Skydiving is not for everyone.
Huddling in an empty can of an airplane dubbed “the flying toaster.”
Free-falling from 12,500 feet up.
Speeding towards the ground at 200 kilometres per hour.
These are things that your brain cannot comprehend as it’s happening to you for the first time. And this is certainly not a natural thing to be doing.
Your brain is screaming at you: “We really should NOT be doing this, you know!”
Yet, at the same time, the sight of the world around you from that high up with no obstructions is almost too unbelievable and beautiful to be true.
After the parachute opens and you are slowly closing in on the ground, you look at your feet dangling below you and see nothing but tiny specks that are buildings, vehicles and trees. They almost look miniature and yet within reach.
Perspective is thrown off and you lose all sense of scale.
All of this is just a day’s work for the military, and specifically for The Skyhawks, Canada’s only military parachute demonstration team.
For more than 40 years, the team has performed to some 75 million spectators around the world.
The Skyhawks are based out of Trenton, Ont., at the Canadian Army Advanced Warfare Centre where they train alongside other Canadian soldiers who use this skill to do their duty of defending our country wherever called upon.
I was fortunate enough to be invited to take part in this demonstration for the media by tandem jumping with the team.
They demonstrated how they prepared for the jump by physically working through scenarios as a group in a circle, which also served as a way to mentally prepare themselves for what was to come.
Everything they do -- between getting together on the tarmac prior to suiting up and finally packing their chute back up after the jump -- is meticulously executed in a particular order and manner.
It is the way of the military.
After we boarded the plane and it took off, we sat and discussed with our jumping partners how to join the parachute equipment together as a tandem unit.
We also went through every step on how to walk to the door, stand at the door and how to make that big leap of faith out of a perfectly good airplane.
And I would have to say the backflip we did out of the plane and into the air seemed a bit much, but that was the point. If you are going to do it, do it the most fun way possible.
We were free-falling for what seemed like less than 20 seconds, but covered a distance downward of approximately 4,500 feet.
When the chute cord is pulled, there is a shock like slamming on the brakes of a car and every sensation that you felt during the freefall is now instantly gone.
The rushing air in your mouth and ears is gone and replaced with silence and a wonderful feeling of floating.
The remainder of the descent was spent pulling the steering lines with the right and left hands, which made us turn suddenly and acrobatically in directions that seemed impossible to me.
At one point in these banking turns, we seemed sideways in the air. I never felt nervous of jumping or queasy up to this point, but I could sense that my brain was having no more of this and began communicating with my stomach about how to rebel against this.
Jonnie, the young man in control of our fate and with my life in his hands, thankfully calmed things back down after a few moments of that and my organs discontinued their mutiny.
From then on, we enjoyed the scenic views below and waited for the ground to get close enough to begin our landing procedure.
Coming in for a landing is a bit of a fun exercise. With the wind swirling we swung from side to side as Jonnie aimed for the exact spot where he was to land back at the Canadian Forces Base Borden airfield.
And within moments, I had my legs up and straight out as instructed and we gently slid onto the grass on our bums.
My brain and gut were overjoyed and being safely back on land, but my legs seemed to be confused as to what to do again as my brain tried to get a grip on walking on a hard surface once more.
There is a slight feeling of lightheadedness and a moment of wobbly legs, but all was right again shortly.
What an experience!
If you enjoy heights or flying in a plane or a helicopter then this is the natural next step for you.
And to be fortunate enough to try this with arguably the best team in the world, is something that I will never forget.
Be sure to check out the team as they perform this weekend at the CFB Borden airfield during the Canadian Armed Forces Day and Airshow.
Kevin Lamb is a freelance photographer with BarrieToday.
