Page 28 - Panama City Living Magazine

ADRENALINE
Altha, FL at Calhoun County Airport, Skydive Panama City now operates at the Tri County Airport in Bonifay after Hurricane Mi- chael destroyed the previous airfield.
When you think of describing a person that puts themselves in a dangerous situation for enjoyment, the description adrenaline junkies—people who are highly energized, generally with an am- plified affect—might come to mind. But I discovered a different world when, on a cloudy Saturday in February, I had the oppor- tunity to look over Tony and Jen’s shoulders and interview them and other Skydive Panama City staff.
When I first approached their hangar, I could hear a distant airplane engine above. Palpable excitement was in the air. The parking lot was crowded with cars. I noticed a few people milling about the area. I looked up, noticing several black specks high in the sky. One by one, colorful parachutes shot open as each jumper floated to a safe landing on the nearby airfield. To the skydivers, the airfield is known as the DZ, or “drop zone.”
Walking into the open hangar, the atmosphere was a mix of busy and focused, with music playing in the background. Small groups of people had formed, with some of the first-timers clearly stand- ing out with their nervous facial expressions. Several people were fastidiously tending to their gear, crouching on the floor and in- specting the lines and fabric of their canopies laid out on the floor in parallel to one another. I asked one of the instructors, Sean Coots, about the “parachutes.” With a knowing smile, he gently informed me, “In the skydiving community, we don’t actu- ally use the word ‘parachute,’ we use the word ‘canopy.’ So if you say ‘parachute,’ you stick out as a greenhorn.”
I discovered quickly that the people who associate with Skydive Panama City are a kind and hearty lot, instantly warm and wel- coming, a community of people sharing that love and thrill of their sport.
In the hangar there is a small area with a couch on which to kick back between jumps and a grill out back that serves to provide
28 • March—April 2020 • www.PanamaCityLiving.com
Skydive Panama City packer Mike Prindle and Destin-resident Jason Dodd