We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Sky Diving

I've wanted to go for many years (errr couple decades) but still haven't. I like to think I will someday. I usually think about it in the dead of winter when there's a foot of snow and below zero temps. By the time summer arrives other things come to mind first. It's somewhere on my bucket list, probably right between "travel to New Zealand" and "eat at a Dairy Queen." Yep, it's a weird bucket list.
 
maxw72 said:
@Tenputt I'm going to assume that you are doing it up in Ogden? If so, for a Skydiving shop, they do a really great job. I'd say get the video, hopefully they are putting it on something other than a CD (I did it back in 2009 when CD-RW were all the rage). Honestly though, once you get pushed out it just feels like you are sort of floating. To me I never had that 'falling to my death sensation" Good luck my guy.
Click to expand...

My sky diving adventure was so long ago the video we got was on VHS. 😂 I still have it too, but nothing to play it in.
 
Back in about 1970,my buddy had about 30 jumps and was into it. I went with him one day to watch. On the first flight up, one guy who had several hundred jumps had a steamer malfunction with his main. He cut away and pulled his reserve and had a Mae West malfunction. He rotated fast all the way down and landed HARD but walked away. He then proceeded to down a quart of cheap bourbon. I imagine the next day he wished he had not survived. I walked away firm in my life-long conviction to never, ever, try jumping out of a perfectly good airplane!
 
I don’t know if I could physically send myself out the door!

I hope you have a ton of fun! Heard it is a great experience
 
FatChance said:
Back in about 1970,my buddy had about 30 jumps and was into it. I went with him one day to watch. On the first flight up, one guy who had several hundred jumps had a steamer malfunction with his main. He cut away and pulled his reserve and had a Mae West malfunction. He rotated fast all the way down and landed HARD but walked away. He then proceeded to down a quart of cheap bourbon. I imagine the next day he wished he had not survived. I walked away firm in my life-long conviction to never, ever, try jumping out of a perfectly good airplane!
Click to expand...
That’s a great story 24 hours before my jump. 😂
 
The jump is less than 24 hours away. I will post some photos.
 
Did it back in 1982 when I was 22. We used old WW2 chutes so not a lot of control. My brother almost fell out of the plane as he moved in to position and then the plane took a sharp turn. Needless to say he almost stained he pants. His tether strap was not hooked up yet. I grabbed hold of him and yanked him back in the old plane as he was half out the door.

When it was my turn to jump I could not jump fast enough. it was90 degrees that day and I was overheated. It was also my first time in a plane so I was also a little motion sick.

When we were all on the ground we felt like “real men”. That was until a 63 year old grandma landed after us. It was her first jump.

If it was not for the cost it would have become a hobby.
 
MattyD-MPLS said:
I don’t know if I could physically send myself out the door!

I hope you have a ton of fun! Heard it is a great experience
Click to expand...

I told the guy I was attached to that he would need to just push me out the plane, and that’s exactly what he did.

I can’t wait to read all about your experience @Tenputt
 
Nope! I mean I would if challenged but I don’t have the desire to do it.

If I went I might need a couple really strong guys to throw me out at the moment of no return, 🤣.

I also don’t want someone strapped to my back. Screw that. If I’m doing it, show me how and let me go. Don’t need some dude breathing down my neck.

Now the vomit comet? Bring it, would love to do that.

Today is jump day @USAF Ret in Wis ! Enjoy!!
 
Smiter said:
Nope! I mean I would if challenged but I don’t have the desire to do it.

If I went I might need a couple really strong guys to throw me out at the moment of no return, 🤣.

I also don’t want someone strapped to my back. Screw that. If I’m doing it, show me how and let me go. Don’t need some dude breathing down my neck.

Now the vomit comet? Bring it, would love to do that.

Today is jump day @USAF Ret in Wis ! Enjoy!!
Click to expand...
I don’t know if anybody would let you do it solo the first time.
 
Tenputt said:
I don’t know if anybody would let you do it solo the first time.
Click to expand...

They would if I unhooked mid air?

😂

Not that I would EVEN consider that.
 
JZ777 said:
Have been a pilot since I went to UPT in the USAF at 22. That’s 35 years of flying and close to 25,000 flight hours and have never had the inclination to try. Heck, I wont even go up on a ladder since I don’t like heights, never mind jump out of a plane.
Click to expand...
Now that is interesting! I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a pilot who isn’t a fan of heights.
 
Tenputt said:
The jump is less than 24 hours away. I will post some photos.
Click to expand...
Hope you have a great time!! Really looking forward to seeing photos and hearing your thoughts!
 
Smiter said:
They would if I unhooked mid air?

😂

Not that I would EVEN consider that.
Click to expand...
Since there's only one chute for the both of you, and it's on the instructor's back, your first jump would also be your last jump if you did that.

Just remember, it's not the fall that hurts - it's the sudden stop at the end.
 
Clicking towards the hour. Is it ok to admit that I am a teeny bit nervous? Not manly?
 
Tenputt said:
Clicking towards the hour. Is it ok to admit that I am a teeny bit nervous? Not manly?
Click to expand...
IMO you can still keep your man card, nothing unusual about being nervous about jumping out of an airplane. :LOL:
 
Tenputt said:
Clicking towards the hour. Is it ok to admit that I am a teeny bit nervous? Not manly?
Click to expand...
10,000% okay to be a little apprehensive about jumping from an airplane at altitude!

Not a chance that I’d be up there.
 
GolferGal said:
So, @Tenputt how did it go?
Click to expand...
It was totally awesome! Thanks for asking. I am just waiting to receive photos and am going to post about the experience. They said that I would have them last night, but I still don’t. I don’t know if they are open today, but I am excited to see them.
 
Tenputt said:
I don’t know if anybody would let you do it solo the first time.
Click to expand...
Mine did.

I was in my early-to-mid-30's. One day of jump school. Wind got too high so they re-scheduled our class' first jumps for the next morning. As luck would have it I was last in the plane, which meant I'd be first out the door. I was sitting on the deck, back to the front, right next to the door. Pilot/jump master got to a place he liked, leaned over, and opened the door. Maneuvered a bit more. Then he looked down, gave my static line a good tug to make sure it was well secured to the ring in the deck, gave me an evil grin, and yelled "Get in the door!" (This plane had no dedicated step under the wing.) Hung my legs out, got my hands in position (one on the deck, one on the side of the doorway opening, and waited. "Jump!" he called out. "Jump?" Out of the airplane?" I thought. Briefly looked back in the plane, thought "No way am I making this airplane land to let me off so the others can jump," and out I went.

You don't fly very long with a static line. They're only 25 feet long, if memory serves. About the time you realize you're flying the static line pulls the main and now you're floating under the canopy. (If all goes well.) Looked up to make sure I had a fly-able canopy, grabbed the steering toggles, and tested each one to make sure it was steerable.

Looked at where I was, where the drop zone was, figured out more-or-less the wind direction, and set off for home.

Nearly made it, too. Landed in the next door farmer's crop field :)

I jumped four times. The last two were dummy ripcord pulls. (You're still on a static line. They put a dummy ripcord toggle with a long streamer in the normal place. You have to demonstrate you can pull that and have the streamer flying before the static line pulls the main. You have to demonstrate you can do that while maintaining proper flying attitude.) My fifth jump would have been my first real ripcord pull. (No static line.)

Unfortunately, I got over-confident on my fourth jump. All the conditions were perfect for a standing landing. So I decided to try it. If I'd stuck with it I might actually have made it. But I chickened-out and converted to a course for a PLF (Parachute Landing Fall). What I forgot was you can't make course changes too close to the ground because it induces unpredictable variables into your landing.

I hit the ground like a wet sack of cement and broke my right leg.

When the friend who introduced me to skydiving took me out to the jump zone so I could deliver the obligatory case of beer I got to talking to the other jumpers. When I found that most of the long-term jumpers had broken one-or-more bones one-or-more times I decided I didn't need to do it again ;)

I still have my jump logbook somewhere around.

Glad you had fun with it, @Tenputt :)
 
5B165744-302B-411F-B81D-0E15E36B040C.jpeg041B8B78-5743-4090-8614-7A3EA42DA7C2.jpegB2D2FEE4-7F86-4763-8F83-72AAF42C9A53.jpeg
 
You look a little concerned in that first pic, must have been pre-jump! 😄
 
I tried to upload a video and couldn’t make it happen. If @GolferGal is willing to help me, I would be glad to share it. It shows my face just before jumping, the free fall and the landing.

So, here is the summary. I showed up and they have you sign a waiver that basically waives any claim, even if somebody murdered you with a knife on the property, LOL. One portion of the waiver says that the jumper acknowledges that the plane and the chute have to work perfectly in order for the jumper not to be killed. I knew that I had to sign it to jump and figured that there would be some blankety immunity granted, but here is the funny part. In the instruction video that we watched before jumping, some dude with a beard down to his waste was speaking. He said that he began tandem jumping back in the 1980’s or some time decades ago. He said that no plane or parachute ever works perfectly. I almost laughed out loud. Here I had just signed a waiver that said the plane and chute must work perfectly or I die. Then, I hear this guy tell me that neither the plane nor my chute would work perfectly. So, basically, I have been told that I am going to die. 😂

After the orientation, you wait for your turn. Your tandem guide introduces himself and puts your contraption on you. The videographer introduces himself. They were both really cool guys, very low key. About 10 minutes later, we loaded into the plane. It took about 25 minutes to reach altitude. Near the end of the ride up, my guide cinched up my harness and we were very close. I was half expecting him to say that I was going to feel a little pressure (ha ha, I kid). When it’s time to go, you slide up towards the door, stand on the ledge and the guide basically tells you to step out and lift your back legs as high as you can.

It was at that moment that I felt a little anxiety. You can see it on my face in the video. It is humorous. I had asked the guide how many people he had ever seen refuse to jump. He said that he had done probably a 1000 jumps as a guide. he had seen people literally quivering with fear, but only one person had refused to do it at the moment of truth.

We did a couple of somersaults, during the free fall, which lasted about 90 seconds. There is no feeling in your stomach like when you ride a roller coaster, just a feeling of tremendous pressure pushing against you. You can see that in one of the photos I posted. The free fall is by far the best part.

When the guide pulls the chute, it is as if you come to a screeching halt. Then you float for about 5 minutes, as you descend. The guide let me control the chute and maneuver us around. He also did it aggressively and you could feel the G force, which was much more like the roller coaster feeling. If anybody reading this wants to do a jump, but gets motion sickness, this is the only thing that really gave me that feeling and I do get motion sickness quite badly.

Apparently, it is very rare when you get to do a standing landing. I slid in on my rear end, but no big deal at all. Just like that it was over.

It was really fun, something I will always remember. My guide said that 90% of the people who jump do it one time, just to say that they have done it. I am probably in that camp, but would still highly recommend it, if it is on anybody’s bucket list.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top