Skydiving, anyone done it?

Velocity173 said:
http://www.duffelblog.com/2017/05/air-force-flight-removed/?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=facebook_page&utm_medium=Duffel Blog&utm_content=US Air Force criticized after removing 64 soldiers from flight
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That reminds me of the trip our unit took from Ft. Hood to NTC, which happened to be on a chartered commercial airliner (which, ironically, WAS a UAL flight.) You would think that would be a comfortable way to travel, but if you think those small airline passenger seats get cramped, try sitting in them, three deep, wearing full web gear, helmets, and weapons.
 
Sac Arrow said:
That reminds me of the trip our unit took from Ft. Hood to NTC, which happened to be on a chartered commercial airliner (which, ironically, WAS a UAL flight.) You would think that would be a comfortable way to travel, but if you think those small airline passenger seats get cramped, try sitting in them, three deep, wearing full web gear, helmets, and weapons.
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Geesh, another "I picked the wrong service" story. LOL

Every time I took a military charter or actual military transport in the Navy, it was most like flying the airlines. Same types of planes, mostly MD-80's I think but all the bags were in the cargo hold and you carried on whatever you wanted. No snack/beverage service on the actual military flights but good enough. On deployments, most of out stuff went by semi-truck back to base. Only took the must haves on the airplane.

No helmets, no web gear, no weapons. Yes to books, snacks and other wants.

WAh, WAH, wah. LOL

I never got to fly an Air Farce plane, but they probably all have First Class seating.

David
 
flhrci said:
Geesh, another "I picked the wrong service" story. LOL

Every time I took a military charter or actual military transport in the Navy, it was most like flying the airlines. Same types of planes, mostly MD-80's I think but all the bags were in the cargo hold and you carried on whatever you wanted. No snack/beverage service on the actual military flights but good enough. On deployments, most of out stuff went by semi-truck back to base. Only took the must haves on the airplane.

No helmets, no web gear, no weapons. Yes to books, snacks and other wants.

WAh, WAH, wah. LOL

I never got to fly an Air Farce plane, but they probably all have First Class seating.

David
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The return trip was not so comfortable. It was in a C 141. I was sitting near the back. I've been in C 130's with the ramp open, and you feel a lot of turbulence. With the 141 it was uncanny. They lowered the ramp to do a drop on the way, and even with the ramp open, you could have lit a match.

But that didn't work with everyone. One guy barfed in his helmet, then the next, and the next.... Needless to say, it was a VERY miserable trip back, even though I managed to keep my own stomach load. Learn to breathe through your mouth. A saving grace I use in my present occupation from time to time.
 
Cost from 0 to A License = about $2500
Used gear = $2500 - $3000
Per jump = $25/lift (Most people make 3-5 jumps day then stay for the after-party)
Insurance deductible = ?
 
Sac Arrow said:
That reminds me of the trip our unit took from Ft. Hood to NTC, which happened to be on a chartered commercial airliner (which, ironically, WAS a UAL flight.) You would think that would be a comfortable way to travel, but if you think those small airline passenger seats get cramped, try sitting in them, three deep, wearing full web gear, helmets, and weapons.
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Yeah, I actually like Military over contract. World Air...yuck. Even the stretched nylon seats on a C-130 are more comfortable. Facing inboard is a bit odd though. Went on "Fat Albert Airlines" once and the lateral Gs were a bit strange. ;)
 
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JCranford said:
And sorry, but my advice as an instructor is 'do the tandem crap'. We get WAY better performance out of students who have done a tandem progression than we do first time AFF students. The worst ones are the (macho) guys who start class with "I'm jumping by myself. I dont want some dude strapped to my back'. Pretty common for that guy, no matter HOW well he may have performed on the ground training, to start flailing his arms around and 'lights off, no one is home' at deployment time. Ive had to deploy the canopy for quite a number of those guys. The tandem progression allow you to be 'in the environment' at least a couple of times, thereby avoiding the 'sensory overload' associated with jumping out of a plane for the first time.

Just my opinion based on slightly more than 8 jumps...
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I did a tandem once. It was the free fall I wanted to experience. The whatever you call em told me what altitude to pull the handle and if I didn't he would do it about 500 feet later. I told him fine, you pull it, I get 500 feet more of what I was there for.
 
2000 or so jumps. Love it. I've jumped out of airplanes in a lot of states. Community can be great. The group at Waller were friendlier to me than the Skydive Houston folks.

Once I was visiting Raleigh and jumping at Carolina Sky Sports (I think that's right). Two regulars included me in their jump planning and we made four or five together. They invited me to stay with them in their home that night so I wouldn't have to drive across the state to Charlotte.
 
luvflyin said:
I did a tandem once. It was the free fall I wanted to experience. The whatever you call em told me what altitude to pull the handle and if I didn't he would do it about 500 feet later. I told him fine, you pull it, I get 500 feet more of what I was there for.
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Or. you could grab it and hide it from him! "Na-nah, where is the handle now?!" (yes, I'm sure he has a [painful] plan for that)
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Or. you could grab it and hide it from him! "Na-nah, where is the handle now?!" (yes, I'm sure he has a [painful] plan for that)
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There's two handles, one you can reach and one only I can reach. Plus if you take the handle away where I can't reach it, you've just opened the parachute, mission accomplished.

luvflyin said:
Lol. I wonder if they have a way of just "jettisoning" the load
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Hopefully not, only if the student harness is not worn properly.
 
pmanton said:
I did my jumping in the 50's-60's. If there was a choice between sex or a 60 second delay---you could always have sex on a windy,rainy day. Chute up. View attachment 53506
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I forgot to mention an additional (at least for me) benefit of skydiving.
On one of my very early jumps in 1956 I needed someone to pick me up. The plan was to leave LAT (now BUR) and jump over the western San Fernando Valley. I asked my buddy Jack to pick me up. He brought a little fox along named Winona. We're married living on an airpark to this day.
 
In Army ROTC (back in the early 1970s) our Sgt Major used to say, "Two things fall from the sky. Birds*&t and fools!" I've often wondered why anyone would jump from a perfectly good airplane. A co-worker years ago claimed there was no such thing as a perfectly good airplane. When he showed me what he jumped out of I understood where he was coming from. I'll stick with flying them, you all can jump out.
 
Lots of jumps in the Army - mostly static line out of almost anything that flies C 119, C123, C7A, C 130 and 141 and a number of helicopters. Went to jump school in Honduras and Canada. Was hoping to get a jump out of a D.C.-3 in Honduras but used helicopters instead. Funnest jumps were water jumps were yes you delibertly landed in a lake or in the ocean at Shark DZ with just shorts, t-shirt and tennis shoes. My first free fall was with the Golden Knights at their winter training center in Yuma. Tailgate out of a C130 at 14,500' - I was an absolute mess all over the sky until I got stabilized. Did 4-5 jumps that day and decided I'd rather be a dope on a rope.
 
Just under 500 for me. I'm on board with the do a tandem first advice. You'll get more out of your first solo if you do the sensory overload jump as a tandem.
 
Four for me years ago...my boss at the time was the first woman in Iowa to have over 2K jumps. One yesterday for my wife....She's been flying aerobatics in the Champ and I finally convinced her she needed at least one under her belt.

Jim
 
luvflyin said:
Lol. I wonder if they have a way of just "jettisoning" the load
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Nope, but that of course didn't keep us from telling the passengers to keep their hands away from the 'passenger release handle'.
 
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