Your job as a service technician mainly takes place at dizzying heights. As an enthusiastic skydiver, you not only spend time at lofty heights at work but you take to the skies in your free time as well. What fascinates you about heights? 

The ever-changing view from up there is what fascinates me. It's a perspective that not many people can experience. In addition, skydiving adds the feeling of flying and falling to this! It's hard to describe if you haven't experienced it yourself. 

How did you become a service technician and what came first, working at heights or skydiving? 

The job actually came first. I slipped into this line of work more or less by chance. I became friends with a guy in 2015 who told me about it and kind of got me into the wind industry. I originally trained as a car mechanic, and my last job was in the German Armed Forces where I spent three and a half years servicing transport helicopters. In 2020, I started jumping out of planes. I did a tandem jump and immediately took a liking to it.  I wanted to find out what I needed to do to become a skydiver myself. 

And then you immediately put your plans into action. What was that like? How often do you jump? 

How often you jump depends on a number of factors, but mainly on how much money you're willing to spend or how many jumps you plan to make in one day 😉. The weather also plays a role: Rain and wind narrow your options down, of course. But you can do maybe five or six jumps per day. Since the beginning of the season, from April until now, I've done about 100 jumps. And I've done about 300 in total since I started. 

If you've got a licence and your own equipment, and if the weather is good, you simply drive to an airfield where there is skydiving and off you go. Usually you get a few people together who you'd like to jump with, you look for enough free spots in the next "load" and you sign up. Of course, the equipment has to be prepared beforehand so that you can jump safely. Some airfields also have clubs, but you're not required to join. If you've got a licence, you can jump internationally, whether you belong to a club or not! 

You seem to be fascinated by adrenaline-fuelled activities. Do you have any similar interests or plans, and if so, what are they? 

I actually do. I'm thinking about getting into wingsuit flying and maybe base jumping too at some point. But I'm still just thinking about it, I don't have any concrete plans yet😊. 

Thank you for telling us about your job and sharing your interests with us, Marco!