Mangaluru
A tandem skydiving experience and affinity for adventure sports made a city businessman travel far to obtain solo skydiving credentials in three weeks’ time.
Shivanand Rao (47), a businessman with a penchant for adventure, embarked on a solo journey to Evora, Portugal, to achieve his A license in skydiving. Starting on September 14, he dedicated about two weeks to a comprehensive training programme offered by Elite Skydive Portugal, situated at the Municipal Airfield of the renowned city of Évora, which is located 120km away from Lisbon.
My passion for adventure sports has been a lifelong pursuit. However, the pivotal moment occurred during a tandem skydiving experience in Dubai a few years ago, which ignited a strong desire to delve deeper into this thrilling world. After extensive online research on available courses, I made the definitive decision to travel to Portugal. I enrolled for the course last December, he told.
Rao said that obtaining the A license means that the skydiver has completed a series of training jumps, demonstrated proficiency in basic skydiving skills, and met certain safety requirements set by the United States Parachute Association (USPA).I’ve taken the plunge from altitudes ranging between 14,000 to 15,000 feet, a total of 25 times to successfully complete the certification course. This journey involves a structured progression, that is, the initial three jumps include two instructors, followed by the subsequent four jumps with a single instructor, and from the eighth jump onwards, I made solo jumps, albeit under the vigilant observation and documentation of instructors. Throughout the course, I learned to perform various manoeuvres, such as executing a 360-degree turn, mastering a backflip, and handling emergency jumps from lower altitudes, typically around 4,000 feet, Shivanand Rao explained.
