I just went skydiving! How 'bout you?

[NHpowderhound]

I went on my first tandem skydive this past weekend (8/4) and had an awsome, unbeliveable, mindblowing, lifechanging experience!

We dove from 13,500 feet, had 55 seconds of freefall and 5+ minutes of gentle gliding back to earth.

I dove with www.skydivenewengland.com which is just minutes from my house. In fact I can watch these guys gliding to earth right out my work window on any clear day and all day long on the weekends.

What an experience! I wasn't nervous in the least. Even when my jumpmaster Dan said we would be doing a backflip out of the plane. I took the 7:30am class and jumped around 10am. It took 15 minutes to gain altitude of 13,500' in the twin prop plane. Dan and I were the last ones to leave the plane. When you exit the aircraft it only feels like you are falling for several seconds. After the intial light feeling in your stomach it just feels like you are floating. During freefall, Dan kept tapping me on the shoulder and pointing to the horizon to remind me to look around. I was fixated on the ground which actually diddn't seem to come at me too quickly. Once the chute opened it was a nice peaceful ride back to earth. Dan even let me control the chute a bit. When we landed he slid us in on our butts with legs extended. What a rush! I'm still high and can't stop thinking about it!

If you havent done it and want to then stop thinking about it and get off your a$$ and do it!!!! These guys are pros and love to share the rush. Dont worry about saftey, these guys wan't to live too and they will make sure you are safe and have a great time!

How about an AZ jump? I got the group rate of $189 because there were 11 of us from my social club that jumped. They give you a certificate and a coupon for another jump.
((*
*))NHPH

 

[roark]

A coworker recently went and loved it as well. One of these days...

 

[andyzee]

Hey, did you check your underwear after the jump? :lol:

Glad you had such a great time. I've considered it, just never got around to it. Always wanted to go for hang gliding as well, but that takes tons of time to practice

 

[Rushski]

Been there done that. Was a great experience and they are a top notch outfit!

 

[FRITOLAYGUY]

Sounds awesome i would love to try that sometime.

 

[BeanoNYC]

had an awsome, unbeliveable, mindblowing, lifechanging experience!

You took acid? Glad you had fun, I have thought about skydiving.

 

[Grassi21]

I went once and that is enough for me. Not that I was scared, I'm just all about reducing risk in my life.

My girlfriend (now wife) took me sky diving for my college grad present. AMAZING experience. I can't remember the name of the outfit we did our tandem jumps with but I think it was in Ovid, NY (upstate Finger Lakes Region). We were about 50 miles south of Syracuse and we could see the Carrier Dome clear as day. The first few seconds I looked straight down. Then the guy strapped to my back told me to look up. Besides the Dome I had an amazing view of all of the Finger Lakes. The only thing I regret is not getting a photo or video. Wifey and I wanted to go up and come down at the same time. If we had video or a photo shot we would have had to go up one at a time.

 

[hiroto]

Glad you had fun.

Skydive New England (Lebanon ME) is a beautiful place to jump with great view of white mountains and great facility. I've made hundreds of jumps there since 1990.

Some other alternatives to jump in New England are:

Jumtown http://www.jumptown.com (Orange MA)
Skydive Pepperell http://www.skyjump.com (Pepperell MA)
Connecticut Parachutist Inc http://www.skydivect.com (Ellington CT)

 

[hammer]

I went once and that is enough for me. Not that I was scared, I'm just all about reducing risk in my life.

There has to be a reason why life insurers ask about whether you skydive on applications...

Seems like it would be a blast, but as a pilot, I see no reason to jump out of a perfectly working airplane.

One thing I'd like to try is this:

http://www.skyventurenh.com

 

[JimG.]

Seems like it would be a blast, but as a pilot, I see no reason to jump out of a perfectly working airplane.

One thing I'd like to try is this:

http://www.skyventurenh.com

Ha!

I've gone skydiving, but it was a static line jump from about 3,000 feet. I was alone when I left that airplane. I have to admit that after the initial terror (especially standing on the landing gear at 3,000 feet, holding the wing strut and seeing the prop spinning near my head) I thought it was one of the most peaceful and spiritual activities I've ever done.

But I don't like small airplanes much. And this one was stripped completely except for the pilot's seat. I was glad I had the parachute on and was fine with going out the door once I made the commitment.

 

[wa-loaf]

Skydive New England (Lebanon ME) is a beautiful place to jump with great view of white mountains and great facility. I've made hundreds of jumps there since 1990.

One of my coworkers just went there last weekend. She went solo on her first time. She bought the video and we played it for everyone in a conference room. Looked like a good time. They do need to work on the video production a bit . . .:smile:

 

[hammer]

But I don't like small airplanes much. And this one was stripped completely except for the pilot's seat. I was glad I had the parachute on and was fine with going out the door once I made the commitment.

Small airplanes are fine with me, although I'd rather fly ones with 4 seats and retractable landing gear, or even better, a light twin.

Ultralight aircraft do scare me, though...I've heard about too many crashes with those.

 

[JimG.]

Small airplanes are fine with me, although I'd rather fly ones with 4 seats and retractable landing gear, or even better, a light twin.

Ultralight aircraft do scare me, though...I've heard about too many crashes with those.

I think it was as much the pilot as the single engine Cessna we were in. The guy spends all day taking off, going to 3,000 feet, dropping divers, landing, repeat. So he makes it interesting (for him) and scary (for me). Like trying to ascend like a fighter jet on takeoff. And like wiggling the plane up and down, left to right to get the door to close after someone jumped.

My best view of that plane was as I looked up after jumping spread eagle and seeing it disappear above me as I fell before the chute opened. Bye-bye.

 

[dmc]

I loved the feeling of standing outside of the plane..
Perched on the little platform ontop of the wheel holding onto the strut..

My instructor kept saying that was the cool thing and he was going to let me stand there for a while before I let go... And it was...
Crystal clear day... Could see the whole Jersey coast all the way up to the city...

 

[ctenidae]

I did not just go skydiving.
Though, I'd like to have.

 

[JimG.]

I loved the feeling of standing outside of the plane..
Perched on the little platform ontop of the wheel holding onto the strut..

My instructor kept saying that was the cool thing and he was going to let me stand there for a while before I let go... And it was...
Crystal clear day... Could see the whole Jersey coast all the way up to the city...

Huh...you liked that part. Most of my friends did too. To me it was noisy and windy and I kept thinking "what if I get sucked into the prop?". Probably just bad thinking.

But then again, all my friends totally wimped out on the actual jump part. All of them went out on their backs or in the fetal position. I was the only one who got an A+ from the jumpmaster for holding a stable spread eagle. He even commended me for holding it as I looked up at the plane (I have no idea how he saw that but he did). That was the part I loved, the 4-5 seconds of falling in that spread eagle and feeling the initial acceleration.

I wanted to go again and make the 3 passing jumps to go solo from 10,000 feet just to get the freefall sensation, but that's an expensive sport. Then someone more experienced told me you lose the feeling of acceleration once you get to terminal velocity and I was less interested. Just never happened.

 

[hiroto]

Then someone more experienced told me you lose the feeling of acceleration once you get to terminal velocity and I was less interested.

Interesting. If that is the part of skydiving you care most, you might
want to be a BASE jumper.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5swtH1dfYA

As same as skiing, there are many variety of ways to have fun or
challenge yourself in skydiving.

 

[JimG.]

Interesting. If that is the part of skydiving you care most, you might
want to be a BASE jumper.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5swtH1dfYA

As same as skiing, there are many variety of ways to have fun or
challenge yourself in skydiving.

Well, I'd need alot more experience skydiving before I would try BASE jumping. Less room for error with BASE. Am I mistaken that BASE jumpers also have no backup?

I watched a special filmed in Venezuela at Angel Falls. Bunch of BASE jumpers jumped off the top. Very impressive place. 3,200 foot waterfall. These guys jumped and free fell about 2000 feet. You're right, I was fascinated watching them dive and accelerate in free fall. They had forward as well as downward momentum, almost like they were riding on air. It looked like flying.

 

[cbcbd]

This is what I'd like to do:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmZyB_ghpa0

It's a clip from WM's Journey.

THAT looks like fun!

 

[JimG.]

This is what I'd like to do:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmZyB_ghpa0

It's a clip from WM's Journey.

THAT looks like fun!

He's got on one of those flight suits.

You get a real appreciation for how fast he's going because he's so close to the ground.

I'd need to work up to that...it's easier to enjoy the speed with no reference points like the ground or a mountain peak flying by 10 feet from your nose.