Skydiving today

[Kaldaur]

I'm going on my first skydive today. I'm doing a static line jump from 3,500 feet. The more I read about it, I can't wait for my next jump which will be a tandem jump at 10,000 feet. Static line is where your chute is deployed automatically as you jump out of the airplane. A tandem jump is when an instructor is strapped into a harness with you and controls your chute and angle of approach--you're just along for the ride.
Anyone else here have any experiences with skydiving? Any licensed jumpers here? If I enjoy this one, I have no doubt I'll be trying for my license, which requires 25 jumps.

[Jarori Bloodletter]

You could not PAY ME enough to jump out of any good aircraft...lol

[Winnow]

weeeee

[Aardor]

Hope this wasn't you: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/engl ... 202628.stm

You could not PAY ME enough to jump out of any good aircraft...lol

Out of curiosity, do you like roller-coasters , or any similar thrill type activities?

Deaths due to skydiving each year in the US averages about 30 (about 0.001%). You have a much greater chance of dying while speeding in a car, than you do skydiving.

[Aslanna]

I hate roller coasters... But have always wanted to try skydiving.

More people die in plane crashes each year than skydiving. So statistically speaking it's probably safer to jump out of it when you have the chance!

[Kaldaur]

It went fantastic. I'm going to repost my facebook note since I don't feel like recounting the whole story again.

"I'm eating a turkey sandwich at 7:30pm, about twelve hours after my only other meal of the day. The Grantfork Extravaganza, Part Deux just finished up, and I'm getting ready to go see District 9, which looks like a killer sci-fi movie. However, I don't know if I'll be able to sit still in the theater; I've been coasting on adrenaline since about 2:30pm.
There is a jumpsite in Vandalia, IL, so I hopped in my car at 8:45 this morning and drove along I-70. I showed up forty-five minutes early to fill out all the paperwork, which could basically be summed up in two sentences: DON'T SUE US, (direct quote) WE WILL WIN (end direct quote). YOU COULD DIE ANY NUMBER OF PAINFUL DEATHS. I of course initialed away all my rights to litigation, recompense, and the right to own a pet for the next four years.
After that, my class of five first-timers met Louis. Louis is a 56-year old man who has a six year old son and is on wife number three. "Class," he told us, "I met wife #2 in a class of forty-five people. Does anyone know what a succubus is? She steals the souls of men and drinks their life blood." He then proceeded to teach us how to exit a moving aircraft.
Class took about six hours, and I won't waste your time with a recollection of all the procedures. Needless to say, we went over every possible contingency, and drilled for an hour on what to do in case of emergency or malfunction. By the time the drilling was done, my nerves had temporarily left me, which was the point of the exercise, I'm sure.
The other students in my class were doing what was called an Accelerated Free Fall (AFF) from 14,000 feet. They would experience over a minute of free fall before launching their chute. They would also have two instructors holding onto their legs, coaching them down and helping to issue commands. The 14,000 feet was appealing, but I wanted to do a solo jump, without interference from coaches. I also thought the 3,500 foot jump was a better way to get started with skydiving. My jump was a called a Static Line Jump (SL). A line is attached to the inside of the airplane. My parachute is attached to that line. When it came time for me to jump, the line extends to its maximum range. When resistance is met, the chute opens and deploys far away from the plane.
Sounds easy.
We climbed to 3,500 feet. I was seated near the door, which wasn't so bad, as long as the door was closed. The instant Louis opened the door, I started scooting away from it. The view didn't bother me; the wind however was at around 80-90 mph, and that's a little intimidating. Louis gave me the go-ahead, and I started creeping to the door. With a static line jump, you put your hands on the wing of the aircraft and step onto a small platform outside of the plane. You then scoot your hands along the wing, inching to the right until your feet are no longer on the platform. The wind current keeps your body horizontal, and really there's no pressure on your hands. It was a disorienting feeling, holding on with my hands but feeling no weight. I got the final signal, and just let go. I was in a free fall for about three to five seconds, at which point my chute opened and I coasted down to the ground.
The radio attached to my chest provided my with instructions on when to turn. You control the chute by two brake toggles, one for left and one for right. Using those I was able to maneuver into a target location just north of the airport. My landing was smooth, and I landed on my feet. Then I fell on my ass. My chute caught a gust of wind and I started getting dragged away. I had to jump up and run around the parachute to stop the wind from picking it back up.

I have a log book to record all of my jumps, including what equipment was used, what plane, and what altitude/style of jump I perform. Once I perform twenty-five coached jumps at varying altitudes, I will have my skydiving license and I can jump whenever and whatever height I please.

I am going to go again. It was absolutely exhilirating. Words can't describe the feeling of just peacefully floating down onto the earth. Even at 3,000 feet, everything was so tiny, the airport a miniscule 'X' of runway surrounded by grass. The large mile wide lake looked no more than a hand's breadth of space at my max height. Next time I'm going to do the free jump out at 4,000 feet. Eventually I'll work my way up to 14,000 foot solo jumps.

Wow."




I'd really recommend if you are even a bit curious to try the 3,500 static line jump. It's safe, easy, and an excellent introduction to skydiving. It definitely gave me a taste of what's to come, and left my very eager to try the higher and harder jumps.

[Jarori Bloodletter]

I dont even like ferriswheels. altho I can stomach small roller coasters heh.