Why Did I Go Skydiving????

Why did I go Skydiving???

Don’t know if you’re ever gone skydiving before but it’s the most thrilling thing I’ve ever done. The first time I went because a good friend of mine talked me into it. That’s right I’ve done it 3 times so far.

I’ll never forget it was going to happen the day after Thanksgiving. I was over at his house for the big feast to pound some beers and watch some football. The main topic was whether or not I was going to chicken out and not show up. I assured all my buddies that weren’t going to do it that I was committed to making the jump.

We had a great time and as I was getting ready to go my buddy, Ken, said hey here’s something to think about before you go to sleep tonight.

“You know when you jump out of the plane you’ve just committed suicide….. until you land safely.” See you tomorrow.

I thought to myself as I was walking to my car why in the hell did he just tell me that????

I knew he was just messing with my head but damn I thought we were buddies.

This is me in the plane right after take off.

This is me just committing suicide!!!

This is what I call total chaos!!! You’re free falling at about 120 mph for about 60 seconds.

He just pulled the rip cord and now I’m about to get the living shit jerked out of me. When that parachute opens it jerks you straight up!!!

This is me landing safely. It was really a soft landing, you’ve just got to keep your legs lifted up as high as you can.

If skydiving is on your bucket list then get to it!

I can remember vividly all 3 times I jumped because different things happened each time.

The second time I jumped when the parachute opened we were inside a cloud so it was very surreal.

I always tell people that there are 2 phases to skydiving.

  1. The free fall is total chaos.

  2. The float down after the parachute opens is total serenity.

Hope you enjoyed this and just maybe nudged you a bit closer to checking this off your list….. Frank

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Ive been on 25 jumps in my life and I can sum it down to two phases as well, the "Oh shit" phase and the "This shit is for real" phase.

I was a paratrooper in the 82nd airborne division so I had a lot of fun jumping from airplanes, but we hit the ground at 24mph so we couldn't land standing up, we had to roll.

I have always wanted to do a civilian jump, but now that I have survived 25 military jumps, I am counting my lucky charms, might never jump again.

What was the highest you ever jumped from? I got to jump from 13,500 since I was in S. Florida. If I had the money/time I'd get certified to solo jump. And what about those people who do those wingsuit jumps. Now that's really flying like a bird.

13500 is very high, like the height of a tall mountain. As a paratrooper, we only jumped from a maximum of 1200 feet, but sometimes we would jump as low as 500. It was a quick trip, which I assume was that way because they wanted us to get on the ground as fast as possible.

I can't imagine jumping from 500 feet. That barely gives you time to get ready to roll.

Love your friends description “You know when you jump out of the plane you’ve just committed suicide….. until you land safely.” The first time jumping out has to be the most transcendental experience that can happen. Knowing that survival is dependent on everything working and that death is moments away.

Yes it is literally a "leap of faith" that everything will work! I blacked out for about 2 seconds because I think my mind went into overdrive and couldn't grasp what I just did.

Blacking out? Wow, that's super scary. Glad that you're still in one piece. Jumping from a plane is NOT on my bucket list. Yes, I'm a big chicken about that kind of thing. I do admire those who can get over that kind of fear.

I always wondered what goes through someone's mind who's just felt their feet leave the doorway of their plane (on purpose). Phase two must make phase one worthwhile.

Absolutely does......... You're adrenal is pumping so much you really feel like your flying like a bird.....

Ah :))) Very good ...I like it :))

I upvote U