My first (tandem) skydive was on September 10, 2005. It took place at Skydive Suffolk in Suffolk, Virginia. This, by far, is the coolest and craziest thing I have done! I originally set this up as a birthday present for one of my buddies. As I told a few other friends, I quickly found out they wanted to jump too.

We arrived at Skydive Suffolk around 8.30. The sky was clear and the temp was about 65F. When we got there a few pro skydivers were watching a video of a jump did that morning at 5.30. These guys were insane! The dive shack was basically that. Well, more like a garage. We paid, signed a waiver, and watched some safety videos (You should have seen these videos. They had to be from the sixties!).

My buddy Rob and I were the first to go. The ride to 13,000ft was about ten minutes thanks to the brand new PAC750 XL the operation just bought. This plane was sweet! It had a Pratt & Whitney 750hp Turboprop engine with a roll up side door. It is an amazing piece of equipment to say the least.

When we reached the jump altitude, Rob and his crew (instructor and camera man) were the first to jump. I watched Rob fall out of the plane and it gave me chills! By now I could hardly stand it! My adrenaline was pumping so hard! This was the moment I had been waiting for. My instructor and I walked to the edge of the door on our knees and I looked over. Awesome! He tilted my head back, counted to three and we were off!

The sensation was incredible! Nothing else like it! The air temp as we fell was about 50F. It was rushing by as we reached speeds of 110mph but it did not feel as if I was falling. There was no real reference point compared to moving on land. On the ground you have an idea of how fast you are moving in a car, roller coaster, boat, etc because there is something else there to provide reference. Not in the air though! It was so cool.

We freefell for about 70 seconds and then the ripcord was pulled. What a yank! If you jump, make sure everything is in place before you even get on the plane. Guys, you know what I mean. My instructor let me control the parachute for a while. We floated down to earth ever so gently for a couple of minutes. This part was calm and quiet. The landing was soft and smooth. If you watch the video below you will see that landing is as easy as standing up!

I do not know of anything other than skydiving that can jack up your adrenaline and then yank it away just as quick. I get chills every time I watch the video. The contrast of the feelings it provides are starkly intense. I highly recommend doing this at least once in a lifetime. There is nothing that compares to the emotion and vitality of jumping out of an airplane.