A tandem skydive is the perfect way for a first time jumper to experience the excitement and rush of skydiving while in the safe hands of an instructor. The instructor will guide you through the whole jump ensuring that you are safe and protected for the whole time. You will need minimal instruction to participate in this style of skydive, but still get all of the feelings and emotions of a traditional skydive.
Skydiving has become one of the most popular ways to spend a day for thrill seekers looking for an amazing adrenaline rush. On arrival, you will be guided through the safety elements of the tandem skydive, and you will need to attend a classroom session.
During this time you will be taught the basic elements to skydive, and what will be expected of you whilst up in the air. You will learn how to pull the ripcord, and steer your parachute as well as the essential landing. Every element that you will be taught is just like a professional would go through on their skydiving jumps. Although you will have an instructor with you, it is always useful to understand what to do if you were jumping on your own.
The instructor is often only there to ensure that you are happy and comfortable, and that you deploy the parachute at exactly the right time. A tandem skydive is the ideal way to see if you actually do love the feeling of skydiving before going on to further training to be able to jump on your own. Once you have gone through the basic training, it will be time to leave the classroom, and head for the skies. You will be taken up to 14,000 ft where you will be asked if you are happy to continue. Once you feel happy and ready you will jump, and experience roughly 65 seconds of freefall.
Leaving the plane and actually skydiving is an amazing rush of adrenaline, as you will feel like no feeling you have ever had before. Exciting the plane at the same speed as it is travelling, which is approximately 120mph. You will be questioning why you just stepped out of a perfectly good plane, and are now effectively plummeting towards the ground. Many people on their first tandem skydive forget to look around, and experience the amazing sights that you will see. At 6,000 feet, you will begin your decent back to earth, and all the training regarding deploying the parachute needs to be remembered.
For a split second as your parachute is deployed, you will feel a sensation in your stomach, but this passes very quickly. It is often referred to as the elevator feeling, as it is very similar to when you step in an elevator. You will be able to spend the last few moments of your tandem skydive enjoying everything around you before you make a graceful landing. Skydiving can become quite addictive, and many people do it as often as they can. Once you have got back onto solid ground you will receive your logbook proving that you did your first tandem skydive.
About the author: Gerald Weber did his first tandem skydive in Sept of 2000 and received his A license #A-40092 that same year. He can often be found skydiving at his home Dropzone, Skydive Spaceland in Rosharon, TX which is just on the outskirts of Houston.