High Flight

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long delirious, burning blue,
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew -
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untresspassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.
Pilot Officer Gillespie Magee
No 412 squadron, RCAF
Killed 11 December 1941

Ok... so we are not WW2 pilots, and did not do aerial acrobatics! But this was exciting enough. These are shots of us ... Azlin, Sara, Daniel and Benoit going over the edge, i.e. tandem skydiving in Umm Al Quwain. What an experience! The jump was from 10,000 feet, had a crazy freefall for about 15 seconds at 120 miles per hour, and then the parachute was released and the rest of the descent was slow and steady. May not be for the faint hearted, but this is definitely fun! Sky diving is said to be safer than bungee jumping ... hmmm.

Click on the thumbnails for a larger view.

These photos were taken by the resident photographer at the UAQ Aeroclub.