Pursuits » Activities

Skydiving

One day at the office I was talking to a friend about how I wish that I had tried skydiving when I was younger. Much to my surprise later in the day he made reservations for us to jump that Saturday at Baldwin Sport Parachute Center in Wisconsin. So off we went!

Classroom training took most of the morning which was followed by hours of ground exercises using a hanging harness and an old airplane fuselage. We were drilled with safety procedures over and over and over until a Jumpmaster would sign-off on our training. We then waited another 3-4 hours for a Jumpmaster to “adopt” a group of us for our first jump. We then repeated the safety drills for him, got suited up, and waited for a plane. After the jump he gave us a debriefing, made an entry in our log book detailing our progress and assignment for the next jump.

Next jump??

It became apparent that we were in the program to get licensed.

They had two planes. A small Cessna that had room for four jumpers and a deHavilland Beaver that had room for eight jumpers. The Beaver was something to see. Prior to jumping I thought that it was one of the retired planes that we used for ground training. It was rather shocking when they fired it up for jumpers. It had no door. The least experienced jumper, and therefore the first one out, sat at the edge of the doorway. As the plane would bank to the right you were looking straight down when looking out the open doorway. It was just the force of the plane that held you in. With a 16-cylinder radial engine and variable pitch prop it had plenty of power. Spectators would cover their ears as the propeller tips would break the sound barrier during takeoff. When the plane was empty at 12,000 feet the pilot would nosedive it down pulling out just in time to land – usually beating the jumpers to the ground.

There is one aspect of jumping that would have been a show stopper had I known it in advance. Beginners do not just jump out of the plane – that would be too dangerous. It is essential to be in the “frog position” (on your belly with arms and legs out like a frog so that your parachute deploys into the wind and not around your body.) The best way to ensure that students are in this position is to put them in that position before the parachute deploys. So, here is what happens when it is your turn to jump.

You sit in the doorway with your feet dangling out and then put your left foot on the step beneath the door, then reach out with your left arm and grab onto the wing strut, standup, put your right foot on the step, then reach out farther with our right arm and grab onto the strut, inch your right hand out 2-3 feet, look back to your Jumpmaster and wait for the pilot to reduce the propeller speed (110 mph to 50 mph), now remove both feet from the step so that you are hanging from the strut, relax so that your body conforms to the wind against it, look over to the left and wait for your jumpmaster to give you the thumbs up, then let go!

As a beginner it can take an entire Saturday to do just one jump. To stay with the program you must jump every 30 days or you start over. Jumping in the winter is not very fun. You need to duct tape around your wrists, ankles and goggles. The day I jumped there was a temperature inversion – meaning it is warmer at 10,000 feet than on the ground. It was a cold ride up but surprisingly quite warm exiting the plane. During free fall the temperature plunges at a speed of 120 mph. Just as I crystalized it was time for the icy cold five minute parachute ride down to a landing in the snow.

Jump log

House Building

My parents always wanted to move from the city to the country. The dream turned into reality when friends of the family noticed some land for sale near them. It was perfect. 30 acres of untouched woods that was being parceled into six lots by the owner – no developer coming in to urbanize this pristine land. The only improvements would be a common road, shared wells, and utilities.

This was densely wooded land that my parents did not want compromised by power equipment, so we literally cleared undergrowth by hand. (Truth be told this was mostly my mom and dad) A natural clearing for the house and a long circuitous driveway meant that not one tree had to be sacrificed. After countless weekends of heat, humidity, flys, ticks, prickles, and exhaustion we were ready to break ground for the house.

Did I mention the bugs?

Neighbor clearing land

My Mom designed the house with an architect providing construction drawings. A contractor built the shell of the house: foundation, basement, walls, floor, and roof. Subcontractors put in heating, sewer, plumbing and some electrical. By late summer 1975 we moved in. We had no sheetrock, no insulation, no ceilings, no interior walls, no heat, and no kitchen. But we did have plywood floors, a ladder for a staircase, and one bathroom complete with a sink and toilet – but no walls, door, or hot water.

With my sister away to college and my brother in high school neither were available for house construction. That left my Dad, Mom, and me. Great progress was made sheet rocking and general work, but the finishing work got to be a seemingly never-ending project.

For the first year our driveway consisted of mud and large rocks being sunk into the mud. Mud surrounded the house until a lawn could be established well over a year later.

Did I mention the mud?

The house was spectacular with huge windows in an open living space lined with natural woods, a cathedral ceiling and a large rustic fireplace – an extension of the wooded land.

Plans

Scouting

I enjoyed Cub Scouts and for the most part Webelo’s, but Boy Scouts was not for me. Which is kind of odd when I look back on it – most everything they teach is stuff that I am interested in. I think the problem was fear. Fear of the stories that my brother told me about Camp Hoksila: chickens running around with their heads cut off on the bluffs of the Mississippi river, forced swimming, and various others some deemed worse than death. So to the disappointment of my family I bailed out.

Travel

^_M Many trips

Europe

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Cabin Northern Minnesota

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Visiting Nephew Peter in Navy School

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Australia/New Zealand

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Seattle with Nephews Tony & Peter

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