Jump Accomplished!

An amazing experience, exhilarating and frightening in turns, I jumped at the end of a long training day at the Army base at Netheravon which had left me tired and bruised and my mind stuffed with drills and parachute failure situations. I hadn't expected to jump on the same day. I also hadn't expected how it would feel to fall from 13,000 feet into 400 mile an hour air and find I could only move in slow motion. The fear of the moment made my brain respond slowly too, and the carefully learned drills went out of my head, but I guess they cater for that. I was grateful for the 2 instructors hanging on to my jumpsuit who helped me pull the parachute toggle, when I was passing the 6,000 feet mark still fumbling to find it. And then suddenly the rush and noise of the air was gone, and I was peacefully dangling from a thankfully tangle-free large rectangular parachute, with only locating the landing site to worry about. And at last, able to relax a bit, I found I did enjoy the feeling of quiet and space, the clear sky and setting sun, the beauty of Salisbury plain, and my ability to trim the flight of the chute - the wonderful technology responding to even my handling. The steady wind and my inexpert brake application meant I never made it to the proper holding area, and so I landed into the wind near the edge of the landing zone, to the amusement of a whole herd of cows, who came over to greet me. The final few seconds came very quickly but my landing was ok, just tipping onto my knees with a soft thud. Then a longish trudge to the hangars after gathering up my chute, and negotiating the cows' electric fence. I was a bit weak at the knees, so my performance on the video probably left a bit to be desired. My instructors Neil, and Nick, strapping Royal Engineers, never failed to be encouraging during the training and the jump, and I was grateful to my fellow AFF students Simon, Chris and Byron (all fit and in their twenties!) for their humour and camaraderie on a long day.

The terrifying bits? Kitted up and taking off backwards in the belly of a plane with no seats, packed with 15 or so jumpers perched against each others' laps, knowing that for once, I was not going to be landing in it.
The cold blast of air when we reached 13,000 feet and the door was slid open.
The indicator light changing from red to green.
Watching the first solo jumpers launch out head first.
Having to slide to the door of the plane and realising how cold and fierce the airstream was.
Trying to position in the doorway and finding I couldn't stabilise myself with the weight of my pack and the air stream to do the required 'up and down' signal that I was about to jump.
Finding myself hesitating on the brink then plunging out against my better judgment (and keeping my instructors guessing - I was lucky they are skilled at following after and hanging onto their students).
The initial tumble until I arched into a stable position.
The cold and strength of the wind (did I mention that?)
The brain numbing effect, which meant I forgot to check my altimeter again after the first check, until I was prompted by signals.
Trying to do the practice parachute pulls against the resistance.
The realisation that time had passed so quickly, and they were giving me the signal to pull NOW!
Reaching to pull the toggle, then realising Neil had pulled it for me. (After all, they had to pull their own chutes after me, and we'd passed 6000 ft!)
Looking at the canopy to check whether it was fully inflated (or I'd have to pull the reserve chute).
Looking around at the scenery and then realising I should be locating the landing site
The most unreal thing was the speed of it all, 40 seconds of freefall, and then 5 minutes or so under the canopy, from inside the plane to kneeling amongst the cows.
And the best thing - the achievement, and the congratulations from Neil, Nick and Andy the cameraman!