Skydiving was a terrible, terrible experience...

[Tom]

could have been worse..

 

[foghorn67]

Originally posted by: Aj_UF
I seriously, seriously doubt your instructor "goofed" and deployed the main canopy after 10-15 seconds. Subtract ~2000' from your exit altitude and that's how high you're saying the instructor deployed?

What was your exit altitude? Do you remember the aircraft type? (I've jumped from a few and was never told to put my legs here or there to avoid being "chopped up"? You sure they weren't being sarcastic? Do you really think they'd jump from a plane where they're DEPENDING upon a student to do something right or be chopped up? Please...consider how ridiculous that sounds.)

It sounds like you experienced the typical time distortion effect, coupled with a lack of knowledge of what's going on or to expect (not your fault as a tandem student)...

Did you check your altimeter under canopy? Were you rising or just not descending fast enough for your instructor? Time is money and they do want to get you on the ground ASAP so they can jump again... How big was your instructor?

I realize you probably can't answer most of my questions...or won't...but this sounds like a typical rant around here that's grossly exaggerated and likely highly inaccurate.

I am very sorry you got ill under canopy and feel that it ruined your entire experience.

~AJ

did you read the post?

 

[Adul]

sorry your experience was so poor. But things happen. At least your tried it

 

[loic2003]

Better be too light than be a land-whale and have the instructor cut your fat-ass free from him to save his own life...


Sounds like you shat it a bit, and I'm a tad confused where the props of the plane were situated such that you have to tuck your legs in to avoid being minced... Was the plane russian, or perhaps flying upside down? Also, I'm pretty sure the instructor will have packed a parachute rather than a paraglider, so it's quite unlikely that you'd be going upwards unless there were some bad-boy thermals, like those from a volcano, for example... I think he just wanted to speed up the drop.

Do another jump, and see how it goes.

 

[ArchCenturion]

Skydiving sounds AWESOME man I would love to have the chance to go. What is the average cost of a dive?

 

[DivideBYZero]

Did you go up in a Scarebus? It sounds like it.

 

[dainthomas]

Originally posted by: BoberFett

Originally posted by: RyanSengara

Originally posted by: AbAbber2k
100lbs? jeez
Eat a sandwich... put some meat on them bones! Your husband will appreciate the extra junk in your trunk.

Or at least I would.

I'm sorry I don't like my women to have arms bigger than my thighs.


I'll keep my tight bodied, no junk in the trunk women thanks.

Maybe if you weren't such a scrawny wimp it wouldn't be a problem.

QFT. Eat a cheeseburger or 12.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Man, there is no freaking way you'd ever get me to do that. I don't care how much of a rush it is. I am not jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Man, there is no freaking way you'd ever get me to do that. I don't care how much of a rush it is. I am not jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.

oh c'mon. how about bungie jumping then? don't you like adrenaline rushes?

 

[Miramonti]

The last thing that was the problem was your weight. The truth is that if his weight alone wasn't enough, then they either miscalculated the winds and thermals and dropped in the wrong place, or perhaps more probable, he pulled the chord at too high of an elevation. You should not have been anywhere near the flight path of other airplanes.

 

[Damn Dirty Ape]

wife and I did it on her 30th b'day. We both thoroughly enjoyed it in the Tampa FL area. But we dearly love roller coasters, any kind of thrill-inducing amusement park rides so it was like an ultimate high.

YMMV of course. Sorry it didn't work out quite right for you.

 

[Fraggable]

I want to do that so bad but there's no way you're getting me up in a low-budget operation. When I do life-threatening activities I do it at a major organization...

I love freefalling. It's the ultimate rush.

 

[DukeN]

Pai Gow Poker FTW!

 

[Lash444]

I feel your pain OP. It seems like I have grown a pair of labia over the last few years. As a kid, going to Cedar Point, I had no problems riding every ride all day long. Then one year, I developed motion sickness, and its never been the same. Its only about 100x worse if its a hot day too. Here is my story.

So we all go to cedar point, and ride about every ride in the park at least once, but then I started to feel the sensation that I had enough. Sat around for a long while as my friends rode every ride again. Of course, they hackled me for having to take a break, and finally I broke down when they said "come on its only the gemini." A ride that I had ridden over, and over, and over again. Well, to make a long story short...I barely made it off the ride. The exit descends right in front of the walkway in the park, and I managed to spill all my beans off into the grass probably 2 stories up. Must have been quite the scene for those 100s of people walkign by. Giggling at the pansy puking after the Gemini.

Had I been in your position, I would have certainly puked all over the instructor. Luckily, embarrassment from stuff like that doesnt phase me in the least. Id hope my friends would have pics of the momentous occasion. I think you shoudl go back, find a complete fatty for an instructor, and experience the whole thing again.

 

[Shame]

Originally posted by: alkemyst
make it more exciting next time...just jump out of the plane before the instructor says go.

Even better when the pilot and instructor jump out of the plene without warning before you...

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Man, there is no freaking way you'd ever get me to do that. I don't care how much of a rush it is. I am not jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.

oh c'mon. how about bungie jumping then? don't you like adrenaline rushes?

Have you ever done it?

 

[sygyzy]

Everything you said exactly mirrors what I have known from years of random stories from friends that have gone. It's amazing that any of this was a surprise to you, from the "rickety" plane to the count to three trick. Big waste of $2-400 for your husband.

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Man, there is no freaking way you'd ever get me to do that. I don't care how much of a rush it is. I am not jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.

oh c'mon. how about bungie jumping then? don't you like adrenaline rushes?

Have you ever done it?

no, but i did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

the only reason i haven't done it is i cannot talk anyone else into doing it with me. i don't want to die, i mean do it, alone.

i did get someone to go whitewater rafting with me a couple of months ago so there is hope.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Man, there is no freaking way you'd ever get me to do that. I don't care how much of a rush it is. I am not jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.

oh c'mon. how about bungie jumping then? don't you like adrenaline rushes?

Have you ever done it?

no, but i did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

the only reason i haven't done it is i cannot talk anyone else into doing it with me. i don't want to die, i mean do it, alone.

i did get someone to go whitewater rafting with me a couple of months ago so there is hope.

Wuss.

 

[OutHouse]

sounds like a bad company to throw people out of planes like that. the first thing the sky diving company here at the longmont colorado airport is weigh you. then its 1/2 the day of instruction before the flight.

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Man, there is no freaking way you'd ever get me to do that. I don't care how much of a rush it is. I am not jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.

oh c'mon. how about bungie jumping then? don't you like adrenaline rushes?

Have you ever done it?

no, but i did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

the only reason i haven't done it is i cannot talk anyone else into doing it with me. i don't want to die, i mean do it, alone.

i did get someone to go whitewater rafting with me a couple of months ago so there is hope.

Wuss.

do you know what a wuss actually is? that would mean i am very much one.

 

[sygyzy]

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Man, there is no freaking way you'd ever get me to do that. I don't care how much of a rush it is. I am not jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.

oh c'mon. how about bungie jumping then? don't you like adrenaline rushes?

He's not going to jump off a perfectly good bridge either! The biggest risk JulesMaximus takes is buying a $1M home in San Diego with 0 down and an interest only loan before the bubble bursts!

 

[FoBoT]

sweet

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: sygyzy

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Man, there is no freaking way you'd ever get me to do that. I don't care how much of a rush it is. I am not jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.

oh c'mon. how about bungie jumping then? don't you like adrenaline rushes?

He's not going to jump off a perfectly good bridge either! The biggest risk JulesMaximus takes is buying a $1M home in San Diego with 0 down and an interest only loan before the bubble bursts!

If by that you really mean, buy a home 7 years ago that cost me $220,000 in San Diego with 20% down and a 30 year fixed mortgage at 5.371% then I would agree with you.

Oh, and I agree with you on the bridge jumping thing too.

 

[classy]

Originally posted by: MrsBugi
...at least for me.

My husband was thoughtful enough to plan a short weekend getaway to Las Vegas for my birthday. We saw La Reve (beautiful and touching, highly recommend) and Hypnosis Gone Wild (disappointingly mild and bland, do not recommend unless you have people without inhibitions onstage) before going skydiving in the morning with Sky Dive Las Vegas.

My goodness.

After we suited up, we were flown 2 miles into the air in a rickety plane literally held together with duct tape. We received approximately 20 minutes of instruction via video, and did not have the opportunity to practice any of the moves (i.e. the "banana," tucking our legs under the plane -which we apparently had to do to avoid being chopped up by the propeller!-, etc.).

My husband was strapped to his instructor first (tandem jump), and they hovered half-inside, half-outside the plane, 2 miles up as the instructor told him he'd be counting up to three before going. He counted, "ONE..." and then jumped! :Q

I went out next, and the first few seconds were pretty exhilerating. The free fall only lasted 10-15 seconds before the parachute was pulled (it opened without a hitch, thank goodness), but that's when things started getting ugly.

The instructor yelled that we weren't going down because I didn't weigh enough. In fact, we kept floating higher and higher, and I was beginning to get nervous because there were other planes flying around us at various altitudes. At one point, the instructor made the decision to "spiral us down"... and holy crap, did I get sick!

I managed to keep from ejecting the contents of my stomach onto the instructor, but immediately collapsed upon our descent (a good five minutes of solid spiralling in a dizzying manner down, down, down... the ground coming at you while spinning madly is not an experience I would recommend to anyone!) and was queasy for a good four hours afterwards.

Long story short, my husband really enjoyed the experience but I will NEVER repeat it again. Ever, ever, ever. I'm happy staying on the ground, preferably at a pai gow poker table.

LOL, classic