A new thrill outside the casino

I don’t know if I just want to share or brag, but last Saturday I did something I never ever wanted to do; namely jump out of a perfectly good airplane. In a nutshell, my son’s into skydiving and several weeks ago invited me to come watch him jump. He knew I’d never jump. In fact, as I told him, it was at the very bottom of my to-do list behind working high steel or daycare. I jokingly replied, “If I have to drive all the way to Thomaston (2 hours south of me), I might as well jump, too.” As soon as the call ended I realized what a totally stupid thing that was to have said, but figured it probably wouldn’t come up again. Nonetheless, I lived in fear every time he called or I received a text or email. Then Friday afternoon a week ago, while in Staples, I received a short text, “Fair warning – tomorrow is skydiving day!” I dropped whatever I was about to buy, didn’t go to the other store I had planned to visit, and went straight home where I stayed until happy hour.

In all fairness, my son gave me an easy out, but I would have rather gone splat than go back on what I had said. The intellectual side of me knew that lots of people have successfully jumped from planes for over 100 years and that it was probably safer than the drive to Thomaston. In fact, skydiving probably isn’t more dangerous than diving in underwater caves, which I’ve done. However, the reptilian side of my brain knew damn well that jumping from over 2 miles up is fricken insane! (For that matter, so is flying in an airplane to begin with, though I never gave it much thought.) For sure, looking out the open door at 14,000 ft. just isn’t the same as peering out the window as a passenger. Actually, I wasn’t nearly as concerned about dying, as much as I just don’t like the sensation of falling, spinning, rocking, etc. A merry-go-round is about my top speed at an amusement park and I avoid amusement parks!

To fast forward, while lying on the ground afterwards, I was asked if I was glad I did it. I could only reply, “I’ll get back to you.” The experience took a little time to process after the adrenalin rush dissipated (as well as the queasiness from spinning around after the chute deployed), but I can now say that it was probably the most exciting thing I’ve ever done! Although a 150 lb. sack of potatoes could have done the same thing, I still feel I accomplished something just by going along for the ride.

For various reasons, I’ll probably stick with scuba and not pursue skydiving, but I sure gained a much better understanding and appreciation for what my kid does. Actually, both sports have a lot in common, namely, it’s very bad to run out of air. For sure, hitting a hard 16 against the dealer’s 10 with a large bet will never seem quite so scary again!

 

Very exciting! Good for you!

I'm not sure I'd have the guts to go through with it.

 

Looks like one shell of a good time, Turtleman!
I love that second pic!
Congrats on the great experience!

RICHARD

 

Good for you! Back when I was young and stupid, well some say I'm still stupid, but for sure not young. After work one night in bar with 5 coworkers, it got to be one of those well I'd do it if you do it nights with plenty of drinks. Anyway, all six of us did it. Drove out to the small airport, took a morning class and jumped at noon. Nothing as high as yours, iirc 2,000 ft or so, but we all had our own chutes. Five of us never did again, but one guy went for 40 more jumps. It certainly great to say I did that.

 

Way to go Joe. You realize, of course, the higher the better in case there’s a fixable problem. Much better view, also. Actually, 2000 ft. is dangerously low! We jumped from 14,000 and free fell to 6.000 before deploying the chute.

 

Well done! Skydiving isn't that stupid - if something goes wrong it's a quick, painless death (I presume). I ride racing motorcycles, and that's a lot dumber. Lots of guys in wheelchairs from motorcycle accidents, not so much from skydiving accidents. Dying doesn't scare me. Spending the next 40 years drinking my meals through a straw does, though. Not enough to get me to quit, however. Like I said, dumb.

 

What ever height it was, they said that was the max for first timers. Because of my weight they had to give me a different chute than the other 5. I landed so hard it screwed up my knee to this day.

Just an aside...there is a pond maybe a half mile from the landing area. About 3 years later a first timer got blown off course, landed in the pond and drowned.

 

Yep, a perfectly safe sport! For his second jump last Saturday, my kid did a low-altitude jump called a hop n’ pop from 3,500 ft. The idea is to become stable and deploy right away. He graduated from student to A-License - a heck of a day for both of us!

 

Woo-hoo. Sounds really cool. Just recently read that a 102 year old English guy sky dived to commemorate the anniversary of D-Day.

 

That is something I always wanted to do, BUT was too scared to really do it.

My daughter did it, and thank goodness she did not inform me until after the fact!

CONGRATS!

 

My mother did it to celebrate her 90th birthday. She said "if George Bush can do it so can I!" Did a tandem jump, landed and stood up and asked when she could do it again!

 

A GREAT testimonial for stepping outside the box and trying new things. Congrats to you, Herr Turtle!!

 

Kudos to you! What a great experience for you and your son.

 

I've always wanted to do this, just might try it when I retire and get bored.

I want to do it like Joe did, not tandem but with my own chute. I'm more wary now than when I was younger because my knees now are shot to hell. Still want to try it.

Great job, Turtleman!

 

This is on my bucket list! But yet I can't seem to bring myself to do it . How awesome you and your son went together. Sounds fantastic!!!

 

Good for you for stepping (err....flying) out of your comfort zone. Always nice to have a new experience, just to say you DID IT once. Awesome that you kept your end of the deal. You and your son will remember it forever.

 

Pretty good on you to follow though on your word. Even if that is tandem jumping, it never made sense for me to jump out (eject) from a perfectly good aircraft!

 

Tandem is evidently the standard and smart first time experience. In fact, before they’ll let you jump on your own (at least at the facility I used), you have to attend an all-day class … and I can see why. And even then, two, yes 2, instructors jump along with you. The experience was so overwhelming, I didn’t even think about the parachute until it was opened! Once at terminal velocity, the free fall was fantastic – just really, really loud.

 

On second thought, I think tandem jumping is better for me, considering my knees and age. I want to experience the feeling of free fall, something I don't think I can do if I jumped on my own, since I obviously don't have the training (or guts) to do a free fall on my own.

Yes, and I sure would like to have 2 qualified jumpers to be with me, just in case I freak out!

 

Sounds like you'll be doing it again. Thomaston, Ga is just under 90 minutes from me.