Flying Free 🦅

Final year,
Of university,
Army training,
With OTC,

Sergeant Major,
Has an idea—
Who wants to come parachuting?
Definitely me!

Salisbury plain,
April 2009,
Static-line solo jump,
—That’s the plan;

A day of training,
It begins…
With a bit of teaching,
Explaining theory;

Next, harness training,
Suspended by bungees,
Hanging indignantly,
To practice steering;

Now listen up!
Reserve-chute procedure,
…Should you need it,
If things are looking dire;

Now, for landing,
Let’s practice flaring,
At twenty feet,
Don’t dare mess up!

Done with that,
Now watch this closely…
—This how we roll,
And avoid breaking bones;

Lastly, of all,
The pretend fuselage,
Standing at the hole,
Playing theatrical roles…

One-one-thousand,
Two-one-thousand,
Three-one-thousand,
Four-one-thousand,
—Check canopy!
—Can I steer?
—Do I have control?

One-one-thousand,
Two-one-thousand…
Over and over again,
A fascinating day!

Come to evening,
Will we jump today?
We’d brought our tents,
Just in case,

But the weather’s looking fine,
This warm Spring evening,
Sky is clear,
Not a breeze in the air;

Suited up,
We’re all lined up,
Why do I have to pee?
I’ve just been, this is silly!

Nevermind, this is normal,
Into the plane,
It begins to rumble…

Sitting in the back,
No windows to look out,
With six girls behind,
And five guys ahead,

Boom,
The door is opened,
Catch sight of the view,
And my nerves are…
Quietened;

Oh my god,
I know I’m doing this,
I long to be immersed,
In that endless view;

One by one,
We shuffle along,
As each guy in turn,
Disappears through that hole,

Oh my god,
This is so exciting,
I can’t put it off now,
As for me…they’re waiting!

Remember,
There are six girls watching,

As I practiced…
Sit down at the ledge,
One hand behind,
And one ahead;

Oh, god,
The wind’s tearing at my legs!
I feel so exposed,
Yet exhilarated;

Hanging onto a plane,
Resisting the pull,
As we soaring over,
Old Salisbury Plain;

ARE YOU READY?
Smile-for-the-camera,
YES!
…
GO!!!

F**k-I’m-doing-it-just-committed-myself,
Fully-committed-hold-body-position,
One-one-thousand,
Two-one-thousand…

Check, canopy!
That’s funny,
It’s not quite ready,
Maybe I looked too early…

Look away, man,
…Maybe now?
Ok, thank f**k for that!

Have beautiful canopy,
I can steer,
I’m in control…
There’s no one around,

Let the fun begin!

Looking down,
Holy cow…
Just my feet in mid-air,
Then five-thousand feet,
And then the ground…
Wow;

Check altimeter—

Looking fine,
Plenty to spare,
Let’s fly around,
Like a bird way up there;

Sun is low,
The air is warm,
All is calm…
Completely perfect;

Check altimeter—

A few to go,
Let’s spiral turn,
As they showed us,
But don’t go wild!

Stomach dropping out,
Corkscrewing down,
Simply wow,
But look at that altimeter—

Don’t want to waste,
All this precious height,
Absorb the sights,
Let’s do this right :D,

If I wasn’t screaming,
I’d be crying,
Just too exciting,
And beautiful at the same time,

Luxurious amounts of space around me,
In three dimensions,
Simulataneously;

“Green and purple canopy,
Please start turning back to the field!“

Oh wait— that’s me,

Check altimeter—

Ok, you have a point there,

Check landing arrow—
But it doesn’t matter,
The wind is zero,
Pick a direction…

Check altimeter—

400 feet,
Start the approach,
It’s looking fine,
I’ll easily make it,

But damn, this grass,
Looking so smooth,
It’s hard to judge,
Exactly my height;

Oh cool,
There’s Sergeant Major,
He’s got his camera,
And he gives me a measure;

He’s filming me,
For posterity,
As I come zooming in,
At a frightening speed;

12-20 feet, they’d said,
That’s when I should begin my flare,
But this is awfully fast,
Do I even dare?

Well I don’t want broken legs,
Just be patient,
Three Sergeants-Major—
Now pull down hard!

Swoosh,
Slowing right down,
Knees together,
Roll into the ground;

…Hairs are standing,
Everything’s stopped moving,
I get untangled,
And jump up whooping!

🌪