Picture This

Memorial Day weekend, 2002: I made my first tandem skydive with Bay Area Skydiving in Byron, California. The jump was made from a King Air at 14,000 feet.

Note: Clicking on a picture will open a full-size version in a new window.

Suiting up and getting strapped into my harness by instructor Vic	Heading out to the plane	Our ride up to 14,000 ft
Instructors Vic and Connie with Susan and me before takeoff	Passing the point of no return	A last moment of peace before we hurl ourselves out of the plane
Terminal velocity of 120 mph is reached within a few seconds	Freefall lasts roughly one minute	The thing you notice most in freefall: wind. Lots of it.
Headed straight down toward our drop zone, Byron Airport	The main chute deploys at 5,000 ft above ground	Coming in for the landing
The dive glides to a smooth stop	Celebrating a successful dive with instructor Vic	Now back to studying!!