New here, but have a tandem jump in my hip pocket

[scottmyers 0]

Haven't been back up to do AFF thanks to all the excuses in the book, INCLUDING MONEY AND TIME.....and also having to deal with high blood pressure which is under control, thank you very much. I am a fan of the sport and was taken aback by what the media did this past week about that student jumper in Arkansas. I spoke my piece about it on a thread about it already. Anyways, feel free to email me (clean of course) and Blue Skies/Merry Christmas/Happy 2006 to one and all!

Gig em, Garland Owls!

[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

[Peej 0]

Hey Scott, welcome to dz.com!

Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky

[scottmyers 0]

Thanks for the welcome. I need to post the mug shot of me as to how I looked in freefall on my tandem jump. I'll work on that. Meanwhile, thanks for welcoming me to the dropzone neighborhood.

Gig em, Garland Owls!

[scottmyers 0]

Didn't know where to post this, but here is what MY FIRST TANDEM SKYDIVE was like.

It was cloudy and rainy Saturday morning, October 9, 1999, as I awoke at my brother's apartment in Dallas. Had spent the night after attending a high school game to start my vacation time from work...and wondered if I could go thru jumping out of an airplane for the first time.....ever!

Ever since growing up in Kansas back in the late 1960s/early 1970s, I had a fascination of the sport...even remembered watching it on ABC'S Wide World of Sports. Loved the lady jumpers and the reserve chutes on the chest side of the body...and wondered how they did cutaway from the main if it didn't open. I do remember a story about a female champion skydiver died when she had a malfunction, and never opened the reserve. That did scare me a bit....but then again, I was only 12 or 13. (Ah, yes, youth being innocent back then)

Flash forward to 1999. Now 36, had wondered if I could finally go skydive for the first time...but didn't want to fully commit by telling anyone about it. Instead, I kept it to myself in case I did back out and "no one knowing any wiser of it."

I called around and got in touch with the DZ manifest person at Skydive Texas near Decatur...asked if I could come out and do a tandem. She said, "Yes, come on out."

I drove out that morning, still a bit nervous about the jump and hoping it stayed cloudy...and it was UNTIL I got into Wise County. The skies cleared. Oh, great.

Got to the DZ and the skies had cleared. Checked in, signed in, got weighed in (247....extra charge for being a few pounds overweight. Still am a bit overweight around 245.)

After paying the money for the tandem jump (with video and photos included), I watched an introductory video that calmed my nerves down...oh, yeah....had to sign my life away (that scared me a bit....but I was going to go thru this jump and NOT BACK OUT NOW!)

Got assigned to a jumpmaster named Glenn. Big guy who could handle my size.
Got on the jumpsuit and the tandem harness...the videographer, great lady named Claudia (think that was her name) videoed me before the jump. Then it was out to the plane and time to climb into the plane.

We would be going to 10,500 feet and the jump would be 30 seconds. The ride up was a bit fun...but scary for me...first time I had been in a Cessna 182 plane...pretty cramped, but hung in there all the way up.

Glenn strapped me up, made sure we were hooked up tight and the goggles/helmet were in place.

The door opened, the videographer climbed out and got into place, Glenn and I got into place too. I folded my arms on my chest (and making sure NOT TO LOOK DOWN LIKE I DID BEFORE EXITING).....then OUT WE WENT!!!!!!!

I yelled like Homer Simpson! It was spectacular! 30 seconds went by too fast! Before I knew it, Glenn had managed to keep us from spinning after the drogue came out...and at 5,000 feet, he pulled out the main chute right on cue!

I watched the videographer fall away from us fast! WOW! We floated down with no problems whatsoever!

Got my video and pictures....and my meory of that first jump. For a week, I felt the adrenaline stay with me. It did wear off...but that jump has stayed with me to this day. My photos are at my personal homepage located at http://www.angelfire.com/tx/scottmyers/personal.html

Thanks for the time, gang. Hope I enjoy being here at this forum for quite a while.

Scott Myers
Mineola, Texas

Gig em, Garland Owls!

[scottmyers 0]

In case you haven't seen it, here's the tandem photo. A bit dark, but viewable.

Gig em, Garland Owls!

[freethefly 6]

Like I said in the PM, be sure to ask any question, what so ever, that you may have. Welcome to our world above the world

"...And once you're gone, you can't come back
When you're out of the blue and into the black."
Neil Young

[krazykate 0]

Awesome!
I completely understand your tandem experience... after mine i knew i was hooked and started looking at skydiving courses- did a static line jump but want to go for the aff course beginning of 2006!
nice photos too!!!

[scottmyers 0]

One correction in the post about my jump. My tandem master was Glenn Hodigren, a great guy who helped me be a bit calm throughout the jump. The videographer was Carolyn Provost, great gal to watch in freefall while doing her job running the videocam! Anyone know what they are doing now since I heard from a good source that Skydive Texas closed their dropzone for good?

Thanks for the time. Good night and good luck!

Scott

Gig em, Garland Owls!

[jcadiver 0]

Glenn and Caroline are working at skydive Miami, Glenn is still taking up Tandems and Caroline still doing videos.

[Jumpah 0]

Thanks for the story, Scott. Welcome to the sport! I've almost worn out my jump videos, and have worn out my gf's patience with them (though she did get me a subscription to Skydiver magazine for Christmas
Wait'll you jump out of something bigger, like a Twin Otter. It takes less time getting to altitude and it can go higher so as an AFF student you'll get 50+ seconds of freefall.

Good luck!

[Mike111 0]

nice one mate!!!