Sponsored Tandem Skydive - I've done it!

The day of Saturday September 3rd was forecast to be a beautiful, clear sunny day, ideal for a skydive. As it turned out the morning was grey, overcast and full of grey cloud! Optimistically we set off for Hinton Airfield, near Banbury for my first ever leap out of a plane at 2 and a quarter miles up! A surreal thought, but with around £700 of sponsorship hanging on my going through with it I knew I just had to do it!

By 11.30am while travelling south from Birmingham on the M40 we saw the first SIGNS OF CHANGE as the clouds started to part. By the time we arrived at Hinton at 12 noon the sky was clear!

Once I was booked in and knew I had a couple of hours to wait I realised that I'd got plenty of TIME TO THINK about what I was putting myself through.

By the time 2.30pm came, when it was my turn on board the 7th run of the day I was feeling remarkably calm.

Once I was strapped into my flight suit and had my 15 minutes instructions we were off in the 12 seater plane. It took around 15 minutes to reach the 12,000 feet altitude with TAKE ME HIGHER ringing through my head, and asking myself CAN YOU FACE IT?

As soon as we reached the target altitude the large side door was open and the plane levelled off. The first 4 experienced skydivers were out in seconds. Then another tandem pair shuffled there way to the door and were gone. We were next! Before I knew it I was told to look at the cameraman and then we were away and out of the plane somersaulting into thin air!

All the flight ATF anthems come to mind, like STARFLIGHT, LIKE THE POWER OF A JET, TIMESTAR etc! We were then falling through the sky at 120mph and it took just 40 seconds to drop 7,000 feet! I thought that 40 seconds would seem like 40 years but no, it went very quickly and then we opened our parachute. That was a highlight of the experience with the sudden braking and change of speed. The loud rush of wind stopped and everything suddenly went quiet as we went into SUSPENDED ANIMATION. The next 8 to 10 minutes that we floated down to the ground was great but seemed tame after the freefall!

After been given the chance to steer the parachute on the way down we made a good smooth landing onto our backsides! Not quite as impressive as some others who just landed on their feet.

Once we were down I just wanted to go back up again straight away! It had been scary, but I'd done it and the adrenalin wanted me to do it again! …..one day I might! If you have the slightest inclination to ever attempt it, I certainly recommend it.

A great day and a worthwhile day, having raised £700+, and still rising, for the Naisoya Water Project that ATF have been supporting. Thank you to all of you who have made donations. It's still not too late if you haven't!

Photos at: http://www.portfolioassociates.co.uk/skydive/photogallery.html

Steve Bamford