Father & Son first skydive

What started out as a father's day wish was finally accomplished today. Less than two weeks after we both decided to skydive, we finally got to skydive together at Skydive Deland in Florida.

It was a great day because it was the culmination of what they told us could not be done. You may remember that I was refused Advanced Free Fall (AFF) training because of my age. So, I had to find a drop zone that would train me and then come back and skydive with Sandy Jr.

The other skydiver in this picture is Bob Crossman, the chief instructor at Skydive Deland. He was my first tandem instructor and an avid Red Sox fan. He was absolutely thrilled to assist us on our first father and son skydive and we will continue with him to earn our "A" license.

Sandy Jr is attending Embry-Riddle University and should earn his private pilot certificate this summer. Embry-Riddle has a skydiving club and has an agreement to train skydivers at Skydive Deland. Its actually part of their curriculum and he can earn college credits for earning his AFF. So, after earning my AFF at Skydive Tampa Bay I returned to Deland and was on Sandy Jr's AFF certification dive. After earning his AFF, we decided to go once more as solo skydivers and chased each other back down to the earth.

My son and I have shared many adventures. We fly planes, ride road bikes, Harleys and scuba dive. Words alone cannot express my pride and exhilaration of being able to share so much with him. He has a great future as a pilot and I can only hope that this is just one of many more adventures.

Skydiving at 60

What do you do when you are reaching the pinnacle of your career and and the peak of your physical fitness? Well, you go skydiving of course!

Last year our entire family went on a skydiving adventure for mother's day. We all took tandem jumps at Skydive Deland. This year, my son (Sandy Jr) suggested we do a father and son skydiving event for father's day. I agreed and on June 19th we met a Skydive Deland to sign up or the Advanced Free Fall Course (AFF). Much to my surprise, they informed that they would not train me due to my age (60). Well, you can imagine our disappointment and a bit of frustration that even though there is no age limit regulation Skydive Deland's policy is to not accept anyone over 60.

I was able to research previous accident statistics (www.Dropzone.com) to determine that age was not a significant factor in skydiving accidents. A review revealed that most accidents were a result of aggressive maneuvers close to ground or equipment malfunctions.

To shorten the story, I was able to find a drop zone at Skydive Tampa Bay where they evaluated me for physical fitness and mental awareness. After a tandem (evaluation) jump I was accepted for AFF training and was able to earn my skydiving certificate in two days and seven jumps.

Since I am new to the sport I am certainly not an expert by any means. But, in my short exposure I found it interesting that the only incidents during my training happened to my jump instructor, who dislocated his shoulder while docking with me and to my 25 year old son who turned his ankle on landing. However, the OLD MAN is still in one piece and got his skydiving certificate in two days. My son is still working on AFF 5.

I must admit that skydiving is an unusual sport that demands both physical fitness and mental awareness. It is definitely a rush and not recommended as a 'relaxing' type sport. This definitely is a sport for action junkies who are able to throw caution into the wind. After an extensive career in aviation to include fighter jets, carrier operations, helicopters and eleven years in the airshow business working close to the ground I can say that nothing that I have ever done can compare to the experience of skydiving.

It is my intent to continue with skydiving and will continue to blog the experience....