I am making my first AFP Level 1 jump tomorrow. I am soooooooo excited. There is nothing like standing at the edge of the airplane door and staring straight down 14,000 feet. And then Freefall for 60 seconds WAHOO!!!!!!! These trucks and bikes are fun but nothing compares to this. I dont think I have even rode my bike since I started diving.

 

I just did my first "tandem" jump back in Oct, I plan to start the AFP stuff this next year as my schedule provides time...

Its a blast for sure, I did my dive over at the DZ called Skydive Spaceland... where are you going?

 

Yep... Thats where I am going. I did two tandems. One after Thanksgiving and one December 10. Man I am hooked......I am like a little kid in a candy store. It sure is alot of fun. I am taking the ground school tonight. I think the weather is going to be perfect tomorrow.

 

I did my first jump about a year ago, now I'm too overweight for it (the local skydiving place has a weight limit of 200 for tandem jumps, 225 for solo) but I can say when I did go it was an absolute BLAST, I had the time of my life! The only problem was I was 6' 8" and my tandem instructor was about 5' 4"... he was behind me and he wanted to do the landing not let me try it, so I had to kick up my legs as far as I could, but hte harness is so tight (with good reason) that I could only lift my legs about 4-5". We ended up crash diving it. I still say if he'd just let me do the landing we would've been fine, LOL

 

That's Great!
Your right there is nothing like it. Nothing can compare to the thrill & stark terror all at once. hahaha
I love it but will not be able to do anymore jumps untill the spring. My last jump was Oct. 23 and it was -10c at alt. I have 30 jumps under my belt and I am hoping to do a lot more this year. I usually get a couple of my friends together and jump in my plane and take a 55 min flight to the valley and do my jumps at a place called Skydive Unlimited. Hope you keep it up and congratulations. Let us know how you did. I can still remember my first jump which I think was my funnest.

 

52 times with Uncle Sam if that counts. Try looking out the door at night at only 500ft. Now that is a rush beyond comparison.

 

I have long since retired from jumping (I'm too heavy for it now), but have made 220 jumps from UH-1's, C-47, C-130, C-141, UH-60's, Cessnas of many flavors, Dehavilland Twin Otters, and even a hot air balloon. Most of them were free because I was either working with the USMA Cadet Parachute Team ("Black Knights") or with the USAEUR Demo Team in Stuttgart, Germany.

I would agree that there is nothing that produces the adrenaline of a good jump. Of course, you could also say that there's nothing that produces the overwhelming volume of adrenaline as when a good skydive goes awry!

Stay safe and check your pins!

 

If all goes well next spring I will be starting the AFP course also.

That was the biggest rush I've ever had.

 

i did my first jump about a month ago. what a freakin thill. i am already planning another jump.

here is a couple of pictures from when my fiance and i went.

 

Wow...I didn't know they mounted the reserve chute on the front side.

 

Cool Pics, I have some also but do not know how to post them. HELP>>>>>

 

hey those aren't a spare chute, those are my pillows.....lol

to post a picture you need to put the pictures on a picture hosting site....i use www.imagestation.com then you click on the picture and copy the url. come back here and click on the "IMG" button and paste the url there.

 

Why anybody would want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane just beats the hell outa me!!!
You guys have got bigger ***** than me!! I get dizzy just standing up, cant imagine looking down @ 14,000 ft!!!!
If that chute doesnt open, the last thing to go through your mind will be your a$$hole!!!
No thanks, but I admire ya'll for doing it! I think all of you are crazy as hell, but admirable.

 

01
No HALO's for me. We had a separate platoon that did all the HALO jumping. Pretty awesome to jump at 30,000 with oxygen, navigate many miles undetected. All static line full combal load jumps. I have jumped in Egypt, Jordan, Panama, Honduras, Greneda, Canada, Alaska, and few other states. C-130, C141, UH1H, UH60, CH47. Nothing like a single plane putting a 100 jumpers in the air in a matter of seconds. Still have the pins from my first two jumps. Young and dumb, the dare was to not put them in. Lowest altitude was 500ft (about a 5-7 second ride), highest was about 5000ft. Hated the old T-10 or -1 chutes. Fast ride hard landing. No more cartlidge in my knees. Had to give it up. Doctors gave me a choice of continue to jump or continue to walk. Other than jump school we never had the luxury of a "hollywood" jump (no gear). Average load including weapon was right at 100 pounds.

 

I was never in the service but did jump under modified T-10's twice in the early 80's. It was a wild experience I will NEVER forget. The reason I will never jump again is I was about 215lbs then ( oh the memories ) and on the second jump I saw everything. The jumpmaster hit my arm, I let go of the Cessna’s strut and saw him flip me off... Then I saw the chute come out flutter once and open. I looked around and enjoyed the quite and the view... Then I started worrying about the landing. The first one was a HARD landing. It was along trip down.... Take the descriptions of the T-10 above and then cut some BIG holes in the chute for directional control and I was really falling fast

The second landing was WORSE because there was no breeze to turn sideways to and I came straight down on both knees, no roll no tuck....I thought I was going to have people help me find my kneecaps in the next county but they were just REALLY sore. Thankfully they work well now. Likely because I quit while I was ahead.

As was stated before the NEW equip is much more friendly but I have seen enough...

Doug