timwalsh

Most cost effective places to jump? The Army, definitely. THEY pay YOU to jump. Of course, you need to be willing to sit in a harness shed for hours on end without eating or drinking or talking or laughing or sleeping, pack tightly into a stripped down cargo plane, and then jump from 800 feet using a 30 year old round parachute while carrying combat gear, possibly into a place where people will shoot at you. But, it's a cost effective way to get your jumping fix. Tim

Hey, I'm from New Hampshire... I didn't think we had any dropzones in the entire state. Where is Skyventure? Tim

You'll also see "Grace from Above", "In God we Trust", "All the Way", "Super-duper Paratroopers", and probably dozens of others. We are cocky and arrogant and call ourselves whatever we want, whenever we want. We are Airborne. Tim

Same here. Actually, I'll be 19 on September 24. I called a dropzone the other day to talk with an instructor about my options for getting licensed. After a few minutes of discussing things, he asked how old I was and stopped in his tracks when I answered, saying "Oh... wow... you're a young'n." I feel fortunate to have started early in the sport. Hopefully that means I've got a long life of skydiving ahead of me. Tim

Gee, I never thought of it that way. I just figured jumping from 800 feet with all that gear and all those people in the air around me and then doing a PLF at the bottom was perfectly normal. I guess they do a pretty good job of brainwashing us. But in all seriousness, I would say that of the 330 people that started jump week with me, about 2 dozen broke legs or ankles or had major concussions over the course of our 5 jumps. And I know a lot of people, myself included, that collided with other jumpers in the air, had equipment that didn't quite work, or even hit the side of the aircraft on exit but were lucky enough not to get hurt. Tim

Thanks for the support, guys. Andrea: There are a lot of ways for a soldier to get to go to Airborne school. In my case as a cadet, West Point and ROTC battalions get a few slots to send people each summer. We don't really apply for it because they simply assume that everyone wants to go. A combination of my physical fitness test scores, GPA, motivation, and general military competency put me at the top of my class, so they just called me up one day and offered me a slot. But because I am only going to be a sophomore this upcoming year it was unexpected to say the least. Tim

Hi, my name is Tim and I'm 18 years old. I'm a student at Boston University and a US Army cadet. If you told me 3 months ago that I was going to jump out of an airplane, I would have laughed in your face, but now I'm addicted. I got a call saying that I had an opportunity to go to Army Airborne school, and I was physically shaking as I accepted the slot. Right after that I made my first static-line jump at Central Maine Skydiving so that I would be able to sleep at night, and I couldn't wait to do it again. Down at Fort Benning I made 5 more static-line jumps from a C-130 aircraft along with up to 29 other jumpers carrying combat equipment to earn my silver wings on 15 July, 2005. Now all I can think about is getting my A license and making a hobby out of this. I'm going to start the IAD course at Pepperell, MA, soon and I hope to be certified to start making free-fall dives on my own next season. Thanks to everyone here for providing this great website and community. Tim

I was the kind of kid when I was little that refused to go on the ferris wheel and still gets dizzy looking out the window of high building, so it was a big decision for me to make my first jump. Going to Central Maine Skydiving was a 3 hour drive, but I decided to do it because they are the only ones in New England who still offer a static-line course. The place was small and intimate, but I never felt unwanted or unsafe. The guys who ran it as well as the usual group of guys who go there to jump were great. They all made me feel welcome, they answered all of my questions and told me as many stories as I wanted to hear, and most importantly made me feel comfortable enough to take my first jump. Despite the long drive, I know I will head back there and probably bring a friend or two to jump again.