Sunday Afternoon, August 2

My appointment at Maytown Airport was for a 1:00 PM training for the jump. (There are two training times at this airport: 8:30 AM and 1:00 PM.)

The following photos were taken by Cerwin and our daughters Diane and Deb. We also paid to have a photographer take photos and a video. It was worth every penny. Now I can relive the jump.

I put them in order according to the day.

Skydiving has been on my bucket list for more than forty years – ever since a UPS driver delivered packages to our house and sometimes told me about tandem jumping at this airport. I did not remember his name, but during the flight learned that it was Bill Ankeny, Jr. (He is still there – now doing videos and photography.) He was not here on this day. That would have been fun to see him again.

The hanger – across the field from where we waited.

The building where the Parachute Club members hung out. The part of the building on the right is where I went for training. The golf cart is used to retrieve parachutes and people – especially those who land at a distance.

Talking to our trainer. His day job is teaching skydiving in the military. The lady on the right was jumping after me and her friend in the middle was going to jump if there was time after those with scheduled jumps. (There were two men after us and two people ahead of us who were left over from the morning – due to cloudy skies.)

My cheering crew. Due to COVID I was only allowed to bring two guests. Those happened to be Cerwin (sitting left) and our daughter Deb (to his right) because she had helped Cerwin plan this for my 75th birthday a year and a half ago. The first appointment (last fall) was postponed due to weather, the next (May) was postponed due to COVID. Finally the day was here.

Roy (sitting) wanted to come with Deb and watch as well and asked if there was a place he could park. They gave him permission to stay with the family. Then – our daughter Diane (lavender) happened to be here from Maine and was going to watch from a distance. They also gave her and Lydia permission to join us because there weren’t many spectators on Sunday and it was easy to socially distance by groups.

They were real troupers because the wait was long. The morning people had to jump – one at a time because each had a photographer and then parachutes had to be packed. While the parachutes were packed someone from the parachute club used the plane. The two on their knees were packing parachutes and the two men behind our family were jumping after me. They didn’t have a photographer so the other woman who trained with me had to wait for them to jump so our photographer could repack his parachute.

I was chosen to go first because I had the earliest scheduled jump (last November.)

I waited with them after my half-hour training.

After the training, my biggest concern was remembering when to hold my harness and when to let my arms “fly”. 🙂

Roy showing me where there was a jumper in the sky.

Finally it was my turn (about 4:30 pm), but we had to wait for a dark cloud to move out of the way. My cheering squad thought I looked like a “Smurf.” 🙂

We were prepared for a long wait and had water, tea and snacks. Roy gave his lawn chair to Diane – the reason he was usually on the ground. Lydia used mine when I wasn’t in it.

Cerwin taking the previous picture.

Being interviewed by the photographer. The interview is on the video.

Our plane

The four occupants of the plane (the pilot was already there). The man on the left was jumping on his own, the photographer, Bill (my tandem instructor) and me.

I had to back into the plane and sit on the floor with my back to the pilot’s seat. The floor was padded. The instructor was next – facing me. The other jumper sat next to me. We all sat with legs flat on the floor. The photographer was on the floor next to the pilot. That makes a full plane!

The other man jumped at 5,000 feet – now at 10,000 feet it was our turn. Bill was attached to my harness in four places – two at my shoulders and two at my waist. I was not nervous but excited for this to happen. I was very confident in my instructor because he had jumped hundreds of time in all kinds of conditions and in many countries.

My step into the wind!

I was pleased to be able to capture this shot from the raw video footage the photographer gave me. It is truly a step of faith – knowing I was attached to my trainer and believing that he knew what he was doing. 🙂

My trainer was so gracious to me (an old lady) allowing me to sit flat instead of kneeling for ten minutes. However, it made it a bit more awkward for him to exit.

Here we go! Holding unto my harness as trained.

The freefall was positively the BEST.

I’m flying!

My favorite shot of the day

Or maybe this one is my favorite.

I was glad that he forgot a face mask for me. 🙂

When the parachute opened, it pulled us higher into the sky.

After we settled into a descent, Bill asked if I am okay. I said, “I am, but the strap just under my ribs is really tight.” He asked me to pull on the strap with both hands so he could release it a bit. Ahh, that felt better.

Our fabulous view. That is the Susquehanna River in the upper center.

It was about this time that our family could see us from the ground.

The instructors kindly invited my family to come close to where we were landing. I could see them, but don’t have any still shots of them. I can see them in the video.

I had padded “things” on my jumpsuit pants to grab with my hands – to help me lift my legs.

We had a safe and soft landing.

Some of the ground guys quickly helped us unhook from the parachute and harnesses.

Thank you, Bill. You were a fabulous and thoughtful instructor and jump partner.

If you want to experience my jump, go to this video on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJmQYqi7Zco&feature=youtu.be.