That was the case for a long-time resident of Carletonville, Mr Malcolm Duncan. After Duncan had expressed the wish to do a tandem skydive for some time, friends made his dream come true as a present for his 72nd birthday earlier this month. “I always dreamt of skydiving. We stayed just across the veld for many years and I used to watch the planes and skydivers from my house. Later, I also came here with my kids and they rode here on their bicycles,” he says. While many residents in their 70s might feel that sitting in front of their television is enough exercise, Duncan thoroughly enjoyed the skydive. “It was so much fun; I would gladly do it again. They say it’s even better the second time around,” he says, but added that doing the Mossel bay zipline, the world’s longest one over the ocean, is next on his bucket list. According to the JSC, anyone 18 years or older can do a tandem skydive at the club. Children of 16 years or above may do so with parental consent. Tandem skydivers wear a strong passenger harness that is securely connected to the front of a highly qualified tandem master. The two of them exit the aircraft at 11,000 ft and freefall at 200 kph down to 5,000 ft. During this freefall, no verbal communication is possible between passenger and tandem master, due to wind noise. The freefall will feel like you are suspended on a thick cushion of air; it will almost feel as if you are free- falling by yourself as you will be weightless. After 40 seconds of falling straight down at 200 km/h, the tandem master deploys the main parachute at an altitude of approximately 5,000 ft. The two of them then drift gently down to earth, and can talk to each other. They can enjoy the ride and the magnificent view. The canopy ride down to earth lasts around five to eight minutes, after which they touch down in front of the clubhouse. 
