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npgraphicdesign

When was your skydiving epiphany?

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i have only done 1 tandem jump and i realized i was hooked by the time i hit the ground. ive saved 1800 and start my a license jump package this month. its all i can think about but ive finally started to annoy my friends a little less.
"Never grow a wishbone, where your backbone ought to be."

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i realized it about 2 weeks after my first aff jump. when i was young i used to day dream all the time about flying thru the sky, almost obsessivly. i completely forgot about it until weeks after my first jump i started day dreaming about flying like a kid again. then around jump #8 i realized everytime my canopy opens i find myself singing rock ballads at the top of my lungs. been hooked since.

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AFF # 7 with Gene Newsome. Prior to that I was very nervous--lots of door fear. But Gene rocks, first jump where I felt totally relaxed.
"Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so."

Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

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But it really, really epiphanized :P on my first freefall.



What Wendy said. I'd always wanted to jump since I was 5 or 6 years old and finally started static line when I was 18. Jumping from a plane was still pretty scary, but I was liking it and doing my practice pulls. Then after making my 5th jump that morning I was cleared for freefall.

That's also when I was told I'd be packing my own main for the first time, so the stress meter went a little crazy there, but an instructor stayed right there with me and walked me through packing a 28 ft cheapo into a sleeve and a 4 pin container. He supervised every step and told me not to worry. it was a good pack job and would open. So it was off to 3200 ft on an evening load in a C-182. 3200 ft was higher than I'd ever gone and the ground looked smaller. I was nervous, but excited. My JM Paul Campbell opened the door, spotted the jump run, told me to climb out and then to go. The air was the beautiful kind of sunset cool you get on a July evening. I stepped away and felt weightless. Instead of feeling the immediate tug of a S/L opening, I was "just there" for one beautiful moment, then I looked for my ripcord, reached and pulled on it. I still remember it came out about halfway, then stopped. It didn't freak me out either, I just gave it a second, harder tug and it came right out. I could feel the container breaking open on my back and a moment later the risers pulled me upright in time to see a nice round open canopy overhead. I'd been excited before, but this was the greatest! I'd actually pulled and opened my own canopy. I'd tasted a few seconds of freefall and it was true - you DON'T feel like you're falling. And my first packjob had opened perfectly.

In those days we didn't buy cases of beer at Seneca Falls. They had a beer tap and for those special jumps you'd pay the DZO $5 for the beer fund, which I'd already done beforehand. The beer never tasted better and when Paul told me I was "a real skideever now", I knew it was true. I was hooked, line & sinker.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

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Jump #6 I nailed my exit and then nailed my backflip, huge moment for me 1st time i think i actually relaxed a little in freefall it was also my 4th jump out of 5 that day and went on to finish AFF and of course bought my case of beer.:)

"Never go full retard"

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I'd have to say Jump # 1...

I was lucky enough to pick a DZ with good vibes and had 3 great instructors (one on vid) for my first jump all packed in bs'ing for 20mins or so in a small Cessna... Between the fun vibes before the jump, the jump itself (duh), and the beer at the end of the day it was a no brainer the following Sunday morning ;)

I think allot of times people can under estimate just what type of impact fun jumpers and instructors alike have on the overall feel of a dz for new students. I can honestly say without the fun vibes I would have never stayed past the 2-3rd jump....
_________________________
{S}{H}{O}{R}{T}{B}{U}{S} \__
------------------------| |-----|
=--{O}------------------{O}---] D.S.#111 VSCR # 123

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Jump 122, spinning mal and cutaway. I did what I needed to, the gear did what it needed to, and I left feeling like I'd earned my wings. properly. When you've got 15 seconds to live and you stare death in the face and you realise you can cope, I'd say that's an epiphany.



Really, there is nothing like flippin' the bird at the Old Grim Reaper !

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

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Mine was 20 years ago when I had my first static line jump at the army's Airborne School. I have not excuse why I waited so long to start skydiving. I distinctly remember the first time I stepped out the door- I forgot to count and recall looking at my boots and noting how they were still shiny despite all the running around that morning.
Andy
I'll believe it when I see it on YouTube!

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