Some people get their thrills from playing sport, others from long country walks whilst others get a kick from from discovering new worlds under the sea and others by discovering new worlds in outer space. Others, probably the more conservative, get a buzz out of playing bingo. There is, however, a group of people amongst us who get an enormous adrenalin hit by jumping out of planes at 4000m (13,000 feet). This group of people originate form various different backgrounds.

By trade István Hidvegi is a self employed telephone tower engineer with a company of 3 other people and during his spare time he runs the Kolibri Skydiving club where he either does one-off tandem jumps or instructs Acccelrated Freefall courses (AFF). The essentail difference between the two is that a tandem jump means the jumper is strapped to an instructor who looks after the passenger entirely i.e during the climb, exit and descent from the plane and of course the landing whilst the the AFF student is responsible for their own climb and exit from the plane. Two instructors usually follow the AFF student out descending with them to make sure that all the required freefalling positions are held to enjoy the descent. Naturally,when the student’s parachute is deployed the student makes his own way down to the landing zone – fully in control of the square parachute which brings them gently to the ground.

It was a clear Sunday afternoon when István invited me to go and see for myself what skydiving was all about. ”It is like a drug. It is a nice addiction” he had said.

When I arrived at Budaors about 50 experienced jumpers were sitting in large groups on mats discussing and practicing their moves for their next dive, some meticulous re-packing their parachutes after the completion of a jump. All seemed confident, happy, relaxed and reassured sharing one thing in common: They held no fear or worry about the world outside only the thought of when would it be their turn to climb in to the plane. There are just over 30 skydiving clubs in Hungary with about 1400 jumpers each of whom have attained their FAI license and invested the 1.2million huif in the kit they need to pursue the ”buzz”

Occassionally the Pliatus high wing plane would taxi onto the apron and 8 divers would eagerly rush over from the main group and sqauash themselves into the small space at the rear of the plane. From the ground you cannot see the plane which, 20 minutes after takeoff, reaches 4000m but you can certainly hear it and you know that when the engine goes quiet its human cargo was exiting out of the side of the plane. About a minute later you could see small dots in the sky appear which would suddenly blosom in to a parachute slowly gliding down to earth.

Statistically speaking skydiving is very safe with 1 fatalilty in every 60,000 jumps – no skydiver has more than 10,000 jumps. In order to avoid any accidents the kit employed features two parachutes: A main and reserve. In the event that the jumper thinks there is a problem with the main chute he can manually eject it and deploy the reserve. Additionally in the unlikely event that the jumper passes out and the main chute is not deployed then an Automated Activity Device (AAD) automatically launches the reserve chute at a set altitude (usually 1000 feet).

Now, in the cause of investigative journalism István had decided that I should do a Tandem jump and I soon had my red jumpsuit and harness on and was running out to the waiting plane.

Climbing into the back of the plane in reverse exit order and facing backwards the awesome power of the engine and the waft of exhaust made it seem like a big joyride and with the door firmly closed it was not long before we had left the runway and we were ascending and circling to 4000m. With István sitting behind me he attached the back of my harness to the front of his enusring a strong bond. It was only in 1985 that Tandem jumps became possible when an American, Bill Booth, produced the first piggy back parachute allowing jumpers to situate both the main and reserve chute on their back freeing up their front – ideal for carrying passengers.

Other than me the passengers were all experienced skydivers and despite the noise of the engine the atmosphere on board was jochial, all the divers looking to me as the virgin who just about to lose their virtue. Gino Hezinger, a professional jumper with 6000 jumps, who was on the plane told me ”It is like an addiction, you will like it very much” A good endorsement I thought. As we climbed however, the joking began to dissipate and was slowly mingled with quiet moments of contemplation and secondary checks of kit amongst group jumpers. István gave me a reassuring thumbs up and then the plane engine fell almost silent.

In order to undertake a solo AFF jump you need to undergo 2 days ground tarining and 10 jumps with 2 instructors. Each jump has the student learning a different element of freefall: maintaing the box shape which gives stabilitz during descent, turning, sliding, somersaults, moving from side to side, ascending and climbing. After successful completion of this the student can undertake a solo jump and after 25 jumps receives the Federation ogf Aviation International (FAI) license. Given that István has just under 3500 jumps is a member of the Hungarian skydiving team most students are in good hands – mosr reassuring fro them and even more so for me who was now strapped to the front of him at 4000m.

As the plane levelled off one of the jumpers opened the door and then I suddenly realised what I was letting my self in for – what was I doing?! The fun atmosphere hjad dissappearesd and as the cold fast moving air hit me it woke me up to the fact that, I, a trained pilot was just about to jump out of perfectly safe plane. The drop was immense, Budapest looked like a myth and what was below could be any town anywhere - it was unrecognisable.

The next thing I am in the door looking at the cameraman who has now climbed outside and was hanging on to one of the struts of the wing, looking straight at me and flying like superman. I smiled and then there was nothing. Just silence as we tumbled over – the belly of the plane clearly visible for a moment. As we flattened out, assuming the box position and faced the earth we fell at terminal velocity (50meters per second) and the noise of the air, the cold and the almost inability to breathe made the ride incredibly exhilarating. At one the stage the cameraman drifted towards me and held onto my hand. After what seemd like 5 seconds but had actually been 60 seconds I felt the harsh wremch of the harness as István deployed the main chute and then we were peacefully suspended above Budaors until we landed smoothly with an obvious smile. I wanted to do it again. ”Well done Mr Bond, let us have a Palinka” said István.

Szilvia Rácz, a 26 year old English teacher with 280 jumps, summed up my feeleings ”My friends think I am crazy but I think everyone should try it, it is a cool feeling and it equals a good orgasm. Such happiness in yourself”.

There those who have made thios leap of faith and crossed to the otherside and those who have not made the transistion would saz that it is unnatural for us to jump out of planes. But then is it not unnatural for us to fly between the continents or SCUBA dive down to 30 meters for 2 hours?

The only danger is the addiction.

The AFF course costs 320,000huf and a Tandem jump from 30,000huf per jump. For more information contact James T Wilson on 06 205 484627 or at jamesglobalmarkets@yahoo.co.uk

Alternatively you can contact István Hidvégi on 06 209 816618 or by email tandem@hidvegi.hu or visit him at www.hidvegi.hu.