SkyDive Day Friday 7th August

In Aid of
Hi Everyone,

Well, We Did It!!! :-) Take a look below to find out how the day went and what it feels like to Jump out of a plane!

Photo by Mark Wells of Logic Video

On Friday 7th August, 16 anxious looking, first-time skydivers arrived at Old Buckenham Airfield near Attleborough in Norfolk. The Briefing was scheduled for 9am and with the sky very overcast, there were rumours that the dive may not go ahead. This brought a short lived look of relief to some of the faces. Following the brief, we were then told to be back at the 'take off' point in an hour. This gave us chance to descend on the cafeteria for a calming cup of tea. At 10.30am and with the sky clearing, we were divided into 4 loads. The loads consisted of the divers, their instructors and the cameramen. The first load boarded the aircraft and as the rest of us looked on in anticipation, it took off up into the sky. The climb to 10000ft takes approximately 20 minutes, at which point we heard the first parachutes opening above the clouds. There was a cheer and some light release of anxiousness, as the first divers came gliding through the blanket of cloud, landing safely back on the ground. As they walked from the 'drop zone' towards their family and friends , the smile on their faces said it all. There were words like 'amazing', 'woohoo', and 'I want to do it again'. This certainly eased the nerves of those still waiting to jump.

Then I heard my name called. I got myself into a jump suit and was then strapped very tightly into a harness. 14 people then squeezed themselves into the light aircraft ready for the ascent. My instructor gave me another briefing on the way up and I could now feel my heart pumping. The view between the clearing white clouds over the Norfolk countryside was fantastic and helped take my mind off the inevitable for a short while. The door of the plane was opened and my camerman was now hanging out of it ready to film. My instructor and I now moved toward the door. Oh no, this was it, I was about to jump out of a perfectly working aeroplane. 1 2 3 GO.... 'Waahoo', I had now left a perfectly working plane and was falling though the sky at around 140mph. The sound and the feeling of the wind rushing past was phenomenal. The cameraman was in front of me , so I gave him the thumbs up and a wave. And then, wooosh, he disappeared beneath us and all went still and silent, as the parachute opened above us. It was at this point I remembered I was frightened of heights and there I was hanging around at 5000ft, with everything below looking so small and insignificant. It was so peaceful and calm gliding back towards earth. As we got closer I waved to my family who looked ecstatic to see me land safely in the drop zone, just as I was. Skydiving is the most craziest, extreme experience ever, going from the noise and rush of falling at such speed to the calmness and serenity of floating along with the clouds.

The staff, instructors and cameramen at UK Parachuting were very friendly and helpful, although slightly mad. I suppose in this sport that helps. The whole day was a huge success with photos being regularly broadcast on twitter. Everyone enjoyed it and not forgetting it was all for 4 great causes. I would like to give a massive thank you to all the skydivers -

Jas Sandhu, Jon Wells, Daz Shaw, Ricky Aspinal, Rob Daubney, Annie Gates, Dave Orrey, Jordan Kingsley, Bob Robinson, Rebecca Robertson, Howard Edwards, Maggie MacDonald, Prash Patel, Andy Kitching and Paul Garrigan.

as without them we wouldn't have raised over £3500 for the charities. Also a big thank you to all those that sponsored them and everyone else that has donated so far.

THANK YOU

This was the first of the 3 dangerous events I am attempting to pull off, to raise a total of £10,000. 1 down 2 to go and over a 3rd of the way there to raising the the full amount.

You can make a donation Right Now by clicking on the button below

Thankyou

There was one slight hitch on the day and that was the twitter updates. For some reason the pictures were broadcast but the twitter comments were not. This was a shame as those following on twitter would have had more information as to what was happening had these gone live as well.

There will be a video of the day available to watch later in the week, as long as the editing goes to plan. I would like to also thank Mark Wells of Logic Video for filming the happenings on the ground.

So that's that out the way, Phew! Check back at the end of the week and the video should be live.

All the best,

Rich