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Parachute Jump |
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Chris, who is of an adventurous spirit, took up the challenge of a long-term sparring partner and on Thursday 29th may, jumped from 12 thousand feet out of a small twin-propeller Sesner aircraft, strapped to an instructor.
Here Chris describes the event…
…Arms splayed out, feet curled up behind, facing ground-wards, with the wind whistling past you at 130 miles per hour, seven thousand feet distance is covered within 40 seconds.
The exhilarating feeling though, the intoxicating mixture of apprehension and awe, the injection of excitement and the desire for self-preservation are only just some of the things that you experience when you free-fall through the air. Yes, on Thursday 29th may at 13.00, I undertook the sky-dive in order to raise some funds for the B.C.A. The jump was successful and went without a hitch and gave me one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had the opportunity to have.
Here is a brief description of how it happened. I went to Chatteris Airfield, Near March in Cambridgeshire with Le Anne from Texas. We got to this little Airfield, which was in the middle of no-where, reaching it by a very well-worn pot-hole track, which led us to some dilapidated buildings. A twin-propeller rusty airplane sat on a short run-way, which appeared to have seen better days. Indeed, the loose bolts all over it's floor and loud and smoky condition of the plane were not encouraging. Our spirits sank seeing all of this, but the staff and the efficiency of the establishment were top class. We were given a short 30 minute training package, waited around a short while, called in and harnessed up. A jump-suit with chest and thigh straps were all that secured ourselves to our instructors, who we met.
We were then taken to the old aircraft and bundled together in the rear of it. A 15 minute flight took us up to 12 thousand feet, from where the jump took place. a chat with our instructors eased our tension somewhat but then the rear door opened and the moment of truth came.
I had the great pleasure of being first to leave the craft. How it works is that the instructor is secured behind me and I had to get into a very awkward position to leave the craft. This was probably the scariest part, and I had to dangle out of the airplane, in free-space, secured only by straps behind me to my instructor, who lay inside the craft. My legs had to come up behind me and rest on the under-belly of the craft. My hands had to clutch my shoulder straps and my hips thrust out in front of me, with my head leant backwards, forming a banana-shaped form. I had to hang there for several moments, dangling in open space, until gravity prevailed and the pitch of the craft swung us outwards. Then, my instructor rolled out and we had to remain in our position whilst falling away from the craft. Once clear of the craft (5 seconds or so), the instructor slapped me on the shoulder, which allowed me to release my hands, splay them out in front of me and then...gravity, gravity took over. Once out of the airplanes strip-stream, gravity and the wind took us. Imagine, I, with the weight of the instructor and parachute on my back, in mid-air, falling without restraint. Arms out, legs sprayed, I have no doubt superman couldn't have looked any more graceful. The first 40 seconds is the most difficult to describe. The amount of motions and feelings that course through you. The thrill, the pure mixture of fear, delight, wonder and every other imaginable feelings are just too intense and vivid to describe.
Le Anne described the visual affect as absolutely spectacular. Facing downwards, you have a 360 degree view of the land below you, field and green-ish with everything looking small and insignificant. Then, you rush downwards, you see this all-round green-earth thrusting it's way towards you at the rate of 125-135 miles per hour. This is naturally a somewhat daunting and terrifying thing you can have happen to you. I'm thankful I couldn't see it. The free-fall was incredible. The rush of wind as it whistles past you, the sense of an endless plummeting, with no control of descent, movement and a sheer sense of weightlessness. Down, down, down. Wind, thrill, fear, wind, cold cold wind, speed and your prayers. The most extraordinary, longest 40 seconds of my life. Then jerk, jerk, jerk. And the plunging slows, slows and you are swept upwards and brought into an upright position. Everything is calm, you can catch your breath, your heart flutters and you literally suspend in the air, no movement, no sense of impending disaster and the relief, enjoyment and sheer awe of the moment drain slowly away.
Incredibly, at 5000 feet, you can talk normally to your instructor, talk normally and laugh and joke. We did lots of curves, swinging right and left, doing a dance of joy in the air. Round and round and then calm standing, drifting slowly and quietly down earthwards. And then the approach. Legs up, knees to chest with hands behind the knees and a sliding 20 miles per hour skate across the grass until momentum and the weight of the instructor and the parachute draw you to a crumpled stop. Incredible experience, absolutely stunning. An experience to treasure for the rest of my life. So far, estimates reckon that I have raised about £1250 for the jump. To donate some sponsorship for the jump, go to: http://www.braillechess.org.uk/donation/index.html Please ensure to give the reference Chris Ross parachute jump. Well everybody, once again, thanks for all of your support and I hope that the above has given you a brief description of the event. You can hear a brief radio interview I did for the BBC on the morning of the jump at the following URL: http://www.braillechess.org.uk/radio/skydive.mp3 To view Chris Ross's jump click here To view Le Anne’s jump click here
To view some pictures from the jump, go to the following URL:
Chris Ross
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© B.C.A. 2002 - 2008 |
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