Unstable 8 #1 March 8, 2004 The more I think about it, the more I realize that my skydiving career started out when I was about 4 or 5 years old and became obsessed with throwing my Ghostbuster/Mutant Turtle figures off the roof with String and a cut-up trash bag.....Then off to high School where I spent English Class making a parachute out of a Kleenex, strips of tape, and a pencil to throw off the balcony at passing period (Yes, I was/Am a loser....) This wasn't just a one-day thing, I had mastered my craft... See, I never really grew out of this until I turned 18 and took the First-Jump course here at KState.... But I still can remember my obsession with parachutes since I was old enough to remember - Maybe that is why I am here right now!! Is it just me, or did anyone else do this regularly/obsessivly growing up??!?!=========Shaun ========== Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skygirl1 1 #2 March 8, 2004 That post was adorable......but I cannot say that I did........actually, the only time I was in a plane before skydiving was about 5 years ago.....and I was puking and crying the whole time.........I HATE PLANES!!......so I never pictured myself boarding one to throw myself out the door........ safe landings skygir1" Mean people SUCK!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Daizey 0 #3 March 8, 2004 I grew up with 2 brothers and we were always trying to drop their GI joes and ninja turtles out the second story window of our house with different parachutes me made...later we moved onto my dolls (they broke easily-specially that porcelin one we tried-oops ) Once we got bored with the dolls we tried making them for ourselves...I have many memories of jumping off things with my so-called parachute...we used to "parachute" off my brothers bunk beds...we tried trees too...once my dad caught me...luckily, cause i was pretty high up. He then explained to my why a throw blanket would not work as a parachute oh i also remember those little skydiver/secret agent kinda things you could get outta those machines at the supermarket...they occupied us for hours too lol *daizey* Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Unstable 8 #4 March 8, 2004 QuoteThat post was adorable YUCK!!!!!!!! =========Shaun ========== Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #5 March 8, 2004 I was the same way with my GI Joe's and such. Although I kept getting in trouble, since I would make "parachutes" out of trashbags/bed sheets, use a book bag, some twin and tape and make a parachute to jump out of trees with. I guess then like now, I'm lucky I haven't broken anything.--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Unstable 8 #6 March 8, 2004 QuoteAlthough I kept getting in trouble, since I would make "parachutes" out of trashbags/bed sheets, use a book bag, some twin and tape and make a parachute to jump out of trees with. I tried this too, but the neighbors called my parents before I could launch with my Backpack/Bedsheets/String parachute... Probably for the better....=========Shaun ========== Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Unstable 8 #7 March 8, 2004 Also, with the S&TA living down the street from me at that time, could have given my jumping career an awfully bad start... =========Shaun ========== Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Darius11 12 #8 March 8, 2004 That’s exactly what I used to do with all my Gi Joe stuff. I would cut out a plastic bag and make a canopy. I would pack it by folding and tying the string around the plastic, and I would throw the Gi Joe guys of the deck. Some of them died some of them landed safely. If it makes you feel any better The last time I made a canopy out of plastic bag was 3 weeks ago Hey it has been a long winter bro.I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not." - Kurt Cobain Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
turtlespeed 212 #9 March 8, 2004 Mine is Two fold - I LOVED and still do love the Parachute Fireworks. Big, small, lighted, smoking, crackling, doesn't matter (although bigger is Better) I think it all started there.I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WrongWay 0 #10 March 8, 2004 I found an early obsession with aviation in particular when I was a kid. But one thing sticks out in my mind. See, I was one of those kids in elementary school that had very few (if any) friends, but had a HUGE thing for learning, so between the ages of 8 and 10 I read the entire Encyclopedia Brittanica front to back. (Lots of free time on my hands as a kid.....) I'll never forget though how I discovered parachutes, and how rounds worked. It discussed putting a hole at the top for stability and to keep it from rocking back and forth, so I tried a bunch of little experiments of making them out of everything from tissues to paper bags to notebook paper to cardboard (those didnt fly well ), dropping them from my window. The funniest story of this was I tried my first BASE jump from a slide at our playground (the school was only a block from my house) with a bedsheet with about ten strings of macrame (can't spell it). Needless to say, it didn't work, but the rock gravel broke my fall. Wrong Way D #27371 Mal Manera Rodriguez Cajun Chicken Ø Hellfish #451 The wiser wolf prevails. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bch7773 0 #11 March 8, 2004 I used to like model rockets... my favorite thing to do was to add a little christmas tree orniment Elf that i found with a little parachute to the payload. he'd get ejected out at around 300'... sometimes with a total mal, other times he'd make it back just fine. and who as a little kid never broke an umbrella by trying to use it as a parachute? MB 3528, RB 1182 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jkm2500 0 #12 March 8, 2004 Imagine growing up in a house watching super 8mm movies of your parents jumping out of airplanes. I always had some kind of toy that dealt in one way or another with parachutes. I even made a parachute out of a huge silk scarf. That was by far the best one, depending on how high you could get it into the air. It isnt only you brother..... One of these days I am going to get my Dad back in the air.The primary purpose of the Armed Forces is to prepare for and to prevail in combat should the need arise. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tink1717 2 #13 March 8, 2004 My first parachute came from a gumball machine when I was 5. After that, all my G.I. Joe's made jumps (not all of which were successful), I had model rockets that all had parachutes (and some I lost because they drifted away due to having too much canopy). I was hooked at the age of 8 when I saw Santa Claus jump into a Washington Redskins football game and when I saw the opening jump for the"Gypsy Moths" movie. So, yeah, I was a jumper long before I jumped.Skydivers don't knock on Death's door. They ring the bell and runaway... It really pisses him off. -The World Famous Tink. (I never heard of you either!!) AA #2069 ASA#33 POPS#8808 Swooo 1717 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The111 0 #14 March 8, 2004 QuoteNeedless to say, it didn't work, but the rock gravel broke my fall. You mean you landed in the peas. www.WingsuitPhotos.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WrongWay 0 #15 March 8, 2004 QuoteQuoteNeedless to say, it didn't work, but the rock gravel broke my fall. You mean you landed in the peas. Yeah, on a first BASE jump no less!! I should go pro!! Wrong Way D #27371 Mal Manera Rodriguez Cajun Chicken Ø Hellfish #451 The wiser wolf prevails. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Douva 0 #16 March 8, 2004 When I was about 4 or 5, I would have my dad cut up old shirts for me to make parachutes out of. We'd tie the parachutes to plastic coke bottles, and I'd place an insect inside the coke bottle. The insect would then get to spend the day "skydiving." When I was about 11, I saw a guy skysurfing on TV (I think it was probably the Reebok "Play Hard" commercial with Patrick de Gayardon), so I tied my tennis shoes to my skateboard, tied the skateboard to a tree, and was sitting on the edge of the trampoline fastening the board to my feet, getting ready to step off the edge of the trampoline and simulate skysurfing, when my dad caught me and made me disassemble my skysurfing simulator.I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
weegegirl 2 #17 March 8, 2004 Quote tried my first BASE jump from a slide at our playground with a bedsheet with about ten strings of macrame (can't spell it). Needless to say, it didn't work, but the rock gravel broke my fall. and this, precisely, is why you rock my world! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WrongWay 0 #18 March 8, 2004 QuoteQuote tried my first BASE jump from a slide at our playground with a bedsheet with about ten strings of macrame (can't spell it). Needless to say, it didn't work, but the rock gravel broke my fall. and this, precisely, is why you rock my world! Because I BASE jump with canopies that don't work???? We'll just see if YOU ever get life insurance on me..... Wrong Way D #27371 Mal Manera Rodriguez Cajun Chicken Ø Hellfish #451 The wiser wolf prevails. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 6 #19 March 8, 2004 I too started BASE jumping at a very early age... I was 6 or 7, and also had a bed sheet and clothesline tied into an old M1 Garand ammo belt... Plastic football helmet, and safety goggles were my 'gear'. My balcony was 21/2 stories up... and bouncing off the picnic table in the backyard broke my fall...a bunch of times!! My dad tells the story best, He was sitting in his 'lazy boy' reading the Sunday paper when it finally occurred to him that I had been coming IN the door quite a bit... but not going OUT! He looked over his shoulder out the window to see me 'float' by...PLFing off the top of the table outside. He was actually pretty cool about it... Of course he put an immediate end to my fun, but got me some kids books on parachute jumping, and took me to a bunch of fly ins so I could watch and meet "Real" skydivers! Years later when I started jumping for real, we were going through old family slides... Sure enough, there's a picture of me at about 8 years old...shaking hands with the guy that ten years later was my first jump instructor! ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WrongWay 0 #20 March 8, 2004 QuoteI Plastic football helmet, and safety goggles were my 'gear'. You jumped with safety gear?!?!?! WUSSY. Wrong Way D #27371 Mal Manera Rodriguez Cajun Chicken Ø Hellfish #451 The wiser wolf prevails. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
weegegirl 2 #21 March 8, 2004 QuoteQuoteI Plastic football helmet, and safety goggles were my 'gear'. You jumped with safety gear?!?!?! WUSSY. i jumped with safety gear too. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bertusgeert 1 #22 March 8, 2004 Haha, I thought it was just me. I used to mow the lawn, and dump all the grass next to the wall of our house. After several mows it got big enough for me to jump into. During the winter we didnt have grass, and I invented my own form of a PLF. It worked, ive never broken a bone, jumping off of all my friend's roofs, some trees and balconies. --------------------------------------------- As jy dom is moet jy bloei! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sdgregory 0 #23 March 8, 2004 Well Shaun, you and me suffer from the same thing. I have been obsessed with skydiving since i was 5. I wanted to be a fighter pilot but when I got my first pair of glasses at 5 I was told I would never get to be one by my grandfather because of it. We always used to go to the Ft. Lauderdale Air Show and that year I saw my first guy land a parachute. (one of them round ones but who knows which) Anyway, I knew then that I had to do that and I spent the rest of my time playing with GI-Joes with Parachutes. And I would throw things of the roof with makeshift parachutes. Jumped off the roof with a sheet and sprained my ankle. Then got my ass beat by my dad for being stupid. Then I joined the Marines. The recruiter asked what do you want to do (high asvab) and I said I don't care as long as I get to jump out of planes. Seeing me coming from a mile away he said, "Boy have I got a job for you!" After my discharge I would call different dropzones but could never afford it until last year. The rest is my future. Yeah, I knew, like you, that I was born for this. Glad you did not take as long as I did to finally do it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skygod7777 0 #24 March 8, 2004 QuoteIs it just me, or did anyone else do this regularly/obsessivly growing up??!?! no i did too, but i got to make my first jump when i was 7 later Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 6 #25 March 8, 2004 Quote You jumped with safety gear?!?!?! WUSSY. *** Yeah I know.... You should see me now!!! COVERED with safety gear! ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Prev 1 2 Next Page 1 of 2 Join the conversation You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible. Reply to this topic... × Pasted as rich text. Paste as plain text instead Only 75 emoji are allowed. × Your link has been automatically embedded. Display as a link instead × Your previous content has been restored. Clear editor × You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL. Insert image from URL × Desktop Tablet Phone Submit Reply 0
