An aerobatic glider instructor I respect a lot counsels pilots wearing parachutes to do one tandem parachute ride. To eliminate a lot of unknowns. To be safer pilots. To experience the fall, the rush, the wind, the brain overload — so that if you ever need to bail out you will not freeze; rather you will orientate and have the headspace to pull the cord. All good sense.
Only I didn’t get to be 52 years old by jumping out of airplanes.
I’m scared of heights. Petrified really.
I’m busy.
Maybe next month. For sure next year. Maybe.
Well, I finally got serious and did it. Moved way outside my comfort zone to become a safer pilot, should something really bad ever happen. And it feels pretty good. Now that it’s finally done:
And yes, I kinda liked it. Certainly was a rush! 120 mph, no engine, no wing, no control. Sir Issac Newton in the driving seat:
Now, do you need a lot of training to do a tandem jump? I think this picture explains the concept quite well:
We jumped from 14,000 feet, south of Phoenix. After a minute of freefall, the ‘chute opened and my Russian-new-best-friend let me have the reins for a while. Cool to have some control again. To feel like I’m flying again:
And the landing? Well, we clearly nailed it!
I got a lot more than an adrenaline rush and Facebook bragging rights. If I have control failure, if I have a mid-air, I feel much better prepared to jump and pull. To live, to fly another day. The unknown, the uncertainty, has been reduced. That initial OH MY GOD I’M JUMPING INTO NOTHING NEVER DONE THIS OH MY GOD brain lock has been removed. I shouldn’t freeze up. I will be pilot in command. Even without a plane to command.
The real question is— what else, out of my comfort zone, should I have done a long time ago?
And so . . . what are you putting off, that will make you a better pilot?
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(Many thanks to everybody at Skydive Phoenix for a great experience, and the cool air-to-air video. Not a paid placement, I don’t do that. Paid my money like everybody else. Did this last week, before President George H. W. Bush died. As a young combat pilot in the Pacific theatre, his life was saved by a parachute. He continued jumping for fun at major milestone birthdays. It is pretty dang neat.)