I'll pick the last option.

If I went skydiving, I would tell everyone that I'm going last. Then, when they have all jumped--hey, free airplane!

(sadly, there is no HTML tag to indicate bad Mitch Hedberg impressions)

I think it looks like fun, but I always wonder how clean the flying suits are.

pushingrobot wrote:I'll pick the last option.

If I went skydiving, I would tell everyone that I'm going last. Then, when they have all jumped--hey, free airplane!

(sadly, there is no HTML tag to indicate bad Mitch Hedberg impressions)

Ha, I was thinking more of a Jim Gaffigan tweak. "My wife is the adventurous type and I'm what you would call...'indoors-y'?"

The correct response to "Why would anyone jump out of a perfectly good airplane?" is that there is no such thing as a perfectly good airplane.

weaksauce. this is where the fun is at...

You guys aren't thinking of going to Sky Zone in Tukwila/South Center are you...?

i choose the last one.i just don't understand skydiving.Maybe in the future i would love it.....

The whole point is to be a zillion feet up in the air and plummeting to one's death... just without, you know, the "to death" part. Like flying, only in one direction: down, at a rapid rate of descent. Emphasis on the "like flying" part. That's what I'd be in it for. Being tossled around by a huge fan? Pshuh. Maybe to get some "practice", but sure as hell not a substitute for the real thing...

Then again, I think I'm kind of a rare breed, the type of person that eagerly watches out the window during take-off as the ground falls out from under the plane and I feel like I just took one epic and awesome hit from the bong of the gods. Most incredibly awesome feeling ever. Think I was intended to be born a bird or something. Meh.

Where's the tough grizzled Air Force sergeant yelling at me and thowing me out the hatch? If I'm skydiving, I want the whole experience! -I don't want the experience of my plummeting body creating a hole in the ground, though. oh forget it!

Josephus wrote:Where's the tough grizzled Air Force sergeant yelling at me and thowing me out the hatch? If I'm skydiving, I want the whole experience! -I don't want the experience of my plummeting body creating a hole in the ground, though. oh forget it!

parachuting (that experience with the drill sergeant) and sky diving are quite different, the latter being done from about 10,000 feet higher than the former.

Perhaps WOot wasn't anticipating any sky divers to show up for this poll.

We've done this a couple of times and it was a blast! For someone who's always wanted to skydive but who has a dreadful fear of flying (I know, I know, nuts!), this was the perfect solution. But don't count on going to a nice restaurant or anything afterward. We looked downright scary afterward! Wild hair, wild eyes, flushed faces.... although the huge grins probably made up for that.

"52.8% - Sweet! All the fun without the potentially plummeting to my death and stuff."

Just be aware that this is incorrect. My cousin did this in Vegas years ago, severely injured her neck and is spending the remainder of her life basically as an invalid. She is in tons of pain, has to go to PT and doctors and things regularly just to have a severely limited quality of life. She struggles to work and is like a very young elderly woman.

And, no, she's not faking... I assure you.

I love a thrill, but do consider that there are very real risks with things like this and weigh if it's worth it to you. I'd have done it before, but I'm not sure I would now. I think I'd still jump from an airplane though. Go figure ;-)

I have lived here in Deland FL. for 12 years,where people come from all over the world to par take in the sport.This is the capital of skydiving,but you will not get me up their skydiving.It really looks like a lot of fun,but not for me thankyou.I love to watch them,but that's as far as I will go.

All the fun, etc. but you forgot to mention the totally stylish outfit! Woo hoo, zippers and helmet and goggles and all that!

I'll try both, indoors sounds like something I'd do if the weather was bad or something.

I've done some indoor wind tunnel hovering in a decent little place in Denver. It surprised me how much fun it was. Really would like to do more sessions, but it's more cash than I'm allotted to spend on things like floating around.

What I wanted most was actual training for more time. It's a pretty good workout even on a short session, but I didn't want to stop.

The two activities are totay different. Indoor skydiving doesn't involve an airplane and it's more like flying is in dreams. Regular skydiving requires a plane some such to get way up high and it has a significant falling component and a significant gliding component. I prefer indoor skydiving because it feels more like flying.

Most of the aircraft used for skydiving aren't "perfectly good planes".

Why would anyone jump out of a perfectly good airplane?

Why would anyone ski down a perfectly good mountain?

Because it's a blast!

I'm game for anything that is reminiscent of flying.

Falcon4 wrote:The whole point is to be a zillion feet up in the air and plummeting to one's death... just without, you know, the "to death" part. Like flying, only in one direction: down, at a rapid rate of descent. Emphasis on the "like flying" part. That's what I'd be in it for. Being tossled around by a huge fan? Pshuh. Maybe to get some "practice", but sure as hell not a substitute for the real thing...

Then again, I think I'm kind of a rare breed, the type of person that eagerly watches out the window during take-off as the ground falls out from under the plane and I feel like I just took one epic and awesome hit from the bong of the gods. Most incredibly awesome feeling ever. Think I was intended to be born a bird or something. Meh.

Yup. What he said.

When I used to jump, people would ask me why, and I'd say "Ever had a flying dream? When you jump, they come true". If the person said that they'd never had a flying dream, I thought it was a good indication that I didn't need to be friends

I have a perfectly good airplane, and I assure you I would not jump out of it even if it were on fire.
Which it sorta was one time, and I didn't jump.

Please don't tell my dad, 'k?

Sati wrote:"52.8% - Sweet! All the fun without the potentially plummeting to my death and stuff."

Just be aware that this is incorrect. My cousin did this in Vegas years ago, severely injured her neck and is spending the remainder of her life basically as an invalid. She is in tons of pain, has to go to PT and doctors and things regularly just to have a severely limited quality of life. She struggles to work and is like a very young elderly woman.

And, no, she's not faking... I assure you.

I love a thrill, but do consider that there are very real risks with things like this and weigh if it's worth it to you. I'd have done it before, but I'm not sure I would now. I think I'd still jump from an airplane though. Go figure ;-)

I don't think they meant to imply that it was without risk or not dangerous. Just less risk/danger. No risk of going SPLAT from falling at terminal velocity out of the sky. You still risk smacking into the walls or landing wrong.

I am DEATHLY afraid of heights. I couldn't do a zipline that was 15 feet off the ground because when I got up on the platform I had a massive panic attack.

Vertical wind tunnel, though, I'd do.

ultimate fan for Vader impersonations

Technically the last option says "WHO would anyone want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane?"

So I have to go with.....my brother-in-law!

Feeling like you were flying would be very cool, but the view sure wouldn't be the same!

I've skydived out of a real plane...I work across from an iFly indoor skydiving place. Child's play compared to the real experience :-))

jai151 wrote:I am DEATHLY afraid of heights. I couldn't do a zipline that was 15 feet off the ground because when I got up on the platform I had a massive panic attack.

Vertical wind tunnel, though, I'd do.

Also afraid of heights, however I have jumped from an airplane 230 times ... I figured it would get me over my fear of hights, and it did not... I still can't climb on my roof, but I did get over my fear of jumping from aircraft. The trick is that your brain can't see distance past 2000-4000 feet depending on the person, so when your falling you don't even notice the ground getting closer. ... What's really fun is when you pass that point still in free fall and you get what they call "ground rush", when your eyes start seeing the ground get closer ... for me that's at about 3000 feet (which was generally my pull altitude).

Also done the indoor skydiving thing, it's a blast, used to do it a couple times a month when at the dropzone to jump from planes for real.

nkull wrote:I still can't climb on my roof, but I did get over my fear of jumping from aircraft.

I'd rather jump out of an airplane any day. I put it down to sound risk assessment plus a high center of gravity...

I did the vertical wind tunnel thing in Las Vegas 15-20 years ago (I don't think it's there anymore - but could be wrong.) It was a rush, but I'd have had to pay for a bunch more time than I did to get very good at it, and really hover for a while. BTW, once you did hover, you would end up 10-15 feet in the air, and I just wonder if those that are afraid of heights here, wouldn't have that same reaction set in.

Closest I've come to indoor skydiving (or the real deal for that matter) is catching the prop wash off a taxiiing B-24. Which was actually pretty cool, but not worth paying a bunch of money and wearing a silly suit for.

Having been in the 82d Airborne, I can tell you we jumped out of the planes but they weren't "perfectly good." Most of the time, you couldn't wait to get out of them.

I always assumed that one draw of the wind tunnels was that you could practice relative work (flying together in freefall) at a much lower cost. But from what I've read it isn't any cheaper at all. I can get a jump from 14k giving me 70 seconds of freefall and a nice canopy ride afterwards for about the same price, so screw that.

Bob
D-8195