Mission Accomplished!

Wednesday 24th July dawned bright and sunny again here in Folkestone, but more importantly it wasn't windy.  Since my non-skydive the previous Friday, July 19th, I'd had mixed feelings about the re-run to be honest.  There was no way I was going to back out, there was far too much money riding on it for one thing, but more importantly, if I say I'm going to do something, I do it.  However, that didn't stop me having occasional thoughts of 'What the f**k am I doing?' and being completely freaked out at the thought of being 12,000 feet up in the air and attached only to a guy with a backpack on, which hopefully contained a working parachute.  For someone who can't bear walking out on a pier and seeing the sea through the planks of wood, or standing at the window of a building above three floors to admire the view, this was a majorly big deal.  But in amongst the doubts and fears, there were also times when I was really looking forward to doing it.  Everyone I'd spoken to who had been skydiving themselves told me I'd love it, that it was amazing and surely they couldn't all be wrong or lying, could they?

Well, in the grand scheme of things I didn't have long to find out.  I deposited daughter number three at an archaeological dig and collected daughter number one and set off to Headcorn, where we met up with my parents, enjoying another day out!  There was the inevitable waiting around, but this time only because there were other jumpers ahead of me.  Anyway, to cut a long story short, just before 15:00 (3:00 pm to those of you who, like me, prefer the British version of telling the time) I got the call to get kitted up and met my tandem partner, Clem, for the first time.  He cracked a lot of jokes, starting by saying he was nervous.  Not the best thing to say to someone who actually is nervous!  Imagine if my command of the English language and understanding of humour had been less than good, I might have changed my mind about the whole thing.  So I got a lovely purple jumpsuit and hat, complete with goggles, to put on and then get strapped into the harness, which was surprisingly heavy.  Clem showed me how to tighten the harness and put the hat and goggles on and then he tightened the harness properly - cue camel toe!  I'd booked a video and photos, so Holly, my camera woman, did a brief pre-jump interview with both me and Clem, who announced that the reason he was there was to do Hobnobs.  Nervous laughter all round - I wasn't sure how else to respond to that!  We set off to the plane, well a light aircraft really (another first -I'd never been in one of those before either) and had a photo outside, before climbing inside.  We were the first inside, so that meant we'd be the last out.  One by one all the other instructors and tandem skydivers like me filed in.  Clem and I were sat on a bench, some of the others were on the floor and it was a pretty fit.  From the bench I could see out of the window of the Cessna, which was good and bad - it would take us 15-20 minutes to get to 12,000 feet, so it was good to be able to look out at something, but there was also my fear of heights to contend with.  Now whilst I'm not a regular flyer, I'm not scared of flying, but then remember I'd never been in a plane like this before.  Clem was brilliant and talked me through everything I could expect, so I was prepared for a little turbulence, but the plane didn't feel particularly solid or safe at times and when we banked to circle the airfield it was a little scarey.  But the rest of the time the view was phenomenal - I could see Ashford, Canterbury, Folkestone, Maidstone, Bewl Water, Beachy Head and miles of trees, fields, roads and railway lines.  Clem kept me posted on our altitude by showing me his altitude meter every 1000 feet.  I would have preferred to just take his word for it rather than have to see it on the dial, particularly when we got to 12,000 feet and had to circle the airfield again whilst waiting for clearance from Air Traffic Control both in Headcorn and in London.  It wasn't long before the door cover was slid back - time to put hats and goggles on and final adjustments and checks on the harnesses were made.  I should point out that by this time we were hooked together and from 10,000 feet I'd been sitting on Clem's lap, which made a change from being between his legs!  Two experienced single skydivers went first, then the other two tandem pairs, both of whom were also being filmed.  Finally it was our turn and we edged towards the open door.  Holly went out first and clung on to the outside of the plane, the camera on her helmet filming us.  Clem sat on the edge of the plane, with me dangling outside, a quick smile as I folded my arms across my body, gripping my sleeves for dear life and tipping my head back and then we were out.  I'd been worrying about swearing, but I kept it to a short scream, which is apparently good - you're exhaling, so then you'll naturally start to inhale.  The first few seconds were awful as we somersaulted over, with a twist thrown in for good measure, in Tom Daley-esque fashion, but once we'd levelled out and adopted freefall position it was absolutely amazing.  Totally awesome, incredible, something I can't really put into words.  The view was out of this world and it was a somewhat bizarre feeling.  Holly was in front of me filming away and Clem above me pretending to swim amongst other things, but the strange thing was there was absolutely no concept of falling or moving at all.  It was as though we were still, the air below us appearing to hold us up and counteracting the gravity pulling us downwards - I wish I'd paid more attention  in physics lessons!  It didn't seem possible that we were travelling at around 120 mph.  There was also no concept of time - I couldn't tell you how long we were in freefall for; it felt neither a long time, nor a short time, just timeless.  Clem pulled our ripcord before Holly, so that she could capture the moment our canopy opened as she continued to fall below us.  She then opened her parachute and reached the ground before us, so that she could film our descent.  Once the canopy was open it was relatively easy to get my bearings and sight the airfield still some way below us.  I had a go at steering the parachute, including doing some sharp spiral turns - the other part of the proceedings I wasn't keen on.  Then before long we were approaching the ground, so it was into landing position, which basically meant holding your legs up out of the way until touching down on terra firma.  Once down, more filming and photos and then we were rounded up by the minibus and driven back to base to get out of the harness, hat, goggles and suit.  My certificate was waiting for me and I then had a short wait, with a cup of tea, for my video and photos.

It was such a fantastic experience and I still can't quite believe that I actually did it and am now a provisional member of the British Parachute Association.  Initially I wasn't sure if I would do it again if the chance arose, but as time's gone on I can definitely say that I would.  It was out of this world and a real privilege to be able to do something a little out of the ordinary.  

I don't normally include photos of my Fifty Firsts - you can always find them on Facebook or Twitter, but I think this calls for an exception to be made.