zelphiacat

Unfortunately, there are risks and I think I kind of got spooked. Had one friend break his neck and two die over a 2 year period.

An aside: Did I see any of you in Quincy at the Intl. Free Fall Convention in 1996(?) ?

cheryllj

"I also got photos and a video - if not included, they are very much worth the cost IMO."

The Georgia Tech student who died this weekend while skydiving was also videotaping the jump. The authorities are using the video to try to determine what happened to his chute.

He had also lost a close friend in a skydiving accident one year ago.

I've never had any interest in skydiving and I don't really understand the fascination. I still remember Jaime Sommers's accident from when I was a kid and that stuck with me.

heymo

I did it about 6 years ago. But if I was going to jump out of a plane...I was NOT going to be strapped to someone else! We took a day-long class, then they divided us into groups of three. When it was our turn to go, they put us in the plane based on our size. We flew to about 3500 feet...A VERY tall man went first, then they circled around and my husband jumped (he was an Army Ranger- no big deal for him!) Then it was my turn. It was scary as heck at first, trying to get in the right position to leave the plane. But once I let go and my chute flared (everyone has to do 5 jumps before you can free fall, before that it's a static line- meaning your chute opens as soon as you leave the plane)it was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I highly recommend it! If you want more details about how exactly you get out of the plane, etc. don't hesitate to ask! I am a 46 year old woman...not some kid. I ended up going twice, I'm sorry to say I never got to experience the free fall. But even what I did was amazing.

LoriNY1

This is great as I plan to do it in October as a very special birthday gift to myself.

Saquish

Has anyone ever heard of a skydiving simulator in Orlando, FL? I was watching a show last night on TV and they talked about it and showed people doing it but I never saw the name of the business. My daughter is going to Orlando on Monday and I would love for her to go experience the skydiving simulator. Any info. would be appreciated.

moldyhotelsaregross

Saquish -

I googled and found this link.

http://www.skydivingmagazine.com/windtunl.htm

Saquish

Thanks for looking up the info. on indoor skydiving. The info. will be very helpful.

heymo

Saquish- there are a few of those skydiving simulator places- in Las Vegas, Tennessee and Florida. But having done both I would say you do NOT get the idea of what it's really like using the simulator. It was fun, but not really a good judge of whether you'll like skydiving or not.

JimDRILL

I tried skydiving for the first time a week ago and it was quite a thrill. I went with a group of 5 senior citizens all in their 70's and one woman in her forties I'm a man 75, the oldest a woman of 78. All of the others, except one woman had jumped once before. I was not scared at all until the plane got well up in the sky, we jumped at 14,500 feet. When I looked out the window I had just a moment of apprehension which quickly passed. The hard part was getting into a sitting position in the doorway with the instructor harnessed to my back. As we jumped I immediatly had a problem breathing
with the air rushing by at 120MPH. We free fell for a full minute, all the while I'm gasping for breath while the photographer is right in front of me falling, and trying to get me to raise my head so he could get the DVD. Trying to do that and gasping at the same time kindof lessened my enjoyment of the freefall. The instructor told me later I should have breathed through my nose and closed my mouth.
When the chute opened it was much more pleasurable as I was relaxed and could breath normaly. This portion took about 5 minutes and the landing was very easy. The only bad thing that happened was that the 70 year old woman, who had also was a first timer, wound up with a broken sternum, which she found out a couple days later at the doctor's. She thinks she was strapped in too tightly to the instructor and after the jump she said she did not enjoy the freefall. I can see why. All in all it was an enjoyable experience. Two of my kids came to watch which made the day very enjoyable. I'd like to try it again when I knew what to expect, but probably never will.

leahschatz

I jump as often as possible. You can search for skydving dropzones on www.dropzone.com/dropzone/


i jump at skydive skyranch

www.skyranch.com

starlitdazzle

I went tandem skydiving in Hawaii this summer and it was amazing (video also very well worth it!). I bungee jumped for the first time last year off the tallest bridge in the world in South Africa and loved it - but it was traumatic compared to skydiving. I'd suggest skydiving for sure to anyone!