Post about the first time you ever thought of or mentioned a desire to skydive

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

My mom made a scrapbook of school papers, drawings, report cards, and stuff from when my siblings and I were very young.

I was looking through it recently and found an item of particular interest to me. It was an old school assignment from 1979 -- I was 8, so this was when I was in second grade.

The ditto sheet has a drawing of a girl and boy helping each other climb an object, and copy at the top that says, "This Saturday you can go anywhere and do anything you choose. Write about some of your plans."

My reply was this:

"If I was free on Saturday, I would go to Brooklyn, or Virginia, or Accapulco (sic), or Florida, then to the Statue of Liberty, or Buffalo, or climb trees, or go to Canada, or to my grandma's and grandpa's, or to my aunt and uncles, or out in space, or go to the mountains or beach, or maybe boating, or skydiving. (emphasis added) Sorry folks I can't think of any more."

Now that I'm an A-licensed skydiver with 80 jumps, this ditto assignment is a precious, priceless document to me. Prior to finding it I had no specific memory of how long I have wanted to skydive. Now I know that I was only 8 years old and was already feeling the desire to be in the sky.

By the way, apparently I listed all those other places because they were already familiar to me.

Brooklyn: Dad's office was there; Virginia: g'ma and g'pa lived there; Statue of Liberty: Dad had taken us kids there; Buffalo: Dad has family there; Canada: right near Buffalo.

What gets me is that I may or may not have even flown in an airplane before I wrote this. There is no date on the ditto, just "1979" in my mom's handwriting. It was not until that year (second grade), when my father's father died, that I ever flew in an airliner, and not until 1982 did Dad start flying Cessnas. So I guess I had seen skydiving on t.v. and been fascinated by it, because I knew nobody who skydived, and hadn't gone near a real DZ or airplane in my life before then. Amazing the effect that visual depictions can have. I wonder what I must have thought was involved with doing a skydive. Surely I didn't really understand the notion of freefalling and what sensations that entailed! Are we all fascinated with the idea of jumping from a plane and landing with a parachute when we're that young and we see it on t.v. or in a movie? I sure wish I could remember or discover what exactly I had seen that put the seed of desire into me.

But at least at long last it's finally flowering!

Please, write about your own first desire to skydive, no matter at what age it kindled in you.
-

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[Kramer 0]

I just remember being a little kid telling my parents that on my 21st birthday, I was going to jump out of a plane. They would always act concerned and say how dangerous it is...so I started before I even turned 20.

The FAKE KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMER!!!!!!!!!

[Bosveld 0]

My older brother started jumping when he was 18.

I was around 11 years old then and that was the first time I had ever been to the drop zone. I had to wait till I was around 16 so that's 4 years. I only started when I was 17 because of limited funds.

Before that I never even thought about jumping. I always wanted to be a pilot though. I was hanging around the drop zone every week-end and was packing parachutes by the age of 14.

If it wasn't for my brother I don't think I would have ever jumped.

Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, will be true!

[nael 0]

Whenever I saw anything related to skydiving I though "that looks like so much fun, but I'd never have the guts to do it, those people are mad!". Then I saw the movie dropzone (stop laughing!) about 5 months ago, and it made me think about it more, but i quickly dismissed it, because I still thought skydivers were absolutely mad! Then I went on a holiday with a friend of mine in february, and on our first night there she was speaking to her boyfriend on the phone and I heard her say "no, we're not going skydiving!!" and I turned around and said "hey, yeah lets go skydiving!" That was the beginning of being broke for me. She refused to go, so I did a tandem without anyone I knew there (she went home before I did so I was away by myself then), and loved it so much I spent the next 6 weeks saving up for AFF1.
I did AFF 5 and 6 today, so much fun, such an awesome day. I even packed by myself (I had help up until putting the main in the d-bag, then I did the rest myself when the owner of the rig got on another load and left me - he told me to wait for him to return, but I thought I could do it, and he would unpack it with me there, before jumping it to see how I went).
So all in all, thankgod for my friends boyfriend asking if we were going skydiving, because it really would not have been on my list of things to do (ever) if it had not been for that one small comment I heard my friend say.

www.TerminalSports.com.auAustralia's largest skydive gear store

[sdgregory 0]

I always wanted to be a fighter pilot. Both my Grandfather'swere Airforce during Korea and one was a pilot. I always sat and looked at his wings as a kid.

My mom was Air Force and she had a friend who was a pilot who would come visit each year. He loved that I shared his enthusiasm for the air and would bring me posters for my room of de-classified planes that from what I understood not many people had seen yet. (Most of this I remember only because my mom tells me since it was before I was in the second grade.)

When I was five, almost 6, I ended up getting glasses. Myopic as a bat, my mom's friend told me I would never be allowed to fly fighters. I was devasted. I remember that day.

Right around my sixth birthday there was an Air Show that my dad took me to. They do one each year down in Ft. Lauderdale and I think that was the one I went to. Anyway, there were demo jumpers. And I watched these guys come in and I was inspired. Right then and there I decided that if I could not fly the planes I would jump out of them.

That was why I joined the Marines. And while in Airborne school in 1990 I saw the Golden Knights perform and I knew it was only a matter of time before I would be doing that too. And here I am.

AS far back as I can remember, anytime someone asked me the question "If you could be any animal in the world what would it be?" I have always said, I would be an eagle or a hawk. And that was always because I have always wanted to fly.

[ChrisL 2]

I had a little fantasy world called "Home Cloud" when I was about 6 or 7. I used to make lots of drawings of it.

This world was filled with little stick figure people with man made wings strapped on to their arms and they would come swooping down and fly around all over the place.
I drew these so much that my older brother started drawing them too. They had lots of different shaped clouds that they lived in

Jump to 34 years later. I'm 40 and living in a world where some people routinely strap "wings" onto their bodies and swoop all over the place.

I have not yet worn a wing suit but you better bet your ass its coming once my experience merits it

Home Cloud will have to remain a fantasy but I can make part of it come true.
I reminded my brother about Home Cloud the other day and he said that thinking about that after so long made him feel strange.
Thats probably why I could only get him to do one tandem and then he stopped.

__

My mighty steed

[skyyhi 0]

Well, for me, I grew up in small planes. I loved to go flying with my dad in his PT22 (Ryan). He used to fly that plane at air shows doing pylon racing with his friend. They had worked together on air shows for years. At one particular air show they had paratroopers jumping out with their round parachutes. I was around 6 at the time and remember getting so excited and telling my dad I wanted to do that. Of course, my dad would say that skydivers were all a little wacked in the head and that he didn't want his daughter jumping out of planes. After my dad had a heart attack that grounded him from flight, I just kind of stopped thinking about jumping. Then I met my roommate who jumps and went to the DZ with him. That was all she wrote. I knew I would jump and it was just a matter of time before I was hooked completely.

And here I am today. . .Yay. . .

________________________________________
Take risks not to escape life… but to prevent life from escaping. ~ A bumper sticker at the DZ
FGF #6
Darcy

[Flyer2Diver 0]

I've always loved flying. My parents were always worried about me and didn't exactly encourage me to fly, but once I had a job and made some coin, I took lessons and got my private. When asked about skydiving, I'd often say "I'd rather be flying the plane, not jumping out of it". I remember my mother telling me that she didn't approve of skydiving.

Fast forward to March of this year - I was in Las Vegas learning to do aerobatics in an Extra 300, and flying an L39 jet. For me it was a realization of a dream, the closest I may ever get to flying fighters.

While we were taxiing the Extra 300 back from a flight, my instructor (who I since found out used to be a skydiver for a flying circus) asked me if I'd ever tried skydiving. I said no, and he said "you'll love it". That sealed the deal - I had to try it. I was on a mission and jumped that day. I was completely hooked after the first jump, as I'm sure you all were.

_______________________________
30005KT 10SM SKC 23/05 A3006

[TheBile 0]

It goes so far back I can just remember seeing images of it on TV and getting the sense that I had to try it when I got older.

With the ignorance of a whuffo I had thoughts of it being tranquil and peaceful, like a leaf floating on the air. I didn't even think of comparing it in someway to sticking your head out of the window of a train travelling at 100mph.

That image of serenity of course was shattered when I first left that Cessna 206. It was like I had entered a battlefield. Haven't got over it since.

Ahhhh, the ignorance of whuffo-youth.

Gerb

I stir feelings in others they themselves don't understand. KA'CHOW !

[Sabre2th 0]

In 6th or 7th grade, I made a sculpture made of metal wire. It was a skydiver, and the funny thing is he has a better body position than me!!

No seriously, It just popped into my head to make this, and the other kids with sculptures of horses and other stuff were like : "You are wierd" lol
I still have it, and it sits on my desk at home.

Nick.

Those who dance, are cosidered insane by those who can't hear the music.

[JustaBill 0]

My grandparents used to live about 3 miles from a dropzone (Skydive Sandwich, in Illinois) My sister and I used to spend a couple weeks in the summer there and we used to sit in my grandparents yard and watch them come down. Always thought that would be cool. Fast forward 20 yrs and I was at an airshow and Skydive Goshen had a booth and they explained static line to me so I called my sister and off we went

------------------------------------------------
I've done so much, with so little, for so long
I'm now expected to do everything with nothing forever

[Michele 1]

When I was six, I flew to Dallas from LAX. We got caught in a huge, horrible thunderstorm, and had serious issues; plane tilting, dropping, turbulence. It was so bad that on the return flight I panicked, and couldn't get on the plane. We ended up driving home. Over the years, I was able to take trips on airliners, but only with great trepidation and horrendous fear.

I also had a serious fear of heights.

Every time I saw skydiving on TV, I thought "idiot. What the hell are you doing? Dumb ass."

About 8 years ago, I was offered a ride in a Cessna (the really tiny one). We were literally going to take off, circle, and then land. I gathered up my inner strength, and said "sure." I climbed in, shut the door (or so I thought), and taxied down the runway. Up into the air...and at about 50 feet, the door beside me opened. I couldn't get it shut, and the pilot said "here, pull on this gently, and lean forward". I took the yoke and pulled - gently - and leaned forward. I had stopped breathing. I guess I was pulling too gently, because the pilot cursed, and said "pull harder", so I did...and we cleared the freeway. Then, I guess because I pulled harder, the pilot's seat slid back. Finally, the door got shut and locked, and I was trembling and hyperventilating, so we landed. I left swearing that I would never get into another plane voluntarily.

So I'd have to say the first time I thought about *me* skydiving was four days before I did my JFC. By myself. For my birthday. I needed to confront something that had gotten "stuck" in my head about not being capable, and needing to learn how to trust my decisions. I invited my family to watch, and they didn't believe I was going to do it...and so it was a huge thing for me that I jumped.

The rest, as they say, is history.
Ciels-
Michele

~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~

[dj-seus 0]

greetings


my dad used to jump at Ripcord West in washington, missouri back in the 70's, and i grew up listening to all sorts of hilarious skydiving stories... he started jumping when he was 19, so when i was 19 he offered to buy my first jump...

"first time's free, boy!"

skydiving - it's genetic.

ciao

-dan

[raftman 12]

Me (as a little kid): 'Cause Johnnie did it!
Mum: Well, if Johnnie jumped off a cliff, would you
jump too?
Me (as a little kid with an evil grin): Yeah, if I had
a parachute!!!
Mum: SMACK!

[riggerrob 558]

Back in the 1960s, I used to watch the "Ripcord" series on my aunt's TV. On the way home, I told my Mom that I wanted to be a parachutist.

Fast forward thirty years and I got to do a jump with Bob Sinclair - one of the photographers on the "Ripcord" series in California City.

[Dumpster 0]

I used to get those little toy paratroopers out of gumball machines when I was kid, and my friends and I would talk about jumping out of planes and off of buildings and stuff.

Geez - Look at us now!

[jumpergirl 0]

I had never thought about skydiving. I can't even remember if I actually knew what exactly skydiving was. I was 16 and had a boyfriend who had a close family friend who was a jumper and a jump pilot. That friend asked my boyfriend if he wanted to jump. He wanted to and asked me if I wanted to go with him. I said, "Hell no! Don't ever ask me to do something like that because I won't do it!!" Well, somehow he talked my mom into letting me go and she convinced me to try it. I agreed to do it ONCE just to say I had done it. Well,I was hooked as soon as I left the plane! We later broke up and during that time he told me that if we ever broke up we both knew I would never jump again without him. HA! He has 5 static lines that he made while we were together... I'm pushing 400 when I get back in the air.

[sum1mom 0]

on a date with this guy bragging about his tandem. I told him that (skydiving) was the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of and - proceeded to call him an idiot.

I then realized my birthday was coming....getting OlD...so I did it! Now I'm the idiot to my whuffos.

[brits17 0]

Dad: Have you thought about what you wanted for your 18th birthday?

Me: No. Hey lets go skydiving, that'll be a good present.

Dad: Yessssssssssss!

Me: Well at least I made somebody's day...

_______________________
aerialkinetics.com

[loflyer 0]

I was probably 6 or 7, growing up in Taft, Ca I use to see those big "Round" things floating around the sky! I remeber telling my mom, " I want to do that", and her telling me,"Girls don't do that, it's to dangerous." Well, 5 yrs ago, I had a birthday coming up, & wanted to do something really extreme, so I decided to do a Tandem Skydive!
Well 500 jumps later, guess what? Girls Do Skydive!
My parents still think I'm crazy, but have learned to accept it!

[catfishhunter 1]

AS far back as I can remember. I learned an umbrella doesn't slow you down when you jump off your roof (6 or 7 years old) Learned that a plane made of 2x4's and ply wood does not fly when ridden off your roof (age 8) Bed Sheets no matter how you arrange them do NOT make good parachutes (9,10,11,12 etc).Diving head first into water from 100'+ makes your head hurt for days (15,16,17,18,19,20,21, you get ther picture... I have always wanted to fly. I was the kid that would jump anything. I was jumping my big wheel at age 5. I have always loved being in the air. Which is weird because I have a fear of heights. Actually it is more of a fear that I am gonna jump off spontaneously. Anway back to the question I have always thought about can't remeber ever not wanting to do it...Just took me 37 years to cough up the money and just do it!

MAKE EVERY DAY COUNT
Life is Short and we never know how long we are going to have. We must live life to the fullest EVERY DAY. Everything we do should have a greater purpose.

[Snowbird 0]

When I was 9, we lived in a house that overlooked a lake where they did parasailing. I wanted SO BAD to do it, but was too young. I wanted to go up on the longest rope. Or even no rope would be good The higher the better, maybe even out of a plane...

Then about eight years ago I was at a friends for a BBQ. Their place overlooked the local airport and all afternoon we watched the skydivers. From then on I wanted to do it, it just took awhile for me to have and cough up the $$. Now I wish I'd walked down to the dz and done it right then.

Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.
-Robert A. Heinlein

[Andrewwhyte 1]

Quote

Canada: right near Buffalo.
-

Is that how you think of us? Oh Gawd!

When I was about the same age I watched a show called "Adventures in Rainbow Country" after school. One episode had the protagonist 'Billy' having a visitor who was a skydiver. I think he was doing Billy's mom but the show didn't go into that all that much 'cause it was a kids show. Anyway he made a skydive and that was just too cool. Bill Cole did the actual jump.

[smiles 0]

do not remember date- maybe 1984? driving in Pitt Meadows B.C. Canada and saw a huge crowd of skydivers (100 way attempt)....pulled into parking area and watched --I believe-- a 99 way formation in the sky, my adrenaline started to pump with all those canopies in the sky and was freaked as they just landed ---everywhere---

Needless to say the memory stayed in my brain, I was very impressed and a few years later made a tandem and did FJC.

SMiles

eustress. : a positive form of stress having a beneficial effect on health, motivation, performance, and emotional well-being.

[DownWind 0]

In sixth grade, we had to gather a collection of short poems. One of the ones I chose was called The Optimist

The optimist fell ten stories,
at each window bar
he shouted to his friends;
"All right so far"
--Unknown

Sounds like a base jump to me...

I can't believe I actually wrote in cursive. Now I print and only sign my name in cursive.