First-time jumpers at –Skydive Buzz gather in a small hangar at Dunkeswell Aerodrome, a Second World War naval base on Devon’s Blackdown Hills, to watch a 15-minute safety video.
This takes them through what will happen: the position to adopt when jumping out of the plane; the hand gestures used by their tandem instructors; how it will feel when they freefall for the 60 seconds before their parachute opens.
The group – typically around six skydivers, each already securely harnessed to their instructors – then make their way across the Tarmac to the Beech 99 light aircraft, known for its fast ascent time.
Once inside, it takes between 12 and 15 minutes for the plane to get to 15,000ft. Then a hatch at the back opens and, with the ‘drop zone’ a mere speck in a patchwork of green fields below, the pairs jump, one by one, into thin air.
On the morning of Friday, June 13, Belinda Taylor and instructor Adam Harrison were among them.
