I was so focused on the ride down the runway that I was caught by surprise when the wingboard smoothly took flight. I wasn’t sure what I expected, but it was much more stable than I’d thought it would be. Both Don and Lou had warned me to not do anything until we reached cruising altitude. This first flight was all about safety and to make sure I felt comfortable. There were three more flights scheduled in which I’d get the chance to try different maneuvers.
I glanced over and saw the helicopter just off the side and behind me as it captured everything.
“We’ve reached altitude. Begin your first test maneuver,” the pilot told me over the radio.
I leaned to the right, and the wingboard gently began to drift to the right. When I straightened up, the wingboard corrected itself and came back in line with the plane.
“It feels rock solid, and it self-corrected,” I said.
“Good. Now execute the second maneuver.”
Since I rode the wingboard like I was on a snowboard, I had to lean back, and it went left. Over the next thirty minutes, I made moves that were progressively more aggressive. I was impressed that the wingboard didn’t seem to have any flaws. Everyone had been worried that because of my size, it might destabilize. Of course, they told me that after I landed. The fear was, because of my height, it might want to roll. It never gave me a moment’s worry.
Devin’s team gave me an hour’s break as they reviewed the film from the different cameras. Devin was about to jump out of his skin, he was so happy. I went into the hangar where they had some food set out and made myself a roast beef sandwich.
On the second flight, I still had concerns about the takeoff. The vibration about shook my teeth loose, but once we were in the air, everything felt solid. This time was more enjoyable because I now had confidence Lou hadn’t set out to kill me again.
There was just something about flying through the sky that got your blood pumping. I had the same joy I felt when I jumped out of a plane. I understood how astronauts felt when they had a completely different perspective of what the earth looked like from that far up. I had that same sense of awe but was closer to the ground. I was able to see for miles and miles.
Once we reached altitude, I began to have fun. I enjoyed going back and forth behind the plane as if I were waterskiing. I then tipped forward harder, and I found myself doing a barrel roll. I tipped back and did the same, but in the other direction. I wondered what would happen if I threw myself forward, like I did on the jet waterboard, to do a tight roll. Well! That was a mistake!
What Lou had worried about happened. I began to spin, and the rotations became quicker as I tucked to keep from being sent flying by the centrifugal force. Once it started, I wasn’t able to get it to stop. I don’t know if you have ever been rolled like that before. The closest thing I guess would be to put yourself into a tire and then let it go down a hill. A mild example would be to place your forehead on a bat and spin around it. Imagine that, but ten times faster.
Out of self-defense, I tried to stand up. My bootstraps gave way, and I was tossed from the wingboard. I began to tumble as I fell towards earth. I would have been okay, except I was disoriented as hell. I’ve seen the funny videos as people try to run after they take a spin with the bat. It was sometimes part of some team-building exercise that was intended to be funny. Let me say that it would have been funny if I hadn’t been hurtling towards the ground at an alarming rate.
There were ten different voices in my headset, all screaming instructions.
“All of you SHUT UP!” I heard Don, Range Sports’ jump specialist, yell.
Thankfully, everyone listened.
“David, put your arms and legs out so you will slow your tumble,” he said. “Do it NOW!”
I did as I was told and it seemed to help, but I still felt like I was going to throw up.
“Shit!” Don said.
That didn’t sound good. I closed my eyes, and that just made it worse, and I was suddenly sick. I wished I hadn’t eaten that roast beef sandwich now because it was now plastered all over the facemask of my helmet. That made me gag again.
“David, roll over and face the ground,” Don said.
That was when my altimeter alarm began to go off. I had entered the altitude zone where it was dangerous. I had to roll over and pull my chute now.
“David! David, do it now!” Don yelled.
I rolled over and pulled the cord. Because I was disoriented, it was hard to find the brake cords and pull them down. Somehow, I got down in one piece. As soon as I was on the ground, I ripped my helmet off. They found me on my hands and knees, dry-heaving. I finally rolled onto my back, and the world wouldn’t stop spinning. I just lay there and groaned.
A shadow blotted out the sun. I blinked and saw it was Brook.
“You about ready to go again?” she asked.
“Maybe in a minute.”
◊◊◊
It took several hours for me to feel anywhere close to normal. Someone had to hold my arm, or I would tip sideways until I wound up on the ground, moaning. Devin seemed a little jumpy when my mom was around. I thought she may have had words with him again.
When they played the video for me, I realized how close I’d come to dying. Brook told me I did twenty-eight rotations before I stood up and was flung from the wingboard. I’d curled up in a fetal position and began to drop like a tumbling rock. The helicopter followed my descent. My stomach was in my throat as I watched it play out on the video. When I finally spread my arms and legs, it helped stabilize my fall, but I was still on a collision course to the hereafter. I will always be indebted to Don. He talked me through it and saved my life.
Devin didn’t even hesitate when Kendal told him that she felt the ‘incident’ clause had been triggered. He immediately said he would authorize the check. Frank about wet himself with excitement, once he was sure I wouldn’t die. Frank explained this was a PR gold mine. Honestly, I just wanted to go home.
◊◊◊ Sunday October 25
When Duke and I went out to run, we found Precious outside. Duke was excited to see his friend again and seemed to sense she had been hurt. He had to check her all over. I was amused that the cat let him. Normally Duke would have gotten his nose swatted. I was glad to be able to run on my own today because there was a bunch of stuff that I needed to think about.
I set a relaxed pace because I felt like I might run further than usual today and didn’t need to stress Duke out. I had my weighted Bo staff so I would work my upper body while I ran. It helped me to build up my wrists and forearms. It also improved my grip, upper arms, and shoulders. The twisting strengthened my core. Cassidy even commented that it had helped with my quickness.
Duke settled in for our long run, and I dropped into my thinking zone. I basically blocked out everything around me, and it allowed me to concentrate. Something I realized was that my wish for excitement came with a price. Yesterday I might have really hurt myself. I had been lucky to only have been dizzy.
Bo had warned me that schools would worry I might end my football career if they knew some of what I’d been up to. I had more than just sports to think about. If I were to get more involved in movies and/or modeling, I would be accountable to more than just myself. Someday I planned to have a family and children. I owed it to them to be in the best shape I could be in.
Then I thought about the four girls that I’d been spending time with. In some ways, it felt like ‘been there, done that’ from my first year with Cindy, Beth, Suzanne, and Tracy. I had two thoughts: either I quit limiting whom I had sex with, or I simply lock one of them down. When the semester started, my objective was to forget about Tami and just have fun. Now I’d just gone to a dance and been jealous when I saw the girls with someone else.