Whos been skydiving?

JAZSXY · 10-12-2007, 10:29 PM

Hey guys just want to ask who's been a done it? And what did you think? Only because Im thinking about taking the plunge myself, I reckon the rush of 200kms headfirst for 40secs would be unbeatable. So for those who have been whats it like?

scoupedy · 11-12-2007, 08:39 AM

Ive done a static line, want to do a accelerated free fall (i.e no one strapped on my ) the static line was cool because you climb out of the plane and hang off the wing strut before letting go i had the James bond theme music going in my head as i climbed out a hung of the strut for about 5 seconds dannanna anna na

Macca23 · 11-12-2007, 08:46 AM

Yeah I have done it

: You wont regret it. I got it for my 21st bday from my mates. Landed on the beach at Wollongong

I did a tandem jump, from aroudn the 13,000ft from memory. They gave me a dvd packge with over 100 still photos as well.

deesun · 11-12-2007, 09:42 AM

Yep me too. Did the tandem thing. Wifey and kids on the ground could hear me whoopi'n and a holler'n from 10,000 ft. Yeah baby.

seXE · 11-12-2007, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macca23

Yeah I have done it

: You wont regret it. I got it for my 21st bday from my mates. Landed on the beach at Wollongong

I did a tandem jump, from aroudn the 13,000ft from memory. They gave me a dvd packge with over 100 still photos as well.

I did my jump on Wollongong beach too! and im pretty sure they only jump from one height and its 15000 feet lol.

I did it for my 20th this year in May. it was such a rush. one thing i would say is make sure you dont have a trace of a cold or anything like that. i was just getting over a cold, and we had already rescheduled our jump because the weather was really bad on the orginal booked day, and the pressure in my head and ears was unbelievably painful when the parachute opened. but it went away about an hour after landing.

the freefall is easily the best part. i wanted it to last forever.

ill post some pics. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day.

wow i haven't looked at these pics in so long. just looking at it i can feel it. theres no feeling like it. so awesome.

Falcon_Phill · 11-12-2007, 07:35 PM

I did it in Wollongong as well. If you want to see the video of it (from plane to the ground) go to my myspace page and click videos.

www.myspace.com/phill_collins

or

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...deoID=17355283

JAZSXY · 11-12-2007, 07:57 PM

$525 gets me a tandem jump 40secs freefall, plus DVD and stills of the jump.

Xploded · 11-12-2007, 10:39 PM

I did this at the start of the year while I was on my holliday in New Zealand, did the 15,000 ft its well worth the experiance. You do it once and you just want to go back and do it again .... its well worth it

Bax · 12-12-2007, 10:09 AM

I've been thinking about it aswell. My mates gf did it a couple of years ago at Airlie - it looked great up there, so many islands, perfectly blue water - I think that's where I'd want to do it.

Funny watching the video too. As soon as the door opened she's just gone.

"oh f a r ****"

seXE · 12-12-2007, 02:53 PM

hhahahhahhahahah in my DVD, i am absolutely ****ing myself during the freefall. i always get the giggles really bad when im having fun.

AUIIForte · 12-12-2007, 04:49 PM

I've been planning to do it with my woman for a long time. It just seems too scary! How do you guys do it? Just close your eyes and jump??

Bax · 12-12-2007, 06:23 PM

I'd suggest growing some balls? lol

I can only speak in terms of what I imagine I'd do. I'd no doubt be scared to jump. But at the end of the day you just have to pull the pin and enjoy it. That's what I'd be aiming to do, reality is different to my dreamworld though no doubt.

AusM · 12-12-2007, 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xploded

You do it once and you just want to go back and do it again...

That's why I went back 4 more times! I did a solo freefall course (1.5 days before jump) and loved it. It's surprisingly easy to get started and have some control, just a matter of learning the procedures, being methodical, and the unknown element - staying in control. I did the course with 4 mates and one freaked a bit and wouldn't do it again, but otherwise almost everyone loves it.

The initial rush, the 'sensory overload period' of 10 seconds or so is so intense that you don't feel it - or anything - that's how it was for me anyway, almost a loss of time from standing on the strut to getting stable in ff. After that it wasn't a sense of falling, more floating on the wind...

The first real feeling of rush I got was when the canopy opened - with the people on the ground 2500ft away hearing a distinct 'Woohoo!' above. Then, it's a scenic joyride and the business end of steering, avoiding obstacles and avoiding manoeuvres which will collapse your wing, or increase your ground speed. The second rush comes once you're on the ground and you can't stop blabbing to those around you! That lasts for over an hour - a duration where most dropzones won't let you go back up until you've calmed!

By the 5th jump, I had control to move and tap hands of the instructor, spin 360, track, other basic movements and unguided landings. I'm sure it was all a bit rough, but safe and it shows it doesn't take a lifetime to do a few fun moves and feel some control.

As far as taking it up as a sport, you're at the peril of the weather, so you need a fun dropzone and a good group of people to wait out the windy/cloudy times. I can understand people's addiction though...

If you can afford it - in these days of public liability insurance ripoff - then I would definitely recommend freefall over static line...

scoupedy · 13-12-2007, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AUIIForte

I've been planning to do it with my woman for a long time. It just seems too scary! How do you guys do it? Just close your eyes and jump??

When you do a static line you go through a whole days training and in the end you just want to get in the plane and do it, and i forgot almost everything and just screamed Faaaaa

seXE · 13-12-2007, 11:54 AM

On the plane ride up, all i could think about was "how the eff am i supposed to jump out of this thing??" but when the time comes, and you're looking over the edge of the plane, it doesn't really look like hundreds of kilometres above the earth, it just looks like...air. i didnt have any fear, just excitment. and hell no would i close my eyes as i jump out. that would be a ridiculous thing to do. increase the fear 10 fold i reckon. the seeing is the most amazing part of it.

scoupedy · 13-12-2007, 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PFdesign

- then I would definitely recommend freefall over static line...

Agreed i only did a static line as i wanted to keep going- a static line jump was $150 and then $35 after the first. Accelerated free fall where you jump with two instructors and they pull your reserve was $320 and tandem was around $220.
When you do a static line you get qualified (not sure about the others) and can jump much cheaper (as said) after three static lines you can start to do short freefalls.
If you don't want to keep going do the accerated free fall or tandem

Nostalgia · 13-12-2007, 07:41 PM

Skydiving is definetely on my must do list. Bungee jumping is 1st but. Adrenalin is the one thing we dont pay tax on so i say use it to your hearts content.

:

Xploded · 13-12-2007, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NostalgEA

Skydiving is definetely on my must do list. Bungee jumping is 1st but. Adrenalin is the one thing we dont pay tax on so i say use it to your hearts content.

:

Yeah thats another must as well, Bungee is great fun ....

AusM · 14-12-2007, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seXE

On the plane ride up, all i could think about was "how the eff am i supposed to jump out of this thing??"

Some jump planes look pretty dodgy, sometimes it's not all that hard! With seats ripped out so you can fit more in the back and sharp edges taped up with Gaffer tape that looks like it's holding the plane together!