rabbit 0 #1 June 21, 2003 Yesterday I did my first jump! Actually I guess it was more of a "dear god there is a man who is going to remove himself from an airplane at high altitude with me strapped to his chest!", but I'm gonna call it a jump. It was an airplane with a back dropping type door (I'm so technical, huh?), and I think someone designed it purposely so that there was nothing for me to grab for dear life right at the edge (thanks to that person, by the way). While waiting on the ground I was ok, going into the plane I was ok, getting to altitude I was ok, the first few people out the door I was ok, about the time the two people ahead of me were going out I was getting just a touch nervous (read: scared sh*tless!!), and then I waddled up to that door and looked out... Ok, I've learned that I am a coward. I have also learned that I have no problem being a coward. Fortunately, I am also a coward who does NOT want to be embarrassed and lose $175 for the priviledge. An aside: 1, 2, 3 gives one WAY too much time to think, and ready is not a real good term to use when you are asking someone about jumping out of an airplane... I'd so much prefer just being thrown out the door, maybe with a running start! Ok, so we get out and I am about as scared as I've ever been (except for the moment before), we do some flippy type things and I find out why my dog stops putting his head out the car window when I hit 55MPH or so on the highway. The world is getting bigger at an alarming rate. But the fear slowly subsides a bit and I put my arms out when I feel them being tapped. I'm just getting into this when I hear a voice in my ear "If your goggles start to come off, try to keep a hold of them.". Now I did not notice that my goggles had a wickedly ironic sense of humor before the jump, in fact they seemed very benign and friendly, but obviously they were lying in wait just to hear that phrase. I wear glasses and my goggles are now up on top of my head, not a good situation. I grab the goggles and push them back on (not quite as easy as it sounds), all the while realizing that losing my glasses at several thousand feet is going to be much worse than losing them somewhere in my house. But then I remember my arms are supposed to be out, and the last thing I want to do is kill us because I did not do what I was supposed to do. So I have my fingers at the edge of my goggles and my elbows stuffed out as far as I can put them and I probably look like a chicken trying to fly (well, I guess that is a pretty good simile since I WAS a chicken trying to fly!). I have to say, one feels a bit foolish trying to save a pair of glasses while hurtling towards the earth at excessive speeds. After an all too short time I feel a gentle pull upwards and I think "thats not so bad", of course less than a moment later 90% of me is straining towards the ground while my thighs are straining for outer space, and I wonder if anyone has ever thought of doing the splits at altitude prior to skydiving. Now I am hanging in midair, and this is the third most scared I've ever been (coming close on the heels of 'just out of an airplane' and 'at the open door of an airplane'). Now I hear: "grab the handles", so I grab upwards and after some fumbling find something that feels like a shoelace or a dog leash or something (silly me, I thought I'd find big metal handles), and then I feel the best thing in the world - turning and flaring and dear me, I never knew how good it could feel to pull down and float up and then let up and swoosh down and I only wish I was about to jump out again (well having just jumped would be better since I would not be searching for something to grab for dear life besides the straps on my chest) and I'm wishing I had another $175 in my wallet so I could do this again and then we're coming in and I hear legs up and I do the most important sit up of my life and its over with a bump and a slide. I'm grinning so hard it hurts and I give someone a high five and I have just learned why everyone looks so excited when they walk off the field and why birds sing and bees buzz and why wings are for airborne gods. I rode pegasus through wind and fear and emerged on the other side of Mount Helicon with wings of my own. To all of you who have not jumped: Immortality is available at the rate of $175 dollars. To Skydive Tecumseh: Thank you for being there, you all have given me something I can never repay! To Sporto (I think it was you, at least the picture on the wall that looked like you had that name on it): You were right, I really should have gotten the video!!! To anyone who said anything to me after the jump: Sorry if I did not answer or said something really foolish, I was busy remembering what heaven is all about. Seth P.S. Sorry for the length of this post, I just could not contain it! P.P.S See you all at Skydive Tecumseh tomorrow for the static class! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ThighMan 5 #2 June 21, 2003 Good Job and welcome to the Family. It will only get better. Have fun and stay safe. AirborneAirborne Blue Skies, No Wind Feet and Knees Together Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skymama 35 #3 June 22, 2003 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 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hooked 0 #4 June 22, 2003 That was so well written, I felt I was right there with you! Thank you for that and isn't it a wonderful feeling! J -------------------------------------- Sometimes we're just being Humans.....But we're always Human Beings. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MikeTJumps 4 #5 June 22, 2003 Welcome to our world!!! Your post was a joy to read. We can all re-live our first jumps through posters such as yourself. Be sure to get a copy of either (or both) of the leading introductory texts on the sport: Parachuting, The Skydivers Handbook (by Dan Poynter and me) and/or Jump, Skydiving Made easy and Fun (by Tom Buchanan) Either or both will provide you with lots of information to make your journey into our world more knowledgeable.Mike Turoff Instructor Examiner, USPA Co-author of Parachuting, The Skydiver's Handbook Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
groovychic 0 #6 June 23, 2003 Welcome! I enjoyed reading your story! May you have many more blue skies! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
juanesky 0 #7 June 23, 2003 Welcome to our exciting world. It was a pleasure reading the great experience you shared with us. We also hope that you join us in this great addiction. Blue skies!"According to some of the conservatives here, it sounds like it's fine to beat your wide - as long as she had it coming." -Billvon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Luminous 0 #8 June 23, 2003 Great post!! Welcome to the wonderful world of skydiving. Wait'll fall when the leaves are changing. The view is incredible! I love jumping in MI in the fall. Congrats. Blue Skies/Black Death'In an insane society a sane person seems insane.' Mr. Spock Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rabbit 0 #9 June 23, 2003 Thanks to all who replied! I did my first static yesterday (Sunday) and hope to be well on my way to a first untethered jump soon. Frankly, I thought I would go up and jump once just so I could have done it, I really did not expect that it would be all I could think about. I cannot wait to freefall again! Seth Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
juanesky 0 #10 June 24, 2003 We warned you....you are addicted....hehehe"According to some of the conservatives here, it sounds like it's fine to beat your wide - as long as she had it coming." -Billvon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
robskydiv 0 #11 June 24, 2003 Well Rabbit, it sounds like you had fun. Now all ya got to do is make another! Blue Skies my friend. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cava 0 #12 June 27, 2003 Looks like there's a new jump junkie in town. Blue skies. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
outofit 0 #13 July 2, 2003 welcome! It is better to be dead and cool than alive and uncool! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
feuergnom 22 #14 July 4, 2003 how come you know my story? i guess for most of us skydivers the experience of the first jump - whether tandem or static - is very similar. and it's a great mind- & life-changing experience (no matter if you get hooked and start skydiving yourself or if you keep it as a priceless experience). i've been jumping now for two years & i'm working with a tandem team so i see a lot of passengers. and it's always a great pleasure for me to see how people change when they come back from their first jump. i just love the smiles and the shouts! one thing i'd like to mention to the pro's for it's really important: if you are on a plane with passengers and you realize the y start to freak - try to be there, give them a pat on the shoulder or just a few words (even in prejump status when the door is already open - there's time enough) - they'll remember you and have an even better time once they are outsideThe universal aptitude for ineptitude makes any human accomplishment an incredible miracle dudeist skydiver # 666 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
