Exit row on a Jet

[dex 0]

I just got back from a boogie in Lake Wales.... One of the funny moments was on the flight home I got to sit in the exit row (lots of legroom in that row horay!) and the guy traded his window seat for my center seat so he could sit next to his honey. Guy started small talk on the airplane asking what I was doing in Florida... I replied skydiving... he said about a hundred times... I would never jump from a plane... blah blah... then the flight attendant came up to us and asked if we would be willing to operate the door in the case of an emergency I replied yes of course ;) After the flight attendant left he looked at my gear bag and said "That's not a parachute in there is it" I just smiled at him. He then got all nervous that I was going to jump I could see in his eyes he was pondering calling the flight attendant on me. He then picked up a copy of the magazine that the airline provides and started looking up the restricted items I knew he was doing that because he whispered when he read.... knives guns co2 blah blah all the things that you're not allowed to carry on he was annoyed that parachutes were not on the list. Whenever I moved in my seat he sorta flinched a bit eyeing me.. I could see him fantasizing to himself about stopping the evil skydiver from opening the door and jumping out... I had a disposable cam in my bag when I reached for it he jumped so high, I thought he was gonna wrestle it from me... I was laughing my ass off on the inside the whole trip. He wanted to call the flight attendant on me soo bad he could taste it. it was hilarious.

I didn't have any problems carrying on my rig on United back and forth between MHT and MCO, Although on the return flight I forgot to put my lead weight in my checked bag so I was stoped at the xray for inspection of the blind spot on the Xray. The guy did try and pick up my rig by the silver handle.... luckily I had my cheststrap routed through so it wouldn't deploy my reserve and ruin my day.

[riddler 0]

I might have been tempted to read the cartoon plane instructions that show how to open the door, and ask questions from him "Do you think this means to pull the handle up, or down?" "I think it's probably harder to pull than it looks", etc ...

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

[skygal3 0]

*snicker*

thanks for sharing that dex..

p.s. Dex forgot to mention that this was his *first* trip on a commercial airline.

[AggieDave 6]

I like Riddler's idea of fucking with him even more, that would have been great. Eitherway it was very funny. I bet his verison of the story he's telling to his friends and stuff include wrestling you away from the door and getting your parachute away from you so you didn't jump, him saving the day.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[happythoughts 0]

Once I was bumped from the St.Louis-Quincy flight because they overbooked. Instead of a one hour flight, I did a 3 hour "express" van ride. The driver got lost and then locked the keys in the van while calling for directions.

On the return flight, 25 skydivers and 3 whuffos. We told plane malfunction stories on the whole flight to St. Louis. The twin-turbine would go near a cloud and bump around. Then my seat mate would give me a startled look and see if I was reaching for my rig.

[diverdriver 7]

You know, this only goes to perpetuate the image that many on here have tried to dispell. That we are not insane, crazy, or risk takers. You really missed an oportunity to dispell this man's fears. You never know. One day he might be sitting on an airport board somewhere and deciding on whether to allow a DZ to start or continue operations there. Far fetched, but as some here have pointed out.....it's a small world.

Chris Schindler
www.diverdriver.com
ATP/D-19012
FB #4125

[AggieDave 6]

Oh, Chris, admit it, you chuckled when you read it.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[NtheSeaOrSky 0]

While on a flight to Orlando, when I was still wearing my wrist cast thing, a flight attendant came by and asked 'in your condition will you be able to operate the exit door', my answer, 'absolutely'. As the attendant walked away I asked the person seated next to me (also a skydiver) if I should mention he might want to ask the person actually SEATED in the exit row (the one behind us) the same question , mumbling 'in my condition BLAH'. He politely raises his hand and gets the attendants attention. Once he walks all the way up to our seats, the guy tells him, she can open the door no problem, its crawling over the seat to get to I think might be an issue. The attendant stood there dumbfounded and then chided me for letting him walk away. I told him I just answered his question, and YES I could operate an exit door. I just chose not to point out it would have been a more appropriate question directed at the person in the next row humph 'in my condition'

Edited to add, the surrounding laughter from the other passengers was priceless.

Life is not fair and there are no guarantees...

[happythoughts 0]

Quote

That we are not insane, crazy, or risk takers.

Well, maybe not "we". I choose to torment the unsuspecting and the ignorant for my own amusement.

[Rdutch 0]

A good friend of mine and DZ owner, told me a story about him and a friend that were traveling together for a big way. His friend chose to wear his rig on the plane (like a backpack), while in line to board The little old lady behind him taped him on the shoulder and asked him "Excuse me, is that a parachute you have)? He replied "Yes". She then asked "Why do you have a Parachute)? he replied "They didnt give you yours yet".
Aparently the lady freaked out and started walking to the Desk, he couldnt stop her in time and a scene erupted. Turns out she had never flown before and was nervous as hell already.
Would have been funny to see.

Ray
Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

[billvon 3,116]

>I was laughing my ass off on the inside the whole trip.

As amusing as that is, think about how amused _he_ will be the next time you try to board that plane and get stopped by the pilot, who tells you you can't carry your rig on board because skydivers with rigs intentionally cause a lot of apprehension among the other passengers.

[SkySlut 0]

Erik...you are such a bad ass too...I bet you could have taken him!!! Hope the trip went well. I heard that things didnt quite go as planned for Bob & Jay.

[hooked 0]

That was hilarious!!!!!!!!!!!

LMAF!!!! I would have 'played' around with the story a little bit! (Well, actually, if I saw he was really nervous about it, I don't think I would add to his nervousness. I wouldn't want him to freak out.)

J

--------------------------------------
Sometimes we're just being Humans.....But we're always Human Beings.

[dex 0]

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because skydivers with rigs intentionally cause a lot of apprehension among the other passengers.

The apprehension that I caused was not intentional, the guy asked me what I did on my trip and I explained it to him. He seemed to have a parinoid streak and would of prolly been just as nervous if I was of arab descent returning from the holy land. He did have plenty of questions about skydiving in general and I made no attempt to pretend to open the door or harass him in any way. Even though that might have made for a more interesting story. Although I did imagine some funny scenarioes.

[happythoughts 0]

You should have put your palms to your temples and said, "NO, no, I won't..."

[dex 0]

The trip was excellent! Got in about 25 jumps and a bit of tunnel time... (beer) Getting all preped for my next visit in March.... 2 weeks of florida jumpin yahoo!

Bob and Jay's collison was nasty ripped up Bob's center cell and Jay got some nasty line burn... It looked low from where I was under canopy but it was hard to judge from above... they found their freebags and canopies and were jumping with rental gear the next day....

[dex 0]

Quote

You should have put your palms to your temples and said, "NO, no, I won't..."

Or explain it would be more like being sucked out then jumping and he would get to play too...

[happythoughts 0]

Quote

Quote

You should have put your palms to your temples and said, "NO, no, I won't..."

Or explain it would be more like being sucked out then jumping and he would get to play too...

I laughed when I saw Harrison Ford in "Airforce One" hanging onto a bar off the back of the jet. It's a tad more tough than that.

edited for grammar.

[Rdutch 0]

Quote

The trip was excellent! Got in about 25 jumps and a bit of tunnel time... (beer) Getting all preped for my next visit in March.... 2 weeks of florida jumpin yahoo!

Bob and Jay's collison was nasty ripped up Bob's center cell and Jay got some nasty line burn... It looked low from where I was under canopy but it was hard to judge from above... they found their freebags and canopies and were jumping with rental gear the next day....

So jay and Bob struck, have Jay and Bob ever struck back?

Ray
Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

[Zenister 0]

Quote

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That we are not insane, crazy, or risk takers.

Well, maybe not "we". I choose to torment the unsuspecting and the ignorant for my own amusement.

agreed, after all everything exists for our amusement does it not??

____________________________________
Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[blewaway5 0]

I like to think so since that's the only way I make it through the day. Well, that and heavy drinking.

Truman Sparks for President

[billvon 3,116]

>The apprehension that I caused was not intentional . . .

Yeah, sorry, I was more replying to the "I like Riddler's idea of fucking with him even more" sort of posts. It's easy to fuck with whuffos, but it can backfire. Every airline in existence could ban parachutes even from checked luggage and there wouldn't be a damn thing we could do about it. Given that, antagonizing the whuffos isn't such a good idea. (not that you were doing that.)

[skygal3 0]

Eh, Dex is a good guy. I doubt he would try to antagonize anyone. He may think that he invented the screwdriver, but thats ok.

[dex 0]

Just because someone else thought of mixing orange juice and vodka before I did does not mean that I did not invent it independently! When I walked up to the bar saw some orange juice and some vodka I had an alcohol induced epiphany. Of course I must admit I was quite bummed that night when the guy at the bar had a name for my new drink early in the morning....

[skygal3 0]

mmhhmm. Ok Dex. It's all yours.