How did you become a skydiver?

[MarkM 0]

I had a brother that died when I was 16 that I had always looked up to(he was 28). Well about a year back when I was 29 I remembered him saying how he always wanted to try skydiving. He never had a chance so I guess I went for him.
That and I was at a bored time in my life

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[PLFXpert 0]

Hey guys....wow, what an awesome response! I haven't had time to read them all yet but when I get back from Spring Break I will for sure! My behind the times boyfriend just got a laptop but still doesn't have an internet provider so I'm using a free one but it SUX! So you might guess that I'm not too stoked to be dealing with it right now but I can't wait to finish reading all the stories. I love you guys!
Much love and blue skies,
Carrie http://www.geocities.com/skydivegrl20/

[skybytch 259]

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Then in Dec of '99 I broke my leg again, playing paintball of all things, and was out for another year.

See... that paintball stuff is dangerous!!! Next time just stay at the dz...
Hope your metal removal goes well - are they sure it has to come out? Maybe you can at least talk the doc into waiting 'til winter!
pull and flare,
lisa

[JohnJug 0]

The Doc actually said that if I was older they might leave it in, but being young and slightly insane (he knows I skydive) it is better to have it removed. This is because if I manage to do another really stupid thing while it is still in my leg there is a SLIM chance that the bar could actually get bent. Since it runs down the inside of my femur, this would make it a bitch to get out, and could result in permanent dissabilities. So for now I fly conservative canopies in a conservative manner and want to get it out of my leg as soon as possible. I've taken plenty of breaks from the sport before, I'm sure I'll live through one more. It's actually kind of cool because everytime I come back after a long break I get the first jump jitters again, which are one of the great aspects of this sport.
Blues skies and lots of milk
Bill

[jtval 0]

hey carrie,
tell billy if it really makes a difference, in=m sure the local library has one of those um...ahhh...err. oohh computers, that's what they're called (although i cant speak, i dont have my own yet...){collarboneis feelingREAL good in NY, i hope i stays that way when i get back to east bumfuk}
see you soon
have fun, live free SKYDIVE!!
JT

[BenW 0]

I used to dream about flying as a kid. Just me flying around a lighthouse (don't know why!). Had these types of dreams for years and one day saw formation skydiving on TV. WOW.
Little me wanted to go skydiving. It took another 20 years after seeing it first to get big me to do it! Glad I have though!!
B.

[skyhawk 2]

skreamer
i think i will have a better attitude cause it is a choice here

[Hellian 0]

Since i was about... hmm 12 i've wanted to do a jump. When i was just 15 (still one year too young in the UK) my friend did a round static line, very very jealous. Then well, just a mannar of waiting for the rest of the year, and booking that course
FJC on a wet windy rainy crappy english january day, first jump .... didn't happen the next day. Waited for about 3 weeks, did my first jump with a wicked JM. Did another 13 that year (last year), then AFF this summer
(I hope)
Blue Skies soft PLF's Carrie
Ed

[freeflyer49 0]

Unfortunatly I had a really good friend killed during a low turn. 2 weeks later I did a jump out of respect. This friend was always asking me to go along with him. Well it only took that 1 jump to get hooked. 1 1/2 years and 145 or so jumps I am still hooked.
Peace and Blue Skies,

[skreamer 1]

You got into skydiving after (and as a result of) your friend hooking it in???
Man that took some balls - instant respect!
/s

[SkySlut 0]

I went with a customer of mine in New York. I figured "why not?". So I did a tandem and itched until the next season. 140 jumps in 6 months later, I love this freakin sport!!!I actually gave the guy a call a year and a half after going with him to thank him...
"I'll jump anything!"

[MC208B 0]

I talked myself into a corner in front of several pilots I work with (I'm a mechanic) one of which is a tandem master. Did the tandem, loved it! 80 jumps now and lots more coming this season.

[sigsby 0]

Well, as a child I would hear my dad talk about being in the 82nd airborne. I would hear stories about the machine gunner who jumped straight up instead of out of the plane, hit his ass and did a tumble out the plane. When he cut away his gear it wasn't secured and he lost it all. Or how about the maniac who was on leave and he jumped out of a four-story window with a bed sheet for a parachute. I guess it almost worked, but the sheet ripped and he died. I find that one kind of hard to swallow myself, but it could have happened.
Later in my adult adolescence I had a nasty break up with my girlfriend of seven years. I was down and out and felt like the world was against me. A friend thought I should get out and do something to build my confidence. We tried white water rafting and that turned out to be quite a lame trip. The water level was just way too low. A couple of weeks went by and I decided I wanted to jump out of an airplane. He didn't like that idea. Didn't you know skydiving is expensive? I paid for the both of us and I loved it. I was back at the drop zone the next weekend. Winter fell and I found myself taking a trip to Arizona so I could jump out of airplanes. Why hadn't I tried it before is way beyond me.
Get up, Fall down, No problem!
Sigsby

[SpeedRacer 1]

Skydiving had never really occurred to me. Then one day in May 1999 a friend of mine sent me an email. She was trying to get 6 people together to do an AFf1 class (6 people together = price discount). She sent out tons of emails to everyone she knew, and wound up with exactly 6 people. When I got the email, a lightbulb went on in my head, and I just suddenly knew I wanted to do it.
My first jump was not a tandem, static line, IAD or whatever. It was AFF1 from 14k. On the day of the first jump, I definitely noticed that other part of me that did NOT want to skydive. There was a part of me that was secretly hoping we wouldn't be able to jump. It's interesting to feel all these different parts of you at war with each other.
But I got through it OK obviously, and the rest of AFF without having to repeat anything. Although the real panicky, wimpy part of me didn't go away until jump 20 or so. You have to do things like this to really know yourself.

[froggie 0]

hey all. Some of you know my story, but some dont. For those who arent aware of what happened to me to make me decide to jump... WEll, heres it in the really short form. Bad times in my life caused me to really be a low person. One day I had an awkening (not my choise) and that event really changed my life. it took me some time to realize that I had two options.. I could continue sinking, or i could swim. Well, i was tired of sinking so i began to swim like hell for the safehaven that is shore. A year to the day after my awakening i found myself springing out of bed at 8am, ready to make some new memories of that date! Before i knew it i was standing in the doorway of a plane, looking down at a very tiny but vast ground. My Tandem JM was great. he made the experience one of the best of my life. Luckily for me, that same JM just coached me thru my first solo freefall yesterday. And that made that jump that much more special. Doug really changed my life, if it wasnt for his words of calming wisdom, and his great attitude, i might not have enjoyed my first skydive., and i wouldnt have found myself jumping by myself yesterday. A few other things factored into it too... I had decided to jump on the one year anniv. and it happened that i ran into an old friend who was now a tandem JM at the local DZ. I ment another friend thru him, and that friend has become very dear to me. So I guess it only took four guys (one of them an evil bastard) to get me up in the sky the first time. Im greatful that i ment all of them, cause the four of them together have changed my life for the better.
graceful landings :)
froggie

[Zennie 0]

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It's interesting to feel all these different parts of you at war with each other....You have to do things like this to really know yourself.

Right on!
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Blue Skies!
Zennie

[FlyBoy182 0]

I am new to the forums so first off hello everyone.
I started jumping after friend and I were watching RealTV one night at work, we saw some pondswooping footage and started talking about how we would like to jump. Minutes later we were on the net looking for a DZ and a few calls later booked for our tandems. After a long week of waiting the day comes and we get to the DZ an hour early, watch a video, get some instruction and then wait for our slots. After a long but worth while wait we get the call. While I was gearing up my friend was climbing to 10,000 feet. My TM and camera flyer got me out to the runway just in time to watch her come in. After congratulating her I hop into the C-182 and take the 20 minute ride to altitude. At first I was just checking out the scenery, then I started thinking damn I'm finally going to do this. (I had wanted to jump for around two years.) A tug or two on my leg straps, a quick gear check and the door flies open, all my senses start working overtime. The smell of the jet fuel, the sound and feel of the relative wind, it was just amazing. The feeling of freefall was absolutely incredible. Then while I'm checking out the view under canopy I hear "Hey, get ready to hit that arch for me again ok....ARCH". I never really knew what had happened until I was handed a bunch of handles while on the ground. A week later I was back for ground school.
Blue Ones!
Jamie

[Stacy 0]

My story is kinda similar. My best friend from high school and I were watching Road Rules and teh cast did tandems. He mentioned that it would be fun to try skydiving. I said that I woudl do it if he did, and about 5 minutes later we were on teh net looking for a DZ. We started reading this stuff about teh AFF prgoram where you could do a first jump with your own rig and i told him that if he was making MY rear end jump out of a plane I was damned sight gonna do it on my own, might as well go the whole 9 yards. I was petrified and hoped that this would scare him away from the idea. Nope. He signed us both up for ground school on my 20th BD. Funny thing, he ended up being one of the "paralyzed in fear" students that tehy had to pull for and hope for the best. and how far in debt am I because of this? Something's not fair. =c) I ended up going back for a Level II that month, then returned to school. Started back up at a DZ near school (Cross Keys, my first DZ was in Ocean City Maryland) and graduated within a month. That was late June and now I'm getting ready for my 200th and D license 9 months later. Go figger.
Stacy
http://astro.temple.edu/~sweeks

[freaksister 0]

hello to you too flyboy182
Those of you who have been on dz.com for a long time might remember my story but here it goes for the rest of ya:
April 1 will be my one year anniversary of my first jump. That semester was the first class I had at college with a buddy of mine...he is a psychology professor. He's young, only 30, and always wearing these skydiving t-shirts. Then he would talk about it in class and I kept getting interested. This started in January of 2000. In February I found out my mom had to go to Tampa, Florida for a continuing education thing, so she wanted me to come with her. I told her I wanted to go skydiving. She said ok...and I got on the web looking for skydiving stuff. Interestingly enough, I did not go to dropzone.com immediately, it took me awhile to find stuff, believe it or not. I ended up doing a tandem at Skydive Tampa Bay that fateful day, April Fool's Day! It is a small DZ that is really in Mulberry...I used to live in Florida for two years and belive it or not, never heard of skydiving. I saw those movies, Dropzone and stuff but it just never clicked in my mind. I wanted to bungee jump but never did. So I move back to Texas just so I can go back to Florida to do my first jump! hahahaha Anyway, I was not scared either, until they started telling me what I had to do to exit and stuff, and that I had to take off my jewelry because we would be going so fast, etc. At this point, I convinced my mother, who was there and who was going to do a tandem with me also, that she didn't need to be going on a skydive. It freaked me out a little...so she stayed on the ground while I went up in this giant, khaki colored 1980s jumpsuit! It was a C-182...I was pretty nervous on the ride up, and it felt like it took FOREVER!! I didn't have an alitmeter on, so I asked my tandem I/E, Cliff Dobson (great guy!) where we were and he said 4000 feet. I nearly fainted, thinking we still have 7000 feet to go??? Freefall was just the coolest thing ever, all I can remember is being able to see from one coast of Florida to the other, since we were nearly right in the middle. This could be a trick of my imagination, also. Anyway, I saw this girl Laurie go by us, she was supposed to dock with us but didn't. (Our exit was picture perfect, by the way!) Then I tried to holler but couldn't because of the air rushing in! The next thing I knew I was being jerked up, hard!! I knew the parachute was opening. It was a very hard opening, and my legs went numb...then I started thinking I was going to puke...I was so HIGH, it was like being on drugs...I thought, I am NOT going to puke on this guy! We landed, I was hooked, drove back to Clearwater Beach shaking the whole way, got drunk at the pool bar and told all the cute little bartenders they had to go skydiving, and basically, I was hooked forever! I waited for the school semester to be over (May 15) to start training. I decided on static line training because of my sensory overload situation, and graduated in August of 2000.
blue ones,
sis

[Tonto 1]

Ahh.

I was talked into it by the "Alpha male" of a group of about 30 guys while in the military, but I was really reluctant. I was racing Superbikes at the time as that was "Safe"

When I turned up at the DZ the next day, I was the only one. I've bumped into others over the years and they all just figured no one would miss them.

That was 18 years ago.

Whole new life, one desision.

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[skydiverbrian 0]

Boyfriend bought me tandem for my birthday. I jumped. Decided I loved skydiving better. He was gone two weeks later. Skydiving's still here.

In a world full of people, only some want to fly... isn't that crazy! --Seal

[KawiZX900 0]

I was in a hot air baloon with some family, and i'm looking over the side, and I really wanted to jump out of it, but no rig on so no go. Got down, called up a dz, asked if i could work for jumps. dude says sure, i workded there for 2 days before i ended up joining the navy. it was then another 2 years before i went to austrailia on vacation and did a tandem. then did another tandem on the other side of austraila, picked up a copy of parachutist, saw one of the team extreme guys swooping a pond, called up Icarus and asked how much the vx extreme was and if i could order one, they asked how many jumps i had and i replied "2 tandems" they were kind enough to tell me to wait until i had 500- 700 jumps before calling back. I then saved again, took two weeks leave and flew to california from japan, and camped out at elsinore for 2 weeks jumping every day. people kept asking if i was playing hookie from work.
at the 1st tandem place, i did'nt jump solo cause i was broke. 2nd tandem place they said they stopped taking solo's the year before and went tandem only. aussies are big fun, 1st day it was rainy and windy, with 20 min patches of clear. so the cat says " mates I don't see us goin up today, catch." I caught beer flying across room. so we drank all fuckin day, started at 9:00 a.m. we drank with them for the whole day.
since, i've gotten around 12 people to take their first jump and i push the AFF over tandem for people i know can pull it off "everyone" tell them it'll be crossing a bigger mental bridge then the ol strap to the ass method.

Accelerate hard to get them looking, then slam on the fronts and rollright beside the car, hanging the back wheel at eye level for a few seconds. Guaranteed reaction- Dave Sonsky

[skygirlpc 0]

For me,
I had always been into thrill type rides, bungee jumping, roller coasters anything that got my adrenaline pumping. So ever since I was like twelve I said I wanted to skydive. My mom says that she always thought it was something that would go away.
So...when I was 21 I saved up and made plans to do my first tandem. Looking back I probably should have done a little more research. I didn't do any, just called the dropzone made the arangements, went out and jumped!
I remeber when I landed the first thing out of my mouth was "I want to do it again!" My video guy said that I was a future skydiver, I guess he was right!

PS Back to my mom: She has a great story that she wrote about my getting into skydiving. If you guys are interested maybe I could get her to let me post it. Let me know!

Danielle

[skyboyblue 0]

I remember my parents taking me to a santa claus jump when I was in kindergarten. That was what put the bug in my ear. During high school homecoming in south dakota they would have demo's into the football game. I never looked into until my soph. year in college back in neb. when the summer edition of the university rag had a frontpage story about it; when, where, cost etc. That was all I needed. I got scheduled asap, and the guy who wrote the story was in my fjc. never looked back since then. actually, come to find out, my grandpa used to be a jump pilot in the very plane I jump out of back in the 80's. Never could figure out who made that santa claus jump, even though I'm sure I know the name by now, that guy is from a one of the two dropzone's in this state. thanks santa.

sbb

[bobsled92 0]

Well,
It was right when summer training ended and I ran into my best freind from High school at a job site.
The year before, his roomate got me in to SCUBA but, never shwowed for classes.
He askes me:" We're all jumping next weekend do you want to take a 1st jump course. Without thinking I said YEP!
I didn't eat for the rest of the week
until after my 1st jump.
(11 Years ago)

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