Free falling with the Canadian SkyHawks

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Megan Crusher
  • 452 AMW Public Affairs
MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, CALIF. --  While gathering opinions for The Beacon's Candid Comments section of the base paper, I ran into a gentleman named J.P. McCaan who told me he was with the Canadian SkyHawks. 

"Hmm ... Canadian SkyHawks? Sounds familiar," I thought. "I recognize the name but what do you do, exactly?" He said the Sky-Hawks perform canopy demonstrations and free fall performances throughout the world. 

Always alert for a great story, the idea of free falling from a plane for a living piqued my interest. 

JP introduced me to Lt. James Sebe, SkyHawks' public affairs officer, who is responsible for coordinating media coverage. 

"Wow! The SkyHawks would make a great story for The Beacon." Would you be willing to let me write a story about you?" I asked Lt. Sebe. 

Lt. Sebe was very accommodating and to my shock, he offered me a chance to try a tandem jump. I couldn't believe it. It had been many years since I had skydived and to get a chance to do it with a world renowned professional was thrilling! I didn't hesitate for a second and immediately jumped at the chance. 

Lt. Sebe offered a jump to anyone in the office as well. Two days and a couple of consent forms later, Valerie Palacios, March ARB's community relations chief, and I were on our way to Perris Air Field. 

Perris' size and fleet of planes make it one of the best air fields in the world for jumps. It is where first-rate parachutists train. 

With cameras and camcorders strapped to their helmets, two jumpers served as videographers to record the jumps. 

This was not just a story for the SkyHawks, but also a training session to see how they perform with someone strapped to them. After the jump, the instructors watched the footage with students to provide feedback on what was good, what was bad, and what adjustments to make in the future. 

For our jump and to calm any nerves, tandem master Corporal Sebastien Penard explained in detail the process and the mechanics of the canopies. 

There are two canopies: the main and the reserve. The main canopy has a drogue that deploys as soon as we jump and its purpose is to slow us down for free fall. The average speed with the drogue deployed is 120 miles per hour. The drogue also helps the jumpers maintain stability in the air, before deploying the canopy. 

To deploy the main canopy, the tandem master has two golf balls on either side he can pull. The reserve chute is a little smaller than the main, but will perform the same function. There is an additional safety feature called Cyprus. 

In case something happens and the canopy hasn't deployed by 3,000 feet, Cyprus will cut away a pin so the reserve chute will open on its own. 

Corporal Penard and Captain Bellamy helped Valerie and me into our harnesses and jumpsuits. They went over the pre-donning checks and explained to us exactly what was going to happen. After explaining, they took us to a training mechanism that consists of the door and center part of a plane so that we could rehearse the jump. I was connected to Capt. Bellamy's chest, we kneeled at the edge of the door, I held my head back against his shoulder looking up and jumped out looking at the wing as we fell. 

When you're up in the plane on your way to the proper altitude to jump, a lot of things go through your mind...the what if's can plague a person. Fortunately the SkyHawks were smiling and relaxed, which had a very calming effect on me. 

You'd think kneeling at the edge of a plane more than 10 thousand feet up in the air would be frightening, but the interesting thing is you can't see the ground, so it wasn't scary for me. I kneeled on that ledge, looked down into oblivion and took that leap. 

Free-falling from a plane is an amazing experience; I felt like I was falling and floating at the same time. The floating feeling is due to the amount of air created while falling 120 miles per hour. It acts as a cushion, almost. 

The two cameramen jumped just after we did. One was right in my face and we waved and gave a thumbs up to each other. The second cameraman was off in the distance shooting the three of us. Free fall lasts for about 50 seconds, but while you're falling it's as if time stops and you're completely free. It's amazing. 

Then the canopy disperses. Once the chute opens, everything stops for a second, and because of the momentum you have going, it feels as if you fly upward superfast and then almost stop before the descent begins. Again, it's amazing. 

After the chute opens and we start heading back to solid ground, the aspect that struck me was the quiet. I've never heard such silence. And as we gently fell back to earth I felt like a feather gliding through the air. To have the freeing feeling of free fall and then the peaceful quiet of descent brings the whole experience full circle. 

I do want to mention one other thing, I've sky dived before and found the chute deploying part painful because of the jerk involved when the falling momentum is stopped, but with the padded harness the SkyHawks used, I was pleasantly surprised at how painless the whole thing was. That included our landing which we did on our bottoms. I expected it to be somewhat rough, but instead it was more like a glide and slide. 

Two days later, the SkyHawks gave Valerie and I videos of our jump. I was and still am completely impressed with the professionalism and expertise the SkyHawks embody. 

I am grateful to have had the experience of skydiving with such an elite and talented team. Thank you SkyHawks.