Rubber Ducky Derby!

[Birdman666]

Terms that mean something completely different to a skydiver...







And right about here we go perfectly vertical in an inverted spin on two axis (vertical and horizontal) simultaneously while in vertical freefall at 200-ish mph - ON A RUBBER DUCK.

 

[Birdman666]

At 200+ mph, and the mountains are coming up fast in the distance...

 

[Birdman666]

Time to go... When I let go of the handles I immediately fall away into a track the opposite direction, the wind takes the duck the other direction, and since she isn't holding on with anything other than her feet, she gets taken the other way. The TOY gives us safe separation, and then she just goes off the front in a track the opposite direction.



Bye! Bye!

Skydive with toys day! It's like Christmas for Idiots!!!

This was always my favorite day of the year...

 

[Birdman666]

"Only a skydiver truly understands why the birds sing!!!"

 

[Weezerj]

Hell no...not if you killed the engines and the pilot jumped first!

 

[Birdman666]

I could easily be one of those people who just hangs out at the DZ all day, and makes ten jumps a day...

 

[Birdman666]

Hell no...not if you killed the engines and the pilot jumped first!

So, you would prefer to die in the plane crash then...?

 

[Pinkbirdy]

Well!!! you have been busy

 

[Birdman666]

Nah. I WISH!

These are old.

I just found the disk the other day.

Actually, I think I made ten toy jumps the day these were taken... They put up about 26 loads that day, and I was on about every other load, with a lunch break in the middle.

It really was my favorite day of the year.

And I still can't go down the inflatable pool toy aisle without laughing my butt off....

Jumped that one, and that one, and that one... Oooohhh... that one has eight way written all over it!

I always wanted to take an inflatable kiddy pool out the back of a plane. Always thought we could get a 20 way on one of those things. We just couldn't figure out how to get it out the door of the plane safely without flipping it...

 

[JerseyWendy]

LOVE it!!!!

Say, when you're falling that fast, can you even verbally communicate with the others, or is it all jumbled up? Do the cheeks flutter in the wind? :32:

I've got tons of other questions...but they wouldn't be PG-13 rated. :54:

 

[Birdman666]

Yeah, cheeks flutter.

The wind noise is so loud that you can't hear ANYTHING else. It's one of those things that comes back to you in your sleep.

You communicate by hand signals.

And the speed is the other thing...

Your first jump is usually sensory overload, between the fear and the wind noise, and the visuals, and then the sudden weightlessness and speed...

The sound people make as they go out the door WHHOOOOSHHHH! and then the plane jumps up in altitude because it just got lighter. Inside the plane, watching them fall away, you do get a sense of speed...

The instant after you step out the door, you accelerate to 125 mph... and you don't lose your stomach. You don't feel like you're falling. You're flying "Peter Pan" style... Your shoulder blades are your ailerons, and your feet act like rudders. The extent to which you arch or de-arch, and your body angle, dictates your speed/angle of descent and stability.

My "normal" tracking speed is about 180-185 mph.

My vertical tracking speed is in the 190's to just over 200 mph. Yeah. 200 mph. No car. No Plane. Just you and the wind. If I have to explain that one to you, someone needs to check for a pulse.

Barrel rolls, flips and spins, 360's... only take fractions of a second.

And where else can you do 200 mph relatively safely, AND STILL BE ABLE TO MANEUVER LIKE THAT?! Can't do that down on the ground. There are too many things to run into. Maybe on the track, with a really, really expensive car... BUT this is only $22.00 - (plus the cost of the optional rubber ducky.)

My fastest recorded was 255.6 (which I did twice.) I've broken 220 on a couple of other occasions. I've probably logged 50+ jumps in the 200 mph or over category...

 

[Christinenc2000]

These are amazing pictures. You did what a lot of people only dream of. Very lucky

 

[GreatBlue320]

My palms are sweating just reading this thread! I'm like Weezerj, I will never sky dive!

BUT, I sure liked seeing your photos!

 

[RavensGryf]

Mark, Christine is hinting ... she wants to go next time LOL! Wow, that is something else! Just have to make sure the parachute opens everytime...

 

[Christinenc2000]

Mark, Christine is hinting ... she wants to go next time LOL! Wow, that is something else! Just have to make sure the parachute opens everytime...

Heck no. I had my chance on the Coast and backed out. To scared.

 

[Giggleagain]

I admire those who do this. Knowing myself, it would probably be my first and last jump all in one, because I'd be pondering something or another while speeding towards the ground. I'd forget to pull the whateverit'scalled....

 

[gracebowen]

Sounds like a blast. How is it only $22? I could do that easy. I always thought it would cost way more.

 

[Birdman666]

Sounds like a blast. How is it only $22? I could do that easy. I always thought it would cost way more.

Because I have my license, and all my own equipment. First ttandem is around $200.

 

[Birdman666]

There are basically three types of people in this world...

The first kind jumps once, and after that jumps every chance they get.

The second kind jumps once, just to cross it off the bucket list. Been there. Done that.

The third type doesn't understand why anyone would ever even consider doing something so incredibly stupid..

 

[Birdman666]

Mark, Christine is hinting ... she wants to go next time LOL! Wow, that is something else! Just have to make sure the parachute opens everytime...

Heck no. I had my chance on the Coast and backed out. To scared.

Everyone's scared out of their minds their first time. Its normal. I've seen macho idiots on the ground literally lose bowel and bladder control at altitude, when the door opens. I've also seen mild mannered people turn into full on beast mode... I've seen people faint in free fall. Well, actually I saw the video. The whole drop zone did.. Poor guy.

You don't know what to expect or how you will respond the first time.

Half the fun is finding out.

The other half the fun is what happens the instant after that first step...

You gotta jump to know... Posers get exposed the second that door opens.