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buba07

Freefall - how does it feel....

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Hi,

I'm waiting to do my Level 1 AFF, i've done ten RAPS jumps and can't wait to feel freefall.

However when I say I can't wait. I've got no idea how it feels! Can anyone explain please.....


Phil

www.freefallphil.blogspot.com
Thanks

Freefallphil.

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I've done 3 jumps towards AFF, and each time free fall feels different... I wouldn't really say it's a feeling, it's more about noise and speed... free fall goes SO FAST that 5,500 comes quickly, it's LOUD and at least here in Indiana, at 11,000 feet up it's also a bit chilly this time of year.

Hehe... why don't you do your AFF1, then YOU tell US how it feels? ;) Answering this question is like trying to explain skydiving to a whuffo!

Good luck with AFF1, BTW!

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A bit like jello and pudding all wrapped up in bacon.

mmmmm.....bacon

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

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A bit like jello and pudding all wrapped up in bacon.

mmmmm.....bacon



I always thought the Bacon thing, was just me. Now I know I'm not alone in the world. Thanks Bill.
HPDBs, I hate those guys.
AFB, charter member.

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Have you ever rolled down your car window when you are going 80 mph on the freeway and stuck your hand out the window? Hear that wind? Feel all that wind pressure against your hand blowing it back? Now imagine sticking your whole body out there. When you jump that wind feels like it's holding you up and it feels like you're floating. The ground does NOT rush up at you. Your stomach does NOT feel like it's sinking. It doesn't feel like you are falling at all. You are floating up there with the best view in the world and you are flying above it.

That is what skydiving feels like.

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Thanks!
People are always asking me how I can skydive if I'm afraid of heights. I've figured out how to describe what skydiving is like so they will understand that heights don't really factor into it. I usually start off with: "You've been up in a commercial airliner and looked down haven't you? Were you afraid up there? No. It's because you are so high up that heights are no longer an issue." Then I go into what it feels like to skydive and how I can do that, but I'm not able to climb a ladder. :S

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When I was a kid, I used to throw toys onto the roof so I had an excuse to go up after them. Boy, would I have been in trouble if my parents had known it was on purpose!! Then somewhere along the line, I started not being very happy about heights, including ladders. Since I started skydiving, the old feelings are coming back and I don't mind climbing ladders like I did. But if I don't start landing better, I may develop a real dislike for those last 10 feet to the ground. [:/]:$

"safety first... and What the hell.....
safety second, Too!!! " ~~jmy

POPS #10490

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I have an irrational fear of falling but skydiving doesn't give me that.

For your first jump it's all a bit overwhelming but as mentioned, gets better with practice.

I used to get really, really, ridiculously (zoolander) nervous before getting in the door but that would subside once I got there & was gone after exit. Now I'm just nervous but it's been a bit better this season.

To me, free fall feels like a really long time. It's only 60 seconds (or there abouts) but it feels like minutes to me. On your first jump you may feel your stomach drop with the acceleration but that passes pretty quickly, i.e. you probably won't get it again. You certainly don't feel like you're falling at all because there's no perspective. That's why I think the height doesn't bother me, you really don't have a sense of how high 13500ft is. It's beyond normal comprehension so I just kind of accept that I'm high and move on. Opening your canopy will give you a bit of a stomach feeling too but it really shouldn't be too bad and probably will only happen the first time. You'll also probably be overloaded with information so don't think of your first jump as representative of them all, your second will be closer but each jump from the second should be a good step along the way to a lot of pleasure and a great deal of healthy respect.

As far as the actual feeling of free fall, the closest most people get is (as someone mentioned) sticking their hand out the car. I ride a motorcycle and that's more similar but it really is a unique feeling that I think is very personal and one of the reasons skydiving gets in people's blood. There's an intense feeling of freedom and self dependence.

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Hi,

I'm waiting to do my Level 1 AFF, i've done ten RAPS jumps and can't wait to feel freefall.

However when I say I can't wait. I've got no idea how it feels! Can anyone explain please.....


Phil

www.freefallphil.blogspot.com



Kinda like an orgasm with out the sex!
It is possible to get all A's in school and still flunk life~Percy Walker





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A bit like jello and pudding all wrapped up in bacon.

mmmmm.....bacon



I always thought the Bacon thing, was just me. Now I know I'm not alone in the world. Thanks Bill.


You people are weird....
EVERYBODY knows it smells like Jet AB|

Just burning a hole in the sky.....

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A bit like jello and pudding all wrapped up in bacon.

mmmmm.....bacon



Oh sure----use the B word---now I am on a midnight safeway run to make tequila jello shooters wrapped in bacon dipped in pudding deep fried.

So what's a night jump like then?

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It feels just like the tunnel.:P



Except that the air gets steadily--and noticeably--warmer in real freefall.
"It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

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Answering this question is like trying to explain skydiving to a whuffo!



When I tried to explain skydiving to a whuffo I warned her that none of the terms I could come up with completely covered the experience.

Next time she asked about "the magic of skydiving" - I like it!
"That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport."
~mom

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Cheers guys / gals,

Weather looking good for North of England this weekend, so hopefully get at least Level 1 in.

I'll post as to how it felt straight after.

Thanks again

www.freefallphil.blogspot.com
Thanks

Freefallphil.

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For me, my first few freefalls didn't really feel like falling. My world was just beyond arm length. I focused on my instructor/s and the tasks at hand. I was aware of the world beyond, but didn't or couldn't focus on it. Once I got to self-supervised I took one jump to just look and experience freefall.
POPS #10623; SOS #1672

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