The speed records part II

So I didn't get to post it the next day like I'd planned but better late than never I guess.

The thing is that I've always wanted to try skydiving. Thought it should be cool, new perspective on old things maybe, and hearing that the speeds involved during free fall go up to 120mph I really couldn't pass.

We made a group, and we went together to a local airbase where they do skydiving lessons and tandem jumps. Tandem jumps is a cool concept, it's highly recommended that you start out skydiving with a tandem jump. It's kind of feeling the waters and seeing if you like this type of thing. You jump strapped to a professional called the tandem master. Your tandem master has the parachute, takes care of everything. You more or less jump and tag along during the trip back to the ground. You don't have to worry about checking your altitude, opening a parachute, landing in the right spot. And that's the way I went.

The experience was incredible.... Actually when I did the bungee jump I had predicted that the skydive might be less scary. And I was right!
For some (weird and unknown) reason, standing at the door of a plane and then jumping off is not scary. While standing on the edge of a bridge looking down on a river _is_ scary. My theory is that it's the conditioning throughout our evolution. Man has been over mountains and heights that "look like" what it what you see when you're about to bungee jump, and somehow this fear was encoded in our DNA. Planes have been around for far less time and the conditioning just doesn't seem to be there yet. Looking down from the plane with the door open looks more like what you see on google maps or virtual earth than anything else. And somehow we're not pre-conditioned to get scared from maps and satellite photos.

Anyway, enough with psychology for the insane. The long story short is that I jumped from 13500 feet (around 5Kms) high, went down at a speed of 120mph for less than a minute, and then back on the ground a few minutes later. It was amazing, a lot less scary than most people think and a lot more fun.

A few photos will probably relieve me from writing any more (Can you tell already I'm not in the mood for writing?)


^ That's me thinking I'm a pilot


^The plane that carried us up



Mid air


And landing

Cheers!