On the Forum I have read a lot of interesting posts comparing the FGT to various other cars. However, in my opinion speed is speed. A love of real speed transfers over all boundaries. For some it means crossing over into motorcycles, boats or aircraft. Well, when I was younger my lust for speed and adventure took me to what I thought would be the ultimate way to experience speed….skydiving. For three and a half years between my first and second businesses I did it full time as an instructor as well as doing a few television shoots and I still continue to jump today. (Took the GT to the drop zone last weekend, naturally it created quite a stir) So I feel that I have a somewhat unique perspective as a GT owner and a skydiver with over 3,300 jumps. So, for the entertainment of my fellow Forum members I offer you a comparison of the thrills of driving the GT versus excitement of skydiving.
During the average skydive you reach terminal velocity (120mph is the rate of descent for a stable body) in twelve seconds. There is no stomach drop sensation like you experience on a roller coaster ride when you leave the aircraft on your first skydive. What you do feel is complete sensory overload. It feels very fast immediately, the roar of the wind envelops your body while your mind :eek is desperately struggling to keep up with what is happening to you for the 60-70 seconds of freefall until…wham, the parachute opens and the world starts to return to normal. You (or in the case of a tandem jump you and your jumpmaster) pilot yourself under parachute safely to the ground.
The GT will do a quarter mile in under twelve seconds (well under for the modded GT set) and apparently creates sensory overload as well due to all the salvaged and wrecked GT’s out there that I have read and heard about. Personally, I have always found driving a car at speed a little more intense because you are so close to the ground. I will say that the GT is more than impressive in how it handles at speed. Definitely made to be driven fast. (once you become more experienced jumping you can move all over the sky with insanely fun manuevers, but another story for another day) In skydiving I exit the aircraft between 12-13 thousand feet and open my parachute by 2,500 feet so I have time to deal with any problems that may occur. Problems are rare (I have used my reserve parachute twice in 3,300 jumps, once during a Tandem with a student and once on my personal gear) and when they do happen the training you have received totally prepares you for what happens. Injuries are actually pretty rare in skydiving but obviously can be dramatic…think of all the photos we have seen of GT’s getting a rhinoplasty. Just like with the GT, this usually occurs when people are trying to do things during a jump/parachute ride that their experience level does not warrant.
Finally I will address the question that everyone loves. Top Speed. The GT will do in excess of 200mph. (Personally I have only got to 165 so far….still feeling her out) In skydiving, however, you can go a bit faster. If you take a tracking position upon exiting the aircraft (Picture a lawn jart heading towards the ground with your head as the point :biggrin) you can achieve speeds in excess of 220mph. I did four jumps a couple years ago with an aerial speed tracker on my ankle and I ranged between 217-223mph during freefall. (a couple guys I know heavier than me got into the low 230’s) It is an intense experience. You can feel the acceleration and every nerve ending in your body is hypersensitive. As you near the altitude to deploy your parachute, you flare out into stable body position to decelerate before opening the chute. Under parachute as you gain more experience you can downsize to a smaller parachute (pulley upgrade anyone) to pick up more speed during the canopy ride and for smooth swooping landings. I have to give the edge to skydiving on the topic of top speed due to the fact that you do not have that comforting metal cocoon wrapped around you.
Both skydiving and the GT share a similar trait. The experience gets better the more you do it and it never gets old. I will give the GT this…..when you are in the GT you are in a work of art. I have never jumped out of a plane or helicopter that can match the GT for pure beauty. That said if you have ever thought of making a jump TRY IT! You will not be disappointed. I have taken out over 2,000 people on their first jump, Tandem or solo, and I have never seen anyone not like it. It is the ultimate extreme experience that words cannot adequately explain. :thumbsup
Quick side note. For a commercial I once took a cordless blender in freefall and managed to open the parachute and land without dropping/breaking the blender. In this respect I feel like I have the ability to carry as much cargo on a jump as will fit in the trunks of our GT’s. :lol
During the average skydive you reach terminal velocity (120mph is the rate of descent for a stable body) in twelve seconds. There is no stomach drop sensation like you experience on a roller coaster ride when you leave the aircraft on your first skydive. What you do feel is complete sensory overload. It feels very fast immediately, the roar of the wind envelops your body while your mind :eek is desperately struggling to keep up with what is happening to you for the 60-70 seconds of freefall until…wham, the parachute opens and the world starts to return to normal. You (or in the case of a tandem jump you and your jumpmaster) pilot yourself under parachute safely to the ground.
The GT will do a quarter mile in under twelve seconds (well under for the modded GT set) and apparently creates sensory overload as well due to all the salvaged and wrecked GT’s out there that I have read and heard about. Personally, I have always found driving a car at speed a little more intense because you are so close to the ground. I will say that the GT is more than impressive in how it handles at speed. Definitely made to be driven fast. (once you become more experienced jumping you can move all over the sky with insanely fun manuevers, but another story for another day) In skydiving I exit the aircraft between 12-13 thousand feet and open my parachute by 2,500 feet so I have time to deal with any problems that may occur. Problems are rare (I have used my reserve parachute twice in 3,300 jumps, once during a Tandem with a student and once on my personal gear) and when they do happen the training you have received totally prepares you for what happens. Injuries are actually pretty rare in skydiving but obviously can be dramatic…think of all the photos we have seen of GT’s getting a rhinoplasty. Just like with the GT, this usually occurs when people are trying to do things during a jump/parachute ride that their experience level does not warrant.
Finally I will address the question that everyone loves. Top Speed. The GT will do in excess of 200mph. (Personally I have only got to 165 so far….still feeling her out) In skydiving, however, you can go a bit faster. If you take a tracking position upon exiting the aircraft (Picture a lawn jart heading towards the ground with your head as the point :biggrin) you can achieve speeds in excess of 220mph. I did four jumps a couple years ago with an aerial speed tracker on my ankle and I ranged between 217-223mph during freefall. (a couple guys I know heavier than me got into the low 230’s) It is an intense experience. You can feel the acceleration and every nerve ending in your body is hypersensitive. As you near the altitude to deploy your parachute, you flare out into stable body position to decelerate before opening the chute. Under parachute as you gain more experience you can downsize to a smaller parachute (pulley upgrade anyone) to pick up more speed during the canopy ride and for smooth swooping landings. I have to give the edge to skydiving on the topic of top speed due to the fact that you do not have that comforting metal cocoon wrapped around you.
Both skydiving and the GT share a similar trait. The experience gets better the more you do it and it never gets old. I will give the GT this…..when you are in the GT you are in a work of art. I have never jumped out of a plane or helicopter that can match the GT for pure beauty. That said if you have ever thought of making a jump TRY IT! You will not be disappointed. I have taken out over 2,000 people on their first jump, Tandem or solo, and I have never seen anyone not like it. It is the ultimate extreme experience that words cannot adequately explain. :thumbsup
Quick side note. For a commercial I once took a cordless blender in freefall and managed to open the parachute and land without dropping/breaking the blender. In this respect I feel like I have the ability to carry as much cargo on a jump as will fit in the trunks of our GT’s. :lol
