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.
