11 replies to this topic

[JuanC]

I really want to do a tandom skydive. My worry is, whenever I'm in a standing position, I get light headed and sometimes pass out. don't wanna be out for 20 min, and I'm sure the guy I'm skydiving with will freak out. is there something I can do? oh, and how do you land? lols

[ajl338]

I havent done a tandom jump but i have jumped solo on a static line.
There is very little of it that you are "standing up" for. You stand or you could sit in the plane door and when the jump master says you can go you (instructor) pushes you out away from the plane, from this point onwards the ideal position is to spread eageled face downwards so you are effectly lying down, your head is the same height as your feet, not forgetting you have adrenalin pumping blood around aswell.

When you have finished freefalling you do end up in a sitting position as you are sitting in a harness so you arent directly upright. As you come to land you sit more upright and "when you can see individual blades of grass" its time to pull the break lines.

So it might be worth going along to see one of the places that will facilatate the jump because they have mockup rigs indoors for teaching and would let you sit in one of those so you could work out if its feasable for you to sit / hang for that long

ann

[JuanC]

 ajl338, on 17 November 2010 - 07:08 PM, said:

I havent done a tandom jump but i have jumped solo on a static line.
There is very little of it that you are "standing up" for. You stand or you could sit in the plane door and when the jump master says you can go you (instructor) pushes you out away from the plane, from this point onwards the ideal position is to spread eageled face downwards so you are effectly lying down, your head is the same height as your feet, not forgetting you have adrenalin pumping blood around aswell.

When you have finished freefalling you do end up in a sitting position as you are sitting in a harness so you arent directly upright. As you come to land you sit more upright and "when you can see individual blades of grass" its time to pull the break lines.

So it might be worth going along to see one of the places that will facilatate the jump because they have mockup rigs indoors for teaching and would let you sit in one of those so you could work out if its feasable for you to sit / hang for that long

ann

Well then I'm sure i'll be fine.... thanks alot

[twentieth]

I have done two tandem jumps. You will be sitting on the dive masters lap on the floor of the plane. Once out you will do one slow somersault through the air. Then face down in a spread eagle position for a few minutes. When he pulls the chute, you will feel a strong jerking motion as your fall is arrested (it was downright unpleasant in my second jump). Then you will be upright and hanging in your harness for 5-10 minutes depending upon how high he decides to pull. As a para, I was instructed to reach behind my knees and pull my legs up to my chest at the last moment upon landing. When he touched down he simply sat back on the ground with me on his lap. Very exciting and scary but worth the trip!

[qman]

if you are worried about passing out. get some ephidine prescribed from the doc.

also check out Dale Elliots web page.

[T A]

Just did it for the first time in July, it was a blast! They ducted taped my feet to the top of my instructors feet on the flight up. Then it was pretty much like twentieth described except for the landing, didn't have to do anything but enjoy the ride.

Here's the video My Skydive

Have fun
Tim

[JuanC]

I'm so bleak. was going to go this weekend, and was told I can't. Apparently a para was seriously injured a few months back. so they stopped it

[T A]

 JuanC, on 23 November 2010 - 06:58 PM, said:

I'm so bleak. was going to go this weekend, and was told I can't. Apparently a para was seriously injured a few months back. so they stopped it

Might want to do some checking around with other locations. I called several, some didn't want nothing to do with me, one wanted to charge me an extra $100.00, finally found one a couple hours away that was very familiar with the whole deal. I'll be going back to them again!

Tim

[jeffscott]

i did a tandem jump this summer, the place i went to was more than accomadating and being in a wheelchair didn't phase them. was much like 20th said, but no somersault. have instructor tie belt around legs for a handle to pull your legs up when landing, its really simple and you just land on your butt, mostly in instructors lap. you need to be cautious if you are prone to ear problems, the rapid elevation change will screw with you, i got the worst ear infection ever, no symptoms of normal infection just liquid on ear drums. Dr. says i was lucky i didn't puncture ear drums. you also need to be prepared, it knocks the wind out of ya when you fall out of plane and you will grit your teeth and breath that way. the somersault might help with that, maybe that is why some do it? Anyway, skydiving is an experience many will never have and is not one the is easy to describe, definitely something to check off the bucket list. Go For It. I found the best part of it was gliding around under canopy, the free fall wasn't much of a rush for me, you're so high up the ground doesn't really seem to get closer while freefalling. if you don't skydive, i would look into hot air balloon ride, it's a little more pricey, but a very cool experience.

[Pete Anderson]

There was a drop zone that took up a paraplegic tandem jumping. Unfortunately, the harness was not properly fitted for the passenger and the opening shock caused the passenger to slip through the harness. He died.

A lot of DZ's are aware of this problem and its not just an isolated problem for people with parallysis. Unfortunately, this accident occured to someone that wanted a little bit of excitement in their life and died. Shit happens!

Before I became parallyzed, I would take people with various disabilities tandem hang gliding. That was a blast and very rewarding. Now, I can't do this, or at least, with any amount of safety on the launch run that I feel comfortable with (I'm a walking parapelgic).

Whether its skydiving, hanggliding, or paragliding, I believe there is more risk if your not an able body person, due to extra attention it requires.

Are you living to die, or dying to live? Have fun!!

Pete

Edited by Pete Anderson, 06 December 2010 - 10:29 PM.

[flyingPat]

Juan,
I have some information you might find handy... All you need is to take a strap and ducktape it to the harness in the back where you sit in the harness; also tell them that checking the straps on the way up and before you jump will help prevent a slipping accident again. I've been on 8 tandems and now working on AFF.. Go on youtube and check out Vertical Wind Tunnel 5-29, this is some the work we have been doing latley..

Holler if you any help
Patrick

[tsh3406]

I went to a place called Skydive Missouri, had the most amazing experience. Duct tape was part of my rigging too, lmao. It took a few weeks of calling to find someone willing to take me, they all said my height was a safety concern when exiting the plane. Anyway, this guy is a former Airborne Ranger, so I figured no matter what went wrong, if there was a solution, he'd find it. This is long, but I wrote it shortly after my jump, to try to show others what it was like.

I wanted to write something to share with everybody who knew about my desire to go skydiving. Most of you know that I did it because I’m afraid of heights. Very afraid. I hate elevators, I get sick looking down a flight of stairs, you get the idea. You may also know how much work I went through to be able to do this. I lost almost 60 lbs and put in a lot of time to make sure I was going to be able to do this. After I was ready to go there were numerous reschedules for one reason or another. Anyway, here’s the story that was almost two years in the making.
So, last Thursday morning we were supposed to be leaving for Mt. Vernon, MO., which was the only place I could find that was willing to try a tandem jump with someone my size. It was supposed to storm that afternoon, so I was afraid it’d get pt off for the 4th time. I get the call around 8:30 saying if we can beat the storms, the jump was on. I made a 272 mile drive in 3.5 hours.
Pulling into the lot, we see a plane whose body is completely stripped down to bare aluminum, panels are missing, parts are on the floor. My sister, “If that’s the plane, take me home, now.” Me, “No, that’s got to be an old restoration project.” Bob, “Give us a minute to get ‘er buttoned up and we’ll get started.” Me, surprisingly cool.
Reading the waiver, I can’t help but notice how many times the phrase “ultra-high risk” and “severe injury and/or death may result” are used. Bob, our instructor drives it home by telling us that skydiving is an extremely risky activity, tandem jumping even more so. Tandem jumping with someone that has no control of their legs is as dangerous as it gets. If you can’t stay rigid during freefall, it can throw you into an uncontrollable spin. Me, still cool.
Fast forward through training, we are suited up, harnessed up (by the way, several feet of duct tape were used, how fitting is that?), and climbing to 10,500 feet. If you don’t realize how far that is, get in your car and set your cruise on 70mph. In two minutes you will have gone about the same distance. Or, just imagine how far it is from Casey’s on 16th street to McDonalds. Two miles. Me, still cool.
I keep an eye on my altimeter as it rises, and finally the pilot calls out “10,500 feet boys, time to go!” Me, somehow, still cool. THEN they open the door….. aw HELL no! I look straight down and all I can see are clouds. I must have lost my ever-lovin’ mind. Bob knows what’s going on, so he doesn’t give me the chance to react, which was the right thing to do.
Now I’ll back it up to the training room for a bit. Bob spend considerable time teaching us proper exiting and release procedure so that everything went smoothly and safely. Remember, two people are harnessed together and climbing out under the wing at the same time. Coordination is a big deal. Back to the Batwing. There was no fluid motion, there was no ready, set, go. There was only “YOU’RE CLEAR!” followed by “oh… oh SHIIIIIII…. (sound trails off)” I catch a glimpse of the plane rocketing away from us. Me, NOT cool.
At this point, a strange thing happened. In a matter of seconds, I have adjusted to the sensation of falling at over 150 miles per hour. I am now having THE time of my life. No question, THE most amazing sensation I’ve ever experienced. And, of all things, “Magic Carpet Ride” is playing in my head. Tim is VERY cool.
Now, about the altimeter. It is marked from 0 to 12,000 feet. 12,000 to 6,000 is white, meaning anytime is a good time to pull the ripcord. 6,000 to 5,000 is yellow, meaning you best get t’ pullin’. 5,000 to zero is red, meaning you’re about to have a rough landing. I have the altimeter. I’M not paying attention. I feel a tap on my shoulder. I look at my wrist. 5,500 feet. Ooooo we got t’ go. Can’t find the ripcord. Finally get it pulled, I relax and assume all is good. I feel Bob behind me throwing his weight, yanking on the rigging and using colorful language. My first thought, “if the instructor is using colorful language, it’s prolly a good time for me to start too. Chute gets untangled completely deploys a little under 5,000 feet. Back to being cool.
Fast forward to around 200 feet, we are circling the landing target. Bob had already told me that because of our combined weight, we’d be free falling. He also said that he likes to come in at around 10 mph. I should not have been surprised to hear “Get ready, we’re coming in a lot faster than I wanted to. “ We did NOT land gracefully. It WAS, however, extremely funny. AND, only 10 feet from the flag. So, to sum it up, I’m hooked, it was awesome and I’m doing it every chance I get.
There’s just no way to describe the feeling. I’m not exaggerating, nothing I’ve ever experienced before compares to it. If it’s ever crossed your mind, ya gotta do it.
Now a little background info. The plane had been sanded down for repainting and they had just changed the oil and fueled it, which is why it looked the way it did. Bob is a former Special Forces soldier, Airborne Ranger, and he also competes in marathons and triathlons. Not once was I ever truly concerned for my sister’s or my safety. Jim, who assisted with getting me out of the plane, is also an expert (and former Special Forces if I remember correctly). Considering they were dealing with a 6’5” 210 lb man that can’t really move his legs, it could not have gone any smoother. They are great guys, and they really know what they are doing, and I can’t wait to go down there again. Thanks to everyone who encouraged me to do this, and everyone who made it all possible.