Khal's Golden Knight Photo Page

Colorado 14er's Welcome Khalida's Page Los Alamos Big Band

'Cuz I now have so many of them that they need their own page....

I am the one on the bottom - yes, the one flying the parachute UPSIDE DOWN.

Just having fun...

I really like this picture of me. Sure, I have the wind-blown floppy cheeks going on and everything, but it just seems to capture how I feel in the sky....

20 March, 2007, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

This was one of the coolest jumps so far, because of the view. You can see the U of A stadium, track fields, and "mall" - the thin strip of grass between the main campus building. If you look reeeeeaaaaalllly hard between those buildings you can spot our target.

April 3, 2007, Minute Maid Park, Houston Astros Game, Houston, TX

I'm not actually in this picture; I am behind the camera guy. But it is a cool picture, nonetheless. Yes, we all managed to land inside the stadium....

Fun With Parachutes: Biplane

Canopy Relative Work (CReW or CRW) is where two or more jumpers fly their parachutes right up to the other and grab each other. This particular formation is called the biplane. I fly my parachute into my partner's back. He reaches behind him and grabs the material, then wraps his feet around my lines and shimmies down until his feet hook on the material right above my head. We actually take this formation to about 10 feet off the ground, when he kicks his legs out from my lines and we both land within a few feet of each other.

Luke AFB again, but the next day (24 March)

"Stinging" a Tandem

This is me "stinging" a tandem in Yuma. That just means I flew up next to her and took hand grips. I am on the left (top), the tandem instructor is SFC Mike Elliott, the passenger is Kara Swenson, and the other stinger is 1SG Galen Barker.

Chicago Air and Water Show 2008

Night jump! We are wearing pyrotechnics much like fireworks on brackets attached to our ankles so we look like meteors streaking through the sky.

Luke AFB, 23 March 2007

This is what we look like from below. I am top left.

More Houston Astros

Fun With Parachutes: Downplane

Once you have a biplane you can transition to the downplane, which is really exciting. The top jumper shimmies down the lines a bit more until the bottom jumper can reach up and grab his leg straps. Then the bottom jumper kicks his legs up and the top jumper catches them. The bottom jumper lets go of the leg straps and pulls down on either her left or right steering line. This separates the parachutes and causes them both to face downward - straight at the ground. We hold this, plummeting earthward at up to 60 mph until about 300 feet before breaking apart and landing separately. I love this move. It is awesome.

8-way with the 82d Airborne Division Freefall Team

Joint jump with the Golden Knights and 82d Airborne Division Freefall Team. In this picture I am in black top right (you can't see my face!). The other three in black are members of the 82d team.