Today was an unusual day in that I got a multiple lift. Very rarely do I get the opportunity, which I passed on yesterday, and took today. That's particularly good, since the jump I was supposed to be doing tomorrow was scratched due to rain on the drop zone. So, with the introduction complete, here goes:
Jump 64, Raeford DZ, A/NT
Cruiserweight, "This Ain't No Beach Party"
Drop altitude 1500 feet AGL, time of drop approximately 1040
KHFF 311730Z 23005KT 7SM -RA BKN040 OVC090 18/13 A3005
Conditions at: KHFF observed 1730 UTC 31 March 2005
Temperature: 18.0°C (64°F)
Dewpoint: 13.0°C (55°F) [RH = 73%]
Pressure (altimeter): 30.05 inches Hg (1017.7 mb)
Winds: from the SW (230 degrees) at 6 MPH (5 knots; 2.6 m/s)
Visibility: 7 miles (11 km)
Ceiling: 4000 feet AGL
Clouds: broken clouds at 4000 feet AGL
overcast cloud deck at 9000 feet AGL
Weather: -RA (light rain)
The one had me pushing the stick (as in I was the last jumper to exit). Winds at altitude were cruising! The first two passes had jumpers land in the trees, the first because of incorrect spotting of the release on the pilot's part, the second because some knucklehead didn't factor in winds at altitude and ran with the wind into the trees on the eastern edge of the DZ. Consequently, upon gaining canopy control, I knew immediately that I didn't want to spent a lot of time in the air, and proceeded to dump air for about 2/3 of my descent. This was the first time I'd jumped Raeford DZ, and I didn't realize there was two patches of trees, a tractor, a pond (surrounded by trees), and a big patch of briars all within the confines of the DZ. It was the briars that I narrowly missed by about 20 feet. In my haste to get to the ground, I didn't see the briar patch that was immediately below and rear to me. I stopped dumping air and steered away from the briars. Upon landing, I immediately got up on my feet and started running away from the briars before the parachute could foul on the briars. This was a good thing, as the jumper immediately before me landed even closer to the briars and was pulling his parachute out with a distinctive tearing sound (as in damn, that would have hurt like hell to land in, not to mention the intense embarrassment factor of getting a thorn bush enema) as the branches were popping off the ripstop nylon. A soft landing, though, and I was less than 150m away from the chute turn-in truck, which was a large white package truck.
Jump 65, Raeford DZ, A/NT
Armor For Sleep, "Car Underwater"
Drop altitude 1500 feet AGL, time of drop approximately 1150
KHFF 311855Z 21010KT 4SM -RA BR SCT022 BKN040 OVC060 16/14 A3008 RMK SLP189
Conditions at: KHFF observed 1855 UTC 31 March 2005
Temperature: 16.0°C (61°F)
Dewpoint: 14.0°C (57°F) [RH = 88%]
Pressure (altimeter): 30.08 inches Hg (1018.7 mb)
[Sea-level pressure: 1018.9 mb]
Winds: from the SSW (210 degrees) at 12 MPH (10 knots; 5.2 m/s)
Visibility: 4 miles (6 km)
Ceiling: 4000 feet AGL
Clouds: scattered clouds at 2200 feet AGL
broken clouds at 4000 feet AGL
overcast cloud deck at 6000 feet AGL
Weather: -RA BR (light rain, mist)
This was the big one. As a sign of appreciation to the folks who were running the jump, I presented the primary jumpmaster a case (that's 24 cans, not 12, you wankers) of beer (as is customary for jump milestones in the community in which I work).
After pushing the stick, I made it a point to be the last one to board so I would be the second one to exit (after the jumping JM). I had a good exit, although once again (like yesterday), the right riser took a divot out of my right cheek. Descent was uneven with significant winds at altitude leveling off at about 500 feet AGL. As I was dumping air initially, I was attempting to steer away from the pond and trees in the middle of the DZ, but had to make some corrections in the last 300 feet of descent so that I wouldn't hit the 20-foot tall chute turn-in truck or the 12-foot tall large field ambulance parked next to it (as in damn, that would have hurt to bounce off the side of a truck going 16 feet per second down and about 5 mph laterally, not to mention the intense embarrassment factor of getting clotheslined by a truck that I could've avoided) . I landed about 15m away from both vehicles in front of about 15 guys who were looking at me like I was absolutely nuts. Admittedly, that was a bit closer than I would've liked for comfort. But I had a soft landing and the chute didn't foul in anything after landing.
I could say it felt almost anticlimactic, but two near-misses during a day (plus a third, since it started raining within 40 minutes of my second landing) was plenty of excitement.
Yay!
ReplyDeleteCongrats.