Connecticut Parachutists, Inc — Local services in Ellington

Jumping from an airplane has always been on my bucket list. Years ago (in my military days) I was fortunate enough to fast-rope, repel, and spy-rig many times from helicopters as part of my duties. I missed it. My son sent me a video of a marine in dress uniform sky-diving and parachuting into the office. This video motivated me to at least get this experience off my bucket list. I made and apt for Oct 22. The process was simple and videos were informative. There were several waivers (understandable). When I showed up, it took me a minute to find the correct spot at the airfield. I was greeted by some many nice people. I was offered food and made to feel very welcome. I had conversations about the club, the sport, the cost of the sport, the process to get certified, talked with the pilot’s lovely wife Kathy, Dave showed me all about the gear and even how to pack a parachute. For my tandem jump, my instructor was Mike (aka: Russian Mike). Mike was great! Mike was a great instructor and sure everything was together and walk me through the whole process. Mike was very personable, and had a great sense of humor. I have full confidence that jumping out of a plane strapped to Mike, would land me just fine. And Mike diligently inspected each piece of gear as he was setting me up, he explained everything, and he made it fun! Once we were 2000 feet up and it was time to jump, Mike made sure I knew exactly what to do. Strapped to Mike (like mini-me from Austin Powers) we deployed out of the plane. The sensation was exhilarating and in compatible. Free falling at 120 mph was freeing and so much fun. The New England foliage view was even better from the sky. The chut deployed and we glided to the ground on and fun ride with a great view. After we made it to the ground, I stuck around and asked lots of questions. Everyone was wonderful, fun, helpful and informative. I plan to return in the spring to sign up to get certified and join this group of people. I can’t think of a better way to unwind from a long week the spending you Saturday leaping from aircraft and gliding to the...

A couple of bullet points. Read the FAQs on the website. They answer a lot of questions. Sign the online waivers. If you forgot, then you will be delayed on check in until you get them done. No, you cant wear your GoPro Your instructor will find you by shouting your name. You fly up facing backwards(just didnt know that going in) Whatever Mike you get, you will be in good hands.

Up until the parachute i had a completely normal experience. Those that are weak of will CLICK AWAY NOW! The moment the chute opens your body will kick vertical and the chute will open as your free fall quickly stops and turns into a gentile soaring. this was not my case. The chute deployed. We turned vertical. then we began to spin. It was quite erratic. Now, due to time dilation, i cannot tell you exactly how long this was going on for. What i can tell you is that i know when it ended. while the chute deployment slowed us it sent us wild. the next sensation was free fall again. there was a metal clank release. the only thought in my head at that time was "Did the #*$#@ just release me?" A split second later i felt another tug. Then came the relieving yank of the quickly halting decent. Now with a much slower and extremely controlled fall the wind noise had subsided enough for me to have verbal communication. The first thing that was said to me, "look up at the parachute." I then looked up to see the chute color that was described to my spectators was wrong. That is when he responded with what i suspected, "that is our second parachute, our first one is over there." pointing out a lump of falling fabric and strings. Now that the minor case of the spins i had was over and i was under the wonderful gentle descent, i was now able to take the controls. swaying this way and that we got to turn both ways and once close enough to the ground mike took back over and we went down to the landing area in a wonderful soft landing on our collective bottoms. In the end, i got an extra experience with an instructor that had so much experience that in the end it allowed us both to...

STORY TIME!

Went tandem for the first time yesterday - Aaron was my Instructor/who I jumped with and Erik was my videographer, these two are the best.

I was the 1st reservation scheduled for Friday (12PM) and was the first to jump, but we played a little bit of the waiting game before finally jumping around 3 due to the worlds fluffiest clouds in the sky lol. Imagine almost getting ready to jump - getting in the plane, taking off for a little then doing a 180 and returning back on the runway..again, fluffy clouds tried to stop us from having a great time and because of how much they prioritize safety, we didn’t jump and I was MORE THAN OKAY with that because who doesn’t want to skydive SAFELY?

Eventually the weather gave us just the window we needed to be able to get in the plane again and not until the DOOR OPENS did it finally register what exactly I was about to do - left leg, right leg, rock-back, rock-back and OUT THE PLANE WE WENT.

Words can’t explain the experience no matter what I say, but I can promise you this - nothing in this life compares to skydiving and it ended up being the greatest experience I’ve had in my life.

& now I’m HOOKED & itching to already do jump again and actually pursue the course & work towards being able to jump ALONE.

Skydiving is GREAT FOR THE SOUL. The skydiving community that I got to be apart of yesterday - an amazing group of guys, all shared some of their experiences and ensured that I was in the best hands and was going to have a great time once we jumped and guess what? They were right - BEST TIME EVER. I’ll be back..real soon.

If I could give this experience a 100 ⭐️ Review, I would, because 5 doesn’t do it justice.

SCHEDULE YOUR JUMP AND HAVE THE EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME.

& a BIG THANK YOU TO Connecticut Parachutes for everything and for immediately unlocking the ITCH. LET’S...