On the morning of September 18, 2011, eight adventurers set out for
Whiteright, TX to do the unthinkable.  Jump out of a perfectly good plane
(if such a thing exists)

Beginning at 7 AM in the morning, we headed up to the local Skydive Dallas, where we
began our long tedious journey of paperwork that would allow us to jump.
Afterwards, we practiced and perfected our body placements for the jump, making
sure our backs were arched and our legs perfectly positioned.

One by one, we began to put on the ridiculous jump suits and met up with our
prospective jump guide.  Mine had already done over 1,000 jumps in his
life, so one more was just a walk in the park.  After getting teamed up
and taking some wicked pictures, we proceeded to the plane, where we were
flown over 12,000 feet up into the air and then told to jump.  Now, there
is nothing that goes against instinct more than jumping out of a plane, but
when you are attached to the hip (literally) of a professional, it becomes a
bit easier.

Once out of the plane, the noise is incredible.  Free falling at 120 mph really
puts things is prospective.  Then, after 60 seconds of free fall, there
was silence, as the parachute came out and the world was laid plain for me to
see.  There is really nothing like falling out of plane and looking around
for miles and miles without anything beneath your feet.  After 2
minutes of gliding gently to the ground, it was time to leave the sky behind
and come back down to planet earth.  Too bad I had to study that night for
a test the next day, because my head was in the clouds the rest of the weekend.

Jeremy Rechtien

Outdoor Adventures Trip Leader