About 8 years ago or so, I turned 50 and decided it was time for a solo skydive. And, just for the record, I jumped from 13,000 feet ... not 30,000 feet, though the lack of oxygen at that altitude would have made a great excuse for not pulling the rip cord. More about the altitude in a moment. First ...
Funny thing about "jump" suits, they catch a lot of air as you plummet during free fall. In my case, the rush of air caused the seat of my jump suit to inflate like a balloon. As you can see in the video, I had trouble finding the rip cord to my parachute because it felt to me as if the seat of my jump suit was the bottom of the parachute.
Naturally, as you also can see in the video, one of my jump instructors fervently tried to place my hand in the correct spot. I guess my head wasn't in a good place because I didn't recognize that my instructor was repeatedly trying to help me pull the rip cord.
Fast forward to last month when I took over the reins as publisher at Cutting Tool Engineering magazine ...
As the editors were putting the finishing touches on the July 2018 issue, one of them had a question about my first editorial (Lead Angle) as the new publisher. After reading through my Lead Angle recounting my solo skydiving effort, one of the editors asked if I really jumped out of a propeller plane at 30,000 feet? Without hesitation, I said yes. I wouldn't make up a story about going skydiving.
Of course, I didn't recognize my editor's attempt to help me correct the altitude mentioned in the Lead Angle.
If I have a point, it's simply that I have to do a better job recognizing when people try to help me.
Related Glossary Terms
- lead angle
lead angle
Angle between the side-cutting edge and the projected side of the tool shank or holder, which leads the cutting tool into the workpiece.
