Skydive cross keys7/2/2023 Her parachute opened, she navigated it down safely and this day transformed her life. She kicked and screamed and fell away from the airplane kicking and screaming then felt her parachute open for the first time. Melanie hopped out and there was no way that she could hold onto the strut. The goal was to hang on the strut with both hands then let go. She reached out and Melanie put her hand on the airplane strut and her other hand on the strut. Melanie had to swing her feet outside the door, and she could feel her feet blowing in the wind as she sat in the airplane. Sitting in an airplane 4,000-5,000 feet above the Earth, with an open door in an airplane and she knew she would be jumping out. It was time to open the door, and when they opened the door flung open, and she experienced a crazy moment she will never forget. They were flying on jump run which is the height where they would exit the airplane. Melanie was sitting behind the pilot’s (her dad) seat facing the tail of the plane, next to the door. Melanie made her first skydive out of a small Cessna. Melanie did her first skydive 18 years ago and her first skydive was static line and she wasn’t attached to an instructor. Most people who go for their first skydive go on a tandem skydive (which is highly recommended). She was afraid, but her courage exceeded her fear and she went to that first jump course with the intention of making her first skydive. The next day she entered her first jump course for her first static line jump and had the intention of making her first skydive after the ground course. She told herself that, “tomorrow is the day”. One day after Melanie graduated from high school she decided she would go skydiving the very next day. She was so scared to go for the first time and could have jumped when she was 16 (today you need to be 18 to go skydiving in the US), but she took her time to go on her first skydive. Melanie sat in on the first jump course many times growing up because she grew up around the dropzone. Their dropzone is no longer in operation but it was called Verona Skydiving Center back in the day. Her dad opened a skydive at the house with his best friend that was in upstate New York. Her dad was a pilot and had an airport at her house (a grass strip by her house). Aviation was in her family since she was alive. Melanie was 18 years old when she went on her first skydive. Melanie also runs a group called the VSC (virtual skydiving coach) which helps new skydivers entering the sport. Melanie has been skydiving for 23 years and her first skydive still motivates her and essentially changed her for the better. She helps others have a mindset shift between what we are capable of doing and what is possible. I thought bringing Melanie onto the show would be a great idea because she is a life coach and helps people overcome fear and employ courage. Melanie Curtis and Jason Moleski, professional and world-renowned skydivers started a new podcast called Trust the Journey. That’s the start of my story, but I wanted to bring someone I highly respect in the skydiving world on the show to talk about her first time skydiving, Melanie Curtis. Gail’s first time skydiving in Lake Wales, Florida I’ll save my learning to skydive story for another day, but it’s a good one, I promise. I learned to skydive (which didn’t come naturally). I had found a community… an adventure community and I realized I wanted to be one of them, and so I did. One by one the skydivers left the fire and started to retreat into their tents and trailers at the dropzone. As I sat there listening to the crackling fire and the skydiving adventure stories, I realized I had found a special group of people. Skydivers gathered around the fire and started telling adventure stories and their ‘oh sh&*% moments’. As people finished skydiving for the day, they went over to a fire pit. At the end of my 2nd tandem, and decided to hang out at the dropzone (skydiving center) longer. Once we landed, I signed up to go for a 2nd tandem skydive. I started smiling and laughing in freefall. When I felt the wind at my face in freefall, I realized that skydiving was not so scary after all. We saw earth, sky, earth, sky, earth, sky, then earth again. I will never forget being in the back of the Twin Otter strapped to my instructor and doing a backflip out of the plane. My first time skydiving started in Lake Wales, Florida outside of Orlando. I have over 400 skydives and I started skydiving when I was 20 years old. Skydiving has always been near and dear to my heart. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Email | RSS | More A View Into the World of Skydiving Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 51:03 - 70.1MB) | Embed
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