HGFA Skysailor Magazine

SKY SAILOR 17 January | February 2019 Bam! “Hi, now we will be serving you your first ever real stall, we will be reflecting on all your training and the amazing folk that have spent countless hours drilling this in to you.” Boom! Wing is gone again, a little too harsh and rushed, “Let it up slowly next time, like we told you, but here, have another frontal to go with that cravatte and take some time to think about it, as you fall back through slack lines again.” Now spinning on my back, I hear a voice telling me, “All the way down, pause, back off a little, hold it there and then slowly release, ready to catch the surge as it shoots in front.” “Hi, nowwe’re going to serve mains, which continues on the theme of cravatte, but introduces a full twist.” Roll the body and don’t let the twists take hold. We’re losing height, time is running out. One last attempt before the red SQR steps into the light. Catch up to the twist, hands up, stall again! Sshhh, like waves braking against the shore. “Welcome to stable flight, we will be finishing you off today with a maintainable heading and reduced cravatte that can be tenderly worked out with a tap and a pop of the brake. I trust you enjoyed dining with us today and that everything was to your liking?” Yes, fantastic, thank you. Back into normal flight, low but above the cut-off. Pain enters my body, my back aches and my jaw is in spasm as I realise which muscles have just been thrashed. I head back to the front of the hill where a lone pilot is climbing in weak lift, having just watched the show. Joining him in his thermal he shouts out, “That was pretty bad mate, are you alright? I think we should go and land!” I climb for a little longer as my body begins to shake and I say to myself, “Holy sh*t, that was intense.” A quick tour of the valley to wash off height sees me in the landing field where the attention is fixated on a pilot who was hurt whilst landing. I sneak in to realise my event has largely gone unnoticed due to the distraction. My fiancée has already landed, she waves and I rush over to give her a hug. I’ve decided to share this experience in the hope that it will emphasise the importance of clear thought processing in times that could so easily lead to the clouded panic caused by sensory overload. The words of my skydiving instructor in the late ’90s ring true in my head, as I repeat his favourite saying, “Just remember folks, it’s not how you f##k it. it’s how you fix it that counts. We all make mistakes, but it is what you make of the mistake, that sorts us apart.” In Hindsight I began flying at the age of 16 and I love it. I have around 400 PG hours and 400 HG hours. I also have around 3000 skydives and have lived a 38-year life committed to adventure sports from the age of a child. I am human and far from perfect. I make mistakes and I learn from them every single day. Whilst I feel I did well to get out of this situation, there’re several things I could have done better. Both to prevent the incident from occurring and to have resolved the situation sooner. I’ll leave this here for a topic of discussion, as I’m sure there’re numerous suggestions and possibilities. If you see me on the hill, by all means, please come say hello and let me know your thoughts. Safe flights.