|
|
#32
03-02-2006, 10:37 AM
|
|||
|
|||
Re: Skydiving - Trip Report
I see a couple of you did your first jumps solo from lower altitude tied to some cord (I'm guessing the cord automatically deploys your chute?)... definitely harder to make the jump I think. When doing tandem it was a little easier because the instructor was the one who does the final push (since he's on your back), so all you have to do is not resist... which is impossible anyway since you're in a mechanically disadvantageous position.
They gave me a flyer for some training packages which looks awesome. For $1,600 I would get a tandem jump, a 1 year membership to the USPA, ground school, and then SEVEN solo jumps. Crazy [censored]! I'm not sure if the instructor is assisting on those 7 jumps because this particular one I'm reading says "AFF = Accelerated Free-Fall" and the other column says "IAF = Instructor Assisted Freefall." Not sure if I could make my first solo jump without at least an instructor falling nearby. Definitely gotta do this again though. If I ever get a sweet ass job that actually pays bonuses, my first one will go toward this. Then whenever I travel anywhere I could add "jump out of airplane" to the list of things to do there. Vegas would look badass from 3 miles up.. muhahaa. 
|
|
#33
03-02-2006, 10:42 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Re: Skydiving - Trip Report
Had to do a days training for the solo one, is deployed as you jump. But they have to teach you the whole jump and landing procedure basically trying to drum it into you so is automatic. Also what to do if it went wrong for example if you jumped and we left trailing out of the plane, cutting the cord and deploying the reserve etc.
People did the tandem but they went up after and hour while us mugs were walking round the training room pretending we were parachuting.
|
|
#34
03-02-2006, 10:46 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Re: Skydiving - Trip Report
[ QUOTE ]
lol... never been mistaken for Tom Green before. [/ QUOTE ] I thought you looked a lot like Tom Green, too, until I saw the picture of you with the helmet off. -McGee
|
|
#38
03-02-2006, 12:37 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Re: Skydiving - Trip Report
ahh.. I remember my first time. It's funny, the first time you go - you have no idea what to expect, so you're not scared. The 2nd time... is another story. I remember - there was some marsupial instinct to put your arms out and grab onto something - you immediately realize how stupid that is. I also remember pulling the rip cord, and then pulling it out again, thinking "wtf? - isn't this supposed to make me stop?"... then WHOOOSH.. which felt like stopping in mid-air.
Oh, and this is the first I've heard to having to pay extra to jump out higher. The place I went for a tandem jump at 15K feet was ~$120 I grew up in the middle of IL - where I believe they have the most people jump in the world. One particular place has the most people doing it... and the most accidents. One summer - they broke some world record for most people in a formation or something. People were falling out of the air left and right... without their chutes. My brother was a county cop and had to pick them up/scrape them up. Not pretty... I believe the term we used was 'dirt darts'. Suffice to say.. I went to a different facility not too far away, and they were great. I think all the instructors had over 1,000 jumps... with most in the 3-6,000 range. I remember my 2nd time... I was jumping tandem with a guy who was absolutely insane. After the fall... and we're floating down.. he had me pull on both the handles as far down as I could. I could feel us slow down.. then he said, "look up, look up!"... I look up.. and I could see the parachute crumple before my eyes.. and feel us falling very rapidly. He then said, "let go!".. and I did.. and we jerked in mid air as the chute caught air again. We did this again another time. This was the same guy that put us on crazy turns.. yanking hard left.. will make you go upside down. You look up - see your chute (filled, at least), and see the ground as well. Just freaky. When I landed, I asked one of the other instructors if they do those stalls.. and he just said, "If my chute opens.. I'm happy.. nobody else does that." I about [censored] my pants when I heard that. Oh, and a friend of mine got that guy - and he did the same thing.. and it looked terrifying from the ground. They seemed to love screwing with newbies as well. On my 3rd jump, I was with a friend who was going on her 2nd jump.. and was getting very nervous. A bunch of people just landed and were carrying their chutes into the facility. Guy walks by, pretending not to see us.. stops, and says with surprise as he's holding his chute, "Ah... worked again." My friend ran to the bathroom to empty her gut.
|
|
#39
03-02-2006, 12:40 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Re: Skydiving - Trip Report
Hah, those pics are sweet, Ive always wanted to go. I love how you are all excited and psyched up (as most normal people would be), by the look on your face, and the instructor is just like.."eh..another day in the office"....
|
|
#40
03-02-2006, 01:02 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Re: Skydiving - Trip Report
[ QUOTE ]
the instructor is just like.."eh..another day in the office".... [/ QUOTE ] Actually... he's doing exactly what I'm going to be doing next time. Keeping the mouth CLOSED... sucking in a gallon of cold air blowing into me at 100+mph is not fun. Felt like I was going to get frostbite in my lungs haha
|
 |
|
|
Linear Mode
