John Palmer completes skydive challenge at 77

                                * John Palmer kitted out and ready for the skydive.

Llangollen man John Palmer has just completed his first skydive at the age of 77, raising money for  a cause close to his heart. Here he describes how it went:

"I completed my tandem sky dive last week.  It had been postponed because of inclement weather.  However the forecast was promising and I arrived at Skydive Tilstock Freefall Club in Whitchurch at 8 am.  

"It was still a bit damp and cloudy but that gave us time for a briefing and some drills one of which was stretching back like a banana – necessary for the freefall part, and the second was pulling my knees to my chest to facilitate our landing. Having confirmed that I could actually do it, I put on my suit, met my instructor and got into the minibus to drive to the plane.  

"There were 10 of us in a ridiculously small aeroplane. Whenever I fly on a domestic flight I am always relieved when we actually leave the ground and continue to ascend. In retrospect this was probably the scariest part of the whole thing. We gradually reached 10,000ft. On the way up my instructor attached himself to me and briefed me again.

"Once we had the green light (literally) one by one people went out through the door. We were the last to go and I found myself dangling out of the plane – no going back now. Suddenly we were in flight just like a free fall parachutist falling at 140ft per second/per second.

* John floats to earth during the dive. 

Picture is by his son Nic.

"It was a relief when the parachute deployed with a jerk and we floated down to the landing zone. A quick practice of the landing drill and then we were landing for real.

"We returned to base and got changed. The instructors were very professional and I was very impressed with their expertise.

"Going home to do the shopping was in stark contrast to the adrenalin rush of a sky dive.

"I did the sky dive to raise money the Friends of Llangollen Health Centre and I would like to thank everyone who sponsored me. I have not yet got a final figure, but I am grateful for all the support.  On the news they reported that a 102-year-old lad had done a sky dive – puts my efforts in the shade.

* John's Gofundme page is at: https://gofund.me/7935d2aa