[Overpaid Slacker]

First off, is there a "perfectly functioning" airplane?

Yes, I've jumped -- static line first time -- and loved it! That "stomach-in-your-throat" feeling of the first few seconds of fall is great.

We were instructed by a guy who walked with a pronounced limp -- because he turned his chute too near the ground (to avoid power lines). You don't notice the acceleration in downward V when you're at altitude, but stalling one part of the foil, too close to the ground, will whip you into the ground. Hard.

I remember feeling like this huge planet was falling at me and not vice versa.

JP