Bucket List - SkyDiving - Check (PIC HEAVY)

[TopL3ssSS]

Last weekend was a great one. Youngest son, who had just graduated high school the weekend before, turned 18 & wanted to skydive in celebration. What started out as a jest, ended up as a family affair, with 6 of us meeting up in Northern Virginia at SkyDive Orange, for the experience of a lifetime - Jumping out of a perfectly good plane at 14000 feet.



Everyone jumped, with the exception of my wife(who doesn't appreciate adrenalin), and my daughter(not old enough). From left, my wife, me, my daughter, my youngest son, my eldest son, his girlfriend, my youngest son's best friend, & my mother-in-law.


"De Plane"


Boarding...


Loaded up & ready to go...


Eldest son's out first








My Turn!








Drogue chute deploying...


FreeFall...




Pulling RipCord...

'
Chute deployment...




YeeHah!






The View is Amazing.


Coming in for a landing.


On the ground - what a rush!


Group shot with the family

[Sapphire]

that's awesome I would do it too! did you scream like a little girl?

[TopL3ssSS]

Haha; no, no screaming. Did have remind myself to breathe tho.

[Overflow]

Man.. I can't even imagine experiencing the feeling of free falling for that long. Was it hard to walk after?

[batman53201]

looks like a blast. my nephew is a skydive instructor in illinois. the kid jumps out of planes more often than i jump out of bed.

[LuSe4]

Nope, nope, no way, nope.
Good for you, but nope!

[LIM3]

Awesome. Have wanted to do this for awhile.

[Dznts]

this is on my to do list! thats awesome!

[13lstuner]

Amazing man!

[TopL3ssSS]

Originally Posted by Overflow

Man.. I can't even imagine experiencing the feeling of free falling for that long. Was it hard to walk after?

From 14000 feet, we were able to free fall for 1 minute at somewhere near 120mph, before deploying parachutes at 6000 feet.

Had no trouble walking after, but had difficulty not smiling all the time for the next couple days.

[Lil' Nasty]

Originally Posted by LuSe4

Nope, nope, no way, nope.
Good for you, but nope!

BUT...Good father, son time

[ABMLS3]

I think im going to be skydiving in a couple weeks, its always been my dream to do it and I also wnna be a paratrooper in the army so it should give me an idea if i should pursue that or not.

[Silverlsinva]

Cool pics and was that near manassas? I so want to skydive at some point here in the future.

[TopL3ssSS]

Originally Posted by ABMLS3

I think im going to be skydiving in a couple weeks, its always been my dream to do it and I also wnna be a paratrooper in the army so it should give me an idea if i should pursue that or not.

I'd say you'll love it. My eldest son got home & began researching requirements for a skydiving license. Is definitely planning on going back.

Re: the Army, can't tell if you're currently serving or not. If so, thanks for serving. My eldest son is a corpsman in the Navy. If not, thanks for considering - I appreciate our Armed Services, is a noble profession. Am sure you'll do well.

Originally Posted by Silverlsinva

Cool pics and was that near manassas? I so want to skydive at some point here in the future.

Am from East Tennessee, so I had to look at a map. Is about 50 miles south of Manassas. From what I could tell, is one of the largest skydiving companies in Virginia. The day we were there, planes of 20 were taking off as fast as parachutes could be packed.