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"You use it in case your backpack doesn't open. (This very thought sends chills down my backside). Your main chute will be tied with a static line, it will open automatically. If it doesn't open, then you'll have to manually feed the silk out of your belly chute."
(I can see this in my imagination, and I have to admit that I was not altogether pleased with the picture that my mind was feeding me).
Mike then goes through "ground school." My idea of ground school was of Mike jumping off towers and learning how to land, fall and roll. Not so. Mike's ground school consisted of his mounting and dismounting the cabin step and Cessna wing strut.
(I guess "real men" don't have to spend much time practicing.)
We get into the airplane. The interior of the Skyhawk is less roomy than a Volkswagen Beatle. I sit on the far left hand corner of the airplane in the back seat directly behind the pilot. The "Expert" sky diver sits in the right front seat next to the missing door and my friend Mike sits in the back behind his "expert" friend.
We taxi down the runway, become airborne, and head for the "drop zone".
The right front seat is pushed as far forward as possible and Mike's static line is tied to the seats' base. We have an opening where a door should be and it's noisy. All that can be heard are the sounds of the airplanes engine and the roar of the wind as it blows through the open doorway.
We circle the drop zone and Mike proceeds out the door. I see him holding on to the front wing strut. The wind is blowing all around him. He hangs on, awaiting his friends signal to let go, and dive to glory.
I look down at Mike hanging on the wing, and I notice that the static line is wrapped around his leg. I immediately realize that if he lets go, instead of diving, he'll end up dangling like a pendulum, or blowing like an advertising banner behind the airplane.
There is almost too much noise to be heard, but I manage to convey the message to Mike's "expert" friend in the front seat.
"COME BACK IN!" yells Mike's friend.
"Jump now?" Yells Mike
"NO! COME IN" screams the man in the front seat.
"Jump now?" Yells Mike
We all yell: "NO! NO! COME BACK IN!"
Getting back in is not an easy thing. Mike has to enter rear first, and for some reason both he and his chute are now caught in the doorway. They seem wedged into the opening, and no one is sure why he's hung up. The front seat is as far forward as it can go and I am trying to help Mike become unstuck. (The thought occurs to me that we may have to land with Mike still wedged into the airplane doorway).
We all pull, and finally Mike tumbles backwards into the airplane.
The parachute pops.
We now have billowing silk spread throughout the inside of the airplane.
We gather up the silk, and the airplane goes back to the airfield and lands.
Mike is still determined to make his jump. He repacks his chute and we are once again airborne
Mike, goes out the door and hangs onto the wing strut.
He is given the high sign and jumps.
"Beautiful, beautiful!" exclaims Mike's "expert" friend.
We take the airplane up higher and Mike's "expert" friend jumps
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