skydive complete

It actually happened! I cannot believe we finally did it - after 14 months of planning it, the day of the dive was Saturday 9th June. 

In total, there were 11 skydivers in our group from Barts and The London - including nine students (2 hygeine & therapy student and 7 dental students), one parent and Dr Woodhoo (one of our dental clinical tutors). I think I speak for all of us when I say it was an EPIC day, and most us want to do another skydive in the near future.

It is true what they say, the adrenaline rush you get from jumping out of a plane is totally addictive. You all have to try it - a bucket list moment for sure. 

We arrived at the skydive site at the Old Sarum Airfield, just outside of Salisbury on a beautiful Saturday morning for 9am and were up in the plane all geared up with our jumpsuits, hats, goggles and harnesses on by ~10:30am. We all jumped from 10,000ft, so after the plane had taken off it took about 15 minutes to get up to the right altitude, then the light turned from red to green, meaning we were ready to go, the plane hatch door opened and one-by-one we shuffled towards the door, led mostly by the expert skydivers attached to our back and jumped out! 

We were freefalling for ~30 seconds and supposedly all reached speeds of 120mph during the free fall before the parachutes were deployed at ~4,000ft. The skies were blue, only a few clouds in the sky and it was such a beautiful view to enjoy as we slowly descended back down to terra firma over the Salisbury plains, enjoying breathtaking views of the English countryside. 

This skydive was done to raise money for Dentaid, and collectively we raised almost £4,000 - such a great, meaningful amount of money for the charity. 

I would love to do one again, and I certainly hope we as a dental society do it again or something similar next year, perhaps an abseil?! 

Here are some group photos from the day:
​