Skydiving

[quote=“tommy525”]http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/28250733/

still wanna skydive?[/quote]

YESSSSS

Man… more people dies walking on the streets or driving cars or riding scooters or big bikes in one hour than ppl skydiving, so if i do all the previous things, why not skydiving? besides i would have a lot more fun doing that, and if i die… well i will try to be happy just before i hit the ground !!! :angel:

I have an interesting story to share.

I am an ABC from Houston and was in the US military. I went to jump school at Benning in 1990. I have 14 jumps and Helo jumps were the best. (UH-1 and Ch-47)

I returned to Taiwan in 1993 and in 95, there was an ad in the paper for ex-military paratroopers to make a jump in Taiwan from a C-119.
They were looking for ex-Taiwanese paratroopers. I called and found out it was a company in Taichung that was making parachutes and they wanted someone to do a demo jump for the ROC military.

Anyway, they were going to film it and they were going to pay 10,000NT for the jump. It was scheduled on a weekend that I was traveling to Phillipines. I have to choose making a jump and get 10,000NT or go partying in Phil.

I chose Phillipines and when I returned to Taiwan. My friend showed me an article about the jump. The first jumper’s chute did not open and he died. He was a retired member of the military skydiving team.

I miss jumping.

I remember that incident. Actually, I used to know the guys that made the chutes. Of course they never once mentioned anyone had died using their gear… They also made the first paraglider I flew, though I wasn’t aware of the connection at the time.

Ex-Para-Commando (Airborne) with 81 jumps.

I think on the east coast? Not sure, though.

IF any you skydivers need a pilot, I am the man for the job.

I have about 1030 jumps now. Made my first jump in May 2004 and just keep jumping.
For about a year and half, I made no jumps at all because I went back to Taiwan and there is no civilian skydiving.
I love freefall!!! Flying canopy is alright, but freefall is awesome.

By the way, skydiving is not for everyone.

[quote]By the way, skydiving is not for everyone.
[/quote]
Neither is macrame, astonishingly!
I did a parachute jump once. I managed to trap one testicle between the harness and my thigh. When the parachute opened it was possibly the single most painful thing I’ve ever done in my entire life. Never again!

[/quote]
Neither is macrame, astonishingly!
I did a parachute jump once. I managed to trap one testicle between the harness and my thigh. When the parachute opened it was possibly the single most painful thing I’ve ever done in my entire life. Never again![/quote]

yet. most skydivers are males (7 men to 1 women)… I wonder how they manage that! :stuck_out_tongue:

[quote=“sandman”][quote]By the way, skydiving is not for everyone.
[/quote]
Neither is macrame, astonishingly!
I did a parachute jump once. I managed to trap one testicle between the harness and my thigh. When the parachute opened it was possibly the single most painful thing I’ve ever done in my entire life. Never again![/quote]
:astonished: Ouch!

I was getting all ready to boast about my four jumps, but alas, I have never been paid to skydive, and I’ve only done it the four times. I was one of the suckers who paid to do it. The first time, I had some line twist, but managed to rectify it. The other three went perfectly, complete with graceful, tippy-toe landings. (The first landing was okay, but I stopped as soon as my feet hit the ground instead of running and ended up doing a very nice faceplant, captured on video!)

That was about ten years ago, when I lived in Canada. I wanted to continue after I moved here, but never did. Oh well, there’s always macrame…

Can anybody confirm that there is no civilian skydiving in Taiwan?

There is NO civilian skydiving in Taiwan.

Thanks.

Any change in the last year? My sister is coming here soon and has her heart set on trying skydiving. I really don’t want to have to go to Xiamen or the Philippines and increase the risk factor if possible. What about HK?

Unfortunately, no ! maybe another decade.
go to Guam, they do tandems there and it’s fairly close to Taiwan. No sure about skydiving in HK.

[quote=“omerojs”][quote=“tommy525”]http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/28250733/

still wanna skydive?[/quote]

more people dies walking on the streets or driving cars or riding scooters or big bikes in one hour than people skydiving, so if I do all the previous things, why not skydiving? besides I would have a lot more fun doing that, and if i die… well i will try to be happy just before i hit the ground !!! :angel:[/quote]

totally again with you (omerojs). I now have 1485 jumps (all freefall). 4 reserve rides. At least when my main chute had problem(s), I still had 5 second to deal with it. You might not even have 3 second to change your situation in most car accidents.

Skydiving can be very safe and it can be very dangerous. I often tell my AFF students (I teach skydiving on the side), I will teach you everything you need to know (do) to be safe. But I don’t have control over you. YOU are the one who can choose to do the right thing and walk away. Or ignore what I told you and (or may not) get hurt.

first of all, the acceleration difference between skydiving and base jumping is correct. BASE means - buildings, antennas, spans (bridges), and earth (cliffs). Heli - is not base jumping.

“most” skydivers are not BASE jumpers. (I have 1485 jumps and still jumping. I will never do base jump.) skydivers and base jumpers are two different groups, some base jumpers don’t skydive. Most skydivers don’t base jump. However, some people do both! You might find more scuba divers in skydivers since the “floating” part is very similar.

Last: I think you can impress girls by either one. But… If you are not good, you may get hurt much easier doing base jumping. And I think that no girls would be impressed if you get hurt in front of her.

Which one is more dangerous? Skydiving or base jumping?

Unfortunately, no ! maybe another decade.
go to Guam, they do tandems there and it’s fairly close to Taiwan. No sure about skydiving in HK.[/quote]

well things have change in a few years, and now Taiwan is more open to stuff like this… i know there is paragliding in the middle of taiwan, I also heard that the Highways will be opened for Big bikes which would be so cool!! and i also know that private small planes are now legal and there are a couple of private landing stripes around Taiwan… so maybe soon there will be skydiving !!

Light aircraft are not always legal here. And they are not technically light aircraft, more like LSA’s. Aircraft above a certain unladen dry weight for use by private civilians will not be certified.