Skydiving
 

Anyone been skydiving? Any fun? Where is the best place around here to go for a first jump?

Tommy

82nd Airborn will teach ya

82nd Airborn will teach ya

:eureka:

Did it a couple years ago. Enjoyed every second of it. I payed the extra money to do Accelerated Free Fall; where they teach you all day how to do everything yourself. I was not about to do tandem with someone strapped to my ass. I payed the extra dough for a full video, and glad I did. My chute actually did not open correctly, and when you do AFF, two instructors jump beside you, and hold on to your ankle and wrist (each side). My chute was not packed tight enough, and just before I pulled my reserve chute, my master instructor pulled my chute out completely, and it deployed. I had an extra 2K feet of freefall though, which was awesome. We jumped from 13K feet. We were instructed to pull the cord at 9K feet, and by 8K, you were under canopy. Well, mine did not deploy until about 6K feet. It was awesome. The float down under canopy is rather boring, until you get to about 500 feet and begin your approach and try and land. That's an experience too.

Going again next week? Nah. :D :D

I went tandem skydiving a couple years ago up in Maine. It was great. We jumped out at 13,000 feet and had 90 second of free fall. I think it is better than bungy jumping because the actual "ride" lasts longer.

hyper i think the plase to go is in painsvile... ill ask my red bull rep... they did some event there w/ their athletes

I can honestly say it's one of the most awsome things to ever experience. I did the tandem jump. Its a little more safe for your first jump than going solo. In fact the place where I went required a certian amount of tandem jumps before doing a single supervised jump. Then after so many supervised jumps, your'e then certified to do solo jumps. Most of the instructors where I went were x military or navy seals with thousands of jumps under their belt, so you felt more comfortable with their experienced instruction. They told some interesting stories of their time in service.

Even if you only did it once, its worth doing just to be able to say that you have done it. Its addictive though. What a RUSH!!! Pay a bit extra and get them to video you while you are in the jump, then you can relive it over & over.

Personally, I have parasailed and skydived but I would never do a bungee jump. Its alot more risky in my opinion.

The most intense thing that I remember about the dive was sitting in the plane with my back up against the wall, looking around at all of the other faces and thinking, what the hell am I getting ready to do... Then they say, "Approching the drop zone" and your heart starts beating fast. You wait a bit more as you are standing there looking out the open door and they yell out 30seconds to jump time. Your heart is about to explode its beating so fast! NOW its your turn, as you make your way to the door, you realize, this is it, no turning back. One..Two..Three.. your out! Your fall excelerates to 120mph. You pull the drone chute, which is the little mini chute that pulls the big chute out when you pull the rip cord. Ours actually had a timer mechanisim that was set to open at a certian alttitude. If it fails then you pull the cord. Then you do a few turns, learning how to manuver. You smile and wave at the video guy a few times :D As you hear the timer go off you pull your arms in to your chest and the chute opens. WOW! everything is now so peacefully quiet. Its so peaceful looking around at all that God created from above, its easy to forget about what you are doing. Now its time to do a few turns and spirals learning how to steer the canopy. Its so cool! As you see earth approching fast you prepare to land. Moments before touchdown, you pull as hard as you can on the chute to "Flare" it out which gives a moments lift and is just like putting on the brakes. As your feet touch the ground you stop and YELL out WOOOoooo HOOOOoo!! I did it!!! Suddenly you realize it all over and you stop for a second to think.... WOW lets do it again!!!!

Sorry for the long explanation, just taking a trip down memory lane myself. Man that was fun!

Why would anyone jump out of a perfectly good airplane??

I have two friends who are both jump masters at Skydive Hastings, in Hastings, MI. They travel the country in the summertime to skydive.

Loved it !!!!
 

I have 3 static line jumps and 8 freefalls. Should have finished for my freefall license, but got into boat racing.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Waterfoul
[B]Why would anyone jump out of a perfectly good airplane??

Exactly.........