kevin922 0 #1 February 24, 2009 I remember back in the day when everyone was paranoid to jump a wingsuit.. and now I'm seeing so many people jump them... I think that is awesome, I'm curious what the big curve is as far as the year people started jumping the suits.. Posting your memories of your first jump experience and year are encouraged! (For me, Jari was throwing me out of an Otter in Orange, VA in a GTI I think it was.. I believe circa 2001 - 2002) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fmmobley 0 #2 February 24, 2009 My first one was at the last Dublin St Patricks Day boogie in March 2007. Chuck Blue got me started. I remember I walked up in a freefly jumpsuit and proceeded to put the demo wingsuit on OVER the jumpsuit. I remember Chuck had a funny look on his face but he refrained from calling me an idiot. Thanks Chuck.... Marion Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The111 1 #3 February 24, 2009 Quote I remember Chuck had a funny look on his face but he refrained from calling me an idiot. Thanks Chuck. That doesn't sound like the Chuck I know! 2004 (Feb I think) for me. Chris Ash took me up at Skydive Pahokee on Lake Okeechobee. I got so freaking drunk that night. The next day I was hungover and the plane rides were bumpy so I was kind of getting sick. On about the 4th jump (still jumping the demo suit of course) I was so sick on the plane I almost lost it. Made it out the door somehow, forgot about it... remembered under canopy, and promptly puked on myself and the demo suit (and a car somewhere below probably) at 4000ft. I bought the suit, even though they said I didn't have to just because of the puke. A month later in March I had a chop on my 14th wingsuit jump, hardest reserve opening ever (Chuck will remember that) and my lower back still hurts to this day from it. I didn't jump for 4 months (could barely walk straight for a few weeks) and when I did start again my first wingsuit jump was scarier than my first skydive. Got over it all, obviously.www.WingsuitPhotos.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
monkycndo 0 #4 February 24, 2009 December '05 at the Eloy Holiday boogie. The111 gave me my FFC. Due to a nasty, disgusting growth on his lip, he couldn't make the first jump with me, so someone else witnessed the comedy.50 donations so far. Give it a try. You know you want to spank it Jump an Infinity Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The111 1 #5 February 24, 2009 QuoteDecember '05 at the Eloy Holiday boogie. The111 gave me my FFC. Due to a nasty, disgusting growth on his lip, he couldn't make the first jump with me, so someone else witnessed the comedy. Actually it was the sinus infection that had me grounded. My lower lip was swollen so big it looked like I had been punched in the face, but I think it was an allergic reaction to something (let the speculations begin).www.WingsuitPhotos.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hjumper33 0 #6 February 25, 2009 Did my first two on a classic with Ed P in early 2007. Backflew on the second jump because I didnt know it was supposed to be hard, then people told me it was so I spent the next 50 jumps relearning. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bodypilot1 0 #7 February 25, 2009 1999. Saw a wingsuit hanging on a rack inside Action Air, so I rented it and jumped it, alot. I ordered 2. Then I thought how cool it would be if someone sell them and teach people how to fly them correctly without going in, and how RICH you could be doing that! www.WestCoastWingsuits.com www.PrecisionSkydiving.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sdctlc 0 #8 February 25, 2009 Quote I thought how cool it would be if someone sell them and teach people how to fly them correctly without going in, and how RICH you could be doing that! I have sen your "Man Cave" and it is not too shabby toy wise..... Scott C."He who Hesitates Shall Inherit the Earth!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
robblack31 0 #9 February 25, 2009 Eddie P trained me up back in 2003 and I was happy to help him get rich. The training was great and that first jump is still probably my favorite w.s. jump. It all went well until I did a "phantom pull" of my hackey and went back into full flight. I looked over to see Eddie laughing at me until I reached back and pulled properly. Then I got married and now my w.s. (which has gotten smaller) mostly mocks me without remorse. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SuperGirl 0 #10 February 25, 2009 Started seriously thinking about it in the fall of '07, because I was getting closer to the 200 jump mark. By the time the season ended, I had 198 jumps. Planned a trip to Cali in Jan '08, and I was going to do my first flight there with Ed. I was psyched. Well... first the weather was shitty, then he had to do a few AFF jumps with someone else who had been waiting even longer than me... then the weather turned shitty again. Clouds, winds, I don't even remember. Point is, I never got to jump with Ed. (dude I would have totally made you rich ) Returning to Orange, I started making plans to jump with the Gray brothers. Was all set to do my FFC at the season opener event in the spring of '08... guess what, when I got there, it was raining... no, it was pouring! All I got was to chat with a few awesome wingsuiters and then Justin let me put on one of his demo suits, and I was really excited even for that. Then whenever the Grays were at the DZ, I couldn't come, and vice-versa. Finally, there I was at Orange one weekend... it was a Saturday night... I remember it clearly, even though I was really drunk. It was around 3 or 4 a.m. when I finally went to crash in my tent. Being the ultimate geek that I am, I didn't go straight to sleep. I pulled my computer to check my e-mail first. And there it was!!! An e-mail from Chris Gray asking if I was gonna come to the dz the next morning, cause they were coming over. Lucky me, I was already there. Needless to say, I didn't need any more sleep, any trace of hangover instantly disappeared, I was sooo ready to fly! So, finally, on Sunday, July 13th 2008, I did my first wingsuit flight, and totally loved it! It was documented in this thread. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bodypilot1 0 #12 February 25, 2009 Quote It all went well until I did a "phantom pull" of my hackey and went back into full flight. I looked over to see Eddie laughing at me until I reached back and pulled properly. I was going to design you some kind of ballistic for your pc, if you kept doing that....funny shit www.WestCoastWingsuits.com www.PrecisionSkydiving.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bodypilot1 0 #13 February 25, 2009 Quote I never got to jump with Ed. (dude I would have totally made you rich ) One day in the future you might! www.WestCoastWingsuits.com www.PrecisionSkydiving.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Buried 0 #14 February 25, 2009 Quote Quote I never got to jump with Ed. (dude I would have totally made you rich ) One day in the future you might! she ain't missing out on much Where is my fizzy-lifting drink? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bodypilot1 0 #15 February 25, 2009 Quote she ain't missing out on much Jockying for a slot at the 20/20 are ya? www.WestCoastWingsuits.com www.PrecisionSkydiving.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lurch 0 #16 February 25, 2009 Tail end of '03, Tikibar burning, Lebanon. I'd seen a clip of a couple guys in red and white Classics surfing a cloud. Chasing each other in circles in and around it. It was freakin' awe inspiring and the second I saw that I knew what I was skydiving to do. Took a bit over another 100 jumps, and the opportunity came unexpectedly. Woke up in the morning at SNE and suddenly POOF a wingsuit booth appeared. I had 218 jumps and suddenly wow heres my chance! So far as I know everyone who saw how I reacted when I reached the ground still remembers it. I screamed. I want more!!!! I bought a new GTI without hesitation on the spot. Exiting felt exactly like I'd imagined it would. Just spread the wings and stopped falling, suddenly the air became like another new set of arms I could actually DO something with instead of just plummeting. Supported me instead of just letting me punch through it. Still one of the most unforgettably intense, gratifying sensations I have ever experienced. Instinct and joy took over from there and I racked up hundreds of solos experimenting-distance, time, both, acro, exits, you name it, but mostly going for fallrate and airtime. This was back when jumping a wingsuit at under 500 jumps was considered almost unthinkable and the 200-jump first timers were still just a rumor from Europe. They didn't want to let me fly it at my home DZ either-nobody else around who knew anything about em except Dave Godin and he was seldom around, I'd only seen him jump a suit once here... so I got a note from my BMI (Asaf Fishelson...remember him?) and a few of my mentors spoke up on my behalf and said, we think you should let him fly. So they did. I never gave any of them a reason to regret it. That was about 1000 jumps ago, almost all of them wingsuit. After several years of flying alone, a few more came. Then many. Now I've got half the population of the DZ to fly with. -BLive and learn... or die, and teach by example. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
badenhop 0 #17 February 25, 2009 Hello, As the 90's progressed, my parachuting activities used airplanes less and less. In 99 and 2000 I made only a handful of jumps, and in 2001 I made just one skydive, to keep my PRO Rating current. Then on a BASE trip in early 2002, Moe Viletto made a comment that wingsuiting had given him a whole new reason to go back to the dropzone. So I bought a used wingsuit (GTi) off the internet and headed for the dz. I said "hey Bill, check out my new jumping toy". He said "what is that crap, pack up yer shit and get off the dropzone". So a couple weeks later I went back and Mick was there with a wingsuit as well, and we convinced Bill that we would most likely survive. So he let wingsuits on the dz for the first time, circa April 2002. Thanks Bill, Lodi flock rocks!================================== I've got all I need, Jesus and gravity. Dolly Parton http://www.AveryBadenhop.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Buried 0 #18 February 25, 2009 Quote Quote she ain't missing out on much Jockying for a slot at the 20/20 are ya? if you throw enough money at it, most things are obtainable Where is my fizzy-lifting drink? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bodypilot1 0 #19 February 25, 2009 I jumped my Classic at Lodi the end of 2000, but I didn't say, "hey Bill, check out my new jumping toy" and got on the plane without him looking. I knew he wouldn't approve. And we still cant get him to jump one! www.WestCoastWingsuits.com www.PrecisionSkydiving.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peej 0 #20 February 25, 2009 I made my first ws jump at Perris in 2004 with VectorBoy, did a couple there and went on to jump more at WFFC with Chuckie and the crew. Came back to SA, bought a suit and made some more, only to start getting in CP then sold it and haven't jumped one since. I've been getting the urge to lately but would have to borrow gear as i don't own a canopy suitable for it. Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
unclecharlie95 3 #21 February 25, 2009 2001> footage from first jumps: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=24 Comparing the two - we didn't come so far! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMbeGJQFFqo&feature=channel_page BASEstore.it Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
virgin-burner 1 #22 February 25, 2009 end of 2007, right after i got my license, on jumps 70/71. there's a very lively thread over here.. of course i then waited until very recently.. “Some may never live, but the crazy never die.” -Hunter S. Thompson "No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try." -Yoda Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cpoxon 0 #23 February 25, 2009 Quote 2001> footage from first jumps: If you'd kept at it, you might have made a reasonable pilot I did my first jump in July 2001 on my 505th jump. Tim Porter trained and videoed me. http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=882 I wore Chris Gauge's S.U.I.T. which was a bit on the tight side. I shan't name the dropzone as it was a little cloudy luckily my referencing of the sun and my flight plan was good. I like this video because the flailing during the first half makes me laugh but I really like the moment where you can see it click and the flight goes all quiet and smooth. I can still remember the opening on my original Sabre 190 Oh, the video uses the Indeo 5.1 codec. Vista users will need to open a command prompt elevated to administrator and type "regsvr32.dll ir50_32.dll" as it's not registered by default for some reason.Skydiving Fatalities - Cease not to learn 'til thou cease to live Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MarkM 0 #24 February 25, 2009 Spring 2005, ZHills, Scott Bland took me up. I think on my 2nd or 3rd jump he invited me in on the 7 ways that were going on there that weekend. It really got me addicted to it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mccordia 74 #25 February 25, 2009 Think it was oktober/november 2003 (or somewhere around that time) at Teuge, Netherlands. Had around 380 jumps or so if I remember correctly. Used a Classic I. Later moved on on to the 'extremely dangerous' high performance Skyflyer1 (which wasnt all that bad, some light wobbly flying aside, when pushed too hard) JC FlyLikeBrick I'm an Athlete? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
