Debbie: Skydiving
In the summer of 1986, one of my coworkers at Intran Corporation posted a flyer advertising the opportunity to learn to skydive. I signed up immediately. It led to a wonderful summer of skydiving, starting with static line jumps and ending with formations at 10,000 feet. I met some really fun people and had a great time hanging out at the drop zone in Baldwin, Wisconsin. I moved to Texas the next spring, then had children a few years later, so my skydiving days are behind me. Every once in a while, the opportunity to hang glide or bungy jump comes along, and the daredevil in me resurfaces. After years of storing my skydiving memorabilia on a shelf, I thought it was time to get it out and relive the glory days online.
This was before one of my first jumps. Notice that there is no door on the airplane. When I made my first static line jump, I had to climb out onto the strut of a moving plane and hang on. After that, letting go was a piece of cake.
This shot gives you an idea of the Wisconsin farmland that we landed in and the joy I got from each jump.
Here I am under canopy wearing my excellent purple custom jumpsuit.
Here is my first sky diver's log, documenting jumps 1 through 16.
Here is my second sky diver's log, documenting jumps 17 through 20. I was just starting to do formations when the cold Minnesota weather ended my summer of skydiving.
Yeah, I even learned how to pack a parachute.
Copyright © Deborah Schilling/Thomas Bundy