Warning: These are the only photo’s that you will ever see of me on NHM :-D.
I committed to myself at the beginning of the year, that this would be MY year. (and it REALLY has been. 2014 has been an amazing year for me!!)
As part of this I made a decision early on this year, that I would do a Sky Dive for charity in 2015. (A few people have been very critical of this as I’m a parent, but life’s too short not to take the odd risk now and then, whether you are a parent or not!!)
Next year is a “big” birthday for me (21 again!!!) and I would love it if my family and friends donated money for me to Sky Dive to raise funds for Sebastian’s Action Trust, instead of buying me a birthday present.
I wanted to try Airkix first, to see if I could *hack* a Sky Dive.
So, Mr NHM bought me an awesome birthday present, which I cashed in on Sunday.
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect and was a little terrified.
But…it was SOOOOOO AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was so amazing that I have booked my Sky Dive, two days after Airkix! lol.
Play
Once you have brought your Airkix ticket you need to book your slot online. During school holidays and weekends it can get very busy, so I booked at least a month in advance and then promptly forgot about it. DON’T DO THIS! Make sure you read the paperwork that gets sent to you at least a few days in advance.
When you arrive, you will need to complete a “Statement of Risk” disclaimer on the computer terminals. You are supposed to complete this at home, in advance, but I completely missed this bit. (Sorry Airkix!!!) It takes a bit longer than you would think because the keyboard has clearly been used many times before.
If you’ve had shoulder problems, you also need to confirm that you are ok to jump.
Once everyone arrives (I was dying of embarrassment that we were late), you then get taken upstairs to a room with a video and asked to watch the 5 minute video which explains everything you need to know and remember.
I was very pleased to see that I wasn’t the oldest person in the room. However, it was a little misleading as a few parents were sitting with their children and the parents didn’t actually jump. Sneaky!!!
The video covers quite a bit and I’m sure if you are younger and not so stressed about being late, you would take in a lot more. I tried to concentrate on the hand movements that you need to watch for, as you can’t hear or talk in the wind tunnel.
Luckily, I didn’t really have any time to become nervous. Once the video has finished, you then suit up.
You are given a lovely jump suit and helmet, goggles and then you can also have ear plugs. I wore these as I’m partially deaf anyway, so really couldn’t hear anything! lol.
Then, it’s time to go. You are taken into the ar-locked area of the wind tunnel and you sit on the bench. The other side of the wind tunnel are the spectators. I think this was the worst bit! Knowing that people were watching you!?!?!?!
I was 5th in the queue. It was fab watching everyone else, but this was the point where I started to get nervous.
When it was my turn, I could literally feel all of the spectator’s eyes on me. I was by far the oldest “girl” and I think they were expecting me to freak out of flake out. (I didn’t, I loved it and am REALLY proud of that fact! lol.)
Then, before you know it, it’s your turn….
I didn’t realise how much you needed to concentrate. I think I just expected it to “happen”. It did happen but you need to make sure you were paying attention to the hand signals. It actually takes a lot of control.
I had two jumps of two minutes each. About 1.40 seconds into the first jump I had to get out. My back was KILLING ME! It’s not used to being arched in such a direction, so the instructor did two, one minute sessions next for me, rather than two minutes in one hit. This was much better.
I managed to do a 360 degree turn in both directions, went sideways and up and down. It was amazing how little movement was needed to move around.
In my last “jump” I was taken up and down the wind tunnel by the instructor. This was AMAZING and, despite grinning like an idiot and trying not too dribble everywhere, it was a real highlight. This is the bit that secured the Sky Dive booking for me :-D.
After everyone has done their jump and the photo’s have been taken, you then take off your gear and are given your certificates. I’m very proud of my certificate and it’s displayed next to the award I won for NHM earlier in the year.
The instructor said I was a natural, which I’m sure is what helped my enjoyment, plus not having the time to get nervous in advance.
When you have finished you check out downstairs and have the option to buy repeat jumps at a reduced price.
Guess who knows what she’s getting for Christmas :-D.
Tips
Check your paperwork BEFORE the day of your jump. DO NOT do what I did and check it the morning of your jump, only to realise that you have to be there AT LEAST an hour before your scheduled time. We left the house in 7 minutes. This was the fastest time we have EVER left the house! lol.
(Thankfully, I was only 20 minutes late and the staff were lovely about it. We were THAT family though! I think if we had been 25 mins late, I would have lost my slot.)
Breath. I didn’t realise until after my first jump that I had been holding my breath. Nearly two minutes of holding ones breath is a long time. Make sure you breath!!!!
You will dribble. Not just at the “easy on the eye” Instructors ;-).
You will also ache the following day. Three days on and my stomach muscles haven’t quite forgiven me. So worth it though!!!!!
Leave your jewellery at home. It’s not recommended to wear it in the wind tunnel.
Non-participating children cannot be left alone, so make sure you bring someone along with you to watch them.
If you have long hair, tie your hair back as you don’t want it whipping around you in the wind tunnel.
Food
n/a
Facilities
Are excellent as it’s a very new facility. To be fair though, we didn’t do much exploring. Did I mention we were late? <blush>.
Baby Facilities
Not really sure, I was too excited to check these out.
Parking
Is free in Basingstoke Leisure Park
Prices
Are actually very reasonable for what you get.
There are also a few special offers that you can book on the day, for your next Airkix flight, which I may or may not have booked on the day because I loved it so much :-D.
Rating out of 5
10 out of 5. If only to prove to yourself that you aren’t JUST a Mum. 😉
