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What I didn't do on my NC700X yesterday

dduelin

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I'm not sure I'd done it except my wife was about 500' below me. I couldn't have kept my man card around the house if I'd stayed in the plane.
 
Awesome!!! Where did you go to do it?

I quit jumping about 2 years ago after 17 years and almost 4000 jumps. I was an instructor/videographer/photographer.

You look like you hated. JK, bet you didn't regret that big first step.


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Awesome!!! Where did you go to do it?

I quit jumping about 2 years ago after 17 years and almost 4000 jumps. I was an instructor/videographer/photographer.

You look like you hated. JK, bet you didn't regret that big first step.


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We jumped at Skydive Palatka, FL which is about 60 miles from home. After my wife got through a heart valve replacement with serious complications about two years ago this was a bucket list thing for her. I'm glad I had the experience and it was quite a rush.
 
Pretty impressive there, Dave. Your man card is safe!

Awesome picture, BTW!

But, uhh, what about ATGATT?
 
I love it. That awesome Dave. I only have a little over 600 skydives. Skydiving can be just as, if not more addictive, than the hobby of riding motorcycles. Do you think you guys will try it again? I would say this, if your worried about liking it too much, stop now. LOL. it will take you away from your riding time.

True story. Myself and a few friends used to throw our parachutes on our backs (like a backpack) and jump on our CBRs for a quick ride to the DZ. The DZ was in Reaford NC and I was stationed at Fort Bragg. All it took was three guys to get a Cessna 182 off the ground so we had that covered. We would do a quick climb (not so quick) to 10,000 feet, jump out, repack the parachute, and ride back to work. All in the matter of our 1.5 lunch break and by the way, we were still in our fatigues.

Morale to that story, I was still able to combine riding and jumping but I had to look for ways. LOL

Great that your wife got to scratch something off the bucket list and such a great choice. I want to skydive with my two boys when they are old enough. About 8 more years.
 
I don't have a "bucket list". What's the brouhaha about buckets anyway -- and why does everybody say that?

I have a grocery list sometimes though. But I don't check items off, I let the cute gal at the checkout take care of it.
 
I love it. That awesome Dave. I only have a little over 600 skydives. Skydiving can be just as, if not more addictive, than the hobby of riding motorcycles. Do you think you guys will try it again? I would say this, if your worried about liking it too much, stop now. LOL. it will take you away from your riding time.

True story. Myself and a few friends used to throw our parachutes on our backs (like a backpack) and jump on our CBRs for a quick ride to the DZ. The DZ was in Reaford NC and I was stationed at Fort Bragg. All it took was three guys to get a Cessna 182 off the ground so we had that covered. We would do a quick climb (not so quick) to 10,000 feet, jump out, repack the parachute, and ride back to work. All in the matter of our 1.5 lunch break and by the way, we were still in our fatigues.

Morale to that story, I was still able to combine riding and jumping but I had to look for ways. LOL

Great that your wife got to scratch something off the bucket list and such a great choice. I want to skydive with my two boys when they are old enough. About 8 more years.
That's a cool story Chuck and I hope you have that jump with the boys. I will probably jump one more time as my brother really was the instigator of the idea and set everything up then tore up his knee and had to watch from the ground.
 
One more question if you don't mind. Was the jump as scary as you imagined? Most people are pretty scared until about 5 seconds after the exit. I'm always curious about what people think afterwards.
 
One more question if you don't mind. Was the jump as scary as you imagined? Most people are pretty scared until about 5 seconds after the exit. I'm always curious about what people think afterwards.
I was pretty nervous about it for a week or so prior, this was the worst. The day of I was relaxed and kind of surprised the nervousness had gone away. During the training and getting the harness on I took my ques from my instructor who was professional and easy going. We were there to have fun and it felt OK. There was a photographer/video jumper paired off with each of us and mine was a joker when interacting with me as he explained what we were going to do for 60 seconds at 120 mph. I have my private pilot's license so the noisy bumpy ride up did not alarm me. My wife thought "OMG that's a tiny plane" but compared to a Cessna 150 or 172 the 208 was a big plane to me. We had 3 tandems, 3 photographers, 2 solo jumpers and the pilot. My son and wife went on the first lift and my daughter and my son-in-law went on the next. Having a large family group allowed us to relieve our nervousness by joking around. I did not get scared going up but surely my senses were sharpened by adrenaline.

As we arrived at drop time and altitude the roll-up door was opened and the wind noise and the cold blast of air was a surprise. I'm sure I probably had the deer in the headlights look as the solo guys went out the door. They were practicing some aerial tag team moves on the ground beforehand so they went out more or less as one. My wife and her instructor moved to the door, paused a second, then were gone. I saw her drop away and the fear returned (WTH just happened!!!!) but it was kind of late in the deal so we moved to the door and suddenly went out. As a tandem I didn't exactly have a say in the matter. Out the door I was disoriented a moment as we rolled once or twice but right soon life made sense again. The ground was down there, the horizon was over there, the clouds below were coming up. The wind noise was way more than I imagined but I immediately enjoyed it. I think you were right Chuck. After about 5 seconds no fear just exhilaration.
 
I love hearing first time jump stories. I appreciate your sharing.

My experience was a little different but still a blast. My wife bought me a skydive as a 60th b'day gift ( she made sure that my life policy was current). I did not like the idea of a tandem jump because if there was a chance that I was going to hit the ground, the last thing I would want is some 180lb guy on my back - I know.... crazy logic. Anyway, I selected a static line jump. You're alone in the harness but the ripcord is attached to the plane so the chute deploys as you separate from the plane.

The training class went smoothly and procedures were explained. I felt totally comfortable with just an edge of nervous excitement. There were two of us in the plane for the static line jump and I chose to go first. After reaching altitude, I went through the steps from class- swing your legs just so, put your left foot here,put your left hand on the strut. Put your right foot here, right hand on the strut, slide hands out on the strut until they are beyond the black line, step into space so you're dangling.... Then, when the instructor says go, you do 3 simple things. Look up at the wing, arch your back, and then let go.

Well, the brain went into overload just about the time of the "step into space" so when he said go, I did step three first and let go. There was no looking up and there was no arching of the back.

I can honestly say that the next 3 seconds of my life vanished, never to be seen or remembered again.

The next thing I recall was a tug from the harness and Brain switched back on to remind me to "look up and check your chute". The chute deployed perfectly and the next couple of minutes were awesome. 360 degree right turn, 360 left turn, head downwind but not beyond that fence line, steer back towards the LZ and land close to the instructor in the field. The flying of the chute was exhilarating and I ended up touching down about 15 feet from the instructor!

Anyway, it was a fantastic experience, the wife did not get to collect on the insurance policy, I ticked another item off my bucket list, and decided I loved the quiet flying so I added a glider flight to the list.
>T
 
That is a great story. I must admit, I was smiling big a couple places while reading the story. I am originally from Washington State and have jumped at a couple places near Tacoma. I come back occasionally to visit all my family.

I learned to skydive through the static line progression method so I am familiar with everything you mentioned. I had one advantage though, I was a paratrooper in the 82nd ABN so I probably had a good 50 static line jumps out of a C130 or C141 prior to taking up skydiving.

I love the comment about the vanishing 3 seconds of time. LOL. Good story, thanks for sharing.
 
Snipped.......Anyway, it was a fantastic experience, the wife did not get to collect on the insurance policy, I ticked another item off my bucket list, and decided I loved the quiet flying so I added a glider flight to the list.
>T
I just wanted to comment that when I was growing up I wanted to be a pilot. I did achieve that dream but when I did get my Commercial license we had just ended our involvement in Viet Nam and there were hundreds or thousands of highly trained and experienced military pilots riffed out of the service looking for work. A kid with 350 hours found it hard to fly for a living and my log book was stowed away for years. I simply couldn't afford to fly for pleasure. Fast forward past my mid to late twenties I found myself at a little country airport that hosted a soaring club. I took a ride up in a glider and it was the kind of flying I had dreamed of as a boy. The hours I logged in gliders was way more fun than that before. Anyone can bore a hole through the air burning gas but to find and core a thermal that takes you up for thousands of feet with no engine was a real thrill. Eventually I got married and even the "cheap" money I was spending on soaring went toward building a family but those hours soaring were the best ever in an airplane. Of course I would not trade my family for any time in a glider but take that glider ride!
 
Sarge.... My jump was at the Toledo airport - about an hour and a half south of Tacoma.

Dave. I am hoping for this summer to get some dual time in a glider. I have my Private license but only built up 150 hours before family mode kicked in.
>T
 
I took a ride up in a glider and it was the kind of flying I had dreamed of as a boy. The hours I logged in gliders was way more fun than that before. Anyone can bore a hole through the air burning gas but to find and core a thermal that takes you up for thousands of feet with no engine was a real thrill. Eventually I got married and even the "cheap" money I was spending on soaring went toward building a family but those hours soaring were the best ever in an airplane. Of course I would not trade my family for any time in a glider but take that glider ride!

As a member of the Air Training Corp. as a teenager we learned to fly in Chipmunks which was really cool (at least for a kid!!) but that first time I got to fly in a glider - wow!! Sure was a bumpy launch as it was a Land Rover tow over a grassy field or the winch motor at the end of said field!! But once you were in the air and found that first thermal, words could not describe it! Just the sound of the air passing over the wings with no engine noise and no engine vibration etc. We just had the beeping of the equipment to tell you whether you were going up/down and at what rate. Only downside was that there was always a time limit due to other cadets waiting for their turn!! Glorious memories...
 
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