Student Retention post A license

[ScoopUK 0]

As a young apprentice not earning much money I gave up a few years back after getting my A licence as I felt I couldn't progress and got frustrated. In the UK there are loads of restrictions on what you can do as an A licence holder, ie can't jump with someone unless you have FS1 / FF1 qualification or are being coached FS or FF etc (at that time, think might be able to jump with D licence holder now). You try and find a coach and they expect you to pay their slot AND a coaching fee. When you're already paying £25 for a jump ticket it becomes expensive particularly if you don't really have an interest in FS but are just doing it because you have to. The there was the weather to contend with.

The alternative was to get a cheap flight, go abroad and do what you like on holiday meeting and jumping with loads of cool people and actually having fun.

Back again now because the calling was just too strong. Got more money nowadays too. Still going to have to rethink my progression.

Having fun = retention. Jumping through hoops = people leaving.

[ShadowCount 0]

Skydiving had always been a dream of mine. I have pictures of me as a 3 year old, gaping at the flying canopies at my local dropzone. I later learned about basejumping and I became obsessed with everything skydiving.

About 5 years ago, after I had completed AFF and had done some solo jumps, I decided to put my skydiving career on hold (or stop all together) for the following reasons:

1. While I loved AFF, post-aff skydiving became a pretty boring experience for me. I hated having to wait for hours for my next ride. Packing also was a drag, because if you used rental gear, you had to get clearance from an AFFI on five different checkpoints during the packjob. Then when the packjob was finally done, skydiving meant waiting and more waiting. Most of the my fellow AFF students had quit, so I was pretty much on my own out there. By the time I found out they were still jumping, I had already quit.

2. Solo skydives just aren't all that exciting. The lack of bodies in the air, means you have no point of reference. So it doesn't really feel like flying, just hanging in the air, with the ground slowly creeping up on you.

3. When you're a lowtimer in western Europe, good jumping conditions are a rare. This means that if you absolutely want to jump, you have to wait at the dropzone for the weather to give you a break. I really hated doing that. I found it hard to stay current because I didn't make it to the dropzone.

4. The cost. I was at a point in my life/relationship where we were looking for a house to buy. Renting gear seemed like a crazy thing to do (every jump became just a tad bit expensive), and I couldn't really afford decent gear of my own.

Lately I've been thinking about giving it one more chance, as money is no longer an issue. In retrospect, perhaps I should have been a bit more patient. Any opinions on my re-entering the sport?

[ChrisD 0]

ya re-enter if you want
Fuckin life is full of regrets, ya don't want to pull a Schindlers list at the last moment full of what if's.

Ditto the dropzone weather thing, your not alone with that one but again we can not control mother nature nor can I begin to tell ya the number of times I have hung around the airport waiting for the rain to stop, just part of it I guess! you either wait and find some meaning out of it or you can just drive by in the quest to find another activity that you can control?

You have to make that choice, I used to pack and bug the riggers about everything on non-jump days. They then kicked me out of their little shack cause they were sick of my questions, esp when they ran out of answeres . So bring a book...


C

But what do I know, "I only have one tandem jump."

[ScoopUK 0]

Just go for it. My first jump back after 6 years was really intense. I was screaming and whooping and hollering in freefall. What a rush! Renew your BPA and get yourself down your DZ to get some refresher training. It was pretty painless for me.

[bodypilot90 0]

This weekend had a chat with our newbie group, Most had thoughts of giving up because no one would jump with them. They now have a "family" it's a shame so many others want to be friends as long as they pay for coach jumps. A couple weeks ago I had a great time taking a few of the youngsters on their 1st 7 way. They did great, wasn't golden knights but sure was fun. and the grins were golden

Remember next time your at the dz and the plane is not turning, You might be why. When there is only 3 belly fliers on the dz and you would like to do 4 way or 8 way. We have to grow our own. Don't just stand there, JUMP-IN
Besides all that you have new people to tell all your "old" stories too

[hoboknife 0]

I've had my A license for about 6 months now. I work a lot, so I don't get to the DZ very often. I'm nearing 60 jumps and have yet to jump with anyone else that wasn't a coached jump. Luckily, jumping by myself is still an awesome experience, and I don't think I'll ever get tired of jumping out of an air plane. That being said, there is definitely a gap between my skill level and what the regulars are doing there. What they're normally working on that day isn't something I'd even bother asking to be a part of because I know I couldn't do it.

It's also worth mentioning that if your DZ is a tandem factory that seems more annoyed by fun jumpers than anything else (which doesn't make sense), and you routinely get bumped to the next load or even several loads down the line and you wait for hours to get up in the air, I can see why people get turned off from it. And for most of us, the DZ you go to is the only one it makes sense to go to on a routine basis, so if you don't like the one you go to, you're kind of screwed.

But, like others have said, none of it really matters if you love it.