Skydiving thrill for first-timers

Up, up, away! … Thrill seekers get an adrenaline rush by skydiving over the Bloemfontein city skyline guided by experienced jumpers from Sky Diving Central social club.

With extreme leisure activities becoming a popular pastime for many in the country, skydiving is fast becoming a must-do on many people’s bucket lists.

Sky Diving Central is a social club for those passionate about skydiving. Situated at the Tempe Airport outside Bloemfontein, the club has over 60 daredevil members.
The club is amongst only a few skydiving clubs in the country and offers skydiving at all levels of experience.

According to thrill seekers, this adrenaline-driven sport must be tried at least once as it guarantees to change a person’s life forever.

Sky Diving Central offers a range of jumps that are all aimed at giving members a full skydiving experience. They have tandem skydives, static line courses, accelerated free-fall courses, and progressive free-fall training.

Tandem skydives are usually the entry point for first time skydivers. This is a popular choice for many because it involves the skydiver jumping along with a tandem instructor who has over 1 000 hours under
his belt.

Seasoned skydivers can participate in formation skydiving, a more challenging form of skydiving that can only be attempted by experienced jumpers.
“I always encourage the people interested in skydiving to start with tandem skydive. This will give you a good feel of what sky diving is all about. It will help you see if you have got the guts to do it – whether you enjoy sky diving or whether you want to do it as a sport. After doing the tandem skydive, it is easier to decide if you want to make the experience a once-off or a lifetime journey,” said tandem instructor and photographer, Jaco van
der Merwe.

During a tandem jump, the participant will receive a few minutes ground training after which they are strapped into a harness with a tandem instructor who will jump out of an aircraft from approximately three kilometres above ground.

“After a free-fall of up to 40 seconds, the instructor will deploy the parachute and you will fly down the last kilometre-and-a-half or so with him (still safely strapped in) to do a soft landing next to our clubhouse,” explains the club on its website.

Participants in the static line progression programme attend a course that usually starts on a Friday evening and finishes on a Saturday morning. They then jump out of the aircraft on their own from approximately one kilometre above the ground.

“This is done under supervision and with the assistance of a jumpmaster. A static line connected to the aircraft will activate deployment of the parachute, which you will fly down to a soft landing at the designated landing zone.”

Sky Dive Central is currently run by a group of businessmen who come from different working backgrounds, but possess a common passion for skydiving. They are jeweller Johan Laubscher, clinical physiologist Francois Cross, civil engineer Marco du Preez, IT specialist and chief instructor Chris De Jager, and Laurel Fethacher who is both an army major and a tandem instructor.

Tandem skydives are usually the entry point for first time skydivers. This is a popular choice for many because it involves the skydiver jumping along with a tandem instructor who has over 1 000 hours under his belt.
Skydivers regularly are seen in the skies above Bloemfontein when they fly in and land at rugby or cricket games, schools, churches, and special events. The club recently partnered with the Chevrolet Knights Cricket Team where they regularly do jumps during matches. They have also skydived during the Macufe Cup.

The club operates on Saturdays and public holidays, but jumps can also be arranged for during the week.

Seasoned skydivers can participate in formation skydiving, a more challenging form of skydiving that can only be attempted by experienced jumpers. The club believes in making each sky dive a memorable experience through documenting the occasion.

“When first time skydivers take the full package, they get filmed and footage is taken of their dives. Divers can show their friends and family the videos and still pictures of themselves floating in the sky,” said Cross.