The First Jump
My first jump out of an airplane on December 17, 1999 was the most exciting experience of my life. I had been anticipating this day since some point when I was a little kid and saw a skydiver on TV for the first time, at which time I promised myself that I would let nothing stop me from jumping out of a plane sometime before I die.
It was the first time I had been in a small airplane since I was a young child. From shortly after I was born until I was seven years old, I had flown in my father's Cessna 150 countless times, so I have always felt comfortable flying in airplanes, but I always had a small fear of heights; the kind of heights where there is nothing around you to keep you from falling off.
The aircraft that we were to jump out of was a Cessna 182- a commonly used five-person, high-wing, single engine airplane. The interior of this particular plane was not much to speak of. All of the upholstery had been removed, as were all the seats (except for the pilot's seat, of course). That was okay though. This plane is used for skydiving, not first-class passenger transportation.
As we were climbing to 3,500 feet, I was experiencing the most exciting yet nervous point in my life. I had been looking forward to this day for a long time and there I was sitting in the back of that small aircraft, waiting to take the plunge of my life while nervously taking turns looking at the little needle on my wrist altimeter and glancing out the window, looking at everything on the ground getting smaller, anxiously reviewing the jump routine over and over in my head, “arch one-thousand, look one-thousand, reach one-thousand, pull one-thousand.” Since this was going to be a static-line jump, there was not a real ripcord to pull because the canopy would deploy automatically, but we were equipped with a dummy ripcord so that we would learn the proper free-fall technique.
At about three-thousand three-hundred feet, the jumpmaster hollered “one minute to jump,” and opened the cabin door. It was me and two other beginners on board, Jennifer and Susan. Since Jennifer was the first to go, she was already sitting by the door, facing aft of the aircraft. When the door flung open and the air came rushing in, Jennifer took a quick glance at the ground and her eyes grew huge.
At this time, I was going over the exit routine in my head. “Wait for the ju...
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...went out the window and was replaced with "oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!"
Instead of arching my back with my arms and legs spread out like I was supposed to do, I instinctively tried to "swim" back to the aircraft. With my arms and legs flailing all over the place, I flipped and flopped through the thin air until my chute opened about five seconds after leaving the airplane. The momentum of my spinning body caused my lines to twist when my canopy deployed. Not a big deal. They taught us how to deal with this during ground instruction. I pulled my lines apart and kicked my way out of it.
Having successfully left the plane with my chute open and my lines untwisted, I breathed the biggest sigh of relief that I had ever breathed in my entire life. The ride down was extraordinary. The only problem was that I had gotten so caught up in the moment that I had pretty much forgotten to steer the chute toward the airport until I was about two-hundred feet above the ground. Luckily, I barely made it back into the airport, but landed in some mud about three-hundred yards from the X that I was supposed to be aiming for.
Oh, well. I knew that next time, I'd make it a lot closer to that X.
suspense of skydiving as you are hoisted 153 feet in the air then pull a ripcord that plunges you into a 50-feet free fall at 60 m.p.h. The atmosphere of Carowinds is very live
I had arrived to the jumping pits ready to preform my best with my parents standing along the fence cheering for both my sister and I. I was ranked first coming into the event so I knew if I preformed my best jump I would take first place, or so I thought. As I stepped foot on the runway to preform my jump I said good luck to my sister Cora, who then proceeded to stand in line behind me. On my first attempt I jumped 35 feet 8 inches on and was satisfied because it was my farthest jump in the season. As I made my way to the back of the line to preform my second jump I hear the announcer say, “35 feet 2 inches.” Shocked that somebody was jumping almost as far as I had I turned around to see who jumped, and it was Cora. At that moment my adrenaline kicked in, and so did my sister’s. I hopped right back in line with a mindset to make my next jump unreachable. As I anticipated what the measured jump would say I was anxious, “36 ft 3 inches.” A sigh of relief hit me because I knew that was half an inch under my school record and my sister had only one jump left. Cora made her way down the runway with victory on her mind, and when she hit the sandpit I looked the other way scared of what the measurement might be. “36 feet flat” the announcer broadcasted. With that being said a giant smile streaked across Cora’s face, as a giant frown draped down mine. Her jump was too close for
I slided off before I knew it and rounded off the landing dock. I sat down to buckle my boots. Okay Kinney you got this. I’ve got to go down sometime, I repeated over and over to myself. My fists crunched in my sopping wet gloves. I clenched my eyes and took a deep breath and pushed
The Jump: took place in a large sand pit using jumping weights called halteres to improve distan...
When I entered the airplane I was as excited as a 6-year-old could be about losing the people she loved the most. The greatest aspect of my fear was the idea of losing my mother. As a child, I always
As soon as the the diver exits the plane, the normal force is removed and the diver begins to fall. Generally, a skydiver will exit the airplane at about 13,000 feet (4000 meters). To maintain a stable flight, their body must face the "relative wind". This is the direction in which the greatest air resistance is coming from. After a jumper exits, the drag force of the air counteracts the jumper's horizontal motion until the drag is only working against gravity. For a 70 kg jumper with the acceleration of gravity (9,8 m/s2), the force of gravity can be calculated with the same equation as the normal force:
It was a murky overcast summer's eve; crisp morsels of rain splashed on the ground vigorously. Sounds of jet engines buzzed in the back of my ear lobes through the torrential downpour. The common sight of the departure time of our flight being delayed yet again caught my eye as we turned the corner towards the gate. Almost an hour later we began to finally line up at the gate to get on the what then seemed massive jet plane. I remember looking out the gigantic floor to ceiling windows at providence airport at the bright blue, red and orange of the jet, so excited to be going on it. Our family carefully chose seats right near the wing emergency exits. I rushed to the window seat, plopped down and buckled my seat belt. I was ready to go to Florida. I barely took up half of the seat, I was 8 or 9, and as a curious kid I was touching nearly anything I could put my hands on. I remember soon after we sat down in the back row on the left of the aircraft the same side as us, I heard a great commotion. A woman at the back was on the phone telling her friend she had drugs and she just took them. Not soon after three men boarded the plane. One had
On a sunny Saturday afternoon when I was twelve-years-old. The warm air smelled like fries and wings were being cooked. I found myself in a line with my mom waiting to go next for the drop tower. I was very nervous because I have always been afraid to ride the drop tower because it's a ride that slowly rises 224 feet in the air. Then it free falls all the way to the bottom like a meteor in about a blink of an eye. It is in the scream zone in King's dominion which automatically hints the ride is meant to make you scream.
Noticeably during first attempt client failed to utilize these characteristics. In result vertical jump attempt failed to reach sufficiency. By teaching the client in two steps for a successful vertical jump may conclude a good strategy. The first step will involve utilizing knee flexion, hip flexion, as well as setting feet shoulder width apart for stable base. This will enable client to break gravity using force from legs. The second step will involve client implementing shoulder extension, shoulder flexion, plus elbow extension. This effort will implicate client swinging arms which provides additional momentum carrying body upward. Furthermore utilizing these strategies may increase vertical jump
As we climbed higher and higher, my stomach churned more and more at the sound of each clicking belt moving us in the direction of the first drop. Just before the peak we had stopped moving and in increments we gradually moved forward over the first hill. I begged fearfully to my dad, “I can’t do this! I can’t do this! Get me off!”
“Make sure to hit the jump fast and bend your knees on the landing,” he had said before he took flight.
Four days ago, Apollo 11 took off from Kennedy Space Center. My crew, Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins, and I were sent into space by NASA to complete the moon landing mission. I remember arriving at the Space Center and saw so many workers here and there. They were busy preparing for this mission. It seemed that they knew some secrets that I didn’t. Later on, we got into a small elevator and went up 365 feet up in the air. I wasn’t overwhelmed with nervousness until the last minute
I did it. I jumped off. The cold air hitting my face as I plummet towards the gravel. Some panicking, some remained still. I heard one lady scream. Crashed. The pain jolted throughout my body. It didn't hurt as much as the realisation that I didn't succeed. I was still alive. People started to surround me, some dialing 911 to seek for professional help. A man was telling me "Hold on, you'll be fine". I didn't want to hold on.
My internal organs thumped against my chest as I dragged my bag along the carpet floor and into the corridor. As I walked into the long hall, I glanced up and noticed the sign telling me I could get on. My entire body could barely hold itself together with the anticipation of the monumental, dream-come-true event about to take place. I said to myself, "I'll soon be in the air." I slowed my pace to further enjoy what was happening. Swarms of people walked around me as I treasured knowing that one of my lifetime goals was now inevitably going to occur. The excitement and adrenaline running through my veins could have killed a horse.
Skydiving has been around since ancient Chinese times as a form of aerial stunts. Leonardo da Vinci and the Chinese are both credited for creating the parachute, but it was really in the 18th century when France both created it and used it by basically throwing themselves out of planes. Little did anyone know that skydiving would be one of the craziest sports today. Jumping out of a plane two and a half miles up into the sky would not be someone’s idea of a normal day. As bad as two and a half miles up in the sky is, try doing it traveling at a rate of one-hundred and sixty miles per hour with just a parachute to save you. To many people this would be a nightmare; but to some of us, it is the biggest thrill of our lives.