Why did you start skydiving?

[skydivermom 0]

I never imagined myself jumping out of planes, but freefall does remind me of the flying dreams I had as a child.

In April of 2005, my sister and I were visiting my mom and my birthday was about a week away. She just asked me out of the blue if I wanted to go skydive for my birthday. Of course I said yes, how often was I going to get an opportunity like this (or so I thought). It was awesome being in the plane with her and watching her go first.

I only intended it to be a one-time thing, but I got bitten bad. I had no idea what it would bring to my life. It completely pulled me out of the depression I was in and empowered me to be someone I never imagined I could. Plus it's a pretty cool hobby.

Thank you sis...for the gift that has given so much to me!

BTW, I'm the pink one.

Mrs. WaltAppel

All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

[countzero 7]

i always climbed trees and liked being up high as a kid. and i love riding rollercoasters and other thrill rides. and had always wanted to try skydiving.

then at the clutch show, at the engine room (a houston concert venue) in nov. of 05' the freind i was there with asked what we were doing for my birthday. and i said i really want to go skydiving. he said he'd go and we toasted with a jager shot.

told my family, and they were very nervous at first, but after i talked to them about all the safety procedures and that the instructors are with you the whole time they lightened up a bit.

on dec 10th of 05' my two best friends and i went through the AFF course at Skydive Houston. however we didn't get to jump that day because it was too cloudy. so we told them we'd come back the next morning.

we get there bright and early on the 11th. get set up with instructors and start getting ready. we went up about 11:30am on the 3rd. load.

HANDS DOWN THE GREATEST EXPERIENCE I'VE EVER HAD!!! AND I'M TOTALLY ADDICTED!!!

my two friends haven't jumped again, but
i'm on level 7 of AFF and have already bought a jumpsuit. and i just got a raise so an atli and helmet are next. then i'll be saving for a rig. blue skies!!

diamonds are a dawgs best friend

[Revillusion 0]

When I was a little kid, I saw skydivers at the county fair. Knew I always wanted to do that. Took a static line FJC in 1991 and my instructor, Rick Kuhns was probably one of the demo jumpers.

Besides, it really pissed off my soon to be EX wife

VIRTUS JUNXIT MORS NON SEPARABIT

[Flying-Wench 0]

Im involved with Rotary youth programs (yeah 28 yo's are still considered youth!), the guys that went through our 2005 conference organised a group tandem at Nagambie (a bonding thing), i went along and did my first tandem (Feb 06).

I love a challenge and doing things that are a little different (sailing, 4WDing, jetskiing, volunteer firefighting, search and rescue). Id never considered skydiving before (not sure why.. just hadnt come across the radar), but i loved it.

I did another tandem to be sure, and after that booked in my AFF. Ive finished Stage 3 and am doing stage 4 and 5 (hopefully) this weekend.

Its the rush, the nerves, the excitment and fear that has hooked me. For me it is also freedom from "reality", for the time im in the air, i forget about my other troubles.. which is huge for me, plus, the view is great, and flying is an awesome feeling!

The people i have met in the sport are fabulous, i love the social scene at the DZ and have already made some amazing friends.

Out of the 20 people that did tandems that day, i was the only one to come back and do a course, so im doing it by myself, but i hope to get a heap of mates up to do tandems once i finish my student training.

[airtwardo 6]

When I was 17, I almost died...

My life flashed before my eyes...and it was BORING,
didn't THAT to ever happen again!

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

[Broke 0]

so instead you attach fire to yourself as you pilot something that is highly combustable. WTG

Divot your source for all things Hillbilly.
Anvil Brother 84
SCR 14192

[The_Don 0]

Always wanted to do it.

Then they came to town!! The first Dublin Boogie !!!!!!!!
Met Spence, Did my first tandem with Papa Whitley.

Hooked! Man this is the shit & where i wanna be !!!

I am NOT being loud.
I'm being enthusiastic!

[Revillusion 0]

Amazing some of the unsavory characters ya meet when you first get introduced to this sport huh. Glad you stuck around Don@@@@ Jeannie too!!!! Huggs Bro !

VIRTUS JUNXIT MORS NON SEPARABIT

[McG 0]

In 70's I saw a jumper bounce and I thought "gee, that looks exciting". It took me about 15 years to overcome the horror to take a course and do my first static line. Then it took me about 25 jumps to overcome the horror to jump. I am still kind of surprised I survived.

**

>If God meant for man to fly, He´d have given him much more money.

McG, DZ EFVA dictator

[jimmytavino 16]

College sophmore..... 1972...
I too went to a meeting where a 16 mm movie was shown...
it was on an Old reel to reel movie projector... and it was Masters of the Sky...
I had never been in a plane before,,, and was mostly looking for my first airplane ride...
the static line jump was a "Bonus".....
had 250 jumps or so,,,, before I ever LANDED in an airplane..... jmy

[Chards 0]

I used to tie my Dad's big hankies to my Sindies and throw them out of the upstairs window...bit obsessed by the idea of parachuting and flying, I guess
I had always wanted to give it a go, but in the way you want to go into space - you'd love to, but figure it probably won't happen. Then I met my now bf, who skydives. When I said 'Wow! I'd love to do that!', he said 'Get on with it, then'.
What can you say back to that?
I did the only sensible thing!

*********************************
"I have done that," says my memory. "I cannot have done that," says my pride, and remains adamant. At last, memory yields. - Nietzsche

[TMPattersonJr 0]

I grew up on the original drop zone here in Palatka. Grades prevented from starting in High School, and shortly after high school I started a 6 year tour in the Army. Got out of the Army and a year later started jumping!!! Have meade just over 100 jumps in the past 5 months

Blue SkiesBlack DeathFacebook
www.PLabsInc.com
www.SkydiveDeLand.com
www.FlyteSkool.ws

[Mostly_Harmless 0]

I started because it looked like fun, so I did a tandem. After that going solo looked like fun, so I did that too.

_________________________________________
www.myspace.com/termvelocity

[OzoneJunkie 0]

flying dreams

[Fast 0]

in florida on a family vacation I was driving down the main strip in orlando and we saw this crazy looking blue building. Ended up going back later to see what it was all about and doing the wuffo skyventure experience thing.

While I was there I got to meet some cool skydivers including Arlo who talk about it quite a bit. When we got home from our vacation I called up a friend of mine and went skydiving 3 days later. Tandem jump first, "want to have fun now cause it will be work from here on out if I like it."

That was almost 3 years, lots of money, and 800+ jumps ago.

It goes by quick.

~D
Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me.
Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

[aftermid 0]

I had to.

[ChangoLanzao 0]

I was a gymnast in high school. My event was the trampoline. I was pretty good at it too; placed ninth in the state finals my senior year. I can't believe I didn't die doing it! Learning new stunts was always stressful because even though you could learn them in the training belt, there came the time when you felt ready to "go for it" without the belt. Needless to say, the consequances of making an error when you weren't wearing the belt while attempting a one-and-a-half-twisting double front flip for the first time could be painful or worse. Anyway ... I saw something in a movie or on TV at the time (I don't remember what it was) where people were jumping out of airplanes and could do unlimited flips and twists in mid air without being anywhere near the ground for many seconds in a row. That was the point at which I added skydiving to the list of things I knew that I would eventually have to do.

Many years later, I was working as the radiation safety officer at the University of Illinois' nuclear reactor. There were some repairs that had to be done to the fuel rack, and one of our operators did the repairs by SCUBA diving into the fuel storage tank. This was the "safest" way to do it because of the radiation shielding naturally offorded by the water in the tank. I remember talking with the operator (Bob Peach was his name) after the job was done telling him that I thought he was crazy and explained that I didn't think that SCUBA diving would be something I would ever do because being under water would be too scary.

Bob said to me, "that ain't nothing, I'm a skydiver too" and that's a lot more dangerous.

DING!

I said, "Really??

Two weeks later, I did my first jump in Veedersburg, IN (Illiana Skydivers). I was 38. Woo Hoo!

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[shropshire 0]

I fell out of a plane... boy you can learn fast when you need to

Actually, a friend and I saw a poster when we joined the RAF.. so went down to DISC (Exeter, Uk) and did a FJC (static line).. I then went to Marana (Az) and did my 1st freefall and the RAF is really good with sports courses, so I had 2 weeks a year for a few years jumping with the Queen was paying (God bless ya Liz).

I've had long gaps between jumps, but just keep coming back. It's so much fun and a part of my life. Not an exclusive part but the freedom I feel is intense.

.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[moonglo 0]

I had never really thought seriously about skydiving, but it was on my "things to do someday" list. I'd always dreamed of flying like a bird.

A coworker told me she had about 300 jumps and offered to buy me my first tandem in exchange for me teaching her how to weld.

Overcast Saturday morning, October 6, 2001 - I was first out the door on the first load after the clouds broke, had never seen a skydiver in freefall or a square parachute and had no idea what to expect! (but at least I'd been told to bring beer!) I landed and quickly bought my $99 second tandem, and jumped again the next morning. Saved up for a few months, got a raise and a cheaper apartment, and started AFF in January 2002.

In 2005 I took that friend on her first wingsuit jump!

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[erasmus 0]

I did it to get chicks. Hasn't worked yet. But it's as expensive as a chick

[The_Don 0]

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Amazing some of the unsavory characters ya meet when you first get introduced to this sport huh. Glad you stuck around Don@@@@ Jeannie too!!!! Huggs Bro !

Thanks man. Means alot.

Come a little ways since " That man is tight as a piano wire" .. Reeellaaxxxx !!!

I am NOT being loud.
I'm being enthusiastic!

[sprtdth 0]

1972.
16 years old.
Living in Taft, CA.
What else ya gonna do?

CRW Skies
Frank
CRW Diva #58

[FrogNog 1]

Two reasons.

Number 1: Joe Jenning's "Good Stuff" DVD. Basically this DVD (and thus the people who made it*) are the primary reason I'm a skydiver.
Number 2: I wanted to get outside my comfort zone and try some stuff that would help take my mind off things in my life at that point.


* I love the Rob Harris section near the start. I never met him, but I miss him.

-=-=-=-=-
Pull.

[flyboyne 1]

When I was 4 or 5 years old me and my dad would fly out to the dz where I now jump to watch the skydivers.Ever since then I have always had the desire to skydive. As I got older I found out you had to be 19 to jump so I started taking flying lessons instead. When I turned 19 one of my friends who was a pilot and a skydiver started talking about skydiving so I signed up for the 1st jump course and have been jumping ever since!!!

[peckerhead 0]

Why?

Because I could.

Seriously, I don't really remember the motivation because it was so long ago. Teenage hormones most likely. I seem to remember trying to impress my ex-girlfriend. (that bitch, I will show her!)

I wanted to jump at sixteen which was legal with parental consent but my mom would not sign. My dad said I should wait untill I was 18. That was when he made his first military jump.

I look back on it now and I really don't know why I started, it is just something I have always done.

More later,