Tandem Skydiving; Your First Parachute Jump - Part Four

A Four Part Series:

*1 Arrival & Sign-up

*2 Preparation

*3 The Plane

*4 Freefall & Landing

 Part Four: Tandem Skydive Freefall and Parachute Landing

At this time you will see skydivers exit the plane and you and
your instructor will be moving towards the door. Once you get to
the door, if you can remember this try to clear your ears again.
Sometimes the pressure gives you a headache once you're on the
ground, this will stop that. So try to remember it. When you
leave the airplane for your tandem skydive you will not feel
like you do on a roller coaster. You probably will not feel
anything in your stomach. Remember when you leave the plane you
are going as fast as the plane.

So now you are in the air, you are skydiving, you did it. You
actually jumped from a perfectly good airplane and you are
flying towards the earth at about 120 miles an hour. You are
having the time of your life. Do not forget while you are flying
to check out the world - it is beautiful. Look all around not
just down. If you have a cameraperson do not forget to geek him
or her.

During your tandem skydive, you will freefall to about 5000 feet
before your instructor opens the parachute. For a split-second
when he or she opens the parachute you will feel a little bit in
your stomach. This is called the elevator affect. After the
parachute is open your instructor will check everything out to
make sure everything is okay. At this time you can talk to your
instructor and ask him or her if you can fly the parachute. Most
likely the instructor will say yes. Flying the parachute is a
lot of fun so do not be afraid to fly. Once you get to about
1000 feet, your instructor will be getting set up to land. You
will need to listen to what your tandem instructor has to say.

When landing the parachute it is critical to keep your feet
raised above your instructor's. You do not want your feet to
touch the ground before your instructor's. This can be bad. Your
instructor will tell you all this as you approach the ground. Do
not let the speed of the canopy bother you on landing. Just
listen to your tandem instructor. Do what he or she tells you to
do and everything will be fine. If you bought video, your
videographer will probably be filming you while you land.

The more you can relax the better the skydive will go. And what
is the number one most important thing to remember? "Have Fun"!!
This is what it is all about, having fun. I have been jumping
for 30 years. I started back in 1974 when skydiving was crazy
and unsafe. The one thing I always remembered is to "Have Fun".
I hope this information will help you on your first tandem
skydive. Blue Skies