When I woke up this morning, it was dark and drizzling outside. Before we went to bed, Matt was starting to get sick so I didn't bother to wake him up. If there was a big beautiful blue sky, I might have tried, but not with a forecast of 100% chance of rain for most of the day. Even though I wasn't sick, I really wanted to go back to bed! Ugh! Why does Safety Day start so early even when it's raining? I got a quick shower, packed the car and set out for VSC.
I got to the DZ right around 8:30 and I ended up with one of the last parking spots. I couldn't believe how many cars were there. People were gathering in the heated airport classroom. It was a nice change from being in a cold hangar, but when I saw the number of people in the small class room, I started to get stressed out. I grabbed a seat near the back of the room right next to the exit door. I felt a little strange without Matt, but was quickly put to ease when my friends, Terry & Dania showed up.
The day started with the presentation of the Ches Judy Award. This year's award went to Tim Dillingham, an AFF Instructor & Coach from VSC. Next up, the fatalities report for 2014 - 24 / 3,200,000 skydives - That's only 1 per 133,333 skydives! To understand these numbers, we can look back to prior years. According to the USPA, there were approximately 3.65 fatalities per thousand USPA members in the 1960's. In 2014, that number dropped to 0.65 fatalities per thousand USPA members. With the development of better equipment and training techniques, the risk for injury and death has decreased.
A number of other topics were covered:
- Gear Inspection / Maintenance
- Canopy Control / Collisions
- When to Call 911 (with a visit from the Life Flight crew)
- Freefly Safety
- Aircraft Safety
The aircraft safety portion was one of the most interesting Safety Day seminars that I have attended. The presentation was made by the pilot. He explained the basics of airplane flight and gave me a better understanding of the importance of weight and balance on the plane.
Once the seminars were over, everyone headed over to the hangar to run through the hanging harness. Since it was raining, I decided to leave early with plans to return tomorrow - hoping the field is dry and we can skydive! Dania, Diyva, Joanna, and I grabbed sandwiches from Demolition Coffee in Petersburg. It was yummy and I will definitely go back!
