Best Skydive Ever?

[skykatherine 0]

If you had to choose from your best most epic skydive ever, what would it be? And where? With whom? And why?!!!
Also, how long have you been jumping, number of jumps?

My answers:

* Skydiving in to the Blue Hole, Belize
* Jumping 22 years
* # of jumps: 1548

Link to the youtube video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmZ0fJC5lwQ

BTW, what's your opinion on the video: would you prefer it with dubbed music or with the sound as is? Too late to edit for music anyway.
Enjoy!

[Jalien 0]

Not really epic, but my first freefall (4s delay after static line progression) is one of the most memorable - I walked around with a huge grin on my face for the rest of the day! It felt incredible to be falling so smoothly through the air after all the static lines and dummy pulls
Not been jumping long, only have

[BillyVance 34]

Probably closing the last grip on a 101 way state record after saving myself from when I went a bit low on the formation. Only 3 seconds later it was time for break-off. If I hadn't made it, I would have been the goat.

I literally saved the weekend, and got a smooch on the lips by an ugly huge biker dude back in the hangar to a raucous round of cheers. Asshole...

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[FlyingRhenquest 1]

My first really stable solo exit is the one that sticks in my head the most. It was actually after I got my A license. I'd done a fair number of fairly stable linked exits with coaches and wasn't really looking to make a stable exit this time. It was a dark, rainy Friday afternoon and we spent 15 minutes between 10 and 8 thousand feet flying around looking for a hole in the clouds. I'd been planning to fling myself out and do some flips but reconsidered mid-fling. We were only at about 9000 feet so I didn't have a lot of time to screw around if I wanted to get anything else done on the jump. So I just turned a shoulder up into the relative wind instead, felt myself turning to the left and knew if I did that I'd go tumbling, so I just steered right and distinctly felt the transition in my flying when I'd got to the bottom of the hill.

That was the first time I really felt the relative wind. Prior to that jump my head was always so full of dive flow and was mostly exiting with dudes hanging on (My coaches couldn't keep up with my fall rate without linked exits) that I didn't have a lot of attention left over for that. My exits have been stable every time since then, even on that tracking jump where the guy I was following dove out facing the back of the plane. I felt the relative wind trying to flip me over on that one, but I didn't let it!

I started in July of 2012, 103 jumps now. I prefer skydiving videos with wind noise rather than music (Plus if you add music Google's more likely to crap ads into your video.)

I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

[Andy9o8 0]

Quote

Probably closing the last grip on a 101 way state record after saving myself from when I went a bit low on the formation. Only 3 seconds later it was time for break-off. If I hadn't made it, I would have been the goat.

I literally saved the weekend, and got a smooch on the lips by an ugly huge biker dude back in the hangar to a raucous round of cheers. Asshole...

Yeah... right...

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1xPqeSkGKZU/TTn_Qd4t-9I/AAAAAAAAFF4/X9rkofJsi4I/s1600/call+me.JPG

[base283 0]

Headdown thru a 1000ft cloud cave. Solo, Z-hills, 2000 jumps 1985 was my first airplane and jump. but there was no Biker to kiss me upon landing :-)
take care,
space

[skykatherine 0]

I must admit, I have a similar experience for my second favourite jump ever ... flying my canopy through statuesque towering canyons of clouds in Sebastian. :). Trippy cool, especially with 3 other canopies swirling around me doing the same :)

[FB1609 0]

Long ago a demo into the Hamilton air show, out of some old yellow biplane, can't remember what it was. We did a downplane above the crowd then swooped in front of a huge crowd, the got driven around in a convertible and signed autographs for the kids. It was a great day, I guess I've had better skydives though. Also some of the paraski events in the 80s were fun, accuracy on to the slopes from helicopters and lots of good times.

Also first trip to Z hills and first DC3 jump, Southern Cross

[IJskonijn 38]

My most memorable jump was my fifth CRW jump. The previous four (all with the same instructor) were decent, but not good. Somehow, his advice for the fifth jump ("just take your time, and fly calmly") finally arrived in the right parts of my brain, and during the jump it all clicked into place (literally). It was awesome!

Good second place is the first time I managed the lockup into a diamond. I'm currently trying to get my B-license on the CRW requirements.

[Skwrl 56]

For me, it was this one: https://vimeo.com/38047879

Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography

Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

[JohnMitchell 14]

Quote

Probably closing the last grip on a 101 way state record after saving myself from when I went a bit low on the formation. Only 3 seconds later it was time for break-off. If I hadn't made it, I would have been the goat.

When we did the state women's record a couple summers back, there was one lesser experienced woman who messed up her approach, went low and wandered back into her slot. Vskydiver and the other person stretched over, grabbed her wrists and completed the formation in time for the photo and breakoff. Whew!

The rest of the formation had built by, I think, 8000'. Had to put a little suspense in there.

[snugfit 0]

I'd say the Bell 412 in Quincy 1997. The jump itself is not the fun part...just sort of a hop and pop. But before the jump the helicopter pilot would take you on the wildest ride of your life for about ten minutes.

...and in second place is the 727, which was wild as well. I got to do both jumps in one day.

Custom T-Shirts and Pullup cords

[NWFlyer 2]

Oooh, tough call between the Blue Hole (2010, hop & pop because of clouds so it was a solo), or my 1000th in late December of last year (4-way with Airspeed). Memorable in very different ways but both made me realize just how fortunate I am to be part of this great sport. (Been jumping 8 1/2 years, just over 1000 jumps).

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[pchapman 261]

My favourite jump was in 2011, jumping a Para-Commander in an old rig with a belly mount. I've got 3200 jumps now, and started in 1990, well after the pioneer era of skydiving.

On the jump I had a high speed mal so was able to deal with an emergency in a really traditional way -- dearching, cutting away at the shoulders, falling away onto my back, covering the canopy releases, pulling the belly mount handle, watching the MA-1 pull out the reserve built in 1977, seeing the kicker plate fall away, and finally, standing up the 26' round on the DZ (although that hurt a bit). I even got to thank Ted Strong for his nice reserve, before he died.

Despite the other cool stuff I've done in skydiving, I love that jump because of the way it hearkens back to the old days of skydiving, dealing with a malfunction in an old school way, much like the old timers used to do. There's also the simple purity and satisfaction of being thrown an emergency and dealing with it to get a good parachute overhead.

(Helmet video & ground stills to share the fun: [
url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpxZ_0js8eM[/url], http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqEdXPddj60)

[grimmie 173]

Blue Hole jumps, all nine of them

[airtwardo 6]

I have two~

For demos...my MOST epic was the Century of Flight demo.
100 mostly big name jumpers, 100 years after the Wright brothers flight. We were all in free fall right over Kitty Hawk...performing for some of the biggest names in aviation.

What made it extra special was that I'd also done the Dayton airshow a few months earlier...the promoter for that show made 100 really nice silver Wright-Flyer tie-pins for the performers.

I wore mine on my jumpsuit at the Kitty Hawk demo.



The other epic dive was with my son doing a tandem not long ago...



I have just over 4000 jumps
38 years in the sport.

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[accur8shot 0]

What a great pic with your son, airtwardo!

I hope to be able to have one of those photos in about 9 years.

[airtwardo 6]

Quote

I love that jump because of the way it hearkens back to the old days of skydiving, dealing with a malfunction in an old school way, much like the old timers used to do. There's also the simple purity and satisfaction of being thrown an emergency and dealing with it to get a good parachute overhead.

I thought it was pretty new-wave at the time, funny to hear it described as 'old-school' now!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[LookUpHigh 0]

Besides my first jump ever. It would have to be my first completely solo jump. No instructors, just solo. And it also happened to be my first sunset jump. It was so beautiful I'll never forget that sunset or that jump. It felt as if I were floating instead of falling. Just watching the sunset.

[jumpinjackflsh 0]

That, ROCKED!

[DBCOOPER 1]

Quote

Blue Hole jumps, all nine of them

It's a tie between:
Blue hole jumps,all three of them...
Glacier jumps at the last Summer solstice boogie in Alaska,all two of them..
B-17 jump. all one of them...
Lang Creek Brewery jumps ,the first one anyway...

Replying to: Re: Stall On Jump Run Emergency Procedure? by billvon

If the plane is unrecoverable then exiting is a very very good idea.

[Hellis 0]

Now let's wait for the respons:

"1971 from a Boeing 727 with $200.000 in a bag"

[BIGUN 1,049]

Quote

For me, it was this one: https://vimeo.com/38047879

Respect.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[Lukasz_Se 2]

Jump number 58, second jump in a tracking suit, last jump after amazing 2 weeks in Spain. I tracked between clouds towering above me on both sides, it was pretty surreal for a beginner like me :) That was in beginning of january, haven't jumped since then :(

[potatoman 0]

2011, South Africa, over the drakensberg mountains. Hop n Pop from the Top.

Apart from the view and some great friends to enjoy it with up there, we had slipped a can of cold into the jumpsuit. On the way down, I had an eagle come fly right next to me, checked me out, gave a mutual knod and then moved on.

I was at peace with what I do and why I do it, that moment did it for me.

You have the right to your opinion, and I have the right to tell you how Fu***** stupid it is.
Davelepka - "This isn't an x-box, or a Chevy truck forum"
Whatever you do, don't listen to ChrisD.