Why did you make your first jump and how old were you when you made your first jump?

October 1959, I was a naval aviation cadet.
I scronged up B4 back parachute and a chest parachute.
I had some Navy riggers put D rings on the B4 And went looking for an airplane.
I found a crop duster with a Cessna 170 and he took me up to 1500 feet. He didn't wanna fly any higher.
When I could see the DZ I climbed out and pulled.
No Mods, no Sleeve, no Brains. But Saint Michael came through.

Tandem at 16. Both my parents were skydivers so it was basically a family thing. I was one of those dropzone kids growing up. I didn't do the AFF course until 25 though

37, not really thought much about it.
on holiday in florida, grandad not long passed, thought hey wtf not?! found someone, booked it.

post jump i thought, yeh, ill do this...

came back, 2 years later, still not started.

nan passed in the nov, started AFF in feb.

July 15th 1978-24yrs. old-Gave a young man a ride back to the airport after he landed in a corn field. Signed up on the spot for the one week class.

2002 @ 37.

I knew about sport jumping for a long time. Point Break, Terminal Velocity, Dropzone. When I was a CFI back in the 80s, someone I was working with was a jump pilot. Got out of flying before I could look into it.

Jump ahead to 01, I got home from being out on the road and my wife had gone out and watched her cousin jump. A bunch of people that I knew had gone out as a group and done the S/L course.
They had enough fun with it that they planned on making it a yearly event. I was going to join them the next year, but they switched the date at the last minute to a day I couldn't go.

So the next weekend, I was free and decided to just go out to the DZ and see what was what. I walked up to the window and said "a bunch of my friends jumped last weekend, what do I have to do to jump like they did?"
The lovely manifest lady handed me a clipboard with the waiver on it, said "fill this out and give me money" (more or less). Took the S/L ground class that day, but it was too windy to jump. Came back the next day to jump, and there were 3 people from my group of friends back to do repeat jumps. For my first jump, there was the pilot, J/M and three of us. Pretty cool.

Landed after the first jump (radio guy directed me into the cornfield) and said "I have got to do that again!!"

Made my second jump that day. The rest is history.

We've been doing the annual event ever since. The only ones who have gone on to become 'real' licensed jumpers are me and my (now ex-)wife's cousin Tim.

The guy who started it all (David) passed away in 2010, but Tim & I took over and kept it going. The original DZ (Wolf River Skydivers) closed in 2011, so we moved over to Green Bay Skydivers (where my friend had been a pilot back in the 80s), but they closed down after 2014, so we moved down to Skydive Midwest in Racine. SDMW doesn't do S/L jumps, so now we do tandems.

But it's still a blast to bring a bunch of friends out to experience it, even if none of them keep going. Most are 'one and done', and that's cool. At least they did it. Some do it once a year, for a number of years. David had maybe 6 or 7 jumps, all S/L, one per year. We have a husband/wife couple that have done 3 years worth of tandems.

The movie Gypsy Moths got me hooked. I saw it when I was about 7, and I bet my sister right then that I would do it when I grew up.

The weekend I turned 18 in 1980 - did my 1st static line. I was upset they didn't check my ID, so I could have done it before. I already had read a bunch about it, knew a lot of the stuff in the first jump course, and the gear did not inspire confidence it looked like it had been dragged through the Arizona desert and so old looking. "Refrigerator" Bob Sprague was my instructor.

ScotchLead

October 1959, I was a naval aviation cadet.
I scronged up B4 back parachute and a chest parachute.
I had some Navy riggers put D rings on the B4 And went looking for an airplane.
I found a crop duster with a Cessna 170 and he took me up to 1500 feet. He didn't wanna fly any higher.
When I could see the DZ I climbed out and pulled.
No Mods, no Sleeve, no Brains. But Saint Michael came through.

You win.

1998, I was 22. Went with 2 friends to do a tandem.
I liked it a lot and wanted more. But I worked nearly every weekend so I didn't had the time for it. I always kept talking about it.

2010, age 36. My wife knew I wanted to do a tandem again so she got one for my as a present. Again hooked but I just had a little girl so I thought, nah, too dangerous. But it kept linguring in my mind.

2016, age 41. I wanted to buy a motorcycle. My wife said no . Then I want to jump I said, she said OK
Booked myself a skydive vacation in France and went. Almost shit myself of fear, but I really liked that feeling. Back home I had a slow start.
I know have 90 jumps and just bought my own (used) gear. I think I will keep doing this untill I can't anymore. It's the only place where my mind is actually blank.

Why? couple reasons. I always looked up to the sky as early as 5 years old and wanted to be up there. Dad became a skydiver when I was 6(1974) and then a S/L instructor in 1977. When? 1985 age 17 did 2 S/L jumps with dad as my instructor. Took a long break and got back into the sport in 2003 and have been active with no break since.

In April of 1974 I was eighteen years old. I had always wanted to jump, ever since I learned about parachutes. My dad made me a parachute with a clothes pin, some cellophane and string when I was five years old. Then in 1962 there was this Friday night skydiving adventure show called "Ripcord". That was the first film of freefall I'd ever seen. It confused me because they didn't look like they were falling. But I knew with great resolve that I would do this someday.I was hooked right then and there. So that chilly Saturday morning I went up and made a static line jump with a 32 ft T-10 main canopy from a Cessna 182 at 2500 ft. It was the first of many jumps to come. But the silence after opening has never quite repeated.

Age 49 2017
Just wanted to see if I had the balls to do it. Did a couple tandems last year and 4 this year but don’t have the time or desire to get licensed. I do want to do a HALO jump next summer to wrap it up.

I was 18 and I did it to impress a girl. It didn't work (the girl part)
The skydiving part worked great and after I started jumping I didn't care about that girl anymore. I met new girls. Girls that would show their tits in the airplane. Great times!

I was 20. It was 1967 and I was working as a lab tech and fast becoming bored with my job. So I thought I'd get into flying. I was taking flying lessons and learned in my medical that I was so colour blind that being a commercial pilot was not going to be in the cards. So I gave that up and went across the field to watch the jumping and decided to give it a try.

12-23-84 first jump. 17 years old. Unless you count the 24 jumps my mother made with me in 1967 before I was born. Why, grew up on a DZ, in a way had no choice, but ultimately, waited 17 years wanting to jump! Packed T10's for .50 while waiting to be old enough. Would not trade growing up on a DZ for anything during that time!

12 years ago was 18, family tradition and dad forced me to do tandem

didn't like it at that time.

for some reason started my aff two weeks ago

28.
Was sitting around a campfire with about 10 friends having some beers, talking, laughing. The topic of skydiving came up and the group was divided. Half said no way, the other half said they would totally do it. I always wanted to when I was a teenager but sort of forgot about it through my 20s. I sat there by fire thinking to myself, "I never did that, why haven't I done that?"

The next day I called up my local DZ and signed up for a tandem jump.

As someone who suffers from anxiety, this was an insane thing for me to do. The whole ride up, I put on a brave face but was scared shitless inside. The second we left the plane, something clicked and I was in love. Been jumping every week ever since. Just bought my first rig and have a goal to do at least 100 jumps this season now that I'm off rental gear.

Same here. I would not trade growing up on a DZ,going to boogies, and being around skydivers for anything. I also packed T-10's, and PC's under dads supervision.

It was 1972. I had never been in ANY airplane before.... So I was a 19 year old,,,,,just Looking for an Airplane Ride....
I was a sophomore at a College which HAD a "skydiving Club " .. 50 bucks got me ALL my training, my lift ticket, Gear, logbook and 1st Jump Certificate. I Really Enjoyed it, and since my next 4 static line jumps were only 10 dollars Each, I stayed with it.... Once I got to Freefall a jump at 3 grand cost me 3 Bucks, and 5 bucks, got us 7 - Five !!! Seldom went above That and so building freefall time was Slow Slooooow...
Anyway, here I Am almost 47 years later, Not as active as I MAY have been in certain years PAst,,, but still Current, still safe, still " getting to the DZ " as often as I can. Lots of Good times , Great memories, Fantastic Skydives..... I Have made and Kept, MANY friends with whom I share a Love of the Sky...
jmy... A 3914 NSCR 1817
" Skydive Often, Skydive Safely, Skydive with Friends "

Made my first jump in 1973 at 21 while a senior in college. A skydiver friend talked me into it. Got my S/L jumpmaster and instructors ratings and taught first jump courses. Next got my pilots license and started flying jumpers. Really liked flying so a friend and I bought a Stinson Voyager airplane. 1982 opened my own DZ and ran it for 34 years. During that time I got my rigger and master rigger rating, commercial single, multi and helicopter ratings, A&P with IA ratings and bought an airport. I am not sure if I should kiss or kill my friend who got me into this.

Stationed at North Island NAS 1982, the base’s civillian jump club offered a FJC for $40. As best as I can recall, they made a deal with Arizona’s National Guard to teach them the FJC in exchange for using their Hueys to jump from. My first civillian jump was from a Huey.

I was 19 and it was on my bucket list before their were bucket list.

1st jump 41 years old.
Surfing on internet saw an add for tandem jumps and decided to go for it!!!
Currently on my 5th jump-trying to decide if I want to begin AFF. Scared of twirling round and round on descent and not being able to fly canopy by myself. I am a slow learner.

Prior to the 'Herd Boogie' of 1980 I thought skydiving was a crazy sport. why? WOFO :)

My wife's brother, Bill 'Wingding' Wendling, talked us into coming and watching the jumping activity at a boogie.We spent most of a Saturday afternoon watching skydiving at the 1980 Herd Boogie.

I noted, without any exceptions, every single person who landed had this ear to ear smile. EVERY PERSON!!! And there were hundreds of persons. what!?!

I at that moment in time knew I was missing something up there.Bill gave Donna and I 'Sky Calls' as a Christmas present. Fed us Parachutist magazines all winter. 3/21/81 i stepped out of an airplane for the first time, landing minutes later with my own big ear to ear grin.

Bill's sister, my wife, exited the same plane on the pass prior to mine. She had never been inside an airplane prior to that day. Very proud of that woman! Maybe more interesting, she had a 'total' malfunction on her 2nd freefall using old gear with 'cones' and pins for closing. Rolled on her back and opened her gutter reserve....then two rounds out. She continued jumping. kids today have it mush easier!

I signed up for a tandem base jump at Bridge Day. Lost 80 pounds to make the weight requirement and after screaming like a woman and pissing myself in pure terror I ended up loving it LoL. I asked Sean Chumo how can I get into base jumping and he said learn to skydive and get 200 jumps and come back to me... so onw year later about to get my A license. Skydiving is so different but amazing and completely addicted. Been such a cool experience and met some really interesting people along the way!
I was 33 doing my first AFF skydive.

September 2016. Tandem jump. Age of 43.

Actually, I had never thought about skydiving before in my life - just thought it was time to do something new for the first time... Well, as we landed I knew: I have got to learn this! Started my AFF in Apr. 17, got my license in Oct. 17 and just last week did my jump No. 281.

I have always wanted to skydive since I was maybe 15.

At 23 I went bungee jumping a 200ft crane, felt the "quietness" of my mind the second i leaped off the edge, wanted to skydive right after that but got into a different sport/hobby, that consumed me for about 10 years.

Then at 33, in 2018 I went for a tandem but knowing in the back of mind i was going to go thru with AFF. My wife was dreading my tandem as she had a feeling I was gonna carry on with it.

Not even 2 weeks later there i was with 2 instructors about to jump out of an airplane.

Best decision of my life, doing something like skydiving makes you realize that ANYTHING in life is possible