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groveChuck

U-matic Member
A couple of weeks ago my birthday looked like it was going to be boring, so I decided to jump out of a plane...

I know lots of people jump, I've wanted to for 20 yrs, but didn't think my bad knees could take it.
Then I found out that tandem jumps land sitting down on your butt- I can do that!

So I booked the video package (they do the less used wrist mount GoPro that needs FAA approval), plus I got a second guy on helmet cam jumping backwards before us, and had them give me the raw footage. Plus my GoPro for prep shots (you can't take it on the plane).

I got the music (and edit) idea while driving to my mountain bike trails, happy with the result.
I also SCUBA dive, used to race motocross, but have never had an experience like this.

10,000 ft jump, 140mph, 40 seconds 5,000 ft freefall, 5-6 min under the canopy.
And a lot of adrenalin!!! (excuse my shouting). And tons of endorphins afterwards.

The helmet cam had a weird white balance, especially on the ground where it picked up the green of the grass, so let's not grade the grade, haha!

Please use headphones, speakers or earbuds (anything but a phone speaker).
I know I don't have to say that here, but... did anyway.

PS- there's 2 brief codas at the end, so please let it play to stop...
PPS- I yelled Geronimoooo... leaving the plane, but there's absolutely no way you can hear it, haha!
PPPS- I need a face lift after this. :grin: (that's why instructors wear the neck/face sleeve thing, if not a helmet).

https://vimeo.com/350523679

 
DLD said:
Fallschirmjäger Chuck.
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Thanks D (and for watching), but I'll have a Jägermeister, cheers.
Wouldn't that mean the plane's Luftwaffe?

Speaking of the plane, about a week after the jump I was looking at the shot of the tail while editing and said, "Hmm, let me Google the N tail number..."
Plane was in a small crash (pilot, no passengers) in January, and left landing gear collapsed during landing doing some damage to the wing. D'oh!!!

You'll join me next time??? :happy:
 
James0b57 said:
Hahaha! That is awesome!

And happy birthday!
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Thanks James! 2 years ago was epic Big Six-Oh birthday (alcohol was allegedly involved), but couldn't schedule a dive (and where do the freaking years go? Are Black Holes involved???). It worked out this year, so I "jumped" on the chance!

When I landed sitting down, I thought somebody was going to run out with a cold beer. :beer: #disappointed
 
groveChuck said:
... Wouldn't that mean the plane's Luftwaffe? ...
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Technically speaking, it would. But perhaps you could jump next to Max Schmelling. That'd be a quick sojourn. From a military forum,

According to Karl-Heinz Golla, Die deutsche Fallschirmtruppe 1936-1941, probably the most authoritative work on the subject, normal operational jump height from the Ju 52 (with the early RZ1 parachute) was 150 m. The chute would open after 2.3 seconds on average, and it would take a Fallschirmjäger of average weight 17 seconds to reach the ground.
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This sort of averages to about 6 meters per second (~ 17 feet/s) as the descend speed.

And you know me. I am an armchair general.
 
DLD said:
it would take a Fallschirmjäger of average weight 17 seconds to reach the ground.
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Those are some scary numbers...

DLD said:
From a military forum
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ohhh, so you're sneaking around behind our backs on other forums??? That's where you snuck off to for a year...

DLD said:
And you know me. I am an armchair general.
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And we'll fit your chair with an extra large chute! Perhaps a director's chair for weight's sake. :grin:
 
I quit the military forums around 2001. Met some interesting people, some US WWII vets, some Germans/Austrians. Was exchanging some ideas on the tank design with one fellow from Canada ... so he sent me a full technical CAD drawing on my idea. I asked him if he was with the 9th Panzer, which was was Vienna raised. He deflected the issue.

But here's a paratroop story. Back in 1998, a nice young lady, knowing that i was a WWII history buff, gave me an Illustrated History of WWII book. Initially I scoffed at it as being too light of substance but it did have some famous photos. One specifically stopped me in my tracks. It was from May/June, 1940 of Adolf Hitler congratulating the conquerors of Eben Emael, a Belgian fort near Liege that was supposed to hold out for two weeks but fell in less than four hours. What really amused me was that one of the paras was a carbon copy of my cousin Slava. It took me a while to find any more info on the German soldier but find I did.

His name was Rudolf Witzig (1916-2001), then a leutenant, later a major and, much later, a colonel with the Bundeswehr.

(I won't embed the image with Hitler in it here but my cousin Slava .... eh, Witzig is standing far right front row, one removed from der Führer). The photo looks colorized.

https://french-cut.tumblr.com/image/139746565413

The amusing thing was that Witzig was one of the tactical brains behind the assault but, on the very morning of the event, his glider lost connection with the towing plane and the whole platoon had to land not far from where it took off. By the time,they located a spare plane, there was no need to fly, as the Belgian garrison already surrendered (750 POW's for the lost of one German dead and 20 wounded). This didn't stop Witzig from receiving a Knight Cross and writing a book about it.
 
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Thanks! I've noticed your avatar, wondered if you jumped. How many jumps do you have?
You probably thought my reactions in the plane were a little absurd, but hey, that's what I was feeling in the moment!
Adrenalin's an interesting chemical... :)
 
I'm still a baby in the sport with 36 jumps. I did my tandem for my birthday in 2017 and a month later I was back at the DZ for a first jump course.

I thought your reactions were great! Looks like you had a blast and took to the air pretty well! Hope you'll do it again! If you ever make up to my part of the country, I'll go do a jump with you :D
 
El Director said:
I'm still a baby in the sport with 36 jumps. I did my tandem for my birthday in 2017 and a month later I was back at the DZ for a first jump course.

I thought your reactions were great! Looks like you had a blast and took to the air pretty well! Hope you'll do it again! If you ever make up to my part of the country, I'll go do a jump with you :D
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Was your first solo more intense than your first tandem? At what point do you go solo? Do you own gear?

My reactions would play well on a reality show- To Jump or Not To Jump, haha!

Looks like you're in Big Sky Country- great jumping weather I bet, and thanks for the invite- must be spectacular views! What altitude?
We have daily thunderstorms here, which cancelled my first 2 attempts and kind of messes with your head when you think you're ready to jump, then don't...
 
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