1st Jump And I've Caught The Bug!

[MagicGuy 0]

Hey guys,

I'm brand new to the forums so I'll start off with a little intro. My name is Corey and I'm from Rhode Island. I'm 19 years old and I'm a magician. I've been fascinated with the idea of human flight for as long as I can remember (which got me started in magic) and even created my own illusion that allows spectators to see you levitate. Of course my fascination with flying has had me wanting to skydive for years and years. I had done the indoor skydiving in Vegas a couple years ago, but I was ready for the real thing. On Wednesday, August 17th, I got to live out my fantasy.

I made my first tandem skydive at Skydive Newport in Middletown, Rhode Island. I hardly slept the night before, anticipating the best (and worst) of what could happen the next morning. At 8 0'clock I was woken up by one of my friends who was also coming along for the ride. It felt like I got about an hour's rest.

On the car ride up all I could do was think about what I was about to do. I wasn't really nervous but I can't say that I wasn't thinking about all the "what ifs". Having two friends that were also taking the plunge definitely helped the situation.

When we got to the airport we were kindly greeted by the owner and were given the paperwork to sign. Man, reading through that stuff wasn't exactly the most pleasant thing to read before jumping out of a plane. It basically said that you could possibly die and if you do your family can't sue the company over it. Knowing that the company had an impeccable safety record helped put me at ease. Once the paperwork was completed, the owner Marc went through everything we would need to know - body position, signals of when to uncross your arms etc. Because only two groups can fit into the plane at once, one of my friends stepped up to be the solo jumper. He would be the first to jump.

When my friend arrived back on the ground, he was so excited that he was ready to go to an ATM and get another $200 to jump again! This was a great confidence boost. We didn't have much time until it was our turn to board the plane.

It took about 15 minutes to reach our altitute of 10,000 feet. At about 9,000 ft my instructor hooked me up to him and reitterated the stuff that I would need to know. Once we were over our DZ, my friend's instructor opened up the door on the side of the plane...and holy $hit! This was probably my scariest moment. Hearing the wind blowing outside and the loud noise of the plane's engine was quite startling. But I knew there was no turning back.

I waved goodbye to my friend and he was off. It was my turn...I scooted over to the door of the airplane and put my foot on the pedal outside of the plane. "Are you ready?"..."YES!!!" I shouted. "OK, ready, set, go!" and at that point I experienced the coolest thing I have ever done.

We did a flip out of the plane, and man, those first couple seconds after exiting the plane are the best. As you all know it's a feeling thats hard to explain, but absolutely incredible to experience. Nothing around you, so peaceful and serene, and the feeling isn't that of falling, but more like flying. Absolutely amazing.

The instructor than gave me the signal that he was deploying the parachute, which was a lot softer than I thought it was going to be. The parachute ride down was great, however not even close to the feeling of freefall. When I landed on the ground I was hit my many different emotions. Excitement that I had accomplished something that I have wanted to do for so long. Shocked at what I had just done. And dissapointed that it was over so quickly.


Needless to say, I am HOOKED. For the past 3 days all I can think about is skydiving. I want to do it again. I want to keep doing it. I knew that I was going to love skydiving, but now I feel like I NEED to skydive.

I am so glad that I did this. I honestly feel like a changed person. I can't wait to skydive again, and I hope to continue to grow in this sport.

[nessvegas 0]

Yep, your hooked. Sell all your other toys, forget college....take the AFF...live at the DZ.

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I married the right one......it just took me 2 times!

[Amazon 7]

Yup Skydiving is majic..... you go to the DZ and all your money dissappears.

[skymama 37]

Welcome to the forums!

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[Ragnarok 0]

Yea, that, exactly! Hard to put it onto words, huh? Good that you jumped and want to do it again.

I felt the same way. I started out doing the AFF. I am halfway through now. I am only kicking myself for not doing it sooner.......but that won't last long.

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Twin Otter N203-Echo,29 July 2006
Cessna P206 N2537X, 19 April 2008
Blue Skies Forever

[Macaw 0]

I have experienced something very similar when I did my first tandem and it took me 4 years to go for another tandem jump and understand that this something I would like to try to do on my own.

I signed up for AFF course two week-ends ago, completed AFF4 yesterday and two things I can tell for sure now: 1) I'm hooked and 2) it turned out that skydiving has nothing to do with fear. Excitement, relaxation, good judgement, cool mind -yes, but not fear. Myself being scared of many things around me I can't explain why it is so, maybe because freefall is an illussion - the air holds you all the way if you let it hold you, maybe because you get so concentrated on various stuff that you don't even have a second to let the fear inside.

I think that if you decide to go through training there will tons of new things and feelings that you'll discover.

Good luck!

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Life is a series of wonderful opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.

[firstime 0]

welcome to the skies brother, I can feel your excitement by your post.

Be Smart & you will be safe