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Viking

When and Where was your FIRST jump?

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Had your TM recently gotten out of a looong stint in prison?



Nah... he just had a REALLY long tongue ;)
I promise not to TP Davis under canopy.. I promise not to TP Davis under canopy.. eat sushi, get smoochieTTK#1

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When: 9-20-97
Where: Suffolk Va.

You didn't ask why.

:S

Why: At the time I was chatting with a lady on the internet for 3 or 4 months or there about. We had talked about most things people do while learning about each other and one day we were talking about dreams, things we wanted to do before we died.

She surprised me with one of her wishes. A wish to skydive. I urged her to just go do it but she said she didn't want to go it alone. I suggested she enlist the moral support of friends close to her home. She said she had done that, but when the day came everytime anyone that had said they would go, they all had an excuse NOT to go.

The subject was dropped due to the lateness of the hour and we logged off. I couldn't sleep, I logged back on and spent the rest of the night searching the internet for skydiving related subjects.

I found all the info I needed and then some, like I found rec.skydiving and read most of the postings (10K) or so before I logged off again. I was getting excited.
Damn, I couldn't see, let alone work the next day. I couldn't wait to log on at our regular meeting time, that is to say, when her husband went to work at his night shift, doctors work odd hours.

Being the nice guy that I am i politely shifted the conversation to the dream session of the prior evening and made the bold statement that I would be happy to go and do a jump with her. Not that I had ever entertained the idea before, it just seemed like a wild and crazy thing to do, and I was eager.

Sure she says, you will be like all the others a no show.

I told her I would go on a few conditions:

1) I would pick the Drop Zone

2) I would choose the style of jump

3) She had to pay for her own way (see, I am a nice guy)

She agreed and the quest began.

I looked for the most experienced people to teach me. I had grand ideas!

I would not do a tandem. I wanted to pull my own rip cord, save my own life. As I explaned it to her: It costs 175.00 to do a tandem, for 50.00 more we can do a whole course and get to jump also. This way if we decide to do it again it will count toward the licence requirments.

She agreed that that made sense, in restrospect I believe she would have been better off doing a tandem. It's difficult to fail your 1st jump, but it can be done.

I was done searching, I had found the ultimate (in my mind) DZ and person to teach me how to skydive.

During my internet shuffel looking for skydiving I found an article about George Bush Sr. doing his 2nd jump, read with some interest about his jumpmasters and sought them out. I found Larry Pennington (sp)
at Skydive Suffolk in Va. Just shy of 25 miles from where my online lady friend resided, what luck!

I reasoned that if Larry was good enough for an ex Prez he should be ok for me, to accept any less would be foolish.

A date was set, I buy ticket to Va.

We arrive at the DZ around 8AM, much to early, fog was just lifting and I got to see ppl climbing out of their tents, die hards I though. You wouldn't see me camping out when there were hotels nearby. My idea of roughing it was staying in a Holiday Inn with a black and white TV.

Ummm ... well that's WHY, even though you didn't ask.

On a side note: I will be 'roughing' it at Rantoul, in a tent :)

She only did one jump.

james

My site;
http://www.geocities.com/skyjames2

"exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile"
'nother james

"exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile"
'nother james

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My first jump.... June 29th 2002... Cross Keys, my new home away from home...man are those guys good! My JM, Bob Clark.... the man! A huge thanks, hello and see you soon to everyone at Cross Keys...
See you soon... :P Lets hope for my A by the end of the year....

The key to walking on water... Is knowing where the rocks are

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April 1, 2000 was a bad day for me. So on April 1, 2001 I changed my karma by attending AFF groundschool. Too windy to jump that day, but April 7, 2001 I did my level 1.

Went our every weekend and jumped when it wasn't too windy, got my A license in September.

My life is great now. GREAT. It may just be coincidence, but I think the skydiving did it. Still got my family and most of my stuff too. :)

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I did my first on Sep. 22 2001, in Brentwood BC. I was really sick when I did it and really had no business choosing that day to try something so scary and drastic. We had done the ground schooling ahead of time and had the jump scheduled for the weekend. I was worried that if I didn't show up then, I would never do it! I actually had to take kleenex in the plane with me I was so sick.

But it doesn't matter because all that adrenaline took over and I did it. By that night I was even sicker, probably from exerting myself. It still sticks out as the most scary/amazing/frightening and all round best thing I've ever done.

Gale
I'm drowning...so come inside
Welcome to my...dirty mind

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Happy Skybirthday Anne! WooHoo!

My third is coming up. August 31st, of 99, at Frontier Skydivers near Bufalo NY. I did a tandem with a work friend, Peter Legere under a set450. Shortly afterwards, I went into AFF and jumped a Raven 4 in an old ripcord sweethog rig.

_Am
__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

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May 27, 2000

A neighbor was taking some people from his job up to Skydive Atlanta and he asked me to go along. All the plant people chickened out but we went anyway. We got to jump on the same load with me being last out. I will never forget the rush (and I have video to prove I had a blast!) After we landed I couldn't wait to go up again so we got back on the manifest and got to do a sunset jump. Within a month we had both finished AFF. Tom wasd voted Rookie of the Year and I got Most Likely to Ruin a Jumpsuit that year. :S Tom now has over 400 jumps but I've been slack and only have a few shy of 300.

Lisa

--
Hot Mama
At least you know where you stand even if it is in a pile of shit.

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Spring of 1997 or Fall of 1996- I can't remember that close. I came back on April 1, 2001 at Taylorville, IL.

First jump- static line
Moorehead, PA near Erie PA. Grass field with a bunch of rattle-shack T-hangers. Also my first look at a jump C-182 with duck tape on it. (Whoa-we're gonna fly in that?!?)

I can still see everything in my minds eye- wood panel clubroom, entertainment center, 'Beer Pig' on the TV, picture of two skydivers doing a rodeo- the woman on top complete with Dominatrics' outfit and riding crop. And I'll tell ya- I'll never forget that feeling as I sat behind the pilot watching the ground drop away. Oh My God. What am I doing?

I still have that picture the other two students took of us standing outside the 182. Of course, I'm a complete AHOLE since Andrew Hadsell sent me a copy in the mail an I never bothered to drop him a simple 'thank you' scribble.

So, on the odd chance he reads these forums thanks a HUGE buch. I am scum of the Earth and I deserve multiple line-overs.

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My first jump was an AFF level 1 at Skydive Hollister in CA on October 13, 1997 out of a King Air from 15,000 with a Telesis rip cord rig and a Manta main. Greg Nardi was my reserve side JM and Kirk Osgood was my main side JM. It was sweet!!!!!B|

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mine was july 7th 1998 ay canton airsports in alliance ohio..a s/l jump from 3,500..... 4 years and 150 jumps later..still loving it. jumped in 3 countries, 15 dz's and many a beer..........god i love this sport...

______________________________________
"i have no reader's digest version"

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