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I Did It! Arturo Bartolomé Asín from Spain Photo from Arturo Bartolomé Asín I said to myself, "Relax, Arturo, the worst stage is over." I was at 4.000 feet. I could see the airport, and the place where I had to land. I tested my parachute, and it worked perfectly. Photo from Arturo Bartolomé Asín When I arrived on the ground, I grinned. I had done it. Photo from Arturo Bartolomé Asín Arturo and his friend Yucel after the jump.   I don't know why I did it. While the airplane was climbing, I was asking myself a lot of questions. For example, what would my parents think of me if the parachute didn't work, or who would come to the United States to pick up my stuff? Suddenly, the master jumper asked me if I remembered all the procedures. I said, "mmmmm, yes… I do, hold on, what was the third step?" Shoot, I didn't remember anything. He looked at me, and he told me, "Don't worry, we'll be with you." Then, I looked at my altimeter. We were at 10,000 feet. I only had two minutes to turn back. At that moment, I thought about my favorite saying "Alea Jacta Est" (There is no turning back.) I looked at the door, and I realized that the light had switched to green. "Are you ready?," the jump master asked me "Yes, I am," I answered him. We walked to the door. There were two jump masters who jumped with me. One was on my left, and the other was on my right. I followed all the steps, and then we jumped. I was flying! I looked at my jump masters. They were with me, and they were smiling. "So far so good," I thought. I relaxed, and I did all the procedures. I had to wait until I was at 6.000 feet to pull the cord. Things were working without problems. There was no noise except the sound of the wind. I was descending at 120 mph in 55 seconds of freefall. Then, I looked at my altimeter. It was at 6.000 feet. I made the "five-five" signal with my hands by flashing that number with my fingers, and I pulled the cord with my right hand. 1001, 1002, 1003, 1004, I almost stopped in the air. The harness was holding me. I looked at my parachute and (Oh my god!) saw that the cords were twisted (Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!), but I yanked them taut above my head, and (aahhhhhhhhh) it straightened. I said to myself, "Relax, Arturo, the worst stage is over." I was at 4.000 feet. I could see the airport, and the place where I had to land. I tested my parachute, and it worked perfectly. I turned to the right, and I turned to the left inbound to the airport. It was ok. I was going to land in four minutes. When I arrived on the ground, I grinned. I had done it. Return to: Meeting People | Home Page TOPICS Online Magazine - ©1997-2007 topics.mag@gmail.com Published by Sandy and Thomas Peters