Written by 7aki Fadi.
Usually in most countries, even currently in Jordan, when you decide to go skydiving they strap you on to a skydiver and you free fall for a good 30 seconds. My experience in Jordan with Royal Parachute and Airsports Club was different; I took daylong course and then did a trial jump the next day. By taking the course, we jump by ourselves. If you like jumping from an airplane, and who doesn’t, you can join the club and jump many more times.
Jumping from airplane and skydiving was one of the most amazing experiences I’ve had. It was so serene jumping from an airplane flying 4000 feet high; so quiet and very peaceful.
We started with the day course. They taught us many things:
– How to position your body while free falling
– How to land
– Of course they teach you how to open the parachute
– And in case of an emergency, they show you how to open the extra parachute
– You get some theory to show you how to steer left or right, how to slow down and how to completely stop
– They teach you how to read the height watch (I am sure it has a technical name) that tracks how high or low you are so you can start steering your parachute and slowing down when you are close to your destination.
Early the next morning, they take you on a quick refresher course of what you learned the previous day. After that refresher then take you up in a little airplane that flew at 4000 feet high.
The airplane we went on did not have a door to jump out of. What happens instead is they link your parachute opener on a special metallic cord on the airplane. They ask you to position yourself facing inside and they simply tell you, JUMP! At this point, its best not to think or pause, because your brain will realize that you are 4,000 feet high and you’ll freeze up and not be able to jump.
Here is an example of what happens if you pause to think: The group we trained with was a mixture of about 8 or 10 people, including four pilots. I remember one of the pilots did so well in the training session – his landing was great, his floating was great – but the next day when it came to the jump he was supposed to go first but he freaked out and said “No, I’ll go second so one of the girls jumped and then he said “No way, I’m not jumping.” And that was the end of it. He would not jump out of the airplane, his friends were taunting him that a girl jumped and he didn’t. I felt sorry for the guy but I couldn’t help laughing at the time; it was hilarious.
Back to the jump: Because your parachute opener is linked to the airplane, as soon as you jump and are roughly six meters from the airplane happily tumbling along – yes, tumbling, it’s very tough on the first try to float like you see in the pictures – your parachute opens and then you slow down and start floating peacefully and serenely. I felt like a bird and I started singing while I floated back to Earth. Glad no one was listening because I think it qualifies as shouting really.
Another concern is that of your family. I had to lie to my mom and tell her I was going for a flying lesson, rather than parachuting out of a plane. Not in a million years would she have let me go. So I took my brother with me just incase, God forbid, the parachute decided not to open I would have family there.
One of the guys who was with us fully yanked his breaks when he was still 2 meters above ground – you are supposed to only fully pull them once your feet almost hit the ground and not a second before. The instructor emphasized this point over and over to make sure we do it at that time – if you fully pull the brakes above the ground you become parallel to the ground. So this guy smacked flat on his back. He was ok, but injured his leg slightly. I was wearing red overalls like the man who pulled his breaks too early and my brother got scared and ran towards him just to find out it wasn’t me.
After we landed, we had to go back to the center where we took off. We were supposed to walk but I felt sorry for my brother because he was sitting there for two hours waiting for me to jump, so I asked the pilot if my brother and I could go on the airplane instead and I told him, “My poor brother was waiting all this time and it would be nice to take him up” so he agreed and it was only my brother, the pilot and I. The kind pilot let me fly the airplane (well just steer it) and I was super excited. My brother was sitting there kind of scared because the airplane had no door and he would not come to the front and fly it. Poor brother, he is only 17 – what I put him through that day!
So, if anybody tells you that Jordan is not exciting, well my friend, it’s that you just need to know where to go and what to do. This is one of many amazing adventures I’ve had in Jordan that you cannot experience in other places.
I went skydiving in Jordan, why don’t you?
Editors note: Author was unintentionally left out of the piece. She can be contacted at http://7aki-fadi.blogspot.com/
