Jill_UK

hey Mike, yeh I'm a geek, i wont deny it, but I'm at work and bored so may as well be a dropzone.com geek as not all that much skydiving is happening in my world (i hate british weather!)

hi, i did my AFF with Freefall University and i had a brilliant time... I couldnt have been happier with my AFF course and Lillo as a whole... Dave Cowman did my AFF course less than a year ago, so i think it's fair enough to assume that he does have an AFF rating! as was stated by sparko there is enough positive feedback on the Freefall Uni site to show that they obviously weren't doing too bad a job! but anyway as Dave has left go with Freefall Addicts... I was in Lillo a few weeks ago and the plans that they have sound really good, especially the customer care side of things (dune buggies, snowboarding etc.)... I did the later part of my course with Barry and he is an excellent instructor and i also got my gear through him and he was more than helpful with that... i've been to Lillo 5 times in the last year to do my AFF, canopy course, FS1 and freefly coaching and i would recommend it to anyone, if you want any more info then PM me... and that is my shameful plugging of the day lol Jill x

No problem, i seem to spend most of my life plugging for people Yeh we must have missed you! although there was a swiss guy that looked strangely like you lol hows life?

i didnt get away with it, but worth a try i guess

I didnt do my AFF at Lets go skydive but I jumped with a couple of the instructors at Lillo... they are very professional and commited to the sport... Jordy in particular was very motivational and patient and generally was able to put me at ease about jumping out of a plane! i wouldnt have the slightest problem in recommending them as instructors but I dont know all that much about the DZ...

I did my first 7 jumps without contacts or glasses, my eyes arent that bad (-2.0 and -1.75) and i broke my glasses the day before I started and i thought i'd get away with it... v bad plan, i didnt get one socially acceptable landing and ended up getting grounded for 2 months! i use the daily contacts, much less hassle if you do lose them... just stick with tight googles and you'll be fine, google marks is such a good look anyway

I always make sure my googles are really tight, more through paranoia than anything... so i've never had any problems...

what is everyones problems with Headcorn? Admittedly I'm a newbie that hasn't been to all that many DZ's but I havent had any probs... it was the first DZ i jumped at after my aff (which i did in spain) and they have always been really helpful with briefings, packing lessons, advice etc., good atmosphere, good plane (let 410 in the summer), cheap bunkhouse (£2 a night) and generally no problems whatsoever... I did some freefly coaching with Mikey in Lillo at the beginning of the month and I learnt loads, he is an excellent coach, so if you want coaching i would recommend Lillo...

Barry at Skydive Lillo (Freefall Addicts) measured me up for one, he should be around...

I bought an raptor FS suit from Rainbow that I'm really happy with... the quality is excellent and it fits really well... i can't fault it really... i jump at Headcorn so most people have Symbiosis suits for obvious reasons and I havent heard anyone complain... i got all my gear through skydive Lillo otherwise i would probably have got a symbiosis suit...

I didnt even consider using a wind tunnel during AFF but there weren't any at the time in the UK and I trained in Spain where there aren't any either... it's definitely not mandatory, but then again I haven't been in one yet so i wouldnt know ;)

I've done about 30 jumps on my new Pilot 188... I've had a nice on heading opening on every jump so far (even though i've been trash packing it basically every jump)... its a really good canopy for my level (100 jumps), it flys well, you can pick up some speed, it turns quickly and is really fun to fly but it's still conservative enough to be able to fly with confidence... my landings are known to be completely terrible but I'm getting really nice landings with the pilot, it's very easy to flare and quite forgiving... packing is a bit of a problem at the moment as I've been flat packing until now, so trying to pack a new, very slippery, ZP canopy isn't working too well but the colour coded lines has really helped me to learn to pro-pack... overall i'm very happy with the Pilot so far and would recommend it to anyone...

I've done about 30 jumps on my new Wings and I couldnt be happier with it! I'm very happy with the appearance of my rig, it looks quite small and compact for it's size (a 190- although packing is a bit of a nightmare at the moment as the tray's a bit tight, but I'm a newbie with a new ZP canopy so it's not really a surprise!)... the workmanship on it is clearly very good and the tie dye (which i was very paranoid about) looks great... i have had nothing but good comments about it... It's by far the most comfortable rig i've jumped,it fits perfectly and allows a lot of movement in freefall... it's well padded especially on the leg straps and on the back... I looked into getting a lot of different rigs and I eventually choose Wings as it offered all the options I wanted at a much lower price... I'm very very happy with my Wings and would recommend it to anyone...

i dont know about car hire im afraid, dont drive so have to pay for transfers, which is about 70euros each way... ur probably better off getting a car, if the weather isn't great there isnt all that much to do in Lillo, but if you have a car it's not all that far to madrid (snowdome :)) i got the train on one trip, works out cheap like 10-15euros or something, but you'll still need to get from the station to the DZ which is about 15euros for a taxi/ppl from the dz to pick you up... if there's more than one of you it doesnt work out much more expensive to pay transfers... accomodation wise im cheap so tend to go for the 8euro a night bunkhouse :) not that great but theres showers, cafe, bar etc. on the DZ so it's good enough... it's one big room with like 16 beds, seems safe enough the times ive stayed in there... theresas house is ok, its only 10euros a night, u basically get what you pay for... nice enough people, but they dont speak any english (and my spanish isnt exactly great) and tend to lock up fairly early... theres a really nice hotel in the town which is pretty chreap i think (although some people have had probs gettng in late at night when it's quiet- which i dont imagine it will be)... i tend to prefer the cheap accomodation more jumps option... we're gonna be there 8-13th which isnt all that much good... PM me if you want any more info...

I reckon i've spent about £9000 i've done AFF, got my FS1, a canopy course, 4 trips to spain (i've done most of my jumps at skydive Lillo) and have 76 jumps in total... i've also paid for new gear (wings, pilot, smart, cypres2)...

yeh i went for the party that won't win as well lol, and similarly i'm in blue country- so my vote means nothing... first past the post rules!

Lol excellent. is it actually possible to get blair? seems more intelligent than most of the debates at the moment , don't know why im bothering to vote anyway, conservative safe seat in my constituency...

I'd recommend Freefall University, Lillo, Spain... I did both my AFF and FS1 out there and I'm going out for my 4th trip next month... excellent DZ, perfect for students, great staff, good weather and generally a great place to be... if you want any more info then feel welcome to PM me... Jill x

I did my AFF at Freefall University this year. The weather was great (I managed to do 24 jumps in 6 days in October) the DZ itself was amazing. The instructors were all really professional, friendly and very patient! The student landing area is huge and the DZ was in every aspect very student friendly. Everyone at Lillo (both Spanish and English) was v welcoming and all in all it was an amazing experience. If you go to: http://www.freefalluniversity.co.uk/reference.asp Then there's a loads of references there. In all seriousness I've been to a lot of DZ's this year and Lillo is the best one I've found so far! If you want any more info then PM me. Jill x

an absolutely amazing DZ! the atmosphere is incredible, i've never felt more welcome :) the facilities/ equipment is great. perfect for students- i would recommend the freefall university to anyone! everyone should go right now!

Learning to skydive at FFU is the best thing that i've ever done. the atmosphere/instrutors/all the staff/the weather/ the location/ the equipment/ facilites are amazing! I would recommend the FFU to anyone- whether as a beginner or anyone wanting courses/coaching