Whuffo????

[AiRpollUtiOn 0]

Whuffo did you wanna jump out of aperfectly good airplane, what made you start doing this crazy sh?@!, I suppose this isn't a new question on this board, but I'm interested anyway
I'll tell you my story, I've been hanging out at my DZ ever since I was 9 years old, my dad used to jump there, and I was playing in the woods with other skydivers sons and daughters! I never got to it because I was to busy glider-flying and girlfriends... (girlfriends cost a lot of money!)
Last June I borroughed my dad some money, about a month later I asked him when I could have it back, he simply replied he had used it to pay an 8-jump static line course...
The rest is standard, I'm hooked, and hooked up with a skydiving-chick (that I know for about the same time I first got to the DZ, her father jumps too, and allso dragged her down there! It's so cool when for the first time you wake up at your girlfriends house, meet her father while you're still in your underwear and the only thing he has to ask is how many jumps you made the day before!)
Anywayzzzz, I would love to here youer stories!
Will jump for beer, bs AiRpollUtiOn

[kmcguffee 0]

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the only thing he has to ask is how many jumps you made the day before!

That's hilarious. I'm still trying to figure out why I jump out of planes. When I do, I'll let you know.

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[hooked 0]

That is a great story! Very funny. Great to see you here! Enjoying it aren't you?
Jer

[bbarnhouse 0]

What? A perfectly good airplane? You have got to be kidding right?
And the most annoying whuffo question aimed my way is.....and just what's a little lady like you doing in a man's sport? Oh just gag me! LMAO
Oh and......when you hit the ground does it hurt? Geez hahaaa
It only takes a little pixie dust......

[AiRpollUtiOn 0]

Hey hooked Jer, great to see you as well, not able to track you down on messenger though, anywayzzz, thx for the advise for dzdotcom!
Will jump for beer, bs AiRpollUtiOn

[Billy 0]

"It's so cool when for the first time you wake up at your girlfriends house, ""
BEER!!! LOL!!
Jumpin out beats riding down,, ya agree??
Don't read this shit down here,, it's nonsense,,,

[AiRpollUtiOn 0]

Absolutely, been ther, done that, even got a T-shirt!!! (with the text: I've flown with Jack, and survived!!!!)
I don't even look out of the plane anymore, usually I just sleep half the way up!
Will jump for beer, bs AiRpollUtiOn

[Spy38W 0]

Whuffo, good question... I originally went out to the DZ to be a jump pilot, I kept seeing the huge smile on all the jumpers' faces and the fun they were having. I then decided to do a tandem jump, justified by the fact that if I was flying skydivers I should probably understand more about their point of view, well, that one tandem got me hooked... The DZ lost me as a pilot, but gained me as a jumper. :)

[AiRpollUtiOn 0]

Couldn't you just combine the two??? It seems like a waste not to fly those overpowered skydive-carrying monsters!
Will jump for beer, bs AiRpollUtiOn

[Keith 0]

Until I stumbled on to rec dot it never occurred to me to jump out of a plane. The people seemed to be really passionate about jumping that I thought I would do it once just to see what it was like, and to be able to say I did it. Below is a copy of a letter a sent a friend shortly after my first jump, which was a tandem.
I FINALLY DID IT. I finally jumped out of an airplane. It was so cool. I surprised myself at how calm I was in free-fall. I got to the drop zone about a half-hour early on Saturday. I filled out the mountain of paperwork, disclaimers etc. and watched their disclaimer video. As I was signing the credit card receipt, the woman helping me turned around and asked the guy behind her what load I would be on. The guy said, "This one." She turned to me and said, "Oh you lucked out. They're loading in 5 minutes." “5 MINUTES? WHOOOOLY COW!”
It turned out to be a good thing. I didn't have time to get scared and wonder what on earth I was thinking. I get dizzy looking over a balcony on the third floor and here I am, going to jump out of a plane at 12,500 feet. I went over and put on the jump suit I was given. My harness was strapped to my midsection, my altimeter was strapped to my wrist and my frap hat (a leather hat that would do nothing more than contain my brain matter should I plummet to earth) was placed on my head and adjusted. We were off to the plane; I got my instruction as we were walking. I thought, “This can't be good. Shouldn't I be getting more training than a couple of words before the flight?” But as it turned out, it was OK.
I was given the meaning of a few hand signals I would be given during the dive. I was told two thumbs up shortly after exiting the plane would mean we were doing fine in free-fall. I was told a tap on the right thigh would mean I needed to arch more, and a wave of a hand in front of my face would mean it was time for me to pull the ripcord.
We were second in line to board the plane. As I stepped in behind my instructor, Armond, bending down to keep from hitting my head on the fuselage I viewed the passenger compartment. There were windows lining the length of the brightly-lit passenger compartment and two long bench seats padded with black vinyl, which also ran the length of the passenger compartment. In all 23 students, instructors and experienced skydivers were crammed into the small white plane.
On the way to altitude, I was given more instruction on how to exit the plane. I was told how to position my body, how to keep my eyes on the wing as we were positioned to exit the plane and, most importantly, how to safely hurl myself out of the plane in unison with the guy strapped to my back. Armond kept reviewing, with me, all of the things I had learned. We reviewed what the hand signals meant, what body position I should be in for exit, and he kept saying "Remember to thrust your hips on exit." This allows for a proper arch during free-fall. In between impromptu quizzes I was getting increasingly nervous and I was having a hard time breathing. My lungs felt expanded. I was taking frequent shallow breaths and I thought “Keith, you’re gonna pass out” so I started taking long, slow, deep breaths while fighting the urge to look out the window at all of the tiny little objects on the ground that I would soon be plummeting towards. Armond kept asking me how I was doing and I kept lying and saying "I'm doing fine."
Some of my anxiety was released while one of the other tandem instructors was telling Armond and me that he had a bet going with his student. If the instructor could make his student puke while doing spins, turns, and other tricks during free-fall then the student would have to buy him lunch and if he couldn’t make the student puke then the instructor had to buy the student lunch. That day was the birthday of another first-time-tandem-student, so we all sang happy birthday to him. One of the experienced skydivers turned and gave me a high-five. I was feeling more calm and decided it was going to be OK. I would not have to ride the plane back to the ground after-all.
Armond told me it was time to hook our harnesses together. He told me to turn and back up into him, so I did. He told me to scoot back more, then more and still more, I thought to myself, “If I scoot back anymore I’m gonna insist you wear a condom buddy!” As he explained each step taken to hook each of the four latches that would keep us bound together, I looked around at the other passengers and . . . Oh God, Oh God, Oh God . . . half of them were missing. I knew some of the divers were exiting the plane but for some reason it struck me: “These people are actually jumping out of the plane. What are they? Nuts? Wait a minute! AM I NUTS?” Just then Armond motioned that it was our turn. So I started thinking, "Keith don't think about what you are doing, just do what you were told to do. Otherwise, it's time for clean boxer shorts." We started scooting to the hole in the side of the plane they call a door. After reaching the door, I crouched down on my feet while in the fetal position with my arms crossing my chest like I was told. Too terrified to look down, I kept looking up at the wing, then I got the command. Armond rocked us forward and yelled “ONE”, he rocked us backward and yelled “TWO”, he rocked us forward and yelled “TREE . . . THRUST.” Out of the plane we went and I arched as hard as I could.
As soon as we exited I suddenly felt this calm come over me. The wing I had been watching was now an entire shiny white plane. There was a small dark hole in the side, the landing gear was permanently extended and on the front of the plane, under the cockpit, was a large smiling face with large jagged shark teeth. Armond kept telling me not to look down. He would say, "There's nothing down there but ground." But I couldn't help it. I found myself marveling at the birds eye view, the rolling hills now brown from a lack of rain that two months ago were unusually green, the dirt roads made by off road enthusiasts and the buildings that just minutes ago I was afraid to look at. I heard the rush of the wind passing through my hat into my ears and felt the cool, crisp, fresh air being forced into my lungs as we fell at 120 miles an hour. I wanted to keep falling and soaking in all of the new sensations I was witnessing for the first time. But all good things must come to an end. With the wave of a hand in front of my face and a tug of the ripcord, we were under canopy. We did some high-speed turns that brought us, what felt to be, horizontal with the canopy. I know we weren't but that is how it felt. Armond asked me if it was "OK" to be making such aggressive maneuvers on my first canopy ride and I told him it was fine and strangely enough, it was. I was given control of the canopy for a while. I did some turns left, some turns right and then gave control back to Armond so we could land. I was amazed. The only time I felt scared, after exiting, was when I was in control of the canopy.
If I could have afforded it I would have done another dive the same day. While driving home, trying as best I could to keep my truck in its lane, I wished I had brought along a designated driver.
Keith

[AggieDave 6]

Keith, good letter, you know that first jump stories are supposed to start "No shit, there I was, I thought I was going to die..." right?
"Wait...are you selling Penis Mighters?"

[Keith 0]

LOL, actually I didn't *think* I was gonna die, I *knew* I was gonna die It was definitely one of those "What the hell was I thinking" moments.
Keith

[AiRpollUtiOn 0]

Damn boy, you sure do know how to put it into words, and you got me a reason to laugh at my dad, he still jumps with one of those lether brainholders (I've got a Z1, couldn't find any factory diver out here so I had to go with this Italian crap, but my girlfriend thinks it's really cool so no pro!!!)
and it doesn't matter if it's a hole in the side of the plane, a door, or even a window, as long as you get out right!
Will jump for beer, bs AiRpollUtiOn

[AiRpollUtiOn 0]

oh yea, about the no shit... part, on my first I thaught of myself as calm and in total control of my nerves, but the pictures kinda revealed a slight alteration of skin-color, kinda like black Michael Jackson to the white variant, in the same direction but starte-ing out as a white guy!!! lol
Will jump for beer, bs AiRpollUtiOn

[AggieDave 6]

The first jump story thing is a tradition with the Aggie Club, all first time jumpers in the club have to do their version of the story (after beer, of course) and the JMs interject their own little stories along the way...its all a joke and a great laugh. The peanut gallery add their own little comments too, example:
Jumper: "no shit there I was, I thought I was going to die...I had to climb out and hang off the strut..."
JM: "he wouldn't leave the plane, I had to kick him out with the pilot's help..."
Jumper: "no, I climbed out and hung under the strut, let go into a beautiful arch"
JM: "well, he did a complete flip..."
Peanut Gallery: "did you go into a sit-fly?"
etc. It's usually really funny and what I think as a great skydiving tradition. It usually brings the new jumper into the group a little better, makes them feel more at ease with their new community of friends, other jumpers. "Wait...are you selling Penis Mighters?"

[Skyrose7 0]

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While driving home, trying as best I could to keep my truck in its lane, I wished I had brought along a designated driver.

b/c of drinking or jumping? did anyone else feel drunk or what I like to call "sky high" even hours after jumping? I sure as hell did. I still do. I think it was one of the last jumps of the season, and I was so sky high that I missed my turn (which I looked up at the light when I saw it and told myself to turn--but forgot within 3 seconds and didn't even realize it). NOt only that, but I went 15 minutes in the wrong direction. Best part is, my brother in the car with me couldn't mock me---he missed it too. It wasn't until we saw that we were driving along a lakeshore that an inkling of concern krept in. I looove that feeling though, but it can be dangerous I think when driving.
The mind is like a parachute--it works better when it is open. JUMP.

[AiRpollUtiOn 0]

Yup, this should remember us all to the fact that skydiving is hazardous business! hèhèh
Will jump for beer, bs AiRpollUtiOn

[freeflir29 0]

"did anyone else feel drunk or what I like to call "sky high" even hours after jumping?"
The one 360 Hook I did had me "High" for several hours afterwards. That was an adrenaline rush I won't soon forget. Of course I also realized how stupid it was and vowed Never again unless it's over water. The first Free Fall was pretty cool. Everything was brown outside my hands once I got off the hill. I couldn't see anything except my hands and altimeter. It returned to normal as the canopy snivelled. Pretty cool.
"I only have a C license, so I don't know shit..right?"-Clay

[hooked 0]

What a GREAT story! I don't think you EVER forget your first skydive. It is a thrill that cannot be explained, but you did a good job explaining yours. I love reading first jump stories and am going to wear out my video!
J

[Keith 0]

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b/c of drinking or jumping? did anyone else feel drunk or what I like to call "sky high" even hours after jumping?

Oh man, for the longest time I had to go home and have a beer or two so I could come down from the high I got from jumping. You're right, Great Feeling Keith

[Keith 0]

Thanks! I'm sure I was still high when I wrote it.
Keith

[canopycudler 0]

That was AWSOME!! I felt like i was with you making my first jump all over again!!
Thanks, Keith!
MOTHER NATURE HAS LOST HER MIND...it is SNOWING!!.
...Tina

[Snowbird 0]

'Sky high'? Oh yeah. After my first jump, I didn't even bother trying to go to sleep until 2 am, and didn't fall asleep until at least 3:30 am. I rode that wave for a week! I couldn't form two consecutive thoughts that didn't include skydiving. Then when I did my 4th and 5th jumps on the same day, I could've flown home I felt so high.
Damn snow. Must... jump...

[harro 0]

Most annoying WHUFFO question is " what happenes when the second chute doesnt open??? "
Gee... let me think ....... alot of pain, shitting ones self and prayer would have alot too do with it!!
Freemind, freesky, freebeer, freefly, freesex

[skymedic 0]

No shit....it is kinda like...DUH...
marc
BSBD