Mark Folkmann sits on the floor in a hangar at Boone Municipal Airport. He is removing the tandem parachute and harness strapped to his body. As he unlatches the last of the straps, he looks up in the direction of Mike Reger, a newly-established jumper fresh off his maiden plunge.

“Think you don’t get some adrenaline going?” Folkmann says in his rough, scruffy and zealous voice. Folkmann holds up his trembling hand. “And I’ve done this before.”

Moments earlier, Reger, 20, of Ames, was strapped to the front of Folkmann, soaring, plunging, spinning and ripping through the air at speeds of up to 140 mph as the two dropped 9,500 feet back down to earth.

“Hey Joe,” Folkmann yells across the hangar to Joe Tryon, Reger’s friend, who was a virgin leaper just ten minutes ago.

“Was that like a rollercoaster?”

“No,” Tryon said. “Rollercoasters suck now.”

Folkmann works for Accelerated FreeFall Iowa, Inc., a skydiving setup run out of a hangar at Boone Municipal Airport, a mile off Interstate 30, which has been catering to the skydiving hungers of students and central Iowans for 20 years.

The typically cold industrial feeling of an airport hanger is definitely not felt here. The “guard” dog, Bouncer, is tied to a small trailer sitting outside the hangar. The walls are donned with colorful open parachutes, an American flag and a cardinal and gold ISU banner.

Carpeting laid throughout the hangar soaks up the chatter and airport noises, eliminating any chance of an echo. The large western-style sofa facing the VCR television setup encourages sitting back, relaxing and enjoying the cool summer morning.

But there is skydiving to be done.

Next on tap are two more first-timers as green as the grass outside the hangar. Casey Smith, incoming freshman in business, and Anna Horst, incoming open-option freshman, are helped into their harnesses by Folkmann and Hashem Hashemi-Toroghi, the charismatic owner of Accelerated FreeFall Iowa, Inc., who could convince an aviophobic with a fear of heights to skydive.

Once Smith and Horst are securely braced in their harnesses, Folkmann and Hashemi-Toroghi review the dive maneuvers and techniques with them. Smith lies stomach down on the floor of the hangar.

“Show me the arch,” Folkmann says.

Smith’s lifts his arms and legs into position and a smile appears across his face.

“Bend your knees a little bit more,” Folkmann says.

Now it’s Horst’s turn. She goes belly down on the ground and repeats Smith’s moves.

Hashemi-Toroghi and Folkmann quiz Smith and Horst on hand signals and run down the landing procedure, reviewing the touchdown step-by-step.

Before they depart, Hashemi-Toroghi gives some last minute reminders to Horst and Smith:

Try to be relaxed.

Breathe in the air. Don’t hold your breath. You’ll get sick.

Make sure you leave us alone. We will leave you alone.

We will be attached, but make sure you never grab our arms, bite us, or anything like that.

You can scream as loud as you want to.

Hashemi-Toroghi tilts his harness and tandem parachute onto one corner and with a single burst of energy, hoists the 50-pound pack onto his back. This harness and chute is a far cry from the 18-pound parachute he wears while jumping by himself.

The four head out of the hangar toward the plane.

Hashemi-Toroghi has been skydiving for the last 28 years. He opened Accelerated FreeFall Iowa, Inc., in 1983. This tandem jump with Smith will bring his career dive tally to 11,384 jumps.

“I am 52 years old, and I go as fast as some of these guys who are 20, 22 years old,” Hashemi-Toroghi said.

Hashemi-Toroghi holds three official world records for skydiving. In 1983, he was part of a record group formation jump of 72 people. In 1988, another group formation of 144 people. And another In 1998 with 246 people. Out at the plane, Folkmann runs through the jumping procedure a couple more times with both Horst and Smith.

Smith says he is not feeling too bad about the jump.

“I’ll probably freak out once we get in the air,” he said.

The engine of the single propeller plane is revved up by “Captain Jack” Moreland and starts down the runway.

About 15 minutes later, the plane flies directly over the hanger at 9,500 feet.

The tiny speck that is Horst and Folkmann is barely visible from the ground. They are followed soon after by the small speck that is Smith and Hashemi-Toroghi.

Although they can barely be seen, Folkmann belts out a spirited “Woohoo!” which is clearly heard as it tears through the air from 8,500 feet. As they glide down, Hashemi-Toroghi takes Smith for some spins.

Folkmann belts out another “Woohoo!” as he and Horst descend closer followed by a quick excited scream from Horst. They did not nail the landing exactly as planned. Horst and Folkmann hit the ground running, attempt to take a few controlled steps before the two tumble forward.

Five seconds later, both get up smiling. Folkmann gathers up the parachute and the two head back toward the hangar.

Smith and Hashemi-Toroghi nail their landing.

“It’s quite a rush,” Casey said. “My ears are still poppin.'”

Smith admits he did not “freak out” when the plane got in the air, but it was “really, really intense,” he said, when the door was opened.

Horst seemed to take the jump in stride.

“It’s different,” she said. “You can’t even imagine what it is like until you do it.”

“I wasn’t even nervous. It was weird.”

Folkmann comes back over, takes her hand and puts it up next to his hand. The adrenaline has Folkmann’s hand trembling once again. Horst’s hand is still.

“She’s a rock,” Folkmann exclaims.

“All right guys. Congratulations. Welcome to skydiving,” he said. “You know what it’s all about now.”

Mark has performed more than 5,800 skydives in his 18-year skydiving career. His first jump took place with Hashemi-Toroghi and Accelerated FreeFall Inc. in 1985.

“It’s so much fun — there is not many things I can think of I’d rather do,” he said.

His jump suit is a mix of cardinal and yellow, the colors of Iowa State.

“I still don’t have any money, even though I make a little bit doing it, because it all goes back in [to jumps], but it helps offset the cost of the jumps,” Folkmann said.

“It’s just one of those things where I don’t think everybody should be a skydiver, you know, do it all the time like we do. But the experience-everybody should see what it is like, even if you only do it once.