Breda Ballon Fiesta

I had a great day saturday.

First a few jumps in the morning, and in the afternoon we left for the hot air balloon festival in Breda. It took our Caravan about half an hour to fly to Breda. We had to spot 'manually' because the coordinates in our GPS didn't match what we saw (= were wrong). There was quiet a bit of wind (some 10 to 15 knots, my estimate) but some oldtimers on the load worked it out perfectly: 3 runs, everybody landed in.

Late afternoon, the wind calmed down, and te balloons could go up. And we could make a balloon jump. A few balloonists started calculating with windspeeds, altitudes and directions. Checking google maps on their i-phones, and off we went. To some field about 15 km upwind. We unloaded our balloon, and 15 minutes later, we were airborne: 4 skydivers, 6 'regular' passengers and 2 crew. Imagine our surprise (and admiration) when their calculations proofed spot on: we were heading straight towards the festival terrain. We were going to jump 2 by 2. I was in the first 'run'. Altitude around 4000 ft, the balloonist gives the go, we climb on the basket. Ready set go. What an incredible feeling. The quiet, silence, and then the speed (and the wind) starting, getting louder. The forward speed building up (the track gaining effect). Whooaw. I never made a basejump, but I can sure see that this is addictive.

There were still a few balloons taking off or getting ready to take off when I came in to land. You really can not judge the vertical or horizontal speed of a balloon underneath you, so that was a bit tricky. But hey, a balloon fly-by with all the passengers waving at you, that's great, no? I gave a bit of show on landing, and I got quiet a big applause for it.

Free food and drinks for the rest of the evening. Thx everybody for a great experience!

This (plus many other) pictures were made by Lars Scheve, official photographer of the event.

Like a bird

After a few bad weather weekends, and a family holliday (where all things even vaguely connected to skydiving are taboe), at last: jumping again. And nothing planned, not on the roster, no commitments to students, nada! So I just manifest for load 2 (I went for an early morning run: great, but it made me mis the first load), and we end up with 11 bellyfliers on this load. So fate has decided: an 11-way it is.

Quick brief for an easy jump, and off we go. There's one girl going low, but we turn a clean 10 points without her. Nice one to start the day! Problem however is that while being low, she starts tracking away early, a few seconds before we break, but she doesn't track all the way. She just follows her built-in clock and makes a normal-duration-track, and so ends up opening almost 1000 ft too high. Luckily me and the other guy tracking in her sector had our eyes open. It's a mistake I see fairly often: a higher break-off altitude that results in a higher pull altitude, rather than in a longer track And to top it off, she hurts herself on landing. Nothing serious, just "one of those days" for her.

We stay together with more or less the same group for the following jumps. Nr 2 is a more challenging 10-way. Some out-facing positions and stuff like a 10-way donut... It feels really good in the air: smooth flying, smiles all around. Canopy ride gets more tricky: winds are picking up, it starts to get bumpy, but nothing we can't handle. I want more :-)

For jump 3 a few new people join us, and the overall quality of the group is lower than on the previous jumps. I feel a bit pissed because we brief an easy one, and we still manage to fuck it up. But what felt like a lousy dive for me, apparently felt great for some of the others. Excited talk about how we managed to make the second formation, and even nearly completed the third point. I guess I'm spoiled :-)

By the time we go for our fourth jump, the weather is starting to become a problem, but we can't get enough, and if we hurry, we can just beat that fat dark cloud-thing that's closing in... We brief something funky: a long zipper, break it up in 4 pieces, that hop under/over each other to form a new zipper. Nice moves, but after the second hop, there's a collision and we loose a lot of time before everybody is up and running again. But a nice one! I must remember this jump, and try it a few more times.

And that's it for today (it is raining by now).

And if you wonder about the title of this post, it is about a great image I saw today. There was a tandem passenger today at the DZ, a woman with Down syndrome. Sam, who videoed her, showed me his tape. The tandem master did a great job on the briefing and preparation, and then the freefall. After the exit, you see her face opening up in a big smile of pure happiness, and for the next couple of seconds, she flaps her arms, like wings, like a bird. Beautiful, moving... (and it made me thirsty: beer!)

Clouds

I woke up with blue sky this morning, but predictions for today are not good. And as often when they say on the telly that it is going to rain, people make other plans, and when the weather turns out to be good after all, few jumpers and even fewer students turn up.

I picked up Klara on my way to the DZ, and we arrive late: I am only on load 2, I missed the first load :-) My sit exit really sucks. The jump however is nice: make speed, lean forwards, lean backwards, and so on. Even after well ver 3000 jumps: what a feeling!!

An hour later, on my second jump, the clouds are already starting to build beautifully. Big cumulus mushrooms, with tops already above 13.000 ft. I am sitting in the co-pilot chair, and it is a spectacular flight, zig-zagging through corridors between them. The pilot flies a very good jummprun. He cyrves it, over 90° in all. And he manages to give everybody clear sky for their jump. I fall next to the cumulus that he avoided by this manoeuvre, and it is a big heavy cloud. Thanx!

Third jump. I skipped a few loads before I manifested again. I looked outside, checked the sattelite pix on the internet, hoped for a little luck, and decided to go for it. It is almost completely overcast by now, and a big thunderstorm is visible some 50 km north: a very big and impressive cloud, form of an anvil, I guess up to about 20.000 ft. There will be pictures of flooded streets this evening on the news. But we are lucky, and we have a sunny spot for our jump (the last one of the day, as it turns out). A 2-way sit. Luk still has to fly quiet a bit forward to stay with me, but hey, we stay together, I manage to play a bit with the level, etcetera. Whoooha!!!

There's one more load after this. I am not on it. The plain gets caught up in traffic: the thunderstorm is now over brussels airport, so traffic control has to work hard. Approaches are changed, queues are formed, and the result is our plane is stuck at flight level 110 for almost 15 minutes. No climb, no descent, just stay there. Pilot has to de-ice the wings a couple of times. Finally, they are allowed to come down again.

I am really glad I wasn't on that plane. Yes, I know, I am chicken. I prefer iced beer over iced wings

I can't help it

Although the weather was not very good, it looked like it might be jumpable, so I went to the DZ anyway. And yes yes yes, we were lucky: the sun made it through. Just.

First is a level 4 with Wesley. But by the time we go up, the weather is already changing. There is a very high layer of clouds, so above us, everything is white. And there is a haze below us, so we can see the ground straight beneath us, but around us, again only white. What this means is that the student has very little visual clues, orientation in freefall is difficult. Too difficult apparently. I release him three times, and three times I have to stop him turning. Nothing violent or so, but just a steady turn he can't stop. His circuit flying and landing are very good!

By now, the weather is really turning bad, but I want to do one more jump anyway (you know the feeling, I bet). We enter the by now thick haze at about 3000ft. At 11000ft I hear someone in the plane saying that he is going to pull a little higher "to be on the safe side". I suggest that he can refuse the jump, but all he says is "Naaahhh...". At 13000 ft, still only white around us...

Did you ever exit with your eyes shut? I 've done it a few times, and it is really fun. Feel your exit :-). Even though I do not really look around me on a normal exit, it is amazing how much input you lack with your eyes closed... This is similar: just a whole lot of white around me. After a few seconds the plane is gone too. I manage a good sit exit, and a stable position all through the jump, without visual clues from horizon, ground or sky. There are no real clouds, it isn't wet. There's just 10000ft of thick haze and humidity.

I go belly-to-earth on 4000, planning for pull at 3000, and guess what, at 3200 the ground appears. I really liked this jump. It was a long time since I have been so totally alone. And as much as I love to be alone, I also like some good company at the bar...

Camera

Some time ago, I bought me a camera helmet. Two weeks ago, I received the wide angle lens I ordered from paragear. And this week, I adapted the helmet for my (old) camera, so now I am ready to do my first ever jump with a camera.

I decide on an easy 2-way to check out the helmet. It is a bit awkward in the plane, I can't find the start button, so I have to take of the helmet again, and so on, but hey, we manage to exit with the camera running. Chantal is floating, I am diving, she makes a good exit, I want to start our routine, but my head is falling aside, this helmet and camera are very present on my head, I feel the weight and the air it takes, I have to pay attention to keep my head up straight, strengthen my neck muscles. But hey, all this takes only a second or so :-). The jump is nice, I don't know how Chantal manages to turn in place, she looks everywhere except at me, but she can do it. So here it is : my first ever video! The camera position and line of sight seem OK, I'm happy!



I immediately follow up with a chute assis. I curse myself all the way down, for not being able to just quietly sitfly. I am definitely better at it than say 10 jumps ago, I feel the air much better, but I still suck big time...

Third is an attempt at a 2-way FF. I funnel the exit, it takes me quiet some time to find out what's up, what's down and what position I'm in, and by the time I get it, Gunther is some 10 metres underneath me. The gap only grows, but at least I can check that I am falling straight (or maybe i just have the same backslide he has ???)...

Then a student from last year comes up to me and asks me if I want to do a currency jump with him. Of course I wanna do that! He has 16 jumps, didn't jump for three months. We brief a level 5, I give him the complete safety briefing again, I give him a refresh on the whole caboodle of malfunctions, and there we go. Please watch my first ever self made student video:



I love his smile a few seconds after exit, when the stress is gone and he remembers the feeling, feels it once again!! Apart from that he was better when we did level 7 than he is now, some 10 jumps later :-).

Last jump of the day (it is still only february, days are short) the weather has completely cleared out. From up there you can see the North Sea, Antwerp and even Zeeland are crystal clear, I can easily make out Middelburg, and although I am not completely sure, I think I can even see Rotterdam. That's about the farthest view I ever had in the 1500 or something jumps I made on this DZ. Wonderful!

The jump is a hybrid. Steven and I are bellyfliers, Nick does a standup, hanging from our chest straps, 6 others are sitflying, trying to dock on us from both sides. Our hanger is swinging all over the place, so it is hard work to stay stable, but we manage not to funnel. Nobody docks, but everybody was there, flying very disciplined, a real nice jump. We had outside video on it, so if it is posted somewhere, I'll link to it here.

So... first ever camera jump, first AFF of the year, first two-way FF attempt: some beers are in order!

Indian summer

Monday to Friday, weather was awful. But come weekend, come sunshine. It's a glorious Saturday morning, and I team up with Pascal for the whole day. We're on the first load with a level 3. It's his third attempt, and from his logbook, we can see that he starts of his jumps OK, but can't hold it together till the end of the free fall. And indeed, same this time: rather OK from 13k till 8k, starts wobbling, and at 7k we have to grab him, or he would have been on his back. I can still smell the morning freshness when I'm under canopy. Autumn can be beautiful.

Next is a woman, the girlfriend of a long time friend of mine, a fellow skydiver, whom I first jumped with almost 15 years ago. Everything I tell her, he can tell her too, but he has the good sense to stay out of the way, while we are briefing her, and he doesn't come asking if he can be on the jump. It's her level 2. The jump is not very good (she is too eager, wants to do too much and too quickly), but good enough to pass her to the next level.

Then a young bloke with a face full of piercings. He is about 1.70 meter tall, and weighs 94 kilos. I put on my weight belt, fully loaded, and woohoo do I need it! It is a level 2, and I exit from the inside. By the time my feet leave the plane, my arms are already going well over 100 mph (that's what it feels like anyway). His heels are touching his ass and his knees are lower than his pelvis: we have to work hard to keep the formation stable. Next, under canopy, he's off to la-la land: no reaction at all to our steering, he lands about 2 km away from the designated area, but he is lucky: our landing area is huge, it stretches for about 2.5 km in that direction.

Level three again with the same man from today's first jump. Again, he starts of well, and deteriorates during the jump. Near the end he is steadily turning, almost 360° in 1000 ft. Very strange, most people get better through the jump, they learn. Not him. I believe he thinks too much. Instead of trying to feel the air, he is trying to remember everything that all the instructors he had until now have told him. And in the process, he fixates on too many details at once and gradually looses it.

And to end the day, level three with my friends' girl. She makes a good jump, much more relaxed, much smoother than her previous jump. I love it, flying next to her, and looking on while she makes a great jump. There is no wind at all, I love to land with a bit of speed...

It's only 6 o'clock, but I call it a day. Warm, sun, beer... the simple life :-)

my birthday

Well it 's not because I 'm getting old, that I can't do AFF. I 'm on the roster for this saturday, so let's go! I am supposed to be at the DZ early, but because the weather is completely overcast, I don't hurry. I SMS two students to give them stand-by till noon. When I finally arrive there are at least a couple of hours to kill before the weather will be good enough to jump. coffee-time.

It 's already past one o'clock when we can start. First is the same older man from a couple of weekends ago. He made +- 100 static jumps years ago, when he was in the military, and last year, he did 20 static lines and 3 very bad AFF jumps in another club. That's when he was told to try us, because they were no longer prepared to AFF with him. Before we brief, we have a chat (time is about the only benefit of a weather hold :-) where I explain that 7 levels = 7 jumps will probably not work for him, and we discuss the cost of something like 20 AFF jumps, combined with a tunnel session. When I talk about the risk of breaking some bones at his age, he reacts "watch me" and shows me, then and there, the best plf I have seen in some time, right in front of me, on the (hard) floor. Motivation is king!

I team up with rik, an examinator, for a valid second opinion on how to handle this "case". I brief an adapted level 2, only exercise is flying forwards, to force him to pay attention to his legs. In the plane, he is still tense, but less than on his previous jump. At exit, he almost surprises us, by going check in check out and then immediately jumping. Well, we handle it, and he makes a very good jump. Clear and determined, everything exactly like we briefed it. Very acceptable body position, we can go on level 3 with him.

Rest of the day is a bunch of first jumpers, all people who don't have the intention to go on in the sport, so it I switch to what I call "tourist mode". I team up with door for a couple of hours of fun. First one makes a good jump, but the ground crew makes a mistake: they mix up students, and by the time they notice they are talking to the wrong one, it is too late, and they have to make him land in the parking lot. We 're in luck, no people or cars are harmed in the process. Second one, light goes out after exit, nobody home till about 8k, he wakes up, does a gasp, time is almost up, so on his first practice pull, I grab his hand and force him to actually pull.

Third one is a very beautiful jump. Nothing to do with the student, all with the weather. Cloud base is at 14k, so we exit underneath a big cloud, in its shadow. But since the sun is already quiet low, at about 10k we fall out of the shadow, into the bright sunlight. The DZ under us is bright and sunny, the city next to it is a dark shadowy spot, and there are al kinds of reflections and light beams in every direction up there. I can't get enough of it, float around in half brakes under my canopy, land only seconds before our student.

Time to start on that birthday party.