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Good advice Kelly. My dad paid for my course as a b'day pressie then I packed to pay for the rest of the jumps. I had a jump bill and everytime I did a pack job it got taken off my jump bill. Sometimes if the bill got a bit too large the airfield phoned my dad and asked him to make a contribution although usually I would then get a phonecall from my dad telling me not to jump so much. I lived on the airfield for about 6 months, working in the cafe and packing the parachutes. It wasn't ideal but great fun.....had to go and get one of those real jobs in the end though

3rd generation of skydivers (well my grandad jumping from hercs at 800ft doesn't quite count as skydiving, I suppose I should say 3rd generation of parachuters) Tandem at 12, packing from 11, S/L course at 16. My daughter is going in the wind tunnell on sat at the age of 5 - maybe one day she'll become the 4th generation

This is not for the US as I live in the UK, but I work full time for a charity that helps disadvantaged young people find jobs. I used to be a hard core sales person with a company car, mobile phone, laptop working from home and high commission etc. I gave it all up in August to work as a fundraiser for this charity. Figured my sales techniques would be better put to something that made a difference. I absolutely love it, everyday I feel like my job is worthwhile. Coming from a disadvantaged background (left home at 16 with no job, no money). I feel like I have a lot to offer. Oh have never claimed benefits and paid taxes since I was 17. Did once miss a council tax payment once!

I transfered money earlier on this year to my account in Deland - our team put all of our money together £4k and did one bank transfer it saved us £300 as we got the business rate as opposed to the tourist rate. It cost me £20 with a bank called HSBC but most banks in the UK will do it and some free of charge just need to find the best rate. If she can transfer it straight into your account she should be able to get a better rate with very little charge. I would definately recommend it. Get her to check with her bank what the rate is and how much it'll cost for £5k she should be looking at quite a good saving. Allow 5 working days for the transfer to go ahead.

In Orlando they definately allow 5 year old's - my daughter is in there on boxing day. It'll be her first time.

18......but have lost all my muscle due to not training for the past 2 months so I am actually really unfit at the moment.

I did a Tandem at 12 in France - here in the UK you have to be 16. I had already been waiting since I was 6, I was desperate to get in the air. Hassled my dad every single day for 6 years. He decided that 12 was a good age for me mentally he felt that I was aware of just what I was getting involved in and also big enough to fit the harness properly. I loved it - my only regret is there was no video available, all i have now are very distant memories of what it may have felt like. I then was in torture for another 4 years before I became old enough to do my static line course. Looking back now I really don't think I could've been much younger, I only just appreciated it as it was. It is a lot for a kid to get their head round. Plus you forget things so quickly as a kid. My daughter is 5 and I can say that it will be a few years yet before I let her do a tandem - I want to make sure she really understands what she is doing and she will definately be getting video

It depends on what you are wanting to get from it. I can only go on what experience I have had. Rusty Lewis is a tunnel instructor in Orlando he did 4hrs coaching with me and two mates last year and he was great - taught me loads of personal skills aswell as techniques that were useful for 4-way. Also got me freeflying in the tunnel which was amusing. The other person who coached my 4-way team this year was Gary Smith who's based in Deland but at the tunnel all the time coaching, we did 3 hrs and again was great. This was more focused on flying the 4-way in the tunnel instead of the individual skills. I have heard that Joey Jones is fantastic in there, but I cannot speak from experience as I have never used him myself. Another option would be to ask Pete if there is anyone he would recommend to cover the evenings that way he can come up with a program with the other coach - this would probably give you more benefit as they would be able to work together. Enjoy

I've wondered the same thing - in the UK there are two plans for tunnel's there is no indication as to which will be open first. They are both in similar areas only being some 30-40miles apart. I'm not sure if there will be enough demand for two tunnel's in the UK, from whuffo's and Skydivers.

I think Vicky does sum WARP up very well, it does depend on who you go with. However there are other aspects tought in WARP at certain dropzones such as spotting, JM responsibilities, canaopy handling and these are just as important so it is good to go with an WARP instructor that can teach you all of the freefall skills (up to date) and the other responsibilites. Finding someone that can teach things in a way that suits you is also important! I haven't got experience on Skydive U so really cannot comment but I do know some exceptional WARP instructors in the UK and I also know some bad ones. I had the same problem when I was doing WARP. I was very lucky with who I ended up with and he tought me alot of very useful skills that are still very relevent. You need someone with alot of skydiving experience aswell as good up to date freefall skills. Maybe someone who is or has recently been on a good coached team but has been in the sport long enough to know about all the other responsibilities I have mentioned. Good Luck with getting your FS1!

Brit 100 when they got it, hearing the yahoo's when they were still in freefall.

I made my first jump when I was 12, as someone has already pointed out it is illegal to jump under 16 in the UK but my father took me to France so that I could do a Tandem. I have been at airfields since I was 6 and by the age of 12 I had already lost a dear friend through the sport and seen two friends have a very nasty accident. Even though I'd seen these things, I knew that skydiving was something I would take up when I was legally old enough too. I loved my Tandem and would've done another one if my Dad had paid for it, I knew what I was getting myself into and I had been hassling my dad for some 3-4 years before then. The only downside to doing it so young was that I do not remember it that much now, all I have is the photos (no vid available then). I started my S/L course the day before my 16th and did my first jump on my 16th b'day. I have not looked back since. I think that it really depends on the situation and the parents, I understand the concern of letting so called minors jump out of a plane, but I think it very much depends on the child and the reasons for why they want to do it. My dad would not let me until I was 12 at the time I couldn't understand but I do now, I wasn't ready to fully apreciate what I was about to do until then. If I could've done a course (AFF or S/L) I would've done unfortunately it would not have been realistic to keep traveling to France everytime I wanted to jump, so I had to sit it out for another 4 years before I could make my next jump. Being around the dropzone so much as a kid really helped me when I did my course, I completed the Cat system within 21 jumps and did a 16 way (being held onto in the base) on my 17th B'day with just 30+ jumps (British Weather and my dad tightened wallet prevented me from doing more jumps). My dad has retired now but I am still going, out of his 5 children I was the only he allowed to jump so young and I am the only one who is still jumping, from 6 I always knew this is something I wanted to do!

I'm not sure exactly how it works but I am pretty sure the CCI will examine the log book and provided you have done similar abroad you will be allowed to carry on as normal. It is just something we do for newly qualified AFF or RAPS students to make sure they are capable of docking on small formations, fast fall, slow fall, forward backwards and turns etc. If you turn up with your equivilent qualification that should be fine or proof that you have done similar work. Kelland - I have just seen your profile, I wouldn't worry this is just for the lower experienced skydivers.

QuoteAnd most of the time Airspeed is way above the level of the jumper anyway...So they might be better with other local cheaper coaches till then need Airspeed. It does not take a world class jumper to teach AFF. It always pays to have someone who is competent in coaching aswell as a good skydiver, at airspeeds level of coaching experience aswell as skydiving it is going to give you a great deal more than being coached by somebody who may well be a good skydiver but not used to coaching therefore not used to peoples different learning styles but they are still asking you to pay for them. As far as the "It does not take a world class jumper to teach AFF. " Maybe not but I know a lot of bad AFF instructors that I would not recommend even for coaching, someone could have a lot of jumps and experience with knowledge that could be passed on, however, could that be passed on in a way that is easily understood? I found the best way for me was to find some friends all at the same level and put together a junior 4-way team, we found then that people were more than happy to brief and debrief our dives, we struggled to even get together at first but the more tips we were told the more we learnt. We developed these skills further by doing a 2 week training camp with Gary Smith and some tunnel time, we turned a 3pt average before we went into a 10pt average by the time we got back and that was from jump 60 through to about 200 over a year. This worked for me I am not saying it will work for everyone. There is no harm with doing some paid coaching jumps at your dz if you know that you will gain alot from that person, there are a lot of good coaches out there with alot of useful knowledge, but beware there are also alot of people that will take the free jump without giving you any skills. Ron - I am sure you are worth it, FS1 is a recognised qualification in the UK, you would pay for that WARP coach so that you can gain this FS1 to then be able to jump with whoever you like, of course you would expect to pay for this Emma is just pointing that out. Further coaching after FS1 is when it becomes a bit sketchy - do you or do you not pay for someone to jump with you. If they are going to pass on skills that they have speant a lot of money getting themselves then maybe the argument is yes to at least get the slot covered, but again that goes back to my point of can they pass that on in a way that you will understand?

Very true I hadn't thought of them and you have ballet dancers aswell!