Hi! Lately I've had this idea to skydive a few times (when it gets warmer than the current -20C). Any way, what are your experiences and how dangerous it is? Thanks!
I heard it's very windy. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! It's one of my new years resolutions to do it this summer. I'm thinking of falling over Maryland somewhere since one of my friends down there wants to do it with me. I've always wanted to, and never got around to it since I was in college forever, but now that I'm out, I want to!! It looks like the ultimate adrenaline rush.
from what i've read about the subject the biggest danger is getting so into the view that you forget to deploy your chute soon enough. you really need to take about 5 or 6 dives with EXPERIENCED divers before attempting to dive on your own. you also need to learn to pack your own chute. it's also a good idea to invest in a wrist altimeter to aid you when deploying your chute. if i find that book i'll post more.
The statistics are hard to normalize, but Finland has some good figures that are probably not too different from anywhere else. The rate seems to be on the order of magnitude of 20 fatalities per million jumps. About 60 people per year die in skydiving accidents in the USA. In Australia they can go a whole year without one. Around 90% of skydiving deaths are caused by human error, with bad landings and mid-air collisions being the top two types. Given this, it's no surprise that beginners are about four times as likely as experts to have a fatal accident. New technologies that I don't understand are available that (according to the article) would prevent virtually all of those human-error deaths. So I suggest you do some reading, track this stuff down, and buy it. It will reduce your chance of dying by a factor of ten, which in any other activity would be regarded as cause for a month-long celebration. The only way we could make motorcycles that safe would be to outlaw cars. With the quantum improvement in safety of this new technology, you have two chances in a million of dying every time you take a dive. For comparison, you have (very roughly) one chance in a million of dying every time you drive your car.
I don't have a car! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Thanks for the info, may I have a link to that article of yours?
A dogwalker friend is a skydiver, so he told me: In the US, you have to be 18 to jump alone. You can jump alone for the first time, but to instructors jump with you and make sure you deploy the chute. Freefalling is about 20 secs. Cost is $150, if I remember well...
Skydiving is one of the most fun and exhilerating things you can do. When I went, I jumped out of a Cessna-182. It was so cramped, there was only room for 3 people, plus the pilot. It was my first time in a small aircraft. The ride up felt more like driving in a car than flying. You can feel it slide on the wind currents. Anyway, after a 15 minute ride to altitude (in the cramped cabin, where my legs fell asleep), me and my jumpmaster linked harnesses (I did a tandem jump). After trying to position ourselves, I stood on the landing gear. Let me tell you, this is so unnatural to do - stepping out onto a little steel plate 10,000 feet above the ground, in an 80 mph wind. Anyway, I was out on the wheel, and my jumpmaster yell "ready! One! Two!" On two, we just leaned forward all the way out. The first 5 seconds are one of the most amazing things I've felt. It's a sensory overload. The wind comes up, and you can feel the drop in your belly, no matter what some people say (granted, it's not as strong as on a rollercoaster). It really feels sort of like swimming, because the air feels thick and moist at that speed. The ground is far below, and approaches at a slow crawl. There's nothing around you except for air. We did a full front spin, because I lost my arch in those crazy first few seconds. I feel a tap on my shoulders, and I immediately go into the arch position from the training. Then we rotated, and I saw the camera man, and we played around in the sky. Make sure you tie your shoes tight! I almost lost one. After 40 seconds of freefall, I suddenly swung into a standing position, and it felt like being yanked up by a rope. The instructor gave me the steering toggles, and I played around with some turns, and I practiced the landing flare. Parachutes can maneuver pretty well. It took over 5 minutes to descend all the way down. When you get close to the ground, you realize you're actually moving pretty fast - fast enough to hurt if you don't land right. So then right before my feet hit the ground, the instructor said "1, 2, 3, down", and I pulled the toggles down to my waist, and I reached out with my feet for a perfect soft landing. I was hooked. It's something I am definetely going to pursue as a serious hobby. Once I get out of school, and have a steady source of income, I plan on completing the AFF course (I'm in the US. I can't remember the equivalent training program in other parts of the world), and getting my A license. My first jump cost around $150, plus $50 or so for video.
It sounds dangerous. I was just reading about SEALs that jump out of commercial airliners at 30,000 feet.
Where at? I would be interested to read that. Anyway: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Kittinger "On August 16, 1960 he made the final jump from the Excelsior III at 102,800 feet (31,300 m). He was in freefall for 13 minutes and 45 seconds reaching a maximum speed of 614 mph (988 km/h) before opening his parachute at 18,000 feet (5,500 m). Pressurization for his right glove malfunctioned during the ascent, causing his hand to swell. He set records for highest balloon ascent, highest parachute jump, longest freefall and fastest speed by a man through the atmosphere."
Skydiving is something slightly more exhilirating than a great blowjob!! But that's only after you get out of the damned plane. In all the jumps that I've made, standing in the perfectly good airplane, looking down at the clouds and/or ground, and knowing that you're gonna' jump out, is one of the most terrifying things that a man can do!! I simply never got over that sense of terror, even tho' once out of the plane, it all went away. Many people I jumped with were almost anxious to get to that damned open door and jump. Me? Shit, I had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, to that horrifying open door. ...LOL! I say, with all that firmly in your mind, ....GO FOR IT, YOU'LL NEVER REGRET IT! Baron Max
i wish i was there. i would have happily pushed you out.Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
....LOL! Seemingly, you and everyone else!! It's almost the only way I could make it out of that damned plane door. Terrifying ....and not many people can appreciate just how damned terrifying it is. Full-on, bullets-flying, mortars-exploding, combat firefights were a snap and breeze in comparison. Baron Max
It's a book about the SEALs, I'll find the name for you. Some countries don't allow military aircraft to fly over, so the SEALs use existing commercial flights (in cooperation with the airlines) to enter enemy territory. They can even glide up to 30 miles away.
Oh, sure, I'm positive that commercial airlines are gonna' be willing partners in committing such flagrant acts of aggression against other nations of the world!! C'mon, Spider, surely you don't believe all that bullshit, do you? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Hey, Spider, I got a some oceanfront property in Arizona ...I can get you a pretty damned good deal if you act now. Baron Max
Why would anyone want to jump out of a perfectly good and functioning plane with nothing but a piece of silk to stop them plummeting to their doom is beyond me. If the plane were crashing, then yes I'd strap on that piece of silk and leap out. Otherwise.. no thanks.Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I'm with you Bells. It doesn't sound fun to me. I'd prefer to keep my seat on the plane, order a cranberry vodka and read Good Housekeeping.
