Page 26 - Chiron Issue 2 2014

After learning to skydive at the beginning of last year I had no idea how addictive this sport would become. There is always something new to work towards, lots of goals to set yourself and most importantly lots of fun to be had.
I gained my Formation Skydiving qualification in October 2013 which opened up many possibilities in the sport. In a nutshell, Formation Skydiving consists of jumping with a set number of people, and performing shapes in the sky. In its’ true form this is normally 4 people and 1 camera man slightly above the formation in the sky. In competitions Teams are given certain formations that have to be completed by launching out of the aircraft, and then moving into the formation whilst falling at 130 mph towards the ground; not so simple in practice.
In order to prepare for the upcoming competition season I was asked to attend a 2 week training camp. Unfortunately it was a fair distance to travel as we had to go to San Diego for it! Gutted! The primary focus of this exercise was to train students to progress from 0 jumps to A licence, but this expedition always takes a group of experienced skydivers to train for the upcoming season. As the sole RAVC representative on the expedition I thought it was right for me to stand out, so I designed and purchased a jumpsuit in the RAVC colours. I received great support and a kind donation from the RAVC Association; without them the procurement of the suit wouldn’t have been
By Cpl ‘Biggy’ Biggadyke
possible. I also received a lot of support from the Station Commander Episkopi and 1 MWD Regiment who both made kind donations towards the trip.
I had a lot of travelling to do; Cyprus to LA is no easy journey, passing through 11 time zones in 2 days with 15 hours worth of flight time! Needless to say that when I arrived I had some decent jet lag. No time to rest though we arrived at 1900 hrs, and had to be at the Drop Zone for 0800 hrs. After a night of no sleep thanks to my messed up body clock, it was time for the first day of jumping. After the mandatory health and safety briefs and DZ orientation it was time for jump number 1. A solo jump from 13,000 ft to get a feel for the area and figure out where I needed to be aiming for. What a beautiful part of the world. Skydive Elsinore sits within a valley with high mountain peaks on either side, and a big lake just off of the landing area. Landing conditions were a little tricky due to turbulence and unpredictable wind conditions.
After the orientation jump was taken care of, we moved into some training. We had a number of jumpers who needed to gain their Formation Skydive qualification, so they were busy with the coaches while those of us who were already qualified began training jumps. The first week seemed to fly by with the students progressing rapidly, and before long the R and R weekend was upon us. A brave few decided to venture to Las Vegas...
The majority of the experienced team
went to Pacific Beach in San Diego for the weekend. After a weekend of surfing in the Pacific Ocean and lying in the sun we were ready to get back in the sky.
The second week was a lot more intense to begin with, and lots to cover in a short period. The weather was kind to us, and we managed to get the training package completed with a few days spare; now the fun jumps could begin. Anything from solo fun jumps to 13 people in the sky at the same time, there was fancy dress jumps with Iron Man and Spider Man in the sky together. Others were content to just enjoy being in the sky. At the end of the 2 weeks I was joint first on jump numbers, with 50 completed in just 10 days of jumping. Considering we were packing our own kit, this was quite an achievement. All of the students who attended achieved their A licence, so all things considered a very successful expedition.
For anyone wishing to experience skydiving I would fully recommend trying to get onto one of these expeditions. It is the best and most cost effective way to gain your qualifications. AMS run one every year, and it is usually in the California area. I was fortunate enough to be selected to compete for the AMS in both formation and accuracy skydiving, so it’s amazing what you can achieve in a short period of time! I will warn you though, you will become addicted!
Blue Skies!
Exercise SKIES CALLING 2014
26 Chiron Calling
Flying the Corps Colours at 11000ft