Just go ahead and JUMP!

Well we did it. 3rd time lucky, just. Despite being a beautiful morning, we were not booked in until after lunch by which time some clouds came rolling in and the wind picked up. Luckily after a nice relaxing lunch in the Tipsy Nipper, Fife Airport's dinky restaurant, the clouds parted and the wind stayed where it was. So about 3.00pm we were all kitted up and ready to go. However the pilot decided he wanted his lunch so we had to wait ever so slightly nervously for half an hour before the plane turned up. 

Finally we were in a plane, strapped to our instructors and heading for the sky. As we bounced around in the tiny noisy plane sitting next to an open door, we could see Edinburgh, the Forth bridges, the Bass Rock, St Andrews, Dundee, the Tay, Stirling, then suddenly a whole lot of cloud. As we cleared the cloud I had visions of having to return because we couldn't see our landing zone, but once again the clouds parted just where they needed to and...  ladies first of course! My mum was shuffled into the doorway and then she was gone. I got into position, with my legs dangling under the plane and my head tilted up to the sky. This was the most nerve racking bit as I had to sit there for 5 to 10 seconds, and then I was falling out of the plane. 

For a second my heart was in my mouth and I was thinking what the hell have I done, and then I was free falling with my arms splayed and it just felt incredible. My mouth was open trying to scream with exhiliration, but no sound would come out. There was just this noise of wind and the insane feeling of flying/falling at 120mph. When my instructor grabbed me round the chest I thought something was wrong, but then I realised he had deployed the parachute and with a jerk we were floating in near silence. That was 30 seconds gone. I was actually a bit disappointed: I would have been happy to keep on falling. Anyway apart from being a bit uncomfortable in my harness which seemed to have trapped a nerve in my left arm it was lovely hanging around in the air, doing turns and circles, inspecting the harvest progress below. And before you know it ( about 5 minutes actually ) we did the perfect landing despite the wind.

So there you have it. I did it, survived it, loved it. I am so glad I did it, not just for the thrill but to raise so much money for such an important cause. So thank you to everyone who has sponsored me on and off line, and if you have got this far without sponsoring me, just continue to the bottom of the page and just give!!

Cheers pals,

Michael.

The original message:

I have been thinking about jumping out of a plane at great height since I got married, no I mean since I last did it at university over 20 years ago. I have finally decided to take the leap in aid of the Alzheimers Research Trust, which is one of the leading charities funding scientific research into the causes, prevention, treatment and cure of Alzheimers and other dementias. My aunt was diagnosed with Alzheimers in her 50s and it had, and still has a heart breaking impact on all her family and friends. We all want to live longer, but we want to enjoy that time with our loved ones, so lets see how much we can raise for this important charity which may well benefit many of us in the future.

You will be pleased to know that my mother, who is doing a jump for the Institute of Cancer Research to celebrate her 70th birthday will be keeping me company.

Finally here is a message from Just Giving:

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.

Cheers pals,

Michael