People of Charlotte, please meet Roman Brown! Roman's story will either inspire fear or courage, but we are hoping for the latter. Sometimes we just need to make the jump (literally), in order to get over our fears.
Now let's get to know Roman's story!
We hear you jump out of airplanes! How many jumps have you logged?
Yes! I started skydiving summer of 2019 and immediately got hooked. After 100 jumps, I stopped counting, but my jumps probably log around 200 by now!
When was your first tandem dive? First solo dive?
I did my first tandem May of 2019. My friend really wanted me to just go right into solo, but I wasn’t quite ready for that jump just yet. However, I ended up doing a solo jump two weeks later.
You are now a certified skydiver. What was the process like to get certified?
It’s pretty simple actually! Anyone can sign up to take the first jump class (about 6 hours in a classroom), then you go right up for your first solo jump. You have to accomplish 25 solo jumps before you are actually certified, but it isn’t too difficult—mostly a lot of fun.
Does Charlotte have a community for skydivers to connect?
I am actually not aware of any Charlotte specific groups or community pages. There probably aren’t enough skydivers just in Charlotte for anyone to start one—so start jumping!
Any other interesting skydiving facts?
A common thing people think is that you are going to get a huge stomach drop like on a roller coaster. You actually don’t get that at all because the plane is moving forward as you jump out, so you are moving more forward than down at first which eliminates that feeling. Normal fall speeds are about 120mph, but you can easily get over 200mph if you go head down or feet down!
With extreme sports, there are usually some unplanned outcomes. Any stories?
One time our plane caught on fire and was having issues in the air, so we had to jump out very low and about 7 miles from the landing area! It’s pretty scary when you aren’t at the landing area because it can be difficult to find a safe spot to land. Even when you think a spot looks clear, it could have power lines, fences, hills, holes, etc that are almost impossible to see from so high up, until it’s too late. I ended up landing fine, but I was in a field with bulls, surrounded by an electric fence and didn’t have my phone. I had to jump over the fence, then hiked a few miles until I found a lady mowing her grass. She ended up giving me a ride back and everyone, and the plane, ended up being okay!
How can people connect with you to go on a skydiving adventure?
Follow or get in touch with me via Facebook or Instagram @romanbrown44. You’ll notice that I like to mix it up with other extreme sports as well!
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