music city skydiving, Waverly

The roar of Music City Skydiving's plane quickly fades away as instructor and student, thoroughly strapped together, plummet downward. Plummet is an apt word; during the initial minute-long free fall dive, tandem divers reach speeds of up to 120 miles per hour. Such velocity makes for a quick descent from the 14,000-foot starting point. The instructor pulls the parachute with plenty of time to spare, though, and the pair gets up to seven minutes to soak up middle Tennessee views as they drift to earth. Even first time divers get the chance to steer the parachute, riding the winds safely back to earth. The whole experience lasts somewhere around 10 minutes from leap to landing, but the instructors (experienced divers all) are always headed back up for another go.