The Skybytch first considered skydiving when she saw the Navy Leap Frogs do a demo jump into a local fair. She was about 14 years old and thought that it looked like an incredible amount of fun.
In 1987, the Skybytch and her boyfriend Tom went to he Reno National Air Races, where they saw an all-women demo team jump in. Tom and the Skybytch agreed that skydiving looked like an incredible amount of fun.
Some time later she saw Norman Kent's movie "Flight of the Dream Team". Her eye was caught by the 80 year old woman who did a tandem - hey if SHE can do it....
By January of 1990, Tom had found a drop zone within 40 miles of their home in San Simeon, Ca. He went out to "watch" the last Sunday in January and came home with a log book and a first jump certificate. The Skybytch was quite upset with him for not waiting for her.
The Skybytch made her first jump February 4, 1990 at Skydive Paso Robles, Ca. She had a choice between tandem and static line, but since Tom had done the s/l the previous week and given her the home study version of the FJC she chose static line.
She managed to make it through the course and soon found herself inches from a 3500 foot drop. Thinking "Damn you Tom!" the whole time, she hung from the wing and waited for her JM Gregg Powell to tell her to go.
After the normal blankout, the Skybytch realized that she had found her thing. Her first landing sucked, but when Paul Huston came over to help pick up the canopy and asked what she thought. she replied "You're sure this is legal? NOTHING this fun should be legal!!".
By the anniversary of her first jump, the Skybytch was a static line jumpmaster. She taught a bunch of FJC's and jm'd lots of static line jumps. The Skybytch picked up D-14633 and an instructor rating in 1992. she was working toward a senior riggers ticket when the DZO Al Stephens went in.
The DZ went through an ownership change and the Skybytch worked for the new DZO for a while.
The Skybytch picked up a Vector tandem rating in 1995. She did 114 tandems, then decided it was too much risk and resposibility for her. She would like to thank Bill Morrissey and Ted Strong for saving her and a passengers life. They got into a tandem side spin and the Skybytch was able to stop the spin because of information and techniques that Morrissey and Strong developed and distributed.
In September of 1996 the Skybytch acepted a position with Square One Parachute Sales and Service. She continues to work there today.
Due to a lack of money, the Skybytch currently has just over 800 jumps. She intends to increase that number exponentially once her son David is on his own and no longer eating her out of house and home.
The Skybytch enjoys relative work of all sizes, but her favorite dives are the bigger ones. After 6 years at a Cessna DZ, she really enjoys jumping at Perris and Elsinore where the Otters are going all day long every weekend. She is currently focused on improving her skills so she can be invited on some of the really big ways that her bosses Kate Cooper and Tony Domenico organize.
The Skybytch also enjoys solo and two way freeflying, although in her case it's more like freeflailing.
The Skybytch's gear - Fliteline Systems Reflex harness/container; Precisions Aerodynamics Raven Dash M 135 reserve; PD Spectre 150; Aviator freefly helmet (it works great for RW too!), Pro Track audible altimeter, Robnyk Sapphire altimeter, Air Time Design Pit Special RW suit (almost 9 years old and it still flies!) soon to be replaced by a FireFly RW suit, FireFly freefly suit; all in a Square One 2 pocket gear bag.
Get your own Free Home Page