Some first jump stories

[rhuurrr 0]

Hey all-
Just did my level one AFF on sunday. The jump had its ups and downs, but needless to say, it was freakin' awesome and I will be back on thursday then again on sunday!!
I'm a newbie here at DZ.com so I haven't heard any of your stories yet, I want to hear some of your first jump AFF S/L or even Tandem stories for some inspiration and some laughs.
Blue Skies!
Jack
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http://home.pacbell.net/rhuurrr

[Dirtsucks 0]

Hey Jack, welcome to the threads. Congrats on the jump, man!! I’ve been kind of hangin around here on the threads waiting to redo my AFF cause it’s been almost two years since I made my lev. 3. So how about YOUR 1st jump story ! Actually, my jump was odd, but not too exciting. I had the usual mix of nervousness, excitement, and I clearly remember hunching over in the t-otter, slowly walking toward the door, as each group disappeared. Then all of the sudden, the group in front of me disappeared too, and for the first time there was nobody in between me and the door – you know what that means! My turn! Holy sh*t!! My legs were totally jello, my heart must have been doing 500 bpm, and my eyes must have been about the size of beach balls. I got into position, well kind of – as I remember, I refused to get my body all the way out as much as I was supposed to, so instead of jumping and arching, I ended up just tossing myself out the door just to get it over with. The next few moments obviously can’t be put into words, but you now know how it is, so I don’t have to. Once I got over the sensory overload, I remember starting the COA, but when I looked at my JM, my damn goggles flew up, and when the wind hit my eyes, I totally freaked! I can’t see!! Oh, noo!. What the hell is going on?!?! I vaguely remember seeing my JM’s hand reaching to push my goggles on, but, honestly, most of the jump is a blur. I never did the practice pulls, but I did manage to keep altitude awareness somehow and pulled the cord myself on time, so in the end, everything was okay. Lesson learned. Again, congrats on making that jump, and keep posting to let everybody know how it's going.
Later, Josh

[Donna 0]

Hey Jack! Congratulations!! It's incredible, isn't it? If you click on some people's names on here, some have their homepages listed and have jump stories on there. I have all my AFF jump stories on my page... and also my tandems. I just finished reading about Pammi and Merricks first jumps! I really enjoyed them. They were great! I give S/L students a lot of credit. It takes a lot of guts to climb out there on that wing by yourself on that very first jump. Good luck with the rest of your course, Jack and please fill us in on how all your jumps go. I love hearing jump stories!
Blue skies,
D

[Donna 0]

Hey Jack!! It's you!! Welcome to the skies!!!!
D

[huffermoose 0]

I think my most intersting jump was my AFF level 2, my 2nd jump of the day as had been waiting around all week for the weather to get better. Well my instructor turns around to me and asks if i am happy and i know what i'm doing, i give him a thumbs up not trusting my voice to speak. so then he tells me to do my checks of my rig then put it on, ok! no problem! i go to put on my rig and had been looking at the experienced guys, so i put it on my shoulders and slowly slip it down and then place my first leg in the harness of which i tottaly cocked up hopped around 3 or 4 times and then landed straight on my face with the flightline checkers looking at me kind of ammused. (not a great way to start) so on we get to the pick up and as we are driving towards the runway someone's whistling the theme from M.A.S.H (suicide is painless).
as the plane lands in (dornier ) very fast and very noisy we all hop in me being last behind all the tandem guys. well we move up to altitude (no problem ) plenty of thumbs up and false smiles of bravado.
the door is open and it is freezing (about -30 degrees celcius)
i'm asked if i'm ready to sky dive and i give the thumbs up (voice still not working)
"come to the door " he says so there i am right arse cheek inside the plane left arse cheek outside i check in (with a voice that sounds like i'm going through puberty again. as i go to check out i'm wrenched out of the aircraft. "wooooooooooooooooooooooooah shieeete" hang on i've only got one instructor! no problem carry out my checks heading, altitude look under the left arm scream at him the altitude he gives me thumbs up have a look on my right hand side and the instructor comes screaming in and stops right on me and gives me a shrug and a smile (nutter i think to myself). ok practice pulls 2 of no problem! the instructor to the left of me releases and i wobble a bit and i'm thinking to my self "wooooah there big fella" but not a problem he apears infront of me and goes to pinch my nose to make me smile but then thinks twice about it (supposidly a had forgot to blow my nose and the snot was flying out in streams either side of my face and freezing on my goggles) i do a couple of 90 degree turns either way then it lock on at 6000ft "5 5" and pull.
it's at that point you realise what you have done and you scream out to yourself "I AM THE KING OF THE FU*#KIN% WORLD " absolutely amazing gets my heart rate up thinking about it
ttfn Allan

[SpeedRacer 1]

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it's at that point you realise what you have done and you scream out to yourself "I AM THE KING OF THE FU*#KIN% WORLD " absolutely amazing gets my heart rate up thinking about it

Damn straight, Huffermoose! Couldn't have said it any better!!
Speed Racer
"Bluez, brewz & screwz"

[huffermoose 0]

well the best way to describe it for a guy is feel your testicles after a jump, you see they shrink into yourself in readiness for extreme danger, and i can tell you something pal mine are the size of peas which have shrucken in to my body after a jump, and this is the reason why we drink as much as we do after the days jumping ! it's just to loosen things up down there preparing yourself for tommorows jumping
ttfn Allan

[Grogs 0]

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the door is open and it is freezing (about -30 degrees celcius)
i'm asked if i'm ready to sky dive and i give the thumbs up (voice still not working)

Damn, I'm surprised anything worked at that kind of Temp.
I'm too lazy to rewrite my first jump story, but it can be found at:
http://personal.picusnet.com/grogs/firstjump.htm

[MC208B 0]

Hmmmmm.....apparently most everyone here has done the AFF (accelerated financial failure) method? I was static line. After a nice long day of arching in the dirt and maybe 1,500 jumps off the ramp for PLF, away we went. A DHC2 Beaver, 6 other dents and myself. Watched the biggest macho guys hanging on the strut crying, some women that got out bravely and fell off, then it was my turn......holy shit! My jumpmaster Cindy, had me get in the door and watched the ground, OUTSIDE!!!, okay hand over hand out the strut, looked at her, GO!!! Let go and there I was in space...where in the fuck did the plane go?!? Next thing I knew I was under the prettiest massive canopy I ever seen. It was great! Actually, I do think us "strut babies" or staic line trained people have the edge cause we don't mind getting out at 3 grand at all! No matter how ya learn it it's the greatest feeling (well, almost) in this life as for as I can tell :)

[Patkat 0]

Ahh, another static liner. ARCH 1000, 2000, 3000, CHECK CANOPY, LOOK, REACH, PULL! Repeat till hoarse, jump off a table till one half of your clothes are green with grass stains, then take a short ride in a small plane. That's pretty much a S/L first jump course.
I think the big thing S/L has going for it is the incentive factor - "Do good, and we might let you freefall soon."
-Patkat

[rhuurrr 0]

Actually, I considered doing S/L training for some time, as it seemed I would get more jumps for my money, and also that it would be a slightly less intense first couple of jumps. Unfortunately there's only one DZ near my area that does S/L training, and they are not a USPA GM DZ, which had some influence over my decision to go with the AFF. Also, I went out to Byron and met Mike the owner, and some of the regulars out there and decided that I liked the enviornment, so here we are......
Blues,
J
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http://home.pacbell.net/rhuurrr

[lazerq3 0]

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and also that it would be a slightly less intense first couple of jumps.

Dude as tom hanks once said (slightly modified)" It's suppose to be intense, if it wasnt everyone would be doing it,, it's the intensity the makes it fun".
Go for the AFF. I just graduated AFP (2 tandems, 5 AFF's ) last weekend and man what a blast. But then again you gotta do what you feel is best for you. However weather ou jump out of a plane at 4000 or 10,000 its all intense to me!!!!. I think I'll be more nervous for my first hop n pop than I was for my first solo! Good luck
json

[AggieDave 6]

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it's the greatest feeling (well, almost) in this life as for as I can tell :)

In response to that, I would have to say it depends on the partner. Atleast if your partner really screws up a skydive, you'll probably still have an absolute blast.
AggieDave '02
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Blue Skies and Gig'em Ags!
BTHO t.u.

[wildblue 7]

http://www.wildbluesky.com/first_jump_stories.htm
has 11 first jumps stories so far. That should keep you entertained for awhile!
Anyone who wants their story there too, email it to me or let me know where I can copy and paste from!

[skySue 0]

I have to say one thing for static line jumpers - we always go out alone, and that's what I loved. It was only me out there, I had to do it all myself. The first time I saw someone in free fall with me was such a buzz I almost forgot what I was supposed to be doing.

[skreamer 1]

Hi SkySue
I'll tell you another advantage of static line jumps : they certainly will teach you about line twists and how to deal with them!/s