When I got up, the sun was not shining. I wasn't sure how the day would turn out, but the weather forecast looked promising. Since there were morning clouds, I let Matt sleep late. I got my shower and came back to wake him up at 9:15. We checked the weather again. Things were supposed to clear up at VSC around 11:00 AM. The weather for Orange was less promising.  VSC it is!

After Matt's shower, we headed over to VSC - it's only 45 minutes from our house. When we arrived, load two was boarding - we hadn't missed much of the day. We got our things organized and manifested for low passes. Matt wanted to check out the openings with his new semi-stowless D-bag. Since the King Air only takes 12 minutes to get to altitude, it wasn't long before we were on the plane.

On our first jump of the day, Matt left the plane before me. He was pulling a little higher than me, so I ended up landing first. This rarely happens! Under canopy, I could see the puddles of water reflecting light. They were hard to avoid. Fortunately, I didn't land in them, but I had to be careful to make sure my canopy didn't fall on top of one.

Matt made sure to land next to me so I could video his landing! He's got a bunch of mine, but I have very few of his. He wasn't paying attention to the puddles and managed to land right in the mud. I got this shot of him trying to keep his canopy up so it wouldn't fall in the mud. 

As soon as he had the canopy down in a dry spot, I asked him about his opening. He said he opened with one line twist. He wasn't sure what caused the problem. We went back to the hangar, packed our rigs, and manifested for another load. This time, I told him I'd leave the plane first.  

As I left the plane, Matt watched!  I grabbed this cool shot off my video camera. My canopy opened just like always - on heading and super slow! Once I checked it out, I headed back toward the drop zone.  As I got closer, I could hear the Medivac helicopter.  I altered my pattern so that I would be flying as far away from it as possible.  During safety day, they discussed their normal flight plan.   I was very happy with my new landing area - no puddles!  Matt followed my pattern and commented on my good thinking.

I asked about his second opening - one line twist again.  I suggested that it could be a result of not going to terminal before he deployed.  We decided that he'd leave first on our third jump and take it down before pulling.

With a semi-stowless D-Bag, his packing seems so much faster than mine. He already had the packing advantage - his canopy is only a 135! I'm going to need to step up my packing pace if I want to keep up with him! The loads were turning and we were back on the plane again in no time at all.

It's amazing how fast the King Air gets to 5K!  There is just enough time to get ready.  I love it! I watched as Matt left the plane and followed behind him.  He set our landing pattern for the regular field, but I decided to land in the dry spot instead.  Three jumps - three beautiful landings.  This time, Matt only had 1/2 a line twist.

After we packed our rigs, we discussed our options.  It was only 3:30.  We could be home by 4:30, make a nice dinner, and watch a movie or we could hang out with the group.  A number of people had asked us if we were coming over the the camp grounds.  Since it was still chilly outside, we decided to call it a day and head home.   I stopped by manifest to pay for our jumps - six low passes - $108.00.  Not bad :)