Skydiving

[ffemt128]

We're scheduled for a tandem jump on June 27th. I can't wait...

 

[roger80465]

We're scheduled for a tandem jump on June 27th. I can't wait...

Wow. Don't know if it is worse to be behind me or below me in that situation, if you get my drift

 

[ibglowin]

Why in the world would anyone jump out of a perfectly good airplane is beyond me…….. LOL

 

[ffemt128]

Why in the world would anyone jump out of a perfectly good airplane is beyond me…….. LOL

You haven't seen the planes they take you up in.....been something I've wanted to do for many years.

 

[Boatboy24]

Why in the world would anyone jump out of a perfectly good airplane is beyond me…….. LOL

There is no such thing as a perfectly good airplane. By the way, most aircraft accidents occur during takeoff or landing. By jumping out mid flight, you are reducing your risk by 50%.

Have fun Doug!!! It's a blast. I spent a few years jumping in my twenties and absolutely loved it.

 

[JohnT]

Hey Doug,

Did you bequeath me any of your wine????

Seriously, have fun and come back to earth safe!

 

[Runningwolf]

99% of the fall is a breeze and safer then going down the highway. It's that reconnecting with the ground that's the hard part. Good luck buddy and have fun!!!

 

[Steve_M]

I flew for a skydiving operation called Atlanta Skydiving Center early 90's!
It was an exciting job to do. I did make one jump myself it was out of a DC-3 from 12,500' What a Rush!
You are going to love it.

Steve

 

[ffemt128]

We were rained out the weekend of June 27th and with everything going on so far the month of July, I finally got around to re-scheduling. This Saturday the weather is looking good, we're scheduled for a 9:00 arrival time to jump. There will be a cooler of Skeeter Pee waiting when we safely arrive on the ground...

 

[ffemt128]

Bucket List Item checked off...Jumped from 13,700 ft

 

[dralarms]

No freakin way, homer

 

[Boatboy24]

Congrats Doug!!

 

[ffemt128]

I ended up doing another tandem jump with my nieces last year. That was awesome and it was great to be able to share the experience with them.

This year I'll be taking the Assisted Free Fall class at Skydive PA. That is the class where after a day of training you jump with 2 instructors at your side but you control the free fall, pull the chute yourself and guide yourself to the ground. Looking forward to that. Safety Day is March 12. I'll be attending that so I can see what it's all about and then schedule my class.

 

[JohnT]

as a former pilot, i find it an all together unnatural act to toss oneself out of a perfectly good aircraft. congrat to you though.

 

[Boatboy24]

I ended up doing another tandem jump with my nieces last year. That was awesome and it was great to be able to share the experience with them.

This year I'll be taking the Assisted Free Fall class at Skydive PA. That is the class where after a day of training you jump with 2 instructors at your side but you control the free fall, pull the chute yourself and guide yourself to the ground. Looking forward to that. Safety Day is March 12. I'll be attending that so I can see what it's all about and then schedule my class.

Awesome stuff. I started with the AFF and loved it! By the 4th jump, was doing solo exits from the plane, with the instructor just following me out. I remember my first solo exit - body position wasn't quite right and I went right into a back flip. Was somehow able to immediately recover. I had that jump taped, and it looked like I meant to do it!! The back flip was always one of my favorite things to do in freefall.

 

[ffemt128]

Awesome stuff. I started with the AFF and loved it! By the 4th jump, was doing solo exits from the plane, with the instructor just following me out. I remember my first solo exit - body position wasn't quite right and I went right into a back flip. Was somehow able to immediately recover. I had that jump taped, and it looked like I meant to do it!! The back flip was always one of my favorite things to do in freefall.

That skydiving is an expensive hobby. We'll see how many jumps I do this year. I'm super psyched for it again.

 

[Mismost]

Back in the early 70's I was a "writer" for the high school newspaper and did a series of stories on what then were extreme sports...bull riding, dirt biking, water ski jumping, and sky diving. The best way write in an authentic "voice" according to my low paid Journalism teacher was to actually try these sports!

There was a little airport that had a sky diving school, for 75 bucks you got "lessons" and two static line jumps. I signed up. The lessons consisted of jumping off a low table onto a stinky old nasty mattress while yelling "bend the knees". We did that twice, it was a very thorough class! Then off we went into the blue skies over North Texas. I should mention that I was young, dumb, and at that immortal time in a boys life...I was freaking bullet-proof!

Still, as the little airplane climbed higher, I could not help but notice how rapidly my intelligence grew! I also noted a sever tightening in the bottom of my blue jeans. By the time we reached jump altitude, I was almost a genus and you could not have driven a sewing needle up my rectum with a ten pound sledge hammer.That's when peer pressure kicked in, knowing my two good friends were on the ground watching and waiting for my high altitude exit. I HAD to jump, even if it meant dying on impact because those guys would never let me forget it if I chickened out.

My friends said they could plainly hear my screams of terror right before the chute opened. They were also amazed at how quickly I became religious. They even commented on my fervent, loud, and sincere prayers of thanksgiving. I learned that day when we rise to unknown heights, we can often fall swiftly back into our old sinful ways. As ground was zooming up to meet me, I started inventing brand new cuss words!

Back in the early 70's, North Texas was still a wide open place. Literally thousands of soft plowed acres of land were beneath my feet. I suppose that's why I was startled to find two mesquite trees, a barbed wire fence, and a cactus patch located directly in my landing zone. Through sheer luck I avoided all of them and touched down, with bent knees, just short of prickly pear hell on earth. For a single glorious moment I was alive and safe! That was just before the wind grabbed the chute and pulled me into the cactus patch, the fence, and the mesquite trees. Band-aids were in very short supply that day.

As a side note, not long after that day, I joined the United States Army. I completed basic training at Fort Jackson South Carolina (and have zero desire to return to that little garden spot). Right after graduation, the Army Airborn Rangers came by to give us all a little pep talk and inform us of the joys of jumping out of airplanes while being shot at from the ground. I listened to every word that was said, intently I might add. The Sargent asked if we had any questions, I had but one..."can you make us do this?" No, it is all volunteer. That very tight feeling in the bottom of fatigue pants began to ease. I did not volunteer.

Somewhere, in the mounds of crap I have collected over my lifespan, is a wooden cigar box. Inside that old wooden cigar box are special bits of memorabilia, all of them the bad memories. There are two divorce decrees, now numerous obituary notices of long passed friends, the gas cap to a '67 Camero SS (wish I had never sold that car), and a old time yellowed piece of paper. On that paper is an I.O.U. signed by some guy named Robert (last name is illegible and most certainly illegitimate) that promises "the second jump of our two jump program". Most folks would have long ago thrown that out as trash. It is not trash. It reminds me of a time when I was young and absolutely bullet proof. A very special freeing that flew away into that blue sky over a plowed North Texas field. A reminder of the day I became a mere mortal man, certain to die at yet unknown date.

To bring an end to this long story of my youth, some day you may jump out of an airplane. Looking down, you may see an old guy smiling and taking your picture. Know that man could be me, with my feet thankfully attached to solid earth!

 

[Boatboy24]

That skydiving is an expensive hobby. We'll see how many jumps I do this year. I'm super psyched for it again.

Once you get past your training (back when I did it, it was 7 successful free fall jumps), it gets relatively cheap. IIRC, I could jump, using their gear that they'd pack and it was under $25. Might have been under $20. And if all you needed was 'a ride up', it was less than that. Took me over 2 years to get there. In the subsequent 2 years, I did almost 20 more jumps.

 

[Dugger]

Congrats Doug. It can be intoxicating. I did a jump a number of years ago with my daughter and son and thoroughly enjoyed it - I was amazed at the absolute silence you experience as you float down. My daughter went on to paragliding after that (and has been the Canadian national womens' champion for a number of years) and last year when I visited her in BC, I did a tamdem paraglide and that was simply an incredible experience as we flew around the Fraser River valley for a half hour. So if you ever get a chance to do paragliding, I say definitely go for it.

 

[sour_grapes]

Back in the early 70's I was a "writer" for the high school newspaper and did a series of stories on what then were extreme sports...bull riding, dirt biking, water ski jumping, and sky diving. The best way write in an authentic "voice" according to my low paid Journalism teacher was to actually try these sports!

Thanks for that, Mismost!

My experience was somewhat different, although I was also at the immortal age of about 18.

I went with a number of family members and in-laws for a static-line jump. I think the plane held 5 jumpers, and there were 6 of us. For whatever reason, it was decided that I was the odd man out: my 5 family members went on the first planeload, and would go up on the next load, with 4 expert jumpers who would tolerate my presence until they went higher to free fall.

There was a large field (~10 acres) that we were instructed to hit the center of. The club's building was across the road, and there was a large sand circle next to the building; this was the touch-down spot for the experts.

I watched as my family came drifting down, far from the center of the field. Most made it down on the far side of the field, but my brother-in-law couldn't quite manage that. He hit near the edge of the field, and then could not control his 'chute. He got dragged by the 'chute, across a dirt track, into the adjacent (ungroomed) field, and dragged for a bit. Then it was my turn to go up into the next planeload.

I got above the jump zone, and climbed out onto the landing gear, clenching the strut. I must admit, I had a moment of incredulity as I was thinking "And now you want me to let go???" However, I followed the instructor's directions, cast myself off into the wild blue yonder, made an ungainly tumble or two (so the instructor told me later), and then the static line deployed.

From there, it was a nice, peaceful ride down. I could tell I could totally control the 'chute. It went wherever I told it to. I thought about going for the sand circle, rather than the middle of the field. I was mighty tempted (remember, I was 18), but I decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and thought about what it would be like to get caught up in the power lines along the road. So, instead, I hit just about the exact geometric center of the field. My family wanted to strangle me!!