Skydiving is emerging as a popular lifestyle sport. Virtually the who-is-who of the world of glamour and sports is trying his or her hand at this thrilling option. Recently, some new converts to skydiving gathered at Chimes Aviation Academy in Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh to talk of their fascination for the adventure sport. Among them were ace golfer Jyoti Singh Randhawa, more at ease away from the flashing lights of media persons, and actor Kunal Kapoor.
While Randhawa intends to take his love for the sport to another level this year, Kunal is just learning the tricks of the trade. The Bollywood actor, who has so far done three to four jumps, said, “There are two types of people – one is the optimist, who invented the airplane, and the other is the pessimist, who made the parachute.” He added, “It's a lot of fun, a combination of a lot of things, and the real fun begins when you start free-diving. Above all, it's a great experience.” Kunal was introduced to the sport by a pilot friend.
His views were echoed by seasoned campaigner Randhawa. The ace golfer said, “I am a golfer by profession but skydiving is my passion. I took formal training in North Carolina in the U.S. Till now I have done 44 dives, including free dives, and now I want to introduce the sport to many more and have joined hands with the Chiles Academy for the same.”
Incidentally, the academy is offering skydiving as well as a weekend in the cockpit for public. It includes a fun and familiarisation flight of 45 minutes and skydiving. The package includes food and lodging too. You will also get a chance to interact with pilots and students.
How does it feel on top of the world? Randhawa provided the answer, “There is nothing in the sky except the enjoyable engine noise, no traffic, no potholes. The earth looks different from above. You are all alone in the sky. You feel like God when you look down and feel like blessing every one on earth while coming down on a parachute and both your hands stretched.”
Chiles Academy also offers a fully-integrated pilot course covering 500 hours of ground classes and 200 hours of flying on both single-engine and multi-engine aircraft.
Chief Operating Officer Y.N. Sharma said, “We have tried to provide all the basic facilities to students, which we were not provided in our days.”
