there was bound to be any accident. Next I was instructed on how to position my body during my free-fall (the idea was to hold my posture like a banana) and how to position my body while landing of the parachute. I was all set; Volker, my instructor started clicking pictures and began filming the experience. We boarded the Cessna 182 which was waiting for us and we were off. I was not even a bit scared and I told Volker to perform some stunts like flips and spins when we jumped.
It was a perfect evening to jump out of a plane. As the plane gained altitude and flew over the clouds, the beautiful Monterey Bay coastline started to unfold. While the plane kept gaining altitude, Volker did one final check to see if everything was in place and he hooked himself to me. It was finally time; 14,000 ft and we opened the door. We scooted towards the wing of the airplane. That moment when you look down towards that emptiness, heavy winds hitting the face, heart beating faster, adrenaline rush just can’t be described.
Volker gave a thumps up, a small hi-fi and we jumped out. We fell faster and faster, we flipped, spun, flew like a bird and hit the terminal velocity. It was intense and thrilling at the same time. The parachute opened at around ~4500 feet, we slowed down and we were now cruising. I had fallen around 11,000 feet in less than under a minute, it was over even before I realised it. Volker allowed me to control the parachute, I steered left and right and steering is super fun too. Volker finally took control and we landed safely.
I had just lived my dream, I had skydived and it was worth the experience.
If you are in the Bay Area, I highly recommend SkyDive SurfCity in Santa Cruz. They have the highest rating on Yelp and indeed live up to the expectation. A big shout to my jump instructor Volker for being so enthusiastic and making my sky dive experience a memorable and an awesome one.
What Next: Learn to SkyDive :-)
“If you want to know how it feels like to fly, don’t fly in an airplane, jump out of one”
~ Pradeep
