• First jump: August 1999
• Licenses:
  • A-36474
  • D-25407
• Ratings:
  • USPA Coach
• Jumps:
  • Overall: 800
  • Video: 355
  • Freefly: 275
  • RW: 125
  • Birdman: 35
• Freefall Time: 16 hours

The idea of skydiving never entered my mind until 1989 during my first year of college at Virginia Tech. Two friends of mine made a skydive one saturday, and that night they could just not stop smiling. Every ten minutes or so they would give each other a high-five and yell "We jumped out of an airplane today! Wooohooo!"

I didn't entertain the thought again until 10 years later, when I met Mark Smith while working at UUNET. We became friends quickly and I soon discovered that he worked at Skydive Virginia on the weekends. After about 6 months of talking about it, I knew I would make a jump--I just didn't know when.

After a very long and hard week in August, 1999, I was extremely frustrated and needed some cheering up. Mark said, "Hey, you know what will make you feel better? Skydiving!"

Boy was he right! It is impossible to put into words just how it feels. I relived my Tandem jump (with Mike Graham) every time I watched my video over the next week or so. It is amazing how all the sensations come back so quick and so vividly when watching yourself do your first jump. See the video here.

About 6 months later I did my second Tandem jump with Alan Preble, and about 5 months after that I went through the AFF program. With the exposure to skydiving continually at work (since I share an office with Mark), and some great instruction from the staff at Skydive Virginia, the AFF course was a snap. I graduated the AFF program in just three weekends, passing all levels with just one jump each.

Jumping continually over the next 5 months, I managed to refine my skills quicker than I could have ever imagined. Nothing is better than practice! Now I have the opportunity to help others relive their jump by shooting freefall video.

Recently, I had the opportunity to help a JMU Audio/Visual student help prepare footage for a DVD project for the school. I shot the video footage for some of his training and all of his freefall. If you happen to see this DVD from JMU, you can see some more of my handiwork!

I also have recently had my video footage shown on a National Geographic Today segment. Several members of the National Geographic Today team came out to Skydive Virginia to do a video journal of skydiving. They came out and did a Tandem jump and an AFF level 1 jump. I was lucky enough to get the job of being their freefall videographer! The segment turned out great, and I got my proper credit at the end of it. (Was that my 15 minutes of fame?)

In 2001, our VPC team (Funnel Fighters) took first place in the intermediate category. We didnt have many teams to compete against, but it was fun anyway.

This year, I was again responsible for the production of the Year-End video. Along with tons of help from my skydiving girlfriend, Bettina, we put together a terrific 2 hour video of skydiving and silly antics. Premiered at the 2002 Christmas Party, the video was received with rave reviews. If you want to see what our dropzone is all about, why not get one? Email me for details.
VA Freefly Record Attempt: Bobby P has invited me on the Virginia State (unofficial) Freefly record attempt he is organizing. Wow, what an honor! I'll keep you posted as to our progress.