Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Space Shuttle Atlantis Launch Wingsuit Flock


This past Monday the Space Shuttle Atlantis lifted off, and wouldn’t you know it we just happened to be at Skydive Sebastian exiting a not so perfectly good airplane at that exact moment.

Twelve wingsuit pilots were on hand to flock in hopes of a successful launch. Our original plan was to do a fly-by on two skydivers flying their parachutes in a “drag-plane” configuration. This is when one parachute is flying upside down under the other parachute and the guys are connected with a strap and buckles. This was a lofty plan to undertake on such a short notice with only a few practice jumps. If only everyone had rolled out of bed a little earlier we would have had the time to pull it off. The four practice jumps we hoped for turned into two and it was clear after the second jump that we did not have enough time to figure out all of the details. I am not sure why NASA ignored my request to delay the launch by a couple of hours. You would think they would realize the importance of what we were trying. Be that as it may our backup plan was to fly a nice tightly spaced flock with the shuttle in the background. Having already practiced that aspect of the jump it seemed we would have no problems achieving it.

Here we were again 25 minutes prior to launch and people were still getting their gear on and climbing into the plane. We were on short time and it just kept ticking away. Finally the door was closed, the engines were turning, and we were on our way taxiing to the runway. We were in a major hurry to get the plane climbing to altitude and wouldn’t you know it, we had to wait for the slowest airplane on the planet to set up for final approach and landing. This was the moment that everyone just had to laugh. We were at the Sebastian Airport, which is not known for being busy, you almost never have to wait your turn to take off.

Finally the plane was out of our way and we were speeding down the runway to lift off with a full planeload of passengers and almost full fuel tanks. We were heavy and it was going to be a longer than usual climb to altitude. What else could we stack onto this plane ride? The warm temperature and humid air by itself make the plane climb slower. On top of that there was the extra air traffic watching the launch and getting in our way. It seemed like Murphy was riding in the plane with us forcing us to adhere to his crazy laws.

Luckily we made it to altitude just in time and the first group of high-pullers started exiting two minutes prior to ignition as planned. This jump was once again turning into a logistical nightmare. There were now eight high canopies in the air for us to potentially collide with. I tried not to think of it and focus on my task: which was to fly lead slot and make sure we were heading back to the dropzone. Also, it was up to me to maintain a steady fall rate and consistent forward speed.

Once again our plan was to exit the plane at ignition, but the launch pad was obscured by clouds. Luckily our trusty pilot, Dave was timing the launch and gave us an accurate countdown. For some reason my camera did not want to turn on, and once you are flying it is almost impossible to turn on while maintaining a steady flight path. I guess it was ok because almost everyone on the jump had a camera, plus we had Scotty Burns filming from outside of the formation.

Trusting Dave, we jumped off the plane and began to fly back to the dropzone. This was when I noticed something very bad. An airplane was on a collision course with our flock and I knew I was the only one seeing it. Everyone else was focused on maintaining their sight lines and not taking their eyes off of the person flying next to them. I was trying to think of how I was going to corral everyone else away from this plane not knowing what way it was going to fly past us. Having seconds to make a life or death decision I decided it was best to give the plane a little longer to make a turn away from us.

This unknown pilot must have sensed my urgency because at that moment he turned abruptly away from us and all was well. The jump was nearing completion and I was now thinking of my next task which was to go on the hunt for Mike, one of the fliers. While on the plane he threw a sweat soaked sock at my head and it was time for my revenge. It just so happened that I carried that sock on the jump in hopes of releasing it just under his face mid flight. He must have known I was coming for him because as soon as I looked in his direction he was high tailing it to the south. It was clear that I had no chance of catching him, so I let go of his sock and proceeded to deploy my parachute.

I now could finally get a good look at the shuttle as it was climbing out of our atmosphere. Maybe I should have stayed on the ground I would have had a better view. No, I wouldn’t miss an opportunity to fly my wingsuit any day. It was after all a Monday afternoon and most of the people in the world were working away, wishing they were somewhere else.

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