mcstain

Thanks heaps for sharing your experience at the school. Consider this a cheeky bump in case anyone else has experiences to share.

(Apologies if this is the wrong forum) From http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-25/man-killed-in-skydiving-accident/4222568 An Australian man with almost 20 years of skydiving experience has plummeted to his death on a beach at Caloundra, north of Brisbane. Emergency Services say the 32-year-old man, who had performed more than 320 jumps, crashed on Kings Beach just after 11am AEST. Paramedics tried to resuscitate the man but he was pronounced dead at the scene. A full investigation into the incident will be launched by the Australian Parachute Federation and police will prepare a report for the coroner. Sunshine Coast Skydivers owner and operator Tibor Glesk says it is a tragic accident. "What happened is that one experienced solo jumper jumped here and landed downwind and impacted very hard and unfortunately lost his life," he said. "I can only say from experience these conditions today are perfect. "What can I say - we have been jumping here for 19 years and we... had one broken leg, but otherwise we have never had anything and it's just really a huge shock to all of us." Workplace Health and Safety will also investigate.

Yeah have been looking into it as an option. There's so many different opinions on it across the web. I'm going to do my second tandem jump in a few weeks to make sure diving is something I definitely want to pursue further, and also to talk to the guys at the DZ near me in Australia about alternative ways to progress in the industry. I'm particularly interested in the course in NZ because I'm into photography and it looks as though it is focused on providing skills for employment, rather than just teaching you to jump from the airplane. Whether this is a realistic assessment of what you can get out of the course is what I'm trying to work out. It may work out to be more expensive in the end, but it also looks like it gives a lot of structure and a set timeframe to the learning process which I think would be valuable for me. If I were to go I would definitely be treating it like school.. putting my head down for a few months and really studying hard. Something I keep hearing regarding the course is that you get out of it what you put in.. if I were to do it I would be looking to use it to improve my skills as much as possible in the time I had there rather than socialising or partying. That can come later :) In my view it seems like a convenient and structured way to get 200 jumps under your belt, make some contacts in the industry, and spend time at a couple of DZs to see how things work behind the scenes. Whether that is still true of this course is essentially what I'm hoping to find out from recent graduates.

^ Please keep this thread updated with your experiences, or any further information you come across from previous students!

Wondering if there has been any news on this front? I am looking into doing the diploma course next year. All of this part 115 stuff goes straight over my head, but I'm trying to understand it! Would also be good to hear from others who have done the course recently and what their thoughts on the experience were...?