Should I jump off a plane?

[james8547]

Hi all!

It looks like that I'll be graduating over the summer. One more week of tests and then I'm done. Woohoo!

To celebrate, I'm thinking of sky diving. What do you think? There's one here in NJ for $185.

Did I mention that I'm afraid of heights? I'm even afraid of riding roller coasters. I haven't even bungee jumped. But who cares? I'll be tied to some pro. Jumping off from a plane is something that I want to do at least once in my life. I know I can gather up the courage to step off the door. After that, I might pass out or have an accident

How long is the free fall anyway?

[tigstah]

dont know. but i suffer from acrophobia also. and no i wont be jumping out a perfectly good airplane. no i wont bungee jump, hang glide. but i do like rollercoasters.
good luck to you tho, let us know how it is......

[Byte 2.0]

Why would anyone jump out of a perfectly fine Aircraft.

Actually, I wanted to skydive at least once when I was your age, up until my 4th year of college. Then I met my now wife.

At that point, I realized what my family and friends would go though if something went wrong. That is the moment I lost my nerve and desire to jump from a perfectly fine aircraft.

I was going to do indoor skydive with the fans that push you up from the floor. However they want too much for what you get, 25 dollars for a 30 minute lesson then 3 minutes in the fan room.

Not enough time for me, If it had been maybe 15-20 minutes in the fan room I would have, but 3 minutes no way am I planning to spend 25 dollars for a 3 minute ride.


***EDIT, I am not going to vote on weather a person should or should not do something. You do have to consider the danger that is involved. Even the pro's sometimes encounter problems. It is your life, live is the best you can.***
No Vote.

[not important]

Two things fall from the sky, birdcrap and fools.
My Jumpmaster, in the Army, used to tell me that.
YES, do it. It's something you will always remember.

[TwoRails]

I didn't vote because it will really come down to what you want to do. Personally, I'd rather spend the money to become a member of the "Mile High" club instead

[Edave]

I have never done it, but I hope to one day.
As for the danger involved, you are probably more likely to have a car accident and get injured, than to get hurt skydiving.
I have lots of friends that have done it, and I cant wait till its my turn

[jamesrpm]

you'll regret a lot more things that you don't do than the ones you do ,do

[Panama Red]

Originally posted by jamesrpm you'll regret a lot more things that you don't do than the ones you do ,do

not important calls it 'birdcrap' and you call it 'do, do'! Whatever you want to call it, I'm with the no-way-Jose crowd! Let's see, you want to strap yourself to someone else who's going to jump out of a perfectly fine airplane and take you with him, whether you decide to or not. Then you're going to free fall for a few thousand feet until HE decides to open the chute that someone else probably packed for the two of you. Makes perfect sense to me, NOT!

[liegelord]

Being young and dumb and having more testerone thanbrains I opted for the 65.00 more a month once I had achieved jump status problem was most people dont get it because its only paid to the few that they keep in jump status on our fist week they had us practising from a 35ft tower so there we are lined up and when we reached the inside of thne tower we had to connect our risers , I walked up and they told me to hook one i being young and dumb and not having much sleep took them litterally at there word i hooked one riser when i got to the door they asked me what i had done wrong then i noticed all my risers shopuld be hooked to tag # 1 and so i said let me hoop them up theyb said no you need a lesson go as you are i went out after drop stopped at the cable i went spinning like a top. ven though i finished school my opinion of jumping has never been the same. 73 jock

[Nuclear Krusader]

I wouldn't jump off a plane unless there's a good reason to do so. What if the parachute doesn't work?

[ghost2003]

Theres always a backup.
Do you watch king of the hill? Peggy went skydiving,her parachute didint open and she landed in mud and survived, she was stuck in a full body cast.

[juppy]

There's only one scenario that would get me to jump out of a plane. It would have to be on fire, all engines dead with no chance of restarting, and maybe minus a major piece of each wing. Anything less than that and my butt stays seatbelted into my seat/flotation device. In other words, no way.

[Panama Red]

Originally posted by ghost2003 Theres always a backup. Do you watch king of the hill? Peggy went skydiving,her parachute didint open and she landed in mud and survived, she was stuck in a full body cast.

REALITY CHECK! Uh, isn't King of the Hill a CARTOON!

[colecifer]

I think skydiving would be an amazing experience. If you wanna do it go for it.

[HAL9000]

I say do it... I have a fear of heights too, but it didn't stop me from walking high steel, bungee jumping, and parachute jumping... it's a blast and the fear just increases the adrenaline rush.

[ghost2003]

Originally posted by Panama Red REALITY CHECK! Uh, isn't King of the Hill a CARTOON!

lol, i know

[Statica]

Do it!
Been there done that. & it's something that can't be described.

Just a word of advice, try not to do too much shopping around for the lowest price; that is NOT the criterion to select this

[james8547]

I already decided that I am going to jump even before I posted this. So the poll is just something to see what others think. No matter what anyone says, I made my decision on my own. I am also going to ask my friends if they want to join. But I won't try to convince them.

I totally understand Byte's point. But I am going up there not to die. I am more at risk of being killed in a car crash or dying from cancer, heart attack, or stroke than from a skydiving accident. But statistics lose their meaning if you become one.

I actually had a dream about this last night. In my dream, my friends told my parents about my plans. My mom made me promise that I won't jump off anything until I gave her a couple of grandkids. Then my wife (who's played by Adriana Lima in my dream...hehe ) said that I'm not allowed to jump until the kids finish off college (don't know why seeing that she earns more). Then when the kids finished school, they won't allow me to skydive until I see my grandkids. So I ended up skydiving when I'm dead. I died from a heart attack and they just scattered my ashes from a plane That was a weird dream. What's the moral of the dream?

TwoRails, isn't illegal to be a member of the Mile High Club? I can't do anything illegal Funny that they have a law against that but nothing against jumping off a plane.

Back-up chutes normally open by themselves depending on the air pressure and velocity (or at least that's what I've read).

Bottomline is that I am young (and a fool). Truth of life is that when you're young, you think that you're invinvcible. This is something I want to experience when I am alive.

EDIT:
Hey Hal, Statica (or any1 who did this before), how long was the freefall? How about the chute time? What sky diving company you signed up with?

[thorlo6]

I have acrophobia also! But, It just tells me not to get any higher than my feet off the floor. If you want to act like a fool and jump out of a plane, that is your foolish decision. Don't get me involved. To quote Richard Pryor, "what if it's the pilots time to go? I don't want to go when it's he's time and not mine!" "You Take me for a FOOL?" so, nope I ain't going! You can do what you want to.thorlo6

[mbossman2]

is the plane broken?

Seriously, no one's opinion on this should count other than your own. life is full of risks. YOU need to analyze all your actions and compare them to the level of risk you are willing to accept.

[TwoRails]

Originally posted by james8547 ... TwoRails, isn't illegal to be a member of the Mile High Club? I can't do anything illegal Funny that they have a law against that but nothing against jumping off a plane...

Wow!? Really? I didn't know that.... "They" mess up everything, eh? When I was single, one of my "first date" things to do was take my date up in a small plane (rented with pilot) for an arial tour of the city. They didn't have the Mile High club then, but I should have thought of it myself

[Punked Out Comp]

I too, have acrophobia but i dont let it interfere with my decisions on anything. Seeing as Im only 13 Im to young to skydive or any thing like that but i still go on really fast and crazy rollercoasters, its scarier for me than for most ppl, but I do it any way. I say go for the sky diving, and i would love to do that someday too.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Originally posted by ghost2003 Theres always a backup.

What if that one also fails?

[RJ]

What if that one also fails?

Then you had bad luck.

Life is risky. There are always risks. What if you drive a car on the highway and your brakes fail ? What if you fly on a plane that has been repaired inappropriately and causes it to crash ? Or if the pilots just make navigational mistakes and crash it although the plane is in perfect condition ? What if you ride a bike, lose the balance and fall directly in front of a car ? etc. etc. etc.

As mbossman2 said, our lives are full of risks. Sure the possibility for something to happen is low. Yet it is up to each of us what risks are acceptable or not. Parachutes work well. The chance of a failure of the parachute and its backup is very low. I would do it.

RJ

[Karnevil9]

Don't want to tell you what to do or not to do. You can be killed in a car crash on the way to the airport. My brother was an avid skydiver for years and never had a problem. It is not with out risk, and I remember twelve skydivers being killed in NJ when the plane that was taking them up to jump crashed.

If both the main and reserve chute don't open just be sure to turn so the guy your strapped to is facing the ground

[Statica]

james: it depends, of course, at the altitude you jump from, usually its less than a minute. Once your parachute is deployed, (err.. "if it does" ) it should take about 5 minutes to come down.
If you arent going to go regularly for this, I'm assuming and hoping you will opt for a tandem jump. Make sure you sit through the pre-jump course. If you are really interested then you can go for a solo, but again, be committed to going through the course.

Addendum: I'd celebrated my graduation the same way as well

[james8547]

Originally posted by Statica If you arent going to go regularly for this, I'm assuming and hoping you will opt for a tandem jump. Make sure you sit through the pre-jump course. If you are really interested then you can go for a solo, but again, be committed to going through the course.

Of course, I'll doing a tandem jump for my 1st time. I'm not that crazy. I may think outside the box but I don't wander that far out.

[HAL9000]

I did two jumps, both just over a minute of free fall... first was tandem, second was solo.

[Werewolfdaddy]

As a fellow sufferer from acrophobia, I would say jump. I plan to do it myself one day.

[foghat46]

I have done some seriously ate-up stuff in my lifelong endeavour to conquer my fear of heights, and skydiving is one thing on my list that I just haven't gotten to yet. It will get done. With my luck, the jump will go fine, but I'll have my heart attack just before I touch down, and the ambulance taking me to the hospital will be involved in the car wreck.