Couldn't golf so I went skydiving instead

[tcarrow]

Took a day off work for my wife's birthday. It was a nice day out, but she doesn't really like playing golf. She had mentioned she'd like to go skydiving one day, but I was strictly opposed to it. So there we were, strapped to a couple of guys who looked like they dropped out of school in 7th grade, flying in a small prop plane that could've been built by one of their dropout friends. We get to 5000' and some idiot opens the door. A couple of seconds later this dude literally jumped out of the plane. It is the craziest thing I've ever seen. Obviously I knew what I was getting myself into, but until you see someone actually jump out of a plane from that high up you don't really understand. Another person jumped then they shut the door. We continued our climb to 13500' and my instructor began tightening our gear. He apologized for the 'flashlight'. They opened the door again and it was much colder this time. My wife went first. I had full trust in these guys at that point (because what other option did I have?)' but it crossed my mind that that would be the last time I saw her alive. I'm up next. My instructor positioned me halfway outside, with my feet wrapped under plane. He rocked once, then all I felt was wind. 120 mph of wind right in the face. We were in free fall for 60 seconds. It was a weird combination of feeling like a blur, and wondering if he was ever going to pull the ripcord. He did, right as we were passing through the clouds. Then it was about 4 minutes of peaceful sightseeing with a few roller coaster-like maneuvers mixed in. We descended to about 200' and he dropped us straight down (or so it felt). Just before we hit the ground he pulled on the canopy strings, slowed our speed and landed us softly. It felt so great to be back on the ground, upright and walking. In a word, it was INTENSE. Normal life kind of felt a little boring for the next few days, like I was missing out on something so much more significant. But I've eventually come to my senses (I think). All said, I would recommend giving it a try.

 

Has anyone else been? I'd like to hear about your experience.

[deadsolid...shank]

Took a day off work for my wife's birthday. It was a nice day out, but she doesn't really like playing golf. She had mentioned she'd like to go skydiving one day, but I was strictly opposed to it. So there we were, strapped to a couple of guys who looked like they dropped out of school in 7th grade, flying in a small prop plane that could've been built by one of their dropout friends. We get to 5000' and some idiot opens the door. A couple of seconds later this dude literally jumped out of the plane. It is the craziest thing I've ever seen. Obviously I knew what I was getting myself into, but until you see someone actually jump out of a plane from that high up you don't really understand. Another person jumped then they shut the door. We continued our climb to 13500' and my instructor began tightening our gear. He apologized for the 'flashlight'. They opened the door again and it was much colder this time. My wife went first. I had full trust in these guys at that point (because what other option did I have?)' but it crossed my mind that that would be the last time I saw her alive. I'm up next. My instructor positioned me halfway outside, with my feet wrapped under plane. He rocked once, then all I felt was wind. 120 mph of wind right in the face. We were in free fall for 60 seconds. It was a weird combination of feeling like a blur, and wondering if he was ever going to pull the ripcord. He did, right as we were passing through the clouds. Then it was about 4 minutes of peaceful sightseeing with a few roller coaster-like maneuvers mixed in. We descended to about 200' and he dropped us straight down (or so it felt). Just before we hit the ground he pulled on the canopy strings, slowed our speed and landed us softly. It felt so great to be back on the ground, upright and walking. In a word, it was INTENSE. Normal life kind of felt a little boring for the next few days, like I was missing out on something so much more significant. But I've eventually come to my senses (I think). All said, I would recommend giving it a try.

 

Has anyone else been? I'd like to hear about your experience.

 

I haven't (and wouldn't), but my 78 year old father did it last year. He loved it.

[ohioglfr]

My son is Army Airborne stationed overseas, jumping out of C-17's and C-130's. I've been thinking about doing a jump with him when he comes home on leave. My only concern is my knees aren't in the best shape.

[thug the bunny]

That is f'ing nuts! Congrats on the brass balls. Not sure I could ever get in on that pursuit. Next comes base jumping...

[Steele47]

Yeah. I did a tandem jump about 25 years ago from 13000 feet. First chute was a streamer and the guy had to cut away. Thankfully the second chute opened. I had no idea what happened.. After second chute opened we could now hear each other. He said, "Look over to the right". So I looked over and saw our first chute falling and he told me what happened. I wasn't shaken at all hearing the news. But,, after landing and a few minutes for it to sink in, I became pretty darned shaky. Took me prob an hour to calm down. My pro, my tandem guy, don't know what to call him, well, he was very shaken since it had never happened to him before. I think he said he had done hundreds of jumps without a hitch. Once is enough for me.

[deadsolid...shank]

I still see no reason to jump out of a perfectly good airplane!

[tcarrow]

Yeah. I did a tandem jump about 25 years ago from 13000 feet. First chute was a streamer and the guy had to cut away. Thankfully the second chute opened. I had no idea what happened.. After second chute opened we could now hear each other. He said, "Look over to the right". So I looked over and saw our first chute falling and he told me what happened. I wasn't shaken at all hearing the news. But,, after landing and a few minutes for it to sink in, I became pretty darned shaky. Took me prob an hour to calm down. My pro, my tandem guy, don't know what to call him, well, he was very shaken since it had never happened to him before. I think he said he had done hundreds of jumps without a hitch. Once is enough for me.

 

Now that's scary!

[tcarrow]

My son is Army Airborne stationed overseas, jumping out of C-17's and C-130's. I've been thinking about doing a jump with him when he comes home on leave. My only concern is my knees aren't in the best shape.

 

I found that my back was a little sore the next day. Could've been the arched position in free fall or the compression when the parachute opened? Or it could've been I slept wrong. It wasn't bad and it went away by the next day. I think your knees could handle it provided you had a soft landing like I did.

[stryper]

I still see no reason to jump out of a perfectly good airplane!

 

Of course, jumpers say there’s no such thing as a perfectly good plane....

[FairwaysToHeaven]

i'd recommend it to anyone considering it. i've done it once and it was great. I would definitely go again. as much of a thrill the freefall is, the few minutes drifting down with the views are pretty great too. i'm taller than the instructor who i was attached to so we did a soft slide feet first coming down but most others looked to have a pretty soft landing.

[SixtySomePing]

I still see no reason to jump out of a perfectly good airplane!

 

Of course, jumpers say there's no such thing as a perfectly good plane....

You know what they say, if at first you don't succeed, skydiving definitely isn't for you... I 'spose you're taking some kind of risk with both, but same with the reward part. I fly a lot with my son who is a private pilot so that is lots of fun for me, looking down from above and gathering in the view is just wonderful. But doing it with a parachute, no way, so those of you who do it or have done it-hats off! I guess I feel safer though in a plane, cause I have epilepsy, so I can't take it up as a regular pastime. I don't have the grand mals any more, just complex partials where you phase out, not very conducive to plane jumping :) And... special hats off to those who jump or have jumped in the service... :hi:

[deadsolid...shank]

I still see no reason to jump out of a perfectly good airplane!

 

Of course, jumpers say there's no such thing as a perfectly good plane....

You know what they say, if at first you don't succeed, skydiving definitely isn't for you... I 'spose you're taking some kind of risk with both, but same with the reward part. I fly a lot with my son who is a private pilot so that is lots of fun for me, looking down from above and gathering in the view is just wonderful. But doing it with a parachute, no way, so those of you who do it or have done it-hats off! I guess I feel safer though in a plane, cause I have epilepsy, so I can't take it up as a regular pastime. I don't have the grand mals any more, just complex partials where you phase out, not very conducive to plane jumping :) And... special hats off to those who jump or have jumped in the service... :hi:

 

Well said Sixty. The really neat thing about my dad's jump was he did it with my 20 year old niece (whom he's been the main father figure to) who is a paratrooper for the National Guard. It was a really neat deal for both of them.

[MtlJeff]

MtlJeff will never skydive, never ever ever.....I'm afraid of heights which is a bad place to start, i also don't like flying. It's a double whammy

 

My brother has jumped out of 100 planes as he was a military guy for a long time.

[toddnt]

Left the Army Ranger Regiment with 34 jumps.. One of which was the only one that mattered. Combat jump into Panama to boot Noriega outta power, from 400 feet! RLTW!