Skydiving had so many hidden self-learnings. 🪂🛩️
Sometime in March 2020, I came across a few videos of Skydive on Instagram followed by which, a series of flashbacks from my Tandem Skydive…
Sometime in March 2020, I came across a few videos of Skydive on Instagram followed by which, a series of flashbacks from my Tandem Skydive in 2012 came up! It gave such a euphoric feeling that I decided to pursue Skydiving as an hobby, and AFF (Accelerated Free Fall) course was the first step towards it. Skipping through the years of pandemic 😝 , in February 2022, I booked the AFF course in Skydive Spain!
The first day at Skydive Spain (SDS) was the ground school where I was taught a lot about the aircraft, equipments, about the different parts of skydiving — freefall, canopy control, landing procedures and most importantly safety procedures. The instructors at SDS put a lot of focus on repeating the procedures via simulations again and again on ground. After a certain point my “over-confidence” kicked in and it seemed silly to repeat the procedures so many times on the ground. Little did I realise how important it is, till after my first dive. During freefall, most of the things you do is instinctive, much like driving a car. Most of the actions are performed by muscle memory, while the conscious brain is busy processing a new environment. It’s only then I realised the power of repetition and the impact our sub-conscious mind can have on our actions.
The following day, I woke up early and looked at the skies. It was blue with almost no clouds, making me both excited and nervous in anticipation! My level of nervousness constantly kept increasing as I wore my rig (container with parachutes), moved to the boarding area, and climbed up into the airplane. Going up to 15000ft takes almost 15–20 mins in the airplane. On the ride up, naturally my mind tried to get more worked up, but I could see a visible difference on the face of AFF students as compared to experienced skydivers in the plane. The experienced skydivers were super excited, happy and energetic all the way up to 15000 ft — talks a lot about how the experience is going to be!
At approximately 12000 ft, we did a final gear check (It’s called 3x3 check). At 15000 ft, the speed of the plane is lowered, the pilot gives a green signal and the door opens. Cold air rushes in and I realised this is the moment! The experienced skydivers (who plan to pull their parachute at a lower altitude) jumped out first, followed by which a couple of AFF students jumped and I knew it is my turn! Naturally my heart-beat started rising. My instructor, Davide, showed me the hand signal to breath and relax and I moved to the edge of the plane. I stood on the door looking at the clouds below and our planet Earth :P. I could feel the wind gushing past my face and the entire body! I looked at the wing of the airplane, started exit procedures of checking in for readiness with both my instructors …… and took the leap of faith …..
For the first 2–3 seconds, my mind was processing what just happened, followed by which I got (somewhat ?!) stable flying on my belly. All the feelings of fear and anticipation evaporated instantly and I realised this is the most beautiful feeling I have ever experienced! I was fully aware of my surroundings and flying in the air! As per the plan, I had completed three practice pulls and checked my altitude. I was at ~9000ft knowing that I still had some time before I would pull my parachute (planned at 6000 ft). I started looking at the horizon enjoying the breathtaking views of the puffy clouds. But guess what?! within 5 seconds my instructor shows me the hand signal of “watch your altimeter” and I have already dropped to 6500ft! Wow! That was when I realised how fast we lost altitude during a freefall.
At 6000 ft, I opened my parachute and both my instructors tracked away to keep a safe distance. That was the first time I realised I am solely responsible for myself 5000 ft above the ground. The words of my instructor from ground school rang in my ears “It’s you under your canopy! 🤷🏻♂️” As per the training, I quickly took control of the toggles, observed my surroundings, moved left & right to check the movement of parachute. I oriented myself relative to the ground and moved towards the drop-zone. I had another 5 minutes before starting the landing pattern at 1500 ft. Under the canopy I took some time to soak up the scenery — the beautiful houses, fancy cars moving on the tar and muddy roads and the airplane (I had jumped from) landing on the runway below (! not directly below me). I followed the landing pattern (which is like a highway of parachuters) and safely landed on the ground with some help from my instructors over the radio. The busy mixture of emotions in the last 15 minutes made me feel supremely lifted and uber relaxed on the ground.
The following levels of the AFF course increased my hold on skydiving on a stepwise basis.
In level 2 — I was required to do a left and a right turn during free-fall.
Level 3 was the most interesting — as this was the first time both my instructors left me and I was supposed to free-fall on your my own maintaining stability.
Level 4 onwards I had only one instructor, Saray, with me during my free-fall. In level 4 — I was supposed to turn 90 degrees left and right on my own.
Level 5 is similar to level 4 where I had to turn 360 degrees both sides this time.
By the time I reached level 6 — I already had a hold of aircraft exit procedures, my mind was much more relaxed while going up in the airplane, my free-fall stability was much better, mind was trained to look at the altimeter very frequently, my canopy control and landing as well was much smoother.
The last level (level 7) is the most interesting, as this time I was on my own from exit of airplane to landing, my instructor, Saray, was with me during the jump but she only observed from a distance. In this jump they certify for solo jump as a skydiver!
After completing all the 7 levels of AFF, and paying my beer fines to everyone in the dropzone, I was ready for solo jumps. I had to complete at-least 10 consolidation jumps ( solo jumps ) and AFF level 8 (hop and pop) before getting my BPA A-licence. The first solo jump was a bit scary I must say! Going up in the airplane I realised this is the first time I am jumping without any instructor! I convinced myself that I had been trained well for this and I quickly revised everything for my jump, from the exit, free-fall position, what to do if I get unstable during free-fall, pulling the parachute at the right altitude to emergency procedures. As soon as I left the airplane — it felt complete freedom! I just kept observing the ground, the horizon and kept changing body positions during the freefall!
By the time I was doing my consolidation jump 2 & 3 — the process of wearing my rig, doing the 3x3 check and going up in the airplane to 15000 ft was a very fulfilling and happy experience. I realised I grew exponentially personally and as a skydiver, from where I was 2 weeks back.
Just when I got used to jumping from 15000ft & started missing the adrenaline rush, there is a new exciting challenge to complete — the AFF level 8. This level is designed to give a feel of exiting the airplane at a low altitude as a skydiver. You remember, I used to pull our parachute at 6000 ft during the AFF course? This time I had to jump out of the airplane at 5500ft, wait for 3 seconds and pull my parachute not more than 10 seconds after jumping. It gave a whole new experience to skydiving, where I could visibly see the ground rushing towards me for those few seconds, and after I opened the parachute I could see the airplane disappearing into the clouds at almost my eye-level. Skydiving gave me views from a totally different angle — ones that were beyond my imagination.
A total of 21 jumps down the line, I got my BPA A license! Yaay! 😅 I can’t be more than excited to go to the next step and learn formation skydiving! This entire experience was much more than skydiving! The process of going from 0 dives to 21 dives made me grow as a person!
I realised, with some perseverance and grit, it is possible to conquer any fear and the rewards are enormous with a sense of accomplishment! More specifically, I realised I could be aware and follow instructions under extreme circumstances!
The view from above the clouds falling towards the earth gave me a perspective of how small each one of us is in this enormous planet! It literally and figuratively brings you down to earth.
Skydivers come from all walks of life! Different countries, beliefs, age, etc all with one goal of enjoying the jumps in a safe and responsible manner. Becoming friends with such a varied set of people, with the same passion, gives you the ability to embrace different perspectives.
It is therapeutic — the positive afterglow from skydive has a lasting ripple effect on other aspects of life. In a parallel universe, if Zealth’s office was next to a dropzone, I would go for a skydive every morning before starting my day!
Statutory Warning : Skydiving could be addictive and therefore injurious to your financial health.
