I went tandem skydiving for the first time this past Saturday 9/21 with Start Skydiving in Middletown, OH and had an amazing experience. My instructor was Lonnie Kirk, and he did a great job of keeping me calm and helping me truly enjoy my experience. He saw right off the bat that I was nervous and made sure to help me relax before the jump. Since I was so nervous, I really appreciated him thoroughly explaining what was going to happen, and what I needed to do when prompted by him (arch back, extend arms out, etc.). He kept it light, and his humor definitely helped me calm down a bit. I chose to purchase a video and he did a great job at taking a good video, and making sure that I had an awesome souvenir of this adventure. Once in the air he was nice enough to explain the procedure again, inform me of how much longer we would be flying before getting to the spot where we would be jumping out, and informing me of the height (altitude) where we were currently located. One last time I nervously asked what needed to be done (even though I knew... just needed some reassurance) and he finally just said Just Relax : ) ! The jump was great, I loved the freefalling. I felt safe the whole time. Once the free falling was over Lonnie did a great job making sure I continued to enjoy my experience. He welcomed me to “his office” (pretty awesome line, a bit jealous of his job!). The rest of the jump experience was pretty relaxing. The landing was a bit bumpy but that was the least of my worries! He congratulated me and made sure to help me get all the gear off. Overall I was very satisfied with Start Skydiving, my experience, and my instructor. As a first time tandem skydiver I didn’t need anything to go wrong and Start Skydiving granted my wish- everything went well and exceeded my expectations. I did wait 4-5 hours, although I was prepared as Start Skydiving lets you know it will take anywhere from 1-6 hours to jump. I found the office staff to be very helpful – they reassured me my reservation was still valid even though I was running late, and gave me a status update on my jump time when I didn’t see it being scheduled. The orientation (signing forms and watching the video) was very efficient. They had a nice set up: corn hole game, lawn chairs, vending machines, restrooms, etc. My video was processed promptly and I had no problems with it. Lonnie Kirk: Very friendly, personable, overall amazing personality for a skydiving instructor! Got me to the ground safe & sound and made sure I enjoyed my first time skydiving. Definitely sold me on tandem sky diving… I will be sure to return next year once the sunny weather comes back!
