English below.
Yup, sådan ser dén ud, her i en ørkenudgave, jeg fik lavet i Kabul International Airport i 2008. Vingen blev taget hos Paracentrum Texel i 2001 (ét spring i rund skærm) og 2002 (ni spring i firkantet skærm).
Se billede fra et af selve springene nedenfor.
I 2001 blæste det hele ugen, af hvilken grund mine to kolleger og jeg kun fik ét exit. Bittert nok, men året efter arrangerede daværende ROID (i dag HPRD) en bustur derned, og jeg fik mine resterende spring. De blev konverteret til firkantet skærm; 2001 var sidste år, inden Paracentrum udfasede den runde skærm og dermed den mandige fornøjelse i at falde hårdt og kontant til jorden!/Thorbjørn
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Yup, that's how the parachute wing used by the Dutch Defence looks like. I had this khaki version made by an Afghan tailor in KAIA in 2008. I did my "Dutch jumps" above the island of Texel in the summers of 2001 and 2002. Due to windy conditions in '01, I only got one jump in a week, but it was my first ever and it felt cool to do with a round canopy - old school military style! You have to complete five jumps before you earn the wing for your uniform, though, so in 2002 I returned and did nine jumps with square canopy (the round canopy course was phased out that year).
The 30 something pilot was a story in himself. Ski bum in winter, parachute bum in summer! He'd installed giant loudspeakers in the plane and played ONE track on repeat and really, really loud: "Bad Moon Rising" by CCR. When I hear that song today, my toes still tend to tingle ... It really is against all instincts of self-preservation to take that leap. 10 jumps is probably enough for me, as per the picture text in the left corner ;-)
A link to Bad Moon Rising.
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