Sebastian skydiving instructor Uwe Von Dewitz has jumped more than 11,000 times in the past 11 years. Here, he's seen in a "tandem jump" with a novice skydiver. Training for a tandem jump takes four to six hours of instruction on the ground.
Whenever I hear the word “diving” I get excited. It makes me want to slide a mask over my eyes, pop a regulator into my mouth and throw myself over the side of a boat. But for Uwe Von Dewitz, “diving” has a completely different meaning.
Originally from South Africa with a German heritage, Uwe serves as the safety and training adviser for Skydive Sebastian, a skydiving outfit that has been operating out of the Sebastian Airport since the mid-’90s. With more than 11,000 jumps over the past 11 years, Uwe’s dives are a lot deeper than the 80-foot plunges I’m used to.
When I arrive at the airport to meet Uwe, I am told that he has just boarded a plane and would be “down in a few minutes.” So I walk out to the tarmac and watch as a large purple plane named “Free Fall” rolls down the runway. About 20 minutes later, I stare into the sky as more than a dozen tiny, colorful dots begin to grow larger and larger. The parachutes open and one by one the skydivers begin to make landfall.
Read the entire article in the September 2007 issue
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