Skydive!!!

[pknox]

Nightingale:

I was told that some skydiving places here in NJ also impose a weight limit (I think it's like 250 lbs from what I've been told) -- is this true by you as well?

 

[Kroy]

I'm doing it!

 

[michaeledward]

I'm doing it!

Go For It !! .... Wooo Wooo !! :boing2:

 

[Nightingale]

There is no weight limit for skydiving... however....

some dropzones may not have gear for you if you weigh more than 250. (230 for tandem). Call in advance and ask.

I know a guy who weighs 350... he had to fly from California to Missouri to find someone with gear he could use... but he's there this weekend working on AFF.



With regards to lectures...
with a tandem, you get a five minute lecture on how to arch while you're getting geared up. Arching is all you have to do. Your jumpmaster does the rest.

 

[Rich Parsons]

Originally posted by Nightingale
There is no weight limit for skydiving... however....

some dropzones may not have gear for you if you weigh more than 250. (230 for tandem). Call in advance and ask.

I know a guy who weighs 350... he had to fly from California to Missouri to find someone with gear he could use... but he's there this weekend working on AFF.



With regards to lectures...
with a tandem, you get a five minute lecture on how to arch while you're getting geared up. Arching is all you have to do. Your jumpmaster does the rest.

Yes, this is part of the reason I have not done it yet. When friends sign up they do not have gear rated for my weight, and some how I really want the stitching and buckles designed to hold me properly. Just seems like a good idea

A lot of those in the MI area and even in the AZ area are rated only to 250 lbs single and 230 lbs, as Nightingale said. My hefty 270 to 275 lbs, is something I think I will work on to get into the range to try this in the future.

 

[Nightingale]

Well, my buddy Aubrey who's in Missouri this weekend is using military gear because its designed to hold his weight. I'll find out which dropzone so you can call them if you like.

-N-

 

[arnisador]

"Skydiver Hits Bridge in Colorado, Dies"

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031006/ap_on_re_us/skydiving_death_2

A skydiver attempting a stunt was killed Sunday when he hit a 1,000-foot-high bridge and fell onto the rocks below, police said.

Dwain Weston, 30, died following the inaugural Go Fast Games, in which he and other parachutists had jumped off the 1,053-foot-high Royal Gorge Bridge, said Heather Hill, a vice president of event sponsor Go Fast Sports & Beverage Co.

Weston, of Australia, had jumped from an airplane with another parachutist. They were supposed to free fall until they reached the bridge, at which point Weston was to go above the bridge and the other athlete would go under it.

 

[Nightingale]

this guy wasn't a skydiver in the normal sense of the word...

he was a BASE jumper. BASE stands for Building Antenna Span Earth, which means they jump off fixed objects at much lower altitudes than skydivers who jump from planes and helicopters.

Skydiving is MUCH safer than BASE.

you fall about 1000 feet every 5 seconds. That leaves skydivers with a lot more decision time to fix mistakes... and time to deploy a reserve chute.

BASE folks don't even carry a reserve parachute... because if their main chute fails, there's no point in having a reserve, because you've already become one with the ground. If a BASE jumper's main fails... well, he's got the rest of his life to think about it.

I know some folks who do BASE... and I think they're all freakin nuts! Of course, all my whuffo friends (whuffos are non-skydivers) think I'm nuts too...

-N-

ps. the term "Whuffo" comes from the early 60s... a skydiver in the south was asked "Whuffo (what for) you wanna jump outa those planes?" and the term Whuffo stuck, and is a common skydiver term for anyone who's a non jumper who just doesn't understand the impulse some of us have to hurl ourselves out of perfectly good airplanes at over two miles above the ground, with our very lives depending on a backpack strapped to us... all that, just to be able to reach out and grab our own little handful of sky. sigh... I can't wait til my next jump.

 

[arnisador]

He was a BASE jumper, but was jumping out of a plane on this particular jump.

 

[Kroy]

Work with me guys.Only good stories, please.

 

[arnisador]

"The ground is soft, and spongy..."

 

[Kroy]

Phew

 

[Nightingale]

Originally posted by arnisador
He was a BASE jumper, but was jumping out of a plane on this particular jump.

um.... you said in the post of the article that he jumped off the BRIDGE. All the info I have says he jumped off the bridge and hit a support on the way down. He was wearing a wingsuit, and those can be tricky to control on exit.

 

[arnisador]

Originally posted by Nightingale
um.... you said in the post of the article that he jumped off the BRIDGE.

Um...it did say in what I quoted that he had successfully BASE jumped off a bridge earlier in the day. But if you refer to my post:
http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=166323#post166323

it says in the third quoted paragraph:

Weston, of Australia, had jumped from an airplane with another parachutist.

.

In general, an airplane is not a bridge.

Earlier, he had jumped from a bridge without incident. Later, he jumped from a plane, intending to pass over the bridge while another parachutist went under it. He went into the bridge instead and was killed. Hence the title of the article, "Skydiver Hits Bridge...".

 

[michaeledward]

Work with me guys.Only good stories, please.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/africa/08/23/safrica.freefall.reut/index.html

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuters) -- A South African skydiver survived a 3,500 meter (11,500 ft) plunge after her parachute failed to open and lines broke on her reserve chute, a local skydiving club said Monday

See ... it all works out in the end.

 

[OUMoose]

it doesn't feel like you're falling....

mainly because your brain can't perceive distance at 13,000 feet. you don't really notice the ground getting closer til around 2000 feet.

it really feels like you're being held up by a cushion of air. Feels like flying, not like falling.

*peers out the window the plane*

Guess what, my brain may not be able to perceive precise distance at that altitude, but it can understand "long way down".

Looks like you had a blast though! Nevertheless, my feet will remain firmly planted on the ground, thanks. :asian:

 

[Feisty Mouse]

Wow! You look absolutely radiant in those photos, Nightingale! I am too scared of heights to do that - I think that once I was in the air (and strapped to a knowledgeable professional) would be one thing, but I wouldn't be able to make myself step out of the airplane. Yikes.

But snaps to you.

 

[mj-hi-yah]

Nightingale,

Those are beautiful pictures! You look so totally elated. And btw you look like your avatar.

It brings back memories from days gone by for me...I did one jump in the olden days before the tandem jump. So after a four hour course the guy pushed my butt out of the plane onto a tiny platform with, a parachute of course, and a one way radio. It was so awesome!!!! The parachute opened fine and there was this amazing feeling of floating through the sky. Then I hear the instructor on the ground give turn signal commands like make a left turn, now make a right turn, etc., and then firmly say, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU MAKE A ...CRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR total static as I scream into the one way radio (which of course :lol: being a one way radio is futile :idunno: ) "WHAT??? It is very important that I what? What am I supposed to do?" then finally the static clears as I hear him frantically commanding "MAKE A LEFT TURN!!!!!" *phew*
That was scary as all hell! :angry: And one of best experiences ever!!!

I read the course description above and it has come a very long way. You're lucky to be learning this all in these days. If I wasn't a mom I'd be floating with ya today! I understand the feeling and the rush...there's nothing like it!

Have you solo jumped yet? I'd love to hear about it!

MJ

 

[Mark Weiser]

I know the feeling I did a 3000 ft static line jump while in the USMC at Paris Island California back in 1982.

 

[Sarah]

You looked like you were haveing soooo much fun.