Have you gone skydiving? Or, would you?

I have a birthday coming up and, at the suggestion of my sister, am considering going skydiving for the first time.

She wants to go, herself, but admits to concerns about giving herself a heart attack in the process. I have to admit that I've had the same thought as I consider whether jumping out of a perfectly good, functional airplane is a good idea that would really be as "exhilarating" as I picture people believing.

If you've skydived before, what was your experience of any abject terror the first time you went? How did you deal with it? Just close your eyes and fall out, or what?

My sister says that once you're up in the plane, the only way out is to jump because the skydive outfit doesn't want to refund your money. Is this true? Can you refuse to go? I can't imagine that they can actually make you go if you really don't want to do it upon second thought.

And if/when you finally jump, what did you do? Go with eyes open the whole way? What was it like? And would you recommend it to others, or not?

As with most (all?) first-timers, we would be going in tandem with a more experienced instructor/skydive enthusiast.

 

I'd love to. Bungee jumping doesn't appeal to me but skydiving does. Go figure.

My uncle went on his 60th birthday. He enjoyed it.

There no way the organization can MAKE you jump. They can refuse to refund your money but I'm pretty sure they can't force you out of the plane.

 

No. And no.

 

No and no.

 

Cannot remember whose line this was but it does seem appropriate here:

You do not need a parachute to go skydiving.
You do need a parachute to go skydiving twice.

 

Used to say no but I think I would probably go if hooked to a professional.

 

I have long thought I wanted to skydive but I know there is no way I could make myself jump.

When I was in New Zealand, I stopped and watched people bungee jump at this bridge where supposedly bungee jumping started. I thought I was going to vomit just watching.

I still think skydiving would be so cool.

 

I went many years ago, and it was awesome. I had no desire to jump with a guy on my back, so I paid more and sat through a few hours of lessons so I could get around that. When I jumped, I had a guy on each side of me holding on, but when I pulled the cord, I was floating on my own. There was a speaker in my helmet so the instructor on the ground could guide me down. He was telling me which overhead handle to pull so I would drift to where I needed to land. Great experience.

 

Maybe if they let me jump without a parachute.

 

Yup. Loved every minute of it.

 

Have. It was scary, but exhilarating. Not rushing to do it again, but would if a friend wanted to.

We watched a video telling us we might die, and that we were signing away all of our rights to sue -- even in the case of negligence. Even in the case of gross negligence.

My wife and I went up in the first plane. I think the only training they gave us was to keep our feet up while they landed.

It was really incredible how little "training" was involved.

We didn't have altimeters, but our instructors did. But, in my group of four, I think I was the only one whose instructor did not point this out, and/or let me pull the rip cord. So, when he pulled the rip cord, it came as a complete shock to me. Scared the crap out of me actually, because it felt like something had gone wrong.

Once we slowed down, he went into a spin, which I hated. I asked him not to do that again, and he didn't. Landing was uneventful.

I can understand why someone like Doc, who has a child, would not want to jump out of an airplane. But, overall, it was fun.