Just to recap..
THE PLANES ENGINE HAD JUST CAUGHT ON FIRE, so after putting it out and the plane starting successfuly (minus the fire this time), the instructor assured me all was fine, and if it caught on fire again we where fine because we had a parachute.
It took about 20minutes for us to pass above the clouds and get to the right altitude, i was supprisingly calm and had totally forgotten about the whole engine catching fire thing. When the instructor tapped me on the shoulder as a signal to kneel so he could hook himself on to me my heart began to race. It was really surreal looking out the back window of the plane, with the snow capped andes not far off into the distance, getting blasted with cold air, kneeling 30cm from the edge of a doorless aeroplane.
We shuffled backwards and i clumsily pulled my legs out of the plane. Now for the scariest bit where i let go and he lowers me down so im no longer sitting on anything and hes supporting all of my wieght by holding onto the door frame. The only thing between me and the ground is alot of sky and 4 metal clips... he then tells me that all i need to do is relax and remember to keep my legs together, and not to pull the ejection cord because thats his job. I cross my arms across my chest and without warning we spiral out of the plane.
AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!
My face feels like ive had 20 botox sessions at one time its pulled back so tight and i can feel my cheeks wobbling and it sounds lkike im stuck inside a hurricane, i open my arms... i begin to flail like ive never flailed before. The clouds are coming up at us sooooo fast and everything is so overwhelming i cant even think. He pulls the chute and with lots of noise and a huge jolt it feels like we pretty much totally stopped mid-air and everything goes silent and we start to glide through a huge cloud... they dont taste like fairy-floss, trust me. As we come out the other side he tells me to grab the steering cable things and we practice the landing. I was amazed how manouverable the sail was, pulling both cords down we could pretty much stop dead in the sky, and pulling one we could spin around on the spot. We had a bit of trouble locating the DROPZONE at first and spent a while flailing around looking for it in between the huge patches of wineries and little patches of really poor housing.
The landing was a total success and i remained sitting on my bum in the grass for a bit as i dwelled on what i had just done. I was still a bit shaky and my heart was still pumping for atleast 10 minutes after as i took my jumpsuit off and handed it to macca.
The rest of the day was spent sitting around on the grass and watching the other three do thier thing.
