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112 way prep dives
It's our first day of actually jumping out of the RTAF Hercs. We have six on the field, and they're fantastic. Although many of us have done this before--loading the Hercs, sorting out the oxygen, setting up for exit on the right cues--some are new. We spent today learning to work together, the jumpers, the aircrew, the ground support. The size of the operation is overwhelming.
The sun came up early, and we stood ready to load the busses at 7:30, six in all from the two hotels. We left the town in a caravan with police escort, with the people waving, smiling, and making gestures with their arms to signify skydiving. Banners along the route welcomed skydivers for the entire ten-minute drive.
The accommodations at Wing 23 fall nothing short of ideal. Spacious rooms for all the staff duties and debriefing, shade tents, food vendors, coffee stand with all types of espresso drinks, hot and cold, soft drinks, bins of free iced bottled water, massage, and lots of other amenities: golf, barber, some shops, and although we hope never to need it, a hospital.
The runway, built during the U.S.-Vietnam conflict, is 10,000 feet long, or approximately 3,000 meters, with clear landing area all along. We also may land on the runway and parallel taxiway. The airport is shared with several airlines making a few flights in and out each day, and the control tower keeps things clear during the jumps. Outs include a golf course on one side and clear fields on the other. Each of the ten sectors walked the kilometer or so to their landing areas and alternates before the first load.
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We dirt-dived the 400-way then broke into the preparation groups of 103, including the 70-way base, and 111 forming around the alpha team. The alpha team, or bench, consists of jumpers who are at least as qualified as the best jumpers scheduled in the 400-way. All have stood on the awards platform at a world formation skydiving meet. Alpha team captain Kirk Verner from Airspeed kept them warmed up and ready.
The first base had some problems on exit which they cleaned up on dive 2. The learning curve is very steep for all. Already by the second round of five C-130 loads, the talent of this team began to reveal itself.
We departed around sunset for a big parade with all six busses back to both hotels, had dinner and settled in for the night.
click here for today's video (16.5 MB) |
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© Photos by World Team Camera Team:
Hans Berggren, Willy Boeykens, Bruno Brokken, Gustavo Cabana, JC Colclasure, Dave Major, Gaby Meis, Craig O’Brien,
Will Pesek, Jason Peters, Daniel Ramsbott, Wendy Smith, Andrey Veselov, Gary Wainwright, Henny Wiggers, Saskia Zegwaard.
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