robbie_g 0 #1 October 14, 2006 Hi all, My girlfriend recently did her first tandem and, true to form, loved it enough to want to do her AFF and come join us in our great sport! Yay! She received a useful BPA mag outlining the different options etc (well done BPA for such a good read) and we both think going abroad next year is the best idea for weather and a holiday. I did my AFF at Ramblers, Australia, and loved it. When I came back to the UK I had no issues with converting my license, although I did have to endure some intense pisstake by DZ staff as I showed them my AFF video! Ho hum... :) Unfortunately, Australia is probably a bit too far for us to go this time so we're looking for something closer to home. Anyway, this post is to ask for the opinions of experienced British skydivers and instructors on good foreign locations and skydive schools in either Europe or the US. Key points would be: 1) Safety 2) Standard of instruction and DZ 3) Compliance with BPA regs and conversion to BPA license on return 4) Costs While there's plenty of basic info to consider in my girlfriend's copy of The Mag, it doesn't give specifics about any particular places. When she did her tandem, the tandem master advised against going to Florida due to "low standards" and jumpers learning there coming back with a bad rep and maybe having to re-certify. He reckoned there was only one place in Florida that was any good, but he wouldn't tell us the name! I've jumped at Empuria before and know there's British schools out there, but what about the others in Europe? And as Florida would, for a variety of reasons, be very convenient for us, can anyone tell me the names of good DZs to do AFF to BPA standards and good instructors? Thanks in advance for your responses.Stay classy! Rob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
koppel 3 #2 October 14, 2006 I can't tell you anything about UK DZ's I'm afraid. I do have a friend who works at Texel in the Netherlands and she tells me that a fair number of Brits come there to do their course. Worth looking into maybe if you wanted to combine a hoiday with getting her license?I like my canopy... ...it lets me down. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
robbie_g 0 #3 October 14, 2006 "I can't tell you anything about UK DZ's I'm afraid." Thanks for the reply! Just to make myself clear, I doubt very much whether we'd do her AFF in the UK. I can't see that being any good for consistency when it comes to weather. It's definitely holiday abroad and hammer the jumping for 10 days. I'd happily take her to Ramblers, but it's probably unlikely we'd go to Australia next year. Still, you never know...Stay classy! Rob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stumpy 256 #4 October 14, 2006 Spain is excellent, if you use Skydive Spain in Seville, that is owned by the same guys who own Hibs (Target Skysports) in Lincolnshire so conversion would be no problem. I have friends who are instructors at (I think) Ocana and Lillo as well. Not sure how accurate the comment about florida DZ's was but sounds odd to me, but the thing to do would be check with your likely DZ in the uk that they will accept a license from XXX DZ in florida. I think (and i'm sure our US friends will put me right) that Deland is one of the bigger and better known ones. They certainly have some half decent 4-way going on there!!!Never try to eat more than you can lift Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jakee 1,254 #5 October 14, 2006 Haven't been myself but many, many UK'ers have done their AFF in Spain. Places like Empuria and Lillo will prob have BPA rated instructors on staff - and Skydive Spain near Seville is actually run by the owners of Hibaldstow DZ in the UK. I've heard their Christmas boogie was quite good last year as well.Do you want to have an ideagasm? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
maxdog 0 #6 October 14, 2006 I don’t think I’d recommend Empuria as a good DZ for students, to much water around and not enough safe places for an off landing after a bad spot. You also have to watch out for the crazy Spanish & French freeflyers…. Skydive Spain in Seville however is excellent. It’s courses are run to BPA rules, most of their instructors rotate between there and Hibaldstow, and it’s got a massive landing area and turbine aircraft. (a Dornier G92 in the winter, SMG in the summer, and both at the Christmas Boogie). You also get at least 15,000 every jump! Freefalladdicts are also based there and again their instructors are excellent.PH36 Canopy Formation Team. www.skydive99.com www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/PH36-Canopy-Formati Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RandomLemming 0 #7 October 17, 2006 I can second Skydive Spain / Freefall Addicts. I took some friends out there in August this year and they had a blast. I however was forced to just hang around the place jumping for fun, but I couldn't say no to friends, right? :D Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wonder2006 0 #8 October 18, 2006 I did my AFF at Freefall University in Ocana, and have visted Lillo as well. Both are great DZ's, and I didn't have any issue getting signed off for my BPA license when I returned to the UK. Would go for at least 7 - 10 days if possible - whilst the sun shines most of the time, you can be unlucky with a couple of days bad weather - and it's better to finish it out there! With great weather, you can complete AFF and 10 consols in 5/6 days easily. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RandomLemming 0 #9 October 18, 2006 Ocana is a fantastic DZ, but I had serious issues with my A licence after FFU - The BPA rejected the CH1 portion of it. Also, I'd be concerned over the fact that a lot of the time FFU don't live up to their advertised capacity. They claim to have 2 planes on the website, but everytime I've been there (and times other people have been there that I've heard from), they've only had 1. This goes from March this year to as recently as last month, with people being sent to Lillo because the one plane required maintenance. They also claim to provide 1 instructor per student, but at times when the pressure is on, they forgo this and the same instructor will be looking after multiple students. The DZ itself is great, and the only problem I ran into there was with jump tickets. They don't provide paper tickets, they just track what you've paid for on the computer, so you don't have physical proof of what you are still entitled to. I ran into a problem where they said I had used more jumps than I actually had, and my Spanish wasn't good enough to argue the issue - But when I found someone who spoke good Spanish and English they quickly resolved the issue for me. The other big plus to Ocana is the speed of pack jobs. They generally have a larger number of people packing than at other places I've jumped, so you have a better chance of being on more loads. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freeflysteve 0 #10 October 20, 2006 Scotty Milne runs AFF in Spain and USA,BPA instructor.(activeskydiving.co.uk) Also Czech Republic and i think Dubai. Great guy and generally takes a small group of Students so lots of attention given to detail and packing. Other than that Empuria is great,yes there are not a lot of outs,over town, but AFF generally last out so big open fields and you open higher so generally no problem making it to landing areas. Another exciting option is exoticskyadventures.com,learn to jump out of a Hercules c130 somewhere exotic,last year was uruguay this year ecuador friends of mine learnt in borneo so lots of otions next year maybe africa or srilanka. LOADS OF CHOICES Swooping, huh? I love that stuff ... all the flashing lights and wailing sirens ... it's very exciting! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jumpdr 0 #11 October 27, 2006 With regards to Florida, the one place I'd recommend is FreeFallAdventures. I attempted my AFF there in 2003 (although didn't get my A licence until this year) and two good friends of mine have graduated AFF there with no problems returning to the UK. It's owned and run by a British guy called Mick Hall, so he knows all about UK AFF and BPA operations. Gill at the other end of the email address is very helpful too! You can find them here http://www.ffadventures.comSkydiving is more than a sport and more than a job: skydiving is pure passion and desire which will fill a lifetime. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pjc 0 #12 October 28, 2006 Hi Robbie, Don't know if it counts for anything but Empuriabrava, Seville, Freefall Adventures (Sebastian FL) & Perris are the only BPA Overseas Associated DZ's listed (apart from the military ones in Cyprus and Germany). Might make it easier when you come back! C-ya tomorrow Paul Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BlakeWeston 0 #13 October 30, 2006 Hey Robbie, I'm a new jumper and went through my AFF in England. I started and completed the licensing requirements at Weston-On-The-Green, just outside of Oxford. It has a large clubhouse with fully stocked t-bar, tv's and mag's for when the weather's not too hot. They run a Dornier G-92 [a quick one] to 13'000 and have [i believe] the biggest landing area in the U.K. The staff are fantastic with a range of abilities from unbelievably skilled to just plain incredible... They can deal with everything from "super-keen,-so-excitied-I-can't-see-straight" to nervous jumpers struggling with 'the spins'. Good tv's in the HUGE packing hall make for a quick AFF level review. Indoor packing hall with plenty of staff/jumpers to help out first timers (although this might not apply to your beau). Everyone is real friendly and accepting, the prices are good for England. £19 ticket to the top, AFF costs around £1300, level 1-8. In short, this place has a great feel, a good bunch of jumpers and a huge landing zone. I was lucky enough to pass AFF in the Easter long weekend, and I'm now up at 95 jumps and working towards FF1. They have a website and a discussion forum for all questions/interests and a quick google for skydive Weston will bring up that address... But that's just my two-penneth! SEE YOU SOON! Always, always pay your Packer... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
andybr6 0 #14 October 30, 2006 I would agree with 'jumpdr' I trained at Sebastian with FreeFall adventures and so did quite a few of my jumping buddies. I can't praise them enough, the experience was fantastic and the training highly profesional. I had no problems jumping at my local DZ on my return and neither have any of my friends. ------------------------------------------------ "All men can fly, but sadly, only in one direction" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stefd 0 #15 November 4, 2006 Speak to Scotty Milne at Langar he runs regular courses at Empuria Brava.I've jumped there great facilities and nice people loads of lifts. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
robbie_g 0 #16 December 11, 2006 Hey everyone, thanks a lot for your input, there's plenty of food for thought. Much appreciated.Stay classy! Rob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pjc 0 #17 December 11, 2006 Nice bump Robbie Paul. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RandomLemming 0 #18 December 11, 2006 Are Freefall Adventures also based at Skydive Spain? Or is there another DZ in Seville? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
altichick 0 #19 December 12, 2006 Think he probably means freefall addicts Don't sweat the petty things... and don't pet the sweaty things! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RandomLemming 0 #20 December 12, 2006 That would clear up my confusion a bit :) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Inthebuff 0 #21 December 14, 2006 Did my AFF in Lillo and loved it. Always busy in the summer. Fast pack jobs,excellent instructors. Two well punchy Porters. Obtained my USPA B licence & FS1 out there,started jumping at Langar England a couple of months ago & had no problems whatsoever.I am coverting my USPA B to the BPA equivilant without any drama. There are several people from Langar who I regularly see in Lillo including at least one BPA instructor so there is a connection between the DZ's Although Lillo did experince problems earlier in the year with the facilities being closed I believe that they are back to their best based on feedback on the DZ section of the site. Going for my 5th visit in May 07 so that says a lot for what I think of the DZ *********************************** Fly Like Zie Eagle, Not Like Zie Chicken ! Good advice from an instructor I know. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
