I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane

[skiracr]

Saturday at the Lake Elsinore skydive site. I have been wanting to skydive for a long time and decided Friday night that Saturday was gonna be the day. I jumped tandum with a pro diver from 12,500 ft and we opened our chute at 4500-5000 ft. we free fell for just about a minute hitting approx. 120 mph. Awesome experience and so glad i did it. :thumbsup

[video=youtube;NBoqsHpFvNQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBoqsHpFvNQ&feature=player_detailpage[/video]

 

[primetime]

very cool! been wanting to do that for along time.

 

[Jefftowz]

Very cool.... Don't think I would ever do it......

 

[rivrrts429]

That's cool... I'll watch though!

 

[Buoy]

When I jumped I was 20.
It was me and two buddies in Tecumseh MI.
We each jumped individual, static-line from 3500-4000'.
You went through about 5-6 hrs training on the ground.
When it was time to jump, they put a jump suit on you, and a helmet with a one-way radio. There was a spotter on the ground that would give directions in the event you had any problems.

The course instructor was an old military guy and he tried to put the fear of God in you on the ground.
It worked!!
We were supposed to count 1-1000, 2-1000, 3-1000 etc to 5 as soon as we left the plane, and by 5, your chute should be open.
We practiced this procedure on the ground.
There was an Indian couple (dot) that were training in the group. When the gal did this exercise, she says "1-1000, 2-1000, 2-1000, 2-1000" etc.
At this point I figured "well, if they are gonna let her jump, it can't be that bad".

We were jumping out of a small plane, pilot, jump-master and me and my two buddies. Plane was completely stripped. You could see all the cables, wires, etc.

Did I mention I had never been in a plane before?? Never. Not even a commercial flight.

I jumped second (my weight was the middle of the three of us).
I stepped out of the plane, hanging on to the wing strut, just like they trained us on the ground.
For some reason, on the ground, I thought that because of aircraft speed, my legs would fly behind me - like Superman...
I was wrong, I was just hanging there. I was scared shitless!
The jumpmaster indicated for me to let go.
I let go, and I can tell you the idea of counting by 1000 was the furthest thing from my mind!
My chute opened, and I hear over the radio on my helmet "You have a good canopy",
"steer right", I did.
"steer left" I did.
"brake" I did.
"Now just fly around an have fun"

I was having a BLAST!!

At the drop-zone, they had a target of gravel that was probably 50' diameter. In training, we were told that it was very rare for a first-timer to actually hit the target, but if you did, grab a stone from the target and the instructor would initial and date it. I timed it perfect, flared the chute to brake, and my landing was like walking down a set of stairs.

This rock has been on my desk for 20 yrs. Very cool experience!

 

[charlyox]

Congrats. You got balls!:thumbsup

 

[IEPerformance]

My first dive was Feb 21st 1989. It was cold and a bit windy that day and it didn't look like it was going to happen. About 2 o'clock, the wind died down and it was a go.

After the ground school and the instructor training, I was ready for my first static. Out I went, chute opened, I was hooked. At 5:00 that same day, I did my first solo dive with my instructor Don , a largish, bearded man that could be heard miles away when he spoke. As I stood at the door , He said to me,"If you have any issues,I'll be right next to you, just listen and do" He tapped my shoulder and out I went, first trying to get my arch right then suddenly realizing that I was freefalling exactly like I was supposed to. I felt no fear, I felt nothing but the cold wind and the feeling of an odd weightlessness. Suddenly I hear a voice,"ARE YOU COUNTING?" I wasn't and Don knew it. "Might be a good time to open it" So I cleared, Pulled the cord and waited for the canopy and waited, and waited....When I looked up, the chute was tangled and spinning, so I pulled the releases as he had told me to do, waited a two count and opened my reserve. It popped open instantly, and the rest was a beautiful sunset flight that landed me about 30 yards from the bullseye. Don landed about 20 feet from me and started laughing. "Well, You're a pro now"
and so started my addiction to jumping out of perfectly good airplanes. Don was a great friend and I logged almost half of my dives next to him. Unfortunately, he was killed in a construction accident in Feb 2000, and the last dive I enjoyed, with tears in my eyes, was his memorial dive, Ironicly, on Feb 21st of 2000. As many times as I have been tempted to buy a new rig and start again, I just don't think that it would be the same for me, but I can tell everyone here, you have to try it at least once.

 

[IEPerformance]

By the way, Congrats Brian.

 

[28Eliminator]

Saturday at the Lake Elsinore skydive site. I have been wanting to skydive for a long time and decided Friday night that Saturday was gonna be the day. I jumped tandum with a pro diver from 12,500 ft and we opened our chute at 4500-5000 ft. we free fell for just about a minute hitting approx. 120 mph. Awesome experience and so glad i did it. :thumbsup

[video=youtube;NBoqsHpFvNQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBoqsHpFvNQ&feature=player_detailpage[/video]

Bad ass huh?.... I did the same thing, tandem down at Brown field in SD. Right before we jump, the guy says " you want to have some fun"?... Oh what the hell.. Double summer daily out the door .....


Sent from my iPhone using Tittytalk

 

[Crazyhippy]

Yup, Brian is now certifiably nuts...

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[NdaWind]

I live really close to the normal jump off point and often hear the newbees screaming with delight

 

[Mattman]

Anxiety just watching that!