Skydiving
The Too Fast kamikaze team did some free
fall jumps from a bi-plane, climbed out and stood on the wing
before jumping off.
The five day course started with lots of
ground based activities, like how to land, how to exit the
aircraft correctly and how to pack your own parachute, SAY
THAT AGAIN, yes how to pack you own parachute, the instructor
showed us how to pack our chutes, then I was issued with a
parachute, the instructor pulled the ripcord and said "start
packing it" It really gets your attention when he says
"I am only going to show you once and this is how you
pack your chute"!!!!
Once I had got over the shock it was time
for my first jump. I had gone through the routine so many
times on the ground I seemed to be on auto-pilot. Hooked up
my static line, out onto the wing, step off backwards while
spreading your arms and legs to maintain a face down position.
You are supposed to shout "one, two,
three" as you go, if you get to three and the chute hasn't
opened you go for the reserve. Problem was I started the count
but all I could manage was WHHHHAAAAAAAA,
after what seemed like ages I felt my legs flick up in front
of me, and I was drifting slowly down below a beautiful canopy.
In total I did four jumps, scared myself silly, cant wait till I go
again
Too
Fast For You.com Rating
Adrenalin Factor: 90% - Geronimoooooooooooooo
Injury Factor:
5% - It could hurt if your equipment fails
Expense
Factor: 30% - most clubs will lend you
basic kit
Good way to give that adrenalin gland a good workout.
Microlight
Anyone who has ever seem a microlight fly
by and thought I could do that, well what are you waiting
for? get down to Popham
airfield in Hampshire and go for a trial lesson.
That's exactly what Wing Commander Jezza
of the TooFastForYou squadron did.
Had a bit of extra excitement as I was waiting
for my flight, the guy before me lost a wheel on take off,
normally this could have been a bit of a problem, but thanks
to the expert instructors there, he landed on 2 wheels until
the speed reduced and dropped the reminding leg down and skidded
to a halt. They replaced a minor broken part then it was my
turn for a 1 hour flight. Within 5 minutes I was allowed
to control the craft across the Hampshire fields.
Too
Fast For You.com Rating
Adrenalin Factor: 40%
Injury Factor:
3% - Probably the safest form of flying there is
Expense
Factor: 30% - Popham will provide the
microlight & instructor
Good experience.
Hang Gliding
Too Fast For You went Hang Gliding in Cornwall,
the morning consisted of running down a steep hill strapped
into the the hang glider trying to take off, just in case
you went too high, two guys held a rope tied to your wing
tips and ran down the hill with you.
As I have been gliding before I soon got
the thing flying, and got up to about 30ft on my 3rd attempt,
but quickly got into trouble trying to get down. I pushed
the nose down to land and flared out, which means I pushed
up the nose again to loose speed and land, only I was going
too fast and shot up to 30ft again and almost stalled, thankfully
my gliding experience got me out of trouble, I pulled the
nose down as fast as possible, got my weight forward and prayed,
thankfully the nose came down, I let the speed build up and
flared out and landed OK.
Too
Fast For You.com Rating
Adrenalin Factor: 50%
Injury Factor:
15% - Hang gliding has been around for
a while now and has matured into a relatively safe activity,
but make sure you get professional instruction to get you
started.
Expense
Factor: 30% - A good school will supply the kit
Difficult to do when you start
off but very rewarding when you become an expert, Oh yes,
you will need a mountain in your garden to practice on.
Gliders
Flew solo for my A & B certificate.
Too
Fast For You.com Rating
Good way to cure insomnia