Didn’t Jump, But Nakedness Ensued

It was a beautiful day in Wisconsin today.  It was in the mid to lower 60’s, sunny, and breezy.  I’ll come back to the breezy part. 

The family and I headed out to the drop zone this afternoon for me to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.  The day was just gorgeous.  We sat on the deck and watched dozens of skydivers drifting from the plane to the ground.  Some of them came in fast.  Some of them came in slow.  There were a lot of tandem jumps.  We sat and we sat and we sat. 

For better or worse, I was scheduled for a static line jump.  That’s where you jump out of the plane with a tether attached between your container and the plane and it deploys the chute for you.  I wanted to do it this way instead of the tandem because then I’d be alone for the under-canopy descent.  Unfortunately, a static line jump requires less than 12 MPH winds.  Winds today were 12 MPH gusting to 16 MPH - and they didn’t let up.  After four hours of waiting for Mother Nature to cooperate, we scheduled for another day and headed home. 

We did see one entertaining episode - beyond the scores of canopies floating to the ground.  There was a group of Navy guys there to do some tandem jumping.  That’s where there’s an instructor strapped to you and two people descend under one chute.  One of the guys decided to go naked.  Yes… stark naked.  He was only wearing the harness for the jump.  He did a decent job of covering his bits and pieces, but there’s only so much one can do when one’s hands are required for other tasks.  We did a good job of keeping the kids distracted.  They never knew it happened.  I’m just glad I had my long eyes! 

I’m disappointed that I couldn’t jump today, but I would rather do it safely on another day than risk it today.  My time will come soon enough. 

1. Let me get this straight, the Navy guy was O.K. jumping tandem with a NEKKID DUDE!!!
   As an Army retiree I know there is a joke here!
   As a respectful bretheren of those that serve I will not comment. Knowing Chris from the SportsBar and his background I will exercise extreme restraint.

   Posted by on May 05, 2008 at 0104 hrs




2. No, the other way around.  The Navy guy was being carried in the tandem jump.  In other words, he was the guy on bottom during the free fall and in front under canopy.  I guess there’s a joke in there too

   Posted by Owen on May 05, 2008 at 0641 hrs




3. I’m just glad I had my long eyes!

   I think I found the joke…

   Posted by on May 05, 2008 at 0749 hrs




4. Deja you.

   I did the Accelerated Free Fall (AFF) program with Sky Knights in East Troy back in the early 90s.  I’d recommend it over the tether or tandem.

   Once your canopy deploys, you realize that you’ve never been that alone in your life.  There’s not a sound but the rustling of the chute.  No traffic, no birds, nothing.  Add to that no walls, no ground, no trees, etc. and it’s surreal.

   I seem to recall not getting much sleep the night before my scheduled jump.  Like you, we had to wait until the next week to try again.  That was a long week.

   While I don’t envy your anticipation, I’m jealous of the enthrallment you’re in store for…

   -jjg
   DailyScoff.com

   Posted by J. Gravelle on May 05, 2008 at 0850 hrs




5. Hubby always wanted to do this and I was scared to death.  Then one day someone told him “there’s only 2 things that fall from the sky - bird chit and idiots” and that was the end of it for him.

   Posted by on May 05, 2008 at 1037 hrs




6. Jumping out of a plane is something I always wanted to do.  It sounds like a good event for my fortieth birthday (that gives me plenty of time to warm the wife up to the idea). Enjoy your jump Owen, just make sure to keep your funny pants on

   Posted by on May 05, 2008 at 1639 hrs




7. "Navy” guys?

   Either spending months at sea looking at a whole lot of nothing has it’s way with you, or a job like that attracts weirdos.

   God bless the Navy, and some of the finest human beings - including my best man - were in the Navy.  But some of the squirrelest human beings I’ve met were in the Navy as wel.

   Posted by Brian on May 05, 2008 at 2020 hrs




8. Ah, I saw your more recent post before this one. Didn’t realize you had been there for this little spectacle. Hope you stayed to hear the roars of laughter from the group when they all reviewed his video.

   Skydiving isn’t for everyone; skydiving naked is for even fewer. 

   -ToddZ
   Sky Knights SPC / SkydiveMilwaukee.com

   Posted by ToddZ on May 13, 2008 at 1752 hrs