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#1
10-22-2024, 08:48 AM
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OT: New obsession maybe: Skydiving
My son got me a gift cert. for christmas last year at the local parachute club for a tandem jump. Him an I went this past Saturday.
A little back story. I did many jumps while in the Army Rangers both static line and free fall. Over 100 jumps both non combat and a few combat jumps but that was 40 years ago. So this brought back some memories. We jumped from 10,000 ft with another person attached to our harness. Once the door opened all the memories from my Ranger day came back. The rush of air into the plane, the fear of exit, and the feeling of the air descending in freefall at 120mph. At least this time no one was shooting at me and I did not have 60# of gear with me. Now at 61 I am thinking of doing another 25 jumps to get my license. I miss my days of pushing limits. I will see if I follow through. There were quite a few older ppl jumping that day so not just a young person sport. 
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#2
10-22-2024, 08:52 AM
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One thing I thought was very cool was the transition in sound between roaring loud as you are freefalling and then near silence once the shoot opens up.
Ha, the one time I went skydiving, I went with the most fly-by-night operation somewhere in south jersey. The plane was such a POS, I do believe jumping out of it was the safest way back to the ground!
__________________
http://less-than-epic.blogspot.com/
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#3
10-22-2024, 08:59 AM
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Nice. Fort Campbell?
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#5
10-22-2024, 09:23 AM
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Quote:
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#6
10-22-2024, 09:34 AM
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I live in south Jersey and there is skydiving place near me. When I was young I told my mom I wanted to skydive so she started cutting out skydiving accidents them at occurred at that place! There were enough articles that I decided skydiving not for me
 …assuming place near Sewell Quote:
Last edited by duff_duffy; 10-22-2024 at 09:42 AM.
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#7
10-22-2024, 09:38 AM
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Sounds like a good plan to me. I came off jump status about 24 years ago. Time flies! What was weird for me is that I am deathly afraid of heights. I can't stand on a chair without getting nervous. Yet I loved jumping and never felt any fear stepping out of a plane. Funny how the mind works.
Mine were all static line jumps though with one of the specops units. We had HALO slots but I never got my shot at that.
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#8
10-22-2024, 09:45 AM
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I used to fly airplanes but I never saw any reason to jump out of one
 What I have been really digging lately is the wingsuit videos. Those guys are nuts but it sure is neat to live vicariously through them for a few minutes.
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#9
10-22-2024, 09:52 AM
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Never got my Pilot's license but I took lessons and for some reason I really got it drilled into me that you only jump out of planes that are going down.
I have tried the indoor skydiving thing in the vertical wind tunnel. It was "fun" but it sure vaporized triple digit amounts of money in a few minutes, makes it easy for me not to get bugged about trying the real thing. I think for that kind of money I'd go back to flying lessons, but I've largely got the whole thing out of my system.. just not that fun in our crowded NE airspace.
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#10
10-22-2024, 10:43 AM
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Quote:
__________________
Pegoretti Responsorium Gaulzetti Corsa Don McClung 51
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#11
10-22-2024, 11:00 AM
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I jumped in the military, 82nd ABN, and with a club afterward. I made enough civilian jumps for a class A license but never joined the USPA. Most of my jumps after the service were static line demonstrations for new students or 5-10 second free falls, pop and goes, from 3-3500ft -we used a Cessna 172 and it took a long time to climb to 10,000ft.
Like you I've been interested in getting back into it and checking out centers in my area. It's a lot more expensive than it was 30 years ago but I miss the excitement and adrenaline rush.
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#12
10-22-2024, 11:07 AM
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Honestly, I'm surprised the number of people on this forum who have jumped out of planes. I went once when I was traveling abroad in Australia. Amazing experience but I don't need to do it again.
What are the cost/time commitments to take this up as a hobby?
__________________
"I used to be with it. Then they changed what it was. Now, what I'm with isn't it, and whats it is weird and scary." -Abe Simpson
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#14
10-22-2024, 11:34 AM
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I went here.
https://www.skydivemspc.com/learn-to-skydive
My last jump into a hot area was when I was 29 Aug 1993. Delta Force was pinned down and my platoon was a rapid reaction force. This was in Mogadishu and was called Operation Gothic Serpent. We were stationed in Italy and got the call to load up and a drop was scheduled 5 klicks outside Mogadishu. We lost 18 with dozens others wounded. I was one of the medics on that mission, treated a bunch of troops and lost a few. Got my second purple heart there as I was shot but still continued fighting and treating others. That bullet stayed inside me for years after till it came to the surface and was extracted. 30+yrs later some things about that mission still haunt me. I never did watch the movie.
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#15
10-22-2024, 11:35 AM
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I guess it makes sense for veterans to have done it.. lots of it going on and the .gov pays for it all.
But when I look at it doing it often strikes me as being in the same cost range as having a track car to go to the race track, owning/operating a boat, flying rental airplanes, etc.. and I think all of those are things I'd go for first. I have a college friend who is big time into it.. quite successful in his main job and has no kids to pay for. And the way he still elected to do it is becoming an instructor so he's not really paying for it.
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