Fifty years on this planet

I had an incredible birthday.  I ate breakfast with my wonderful family.  I did my chores and went to work.  My incredible bride allowed me to go to practice my profession.  I have worked on most of my birthdays.  

            Back in the day I did a water drop into Lake Moultrie, SC on my birthday.  We were working on CRRC (Combat Rubber Raiding Craft) para-drops. The rubber boat, called a Zodiac 470, is like the ones Jacques Cousteau used on his shows.  The particular method we were using was called a hard duck.  The fully inflated boat, loaded with the majority of our gear, was placed on a palette and the parachute attached via straps through the bottom of the palette.  We were dressed in our diving gear (did I mention it is December 18th?) because the water was cold. The jump procedures are a bit non-standard because we are following the duck out of the back of the C-130 rather than the normal method by the doors.  (The paratrooper paradigm = jumping out of an airplane = perfectly normal).  Dive fins on our feet add to the challenge of walking out of the aircraft.   

As we near the drop zone the load master opens the ramp and cold damp air rushes in and takes your breath away.  Or was it the view out the back?  As the slipstream of the aircraft curls the air behind the moisture is squeezed out making the wake turbulence visible.  Our jumpmaster issues the jump commands and soon we are standing next to the boat watching the drogue chute pull the main chute of the duck into the slipstream.  In the next few moments we witness an extraordinary trick where a boat is snatched out of a plane traveling about 130 knots.  Soon after clearing the aircraft the main chute catches air and violently decelerates the boat, the pallet and all the contents and it floats down to the lake.  As we waddle out the whole show is repeated except it is our body going through similar physics.  As you gain experience you learn that body positioning as you enter the slipstream is critical.  The feedback is visceral, immediate and intense.  Under canopy the crisp Carolina blue sky reflects off the lake's surface.  "Wow this is my job!"

The incredible scenery is the backdrop to intense concentration as we attempt to maneuver our steerable round parachute to land upwind of the boats.  These chutes are reliable and provide some forward drive but are not as maneuverable as the square ram-air parachutes.  Parachutes are awesome at slowing your fall.  In the water they work well at sailing for a moment but, when they get wet they are very effective at drowning young paratroopers so don't get caught up in it.  If you land down wind you probably not be able to reach the boat in a timely manner.  If automatic disconnect for the chute on the boat is not released it can capsize the boat, and destroy our equipment rendering us ineffective.  A skilled crew can land upwind, get dragged by their chute to the boat and begin de-rigging the boat post haste and be underway in moments. 

This year on my birthday I worked with an instrument student on his long cross country.  We flew to New Bern, NC and did the VOR4 to a touch and go followed by vectors to the ILS4.  We reviewed the lessons learned and then flew to Edenton, NC and executed the LOC19 to a touch and go followed by the published missed approach and then returned to our home base at Sanford and practiced the RNAV (GPS) 21 partial panel with a circle to land.  We flew 5 hours much of it night.  We learned a lot. 

I try to provide insights and help the pilot attach meaning to their perceptions.  Most times I merely point out observations provided by the circumstances.  Instrument flight is primarily a cerebral event because we try to fly the plane in a stable manner and keep our pitch and bank angles very mellow.  I like to say "There is nothing hard about instrument flying, only two or three hundred really easy things that will kill you if you don't do them right." Pilots and paratroopers have this in common; survival depends on two things, skilled performance and how much God is smiling on me today.  Disciplined practice, top notch equipment and inspirational teamwork can help keep us safe.  Our ultimate survival is also a matter of chance.  The story is that when you get your rating you have two cups.  One cup is full of luck.  The other is experience.  Try to fill up the one cup before the other is empty.  I have been incredibly lucky and survived errors that could have killed me.

I try to learn all the time.  Learning is fun!  Knowledge is power only if shared.  I am blessed to be able to do this as a profession.  Watching the next generation blossom into ever more incredibly skilled people inspires me.  At the end of the day I chatted with my good friends and peers over a cup of coffee and went home and had a wonderful meal with my family.  We watched movies and Alex played guitar.  The next day Bernadette and I hung out and muddled through our to-do list.  I love hanging out with that woman.  This week three of my students passed their checkride.

I have a great life.  In fifty years you should have attained some wisdom.  I wish I had been paying attention and taking notes much earlier in my life.  My pop taught me a few principles but very few rules; #1, tell the truth, #2, do the right thing, #3, pay attention.  They are hard to live up into.  Becoming grounded allows one to see things clearer.  As the winter solstice approaches I become more aware of the movement of the heavenly bodies and recognize how short my mortal life is.  What an AWESOME ride it has been so far!   Thank God for every second of this experience.