Skydiving rush!

[pixc]

My experience.

The plane was like..chity-chity-bang-bang. Sitting next to the perspex door, watching the wheels WOBBLE as we go down the runway. The pilot looked to young to hold a drivers license and I envisioned the rivets popping out of the wing. I was so keen to get out of that plane. ( I have a vivid imagination)

That free-fall thing really is a great rush. Going thru the edge of a cloud was the best part.

I did the tandem jump and we yakked all the way down after the parachute had been deployed. When he cried "Shit", that was about the worse part for me. I had distracted him and we missed our landing zone. Not by far, but it still gave me a fright. ...i cant wait to do it all again.

[Swoop]

It could be said that I have done it more than once...

[klingon]

My Dad used to be a parachutist in the '50s. They used ex-army parachutes and used to do display jumps over A&P shows and other public events.

Those were the days when parachutes were round and designed to get you down to the ground as fast as possible so you wouldn't be an easy target to shoot at. (I mean during the war... not during the A&P shows )

Also it was the days before you could steer your chute so they relied completely on calculating wind speed etc to make sure they landed anywhere near the target. Needless to say, Dad had a lot of exciting jumps where he ended up miles from where he should be, or landing in farmers' chicken coops, or in the tops of trees, or in the middle of the Country Women's Institute cake-judging contest.

[vifferman]

My Dad used to be a parachutist in the '50s. They used ex-army parachutes and used to do display jumps over A&P shows and other public events.

A guy I work with used to be a paratrooper. He'd done over 170 static-line jumps, but never experienced free fall. So last year he went down to Taupo and did a tandem skydive. He raved about it so much that another employee went a few weeks later.

[Nagash]

My old man did the same, display jumping with the old style round parachutes.

Many interesting stories aswell.

Which is what got me so into it.

My Dad used to be a parachutist in the '50s. They used ex-army parachutes and used to do display jumps over A&P shows and other public events.

Those were the days when parachutes were round and designed to get you down to the ground as fast as possible so you wouldn't be an easy target to shoot at. (I mean during the war... not during the A&P shows )

Also it was the days before you could steer your chute so they relied completely on calculating wind speed etc to make sure they landed anywhere near the target. Needless to say, Dad had a lot of exciting jumps where he ended up miles from where he should be, or landing in farmers' chicken coops, or in the tops of trees, or in the middle of the Country Women's Institute cake-judging contest.

[Hans]

I remember a particularly harsh practical joke from my days as an employee of the state /not nz/:
Step 1: remove packed round 'chute (rated for 150 kg) from pack.
Step 2: replace with round chute rated for despatch motorcycle+gear@250kg.
Step 3: issue to unsuspecting colleague, who needs to learn a lesson.
Step 4: on a hot summer day /thermals/, collect colleague from anywhere up to about 10km from intended landing.

[Little Miss Trouble]

Yeah when summer comes round in Dec im going for my jump licence, screw being a mechanic, jumping is much better..

I'm keen to do mine ASAP, just gotta get the cash together first

My folks have just paid for my first skydiving jump for my birthday in March..

I can't wait!

Where are you jumping from?

[MotoGirl]

I went skydiving about a year ago over Queenstown. I loved every minute of it and would definitely do it again. My first jump was only 12,000ft so I'd want to go up to 15,000 next time.

[phantom]

"she who must be obeyed" paid for me to be thrown out of a plane for my 50th birthday ( plus another 49 individually wrapped gifts ). I think she was trying to tell me something.

[Dooly]

Did quite a few jumps early/mid 80s.
Used to be the old chutes, not much use cept a little steer and hit the ground hard.
Was a buzz hanging out the door of the plane and swinging onto the wing strut.

Alas my last jump went wrong, had to choose between a row of pines or 6 rows of power lines to hit.
Chose the pines, clipped them, crashed thru a grape vine, result, leg bent in all angles and breaks.
End of skydiving, end of rugby career!
But first ride in ambulance!

[Ixion]

Okay this is one big rave..........

Saturday came and i was looking forward to my first skydive, couldn't wait to throw myself out of a good plane.....

Okay now here is what im raving about..... The rave is the pure rush you get as soon as you hang your legs over the edge of the planes exit door. Okay braking from 240kph and over to do the esses at the end of taupo's back straight and getting through is good and doing some high speed cornering and all things fast on a bike is good.
But as soon as you leave the plane and feel how the earth sucks you back is something nothing as can do, the rush of going from a sit to over 200kph falling and in under 5 secs is just pure.
I could easly do that everyday.
Just checking if other bikers who have skydived feel the same

I thought they made you go down tied to some dude? That never sounded very exciting to me , just sort of a parcel being delivered.

..
Those were the days when parachutes were round

They have another sort? Like, square maybe

[klingon]

I thought they made you go down tied to some dude? That never sounded very exciting to me , just sort of a parcel being delivered.

Nope, you can do a solo jump, but it has to be a static-line jump. They don't trust you to pull your own ripcord until you've had a bit more training and experience.

They have another sort? Like, square maybe

Yes. Square and steerable. Fly through the air at about 15 knots. Great fun.

[klingon]

examples...

[Swoop]

Nope, you can do a solo jump, but it has to be a static-line jump. They don't trust you to pull your own ripcord until you've had a bit more training and experience.

Not so.
Accellerated Free Fall training is designed to get the student to pull their own ripcord and deploy the main parachute.
The Instructors are holding on to you in freefall but are a backup to your actions and training.
The best way to learn!

[klingon]

Not so.
Accellerated Free Fall training is designed to get the student to pull their own ripcord and deploy the main parachute.
The Instructors are holding on to you in freefall but are a backup to your actions and training.
The best way to learn!

OOooooOOoo!! The only options I was given were a tandem jump or static line. Where do I go to try out this accellerated free fall training? I'm signing up for that!