pre-diving

[fungi3001 0]

hi- im completely new to this and i ahvent even jumped yet. i really want to start but am not really sure where to begin and have a couple of questions.
is it worth doing a tandem jump first? and also there seem to be various different prices for doing an AFF course. most seem to be aobut £1500 but i saw one for less than $1000 which is about £650. if any one could point me in teh right direction and knows of a good dropzone near london in the UK that would be really great

cheers
guy

[skymama 35]

Welcome to the forums!
If you're concerned about the AFF price, it might be worth looking into coming over to the states to do your student training. I know of many people from across the pond who have come over to FL for just that reason. A couple of them post here and can give you a heads up on that.

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[fungi3001 0]

thanks thats a great help,

well im only 16 so at the moment travelling to florida isnt really an option, but if any who reads this knows a good place near london england could they please let me know

guy

[Raefordite 0]

http://www.uspa.org Hello! Be sure to thoroughly check out the USPA web site. It may help answer a lot of your questions and direct you near London. Keep us posted once you jump.

[fungi3001 0]

hi again i spose this is kinda unrelated, but what is WARP????

[flyboyshell 0]

Welcome to DZ.COM! Hope you enjoy the forum!

Blue Skies!!!

FlyBoyShell
EarthBound FreeFly Suits

[mickb 0]

Hi and welcome to the forums
check out the bpa website

www.bpa.org.uk/

lists of dropzones and lots of other stuff

Fear is that little darkroom where negatives are developed.
Michael Pritchard.

[nacmacfeegle 0]

"direct you near London."
Hmmm, sorry Raeford person, not many USPA dropzones in the UK...
Fungi, go to the BPA website listed on Mick's post, it has a map which has clickable links to all the UK DZs along with phone numbers etc. If you contact your local DZ they will be able to tell you costs, and age limits etc.

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He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

[Tonto 1]

It is worth doing a Tandem first, and then I would do AFF. PM me if you want the mail address of a few skydivers in London who could help you out.

Blue Skies,

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[robskydiv 0]

The WARP system is a skydiving program broken down into categories. You can get a WARP video somewhere, I'm sure. I used to have one many moons ago. I loaned it to someone and never got it back. Harry

[nacmacfeegle 0]

WARP was a post "student level" training prorgam, a predecessor to the much better SkydiveU system.

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He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

[ccowden 0]

Totally worth doing a tandem for your first jump! Get to relax and not worry about any responsibility and see what freefall is all about! Tandem is a great way to be introduced to the sport!

[fungi3001 0]

its true what everyone has said. from reading around the forums everybody here seems to genuinly care about others and the whole community feel is great. i cant think of anything else that has the same sense of togethernees and even though i havent started jumping yet, reading whats up here and all over the net just make me more and more eager to go.

[robskydiv 0]

You are right Mac. I stand corrected. I gleaned some good tips from the WARP video though, about slowfall. Harry

[Skysticky3 0]

Hey Fungi!
Now I may be from Canada and I may only be a solo certificate holder, but I do work out at my DZ and get asked this question a lot by first jump students. My answer is, if you are wanting to get into the sport and keep at it then go for the tandem and do the AFF program. If you don't think you want to stay into the sport then do a tandem! Pretty much if you want to stay in the sport then go for it. I asked every instructor out at our DZ and decided I wanted to stick to the sport but wanted to go gradual. So I went for the GFF program and it worked well for me. Remember that skydiving isn't a cheap sport and I don't know if it's different where you come from but for us you have to pay for both instructors slots if you're doing the AFF course, plus your own. It gets quite costly. Hopefully these are some good tips that you have so that you can get started in a whole new world.
Blue skies and terminal memories,
skysticky3

[sarge 0]

Hey Guy, welcome! no matter how you cost it out it's all about what you are willing to spend. Tandem is the best way to go IMHO!!!

It'll never be cheap but it will almost always be fun!!

--
I'm done with the personally meaningful and philosophical sigs!!

[fungi3001 0]

i know its expensive which sucks cos im only 16 so i have no proper income except my crappy allowance which is no way near enough. ill have to get a job but from what i can see skydiving sounds amazing so im definatly gonna try it and tehn hopefully go on to AFF.

[sarge 0]

Cool, get a job at the Dz! maybe they'll let you work for jumps? BTw the USPA Dz's are gonna require that you be 18 some allow for waivers... good luck?

--
I'm done with the personally meaningful and philosophical sigs!!

[nightjumps 1]

Contact Grant Meeker from this site's user database. He lives in merry old England. He jumps with freeflyeuphoria.com

[Fireflyer 0]

i couldn't imaging not doing a tandem before my AFF 1 jump... it is so much nicer i think to get the experience of exit and freefall out of the way (they haven't gone away for me yet tho haha) before being more responsible for the jump in AFF. welcome to the board!

[fungi3001 0]

i mentioned this in the 'places to jump' forum but it hasnt really generated much of a responce. im planning on doing my first jump quite soon and am looking for a DZ around london. ive searched the BPA site and have found the LONDON PARACHUTE SCHOOL. has anyone ever been there or heard about it. if so whats it like etc.. also is it easy to get to becasue at teh moment im still to young to drive - is there any public transport? . im generally trying to find out as much as i can so any info would be really helpfull.

thanks alot

guy

[ChefJoeR 0]

Check out the book "The Skydiver's Handbook" It was a great help to me before I took my first dive which was a tandem. I helps you to understand the sport, gives you great pre-jump knowledge, and lets you know exactly what you are getting into.

[caz 0]

North London Parachute Centre near Cambridge (1 hr ish up the A1) is the cheapest course in the UK I think and is a very friendly DZ. Alternatively, look at doing your AFF in Spain or somewhere where the weather is better and its cheaper over there too. If you do your AFF in the UK it is most likely to take a fair while to do due to weather conditions here being quite pants!

~~~ London Skydivers ~~~