cisneros@trwrba.UUCP (Robert D. Cisneros) (12/19/85)
************************ A REAL RUSH ************************************
So, Ordinary Skydiving is'nt ENOUGH anymore, Huh?. Well, Have I got
a jump for YOU! Try jumping from a balloon!
I am a relatively "new" jumper (approx. 75 jumps) and I wanted to
try something new (so far I've jumped Cessnas, DC-3s, a TWIN OTTER, a
TWIN BEECHCRAFT, and a Skiorsky Chopper). Some friends of mine had made
jumps from a ballon and others BASE jump. Well, BASE jumping is a bit
risky and not well thought of by the local authorities, so I figured a
balloon jump would be the next best thing (safer,too). By calling around
I found the best deal and set everything up.
Two other jumpers and myself arrived at the balloon launch area at
about 6:00 am. The ride up to altitude was great! It was an unusually
clear day which made the view incredible, visability was at least 100 mi.
The balloon operator took us up to 9000' then we began our decent.
Since none of us had ever made a balloon jump we had no idea what to
expect. The time finally came.....READY, SET, GO..... The first thing I
noticed was the lack of relative wind, and geeze, it was silent! The
transition to terminal velocity felt GREAT!!! Slowly wind noise began to
build up and the sensation of speed came.....WOW, Now I can understand
the BASE jumping rational! On the way down we built a three way (since
we all left together) RIGHT OVER THE HILLS! This was a bit un-nerving
since I've never made a jump over anything except a drop zone. Before we
left the balloon we had decided to dump around 3500' to give us enough
room to fly to a clear landing spot, as it turned out we got a bit
carried away and dumped around 3000'. While under canopy, we were
hooting and yelling all the way down, WHAT A BLAST! We landed near a
housing tract that had been leveled to build more houses.
In short, I had a great experience with our balloon jump and highly
recommend it to any skydiver who wants to try something new and exciting.
BLUE SKIES,
Robert Cisneros
@ TRW
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From: cisneros@trwrba.UUCP (Robert D. Cisneros)
Newsgroups: net.rec.skydive
Subject: BALLOON JUMPING
Message-ID: <1746@trwrba.UUCP>
Date: 19 Dec 85 20:56:05 GMT
Date-Received: 19 Dec 85 23:06:29 GMT
Organization: TRW EDS, Redondo Beach, CA
Lines: 43
************************ A REAL RUSH ************************************
So, Ordinary Skydiving is'nt ENOUGH anymore, Huh?. Well, Have I got
a jump for YOU! Try jumping from a balloon!
I am a relatively "new" jumper (approx. 75 jumps) and I wanted to
try something new (so far I've jumped Cessnas, DC-3s, a TWIN OTTER, a
TWIN BEECHCRAFT, and a Skiorsky Chopper). Some friends of mine had made
jumps from a ballon and others BASE jump. Well, BASE jumping is a bit
risky and not well thought of by the local authorities, so I figured a
balloon jump would be the next best thing (safer,too). By calling around
I found the best deal and set everything up.
Two other jumpers and myself arrived at the balloon launch area at
about 6:00 am. The ride up to altitude was great! It was an unusually
clear day which made the view incredible, visability was at least 100 mi.
The balloon operator took us up to 9000' then we began our decent.
Since none of us had ever made a balloon jump we had no idea what to
expect. The time finally came.....READY, SET, GO..... The first thing I
noticed was the lack of relative wind, and geeze, it was silent! The
transition to terminal velocity felt GREAT!!! Slowly wind noise began to
build up and the sensation of speed came.....WOW, Now I can understand
the BASE jumping rational! On the way down we built a three way (since
we all left together) RIGHT OVER THE HILLS! This was a bit un-nerving
since I've never made a jump over anything except a drop zone. Before we
left the balloon we had decided to dump around 3500' to give us enough
room to fly to a clear landing spot, as it turned out we got a bit
carried away and dumped around 3000'. While under canopy, we were
hooting and yelling all the way down, WHAT A BLAST! We landed near a
housing tract that had been leveled to build more houses.
In short, I had a great experience with our balloon jump and highly
recommend it to any skydiver who wants to try something new and exciting.
BLUE SKIES,
Robert Cisneros
@ TRW