|
Helen Moon has only
recently been coming to Hibaldstow and jumps at
Bridlington. If I had to describe her in 3 words it
would be bubbly, team-focussed and thoughtful. Helen is
a 4-way jumper on junior Team Gorgeous. I asked her to
do an interview, not because she one of the longest
members of Target Skysports, but because she is a recent
addition and brings colour to the dropzone.
Interview by Simon
Brentford |
|
 |
|
|
 |
| |
4 |
Name |
Helen Moon |
 |
| |
4 |
Age |
30 |
| |
4 |
Years in the
sport |
11 (with a break of 8 years so 3
really) |
| |
4 |
Number of jumps |
296 |
| |
4 |
Number of jumps
last year |
140 |
| |
4 |
What kit do you
jump |
Javelin Odyssey with a Silhouette
170 |
|
|
| |
1 |
Why
did you start jumping? |
| |
|
At University a friend of mine died of a heart
attack while playing rugby. He was 21 and had always wanted to
do a parachute jump so a group of us raised money for RAG and
did a static line round jump from 2200ft at Cark. I did three
more but had to give up due to money. August 2002 I did my AFF
at Bridlington and haven’t looked back. |
| |
2 |
What are you
doing this year? (i.e. team, commitment, goals, aspirations, fun
jumping) |
| |
|
This year I am mostly jumping with
Team Gorgeous. Its our
first year together and I am really enjoying it. We’re hoping to
end the season with a four point average and then next year –
watch out world! On a personal level I still enjoy free flying
and I would love to learn how to do head down but I don’t have
the time to commit to it. |
| |
3 |
Who inspires you in this sport? |
| |
|
Jo, Kate and Maria (my team mates) and Simon
Cathrine. Anyone who gets up after being
knocked down (whether its physically, mentally, emotionally or
spiritually). |
| |
4 |
Tell me about your favourite
jump. |
| |
|
My Cat 10 (sorry FS1) dive. I had tried to get
through WARP but kept getting stuck. Eventually, after well over
a hundred two ways and coached jumps, I decided to go on a
tunnel/4 way camp in Perris. I did a total of 2.75 hours in the
tunnel and several formation jumps and finally I could fly my
slot. Came back and turned 8 pts from 10,000ft. |
| |
5 |
If you could do one thing to
improve the safety of the sport what would it be? |
| |
|
I think the introduction of the canopy handling
levels is the best thing that the BPA could have done. Before
there was much emphasis on freefall skills and not enough on
canopy handling before A licence. I got my Cat 8 with no more
canopy training than when I did my AFF level 1. I then sprained
my ankle badly on jump no 40 (my fault but with extra training
it probably wouldn’t have happened). |
| |
6 |
Favourite Food and favourite
film? |
| |
|
Chicken chow mien.
Top Gun – I still cry when Goose dies - and
Pulp Fiction. Or any Bond film. |
| |
7 |
Skydiving tips to progress in
this sport (i.e. weather related, training, attitude, coaching
style) |
| |
|
Persevere. The weather in this country is
unpredictable at best – make the most of the good days. Do as
many jumps as you can close together when learning – it makes a
huge difference. Listen to everyone’s opinion – you never know
you might learn something even from the students! – except when
downsizing then ONLY listen to those who have the right
experience. |
| |
8 |
When you’re not skydiving what do
you do? (i.e. work, hobbies, interests) |
| |
|
I work in the North Sea on a gas producing
platform (that’s the stuff that comes out of your cooker or
fire). I’d love to tell you more but its not that exciting.
I also enjoy riding my motorbike and playing my
saxophone but not at the same time. |
| |
|
| |
Photos |
| |
 |
 |
| Learning to jump |
Helen doing AFF |
 |
 |
| Helen's first Hybrid |
Team Gorgeous |
| |
 |
 |
| Helen with her 4-way team |
Dirt diving with the team |
|
|
| |
|
Back to News |
