By Kelley Kirk-Swindell

The Daily Reflector

"I'm fine, not nervous," Jimmy Johnson says as he waits patiently at Tradewind Sky Sports after just 20 minutes of instructions.

That's all the training he needs to jump out of an airplane at more that 10,000 feet. He's about to take his first tandem —where he's attached to the instructor— skydive in Washington, N.C.

Tradewind opened about five months ago and is the only drop zone — a location that offers skydiving — east of Raleigh.

There are about 15 people at the drop zone just after noon July 28; a mix of skydivers and spectators have congregated for an all-day party that includes a whole roasted pig, jumps and camaraderie.

Seasoned skydivers share stories of their crazy adventures while the uninitiated listen intently and smile or laugh. Everyone is welcomed and accepted.

With the arms of Johnson's navy blue and day-glo yellow jumpsuit tied around his waist, he scarfs down most of a Snickers before handing the unfinished candy bar to a friend.

"I'm just ready to go. I've talked about this all week at work," the 22-year old says.

Then Tradewind's general manager and jumpmaster John Hayes says it's time to get ready for Johnson's inaugural jump. He chugs a small bottle of water in the 90-degree heat.

Johnson is sweating, but so is everyone else.

Before getting into the four-passenger Cessna 182 airplane, Hayes straps Johnson into a tandem harness .

"It's the preferred way of doing a first jump," Hayes said. "Once you get down, you know if it's something you want to do."

Instructions are repeated as the necessary equipment is placed on Johnson. He nods with each direction.

"Don't take anything off unless I tell you to," Hayes says as he slides the altimeter, which indicates the altitude during the jump, on Johnson's wrist.

With goggles in hand, and tightly, but comfortably, strapped in his harness, Johnson's ready to go. Hayes dons the parachute the two men will share during the jump and they head to the plane.

Johnson, Hayes, videographer Eugene Karelov and Daily Reflector photographer Jenni Farrow position themselves inside the small plane for an ascent to 11,000 feet. It's a tight fit, but everyone is in. The passengers give pilot David Buda the thumbs up and they taxi toward the runway.

A quarter of an hour passes as the plane climbs into the sky. The Cessna can be heard but not seen. Then, guiding himself between the late summer clouds, Karelov approaches the ground under a white, black and red parachute. Within seconds, Hayes and Johnson come into view beneath a white and rainbow-colored canopy.

"Arms up," Hayes says. "Feet up."

Johnson and Hayes come in for their landing with their feet outstretched, sliding along the thick grass. Johnson is grinning from ear to ear.

Karelov, who describes himself as "the Russian-American Redneck," hoots and hollers, celebrating Johnson's first skydive.

"That was awesome," Johnson says while he's still seated on the ground. "I'll be going again."

Getting hooked on the sport of skydiving is just that simple, according to Hayes.

He's been skydiving for 15 years and made more than 4,000 jumps.

Like Johnson, Hayes was 22 when he went skydiving for the first time.

"I had seen the movie 'Point Break.' The skydiving scene inspired me to give it a try," he said. "It kept eating away at me and eating away at me. I just knew I had to do it."

Hayes convinced his cousin to go with him to a drop zone in Raeford near Fort Bragg, and even paid for his jump.

"He never jumped again," Hayes said. "It's not for everybody. You're either gonna like it or hate it. There is no in between."

Hayes loved it so much that he proceeded to obtain his instructor rating.

In 2001, he and his wife, Kellie Hayes, opened their own skydiving school in Parkton, near Fayetteville.

For five years, Hayes ran a school that not only offered recreational skydivers a place to jump, but also contracted with the U.S. Government's Department of Defense to train military personnel in skydiving.

"I did training for the Special Warfare Training Group," he said. "They needed military to be trained for Iraq."

His school also contracted with the Fort Bragg Sport Parachute Activity for the full five years that Hayes owned the school.

In addition to operating his school, Hayes is the Mid-Atlantic tandem instructor for Strong Enterprises, the company that makes the brand of tandem parachutes Hayes perfers to use.

Hayes was originally hired by Thomas Dolder, owner of Tradewind Aviations, as a flight instructor in New Bern.

"I was hired on because of my skydiving experience," Hayes said. "From day one my job was to run the skydiving school that he was going to open."

He's been with Tradewind for about a year, even though the skydiving school has only been open for about five months.

So far, most of the more than 200 jumps at Tradewind have been members of the military.

"Majority have been Marines from Cherry Point," Hayes said. "They found us on the Internet and made a reservation."

Hayes says that while there is risk involved with the sport, injuries and fatalities today are mostly from misusing the equipment.

"Today it's user error," Hayes said. "Like people flying into each other."

Johnson will have the opportunity to learn how to safely parachute since he's decided to go skydiving again. He's going to pursue his USPA certification.

"I'm going again next Saturday," he said "I'm doing another tandem. Then I can do my first solo."

Rules and regulations

The Federal Aviation Administration establishes rules that regulate skydiving aircrafts and crew members. The agnecy also oversees parachute manufacturing standards, parachute technicians — known as FAA riggers — and the packing of reserve parachutes.

The FAA also regulates the distance that both skydivers and planes must maintain from the clouds.

"Not allowed to fly through clouds," said John Hayes, general manager at Tradewind Sky Sports in Washington, N.C. "We have to fly around the clouds."

The United States Parachute Association, a voluntary, nonprofit organization, rates the safety of skydiving schools.

A USPA-member skydiving school — like Tradewind — has pledged to follow USPA "Basic Safety Requirements," including training only by USPA-rated instructors and using USPA-required equipment.

Additionaly, the USPA interacts with federal, state and local government officials, including those of the FAA, the Transportation Security Administration, the U.S. Congress, state transportation departments and state legislators. USPA monitors and evaluates new legislation to assess the possible impact on skydiving.

To become a USPA certified skydiver, for example, there are several different training methods including static line and accelerated free fall. Accerlated free fall is method that Tradewind uses.

"It provides the best hands-on training to become a certified skydiver," Hayes said. "Essentially you are free-falling from altitude from the very beginning. You are a more experienced skydiver at the end."

Unlike a tandem jump, during a free-fall skydive, the instructor may be present, but not harnessed to the skydiver.

"The instructor holds onto you during the fall and you communicate through hand signals," Hayes said. "Then we talk you down with a radio."

Certification courses can cost about $1,700. But after you receive your certification, skydiving costs approximately $20 per jump, if you have your own equipment. Many drop zones have equipment available for rent.

And once you become a USPA certified skydiving, you can jump from any USPA-member drop zones throughout the United States.

— Kelley Kirk-Swindell

Contact features writer Kelley Kirk-Swindell at 329-9596 or kkirkswindell@coxnc.com.