deviate

Massive respect.

I'll be jumping in Spain, which will increase the chances of blue skies and low wind. The instructor won't be near my local DZ (I'm in London), but hopefully the distance between us wont be a huge issue? (there's always phone and email and boogies). Edit: Just re-read your post CornishChris, I'll be jumping near London and Southampton mostly, I guess Lewknor, Salisbury and Swansea would be the closest DZs to where I go. Update: The cost of equipment rent is covered and rejumps are at cost rather than with profit. The Skydiver's Handbook arrived today - never before have I looked forward to reading on a Friday night! Peace

True Well a very good friend is a pilot and I'd love to have him do the ride up for me one day and I was the best engineer when I graduated university. True, skydivers dont leave rubber marks when they turn at 120mph. Well how about a theoretical qualified instructor who charges an extra €50 if I want to rent goggles for a jump and and extra €200 for a level 6(?) rejump? My quest for the right instructor is not for finding the one that looks coolest and knows more than anyone else, I want to know the total cost and I didn't know to ask about the cost of rejumps when I posted this. I'm not made of money, so I need to budget for this course and knowing the likelihood and cost of rejumps certainly helps. Thanks for all the advice everyone. blue skies

My bad, I forgot to mention that it will be abroad (somewhere sunny with less wind) for about a week. So I'll get the training done in one push over there so the learning curve shouldn't be a problem and because it's a pair of instructors going abroad, there's no DZ to select and they are licensed in the UK. @GLIDEANGLE: There might be a tunnel near me so if possible, I'll have a play before I go to jump properly I'll ask about the cost of rejumps and how frequent rejumps have been with past students, if video is taken on jumps, what the cost of the course doesn't include, packing, safety. @brucet7: A point well made but I'm actually talking about going from South UK to North UK (but still less than half of the E-W distance across Ontario, Canada). So after my AFF I probably will only see the instructor on trips/events. I'm slowly using up of my reserve of whuffo/newbie questions thank you, all!

Hi all. So i'm hell-bent on doing my AFF and I have exchanged a few emails with a potential instructor. He's very qualified (Instructor Examiner) and keeps in contact with past students and helps select equipment, but he's on the other side of the country. "Will you teach me how to pack?" "Do we do debriefs after every jump?" Are there any other questions should I ask? Perhaps "What's your safety record?" (Does that even make sense and is it taboo to ask?) Should I even ask these questions? Does it matter that I wont see much of my instructor after I finish the course because he's so far away? I'm just trying to get 'all' of the facts before I start. ~Blue skies

I called my mum (in the UK) before I did my first tandem in Australia (7y ago). Mum: "Be careful, and call me after". I liked it so much, I did a second straight away. In all of the excitement I forgot to call her --Epic fail She took okay and believes that "no news is good news". I'm going to do my AFF but I'm not going to tell my parents until I've got about 50 jumps.

Thanks all, for the advice and the welcomes.

So is proper technique to breathe through your nose when in free fall? I've done a few tandems and also had a lot of trouble breathing air through my mouth. For me it wasn't anxiety, it's the same when sticking my head out of a fast moving car.

Hi everyone, I'm 25 and live in London, UK and I want to do what you people do! I did 3 tandems in 2003 and I've always wanted to do my AFF course. I like rock climbing (+other stuff), but skydiving is a new level of "taking responsibility for your life and your own safety", and it's the most incredible experience I've ever had. This is an irrational and dangerous sport/activity - jumping out of a perfectly good aeroplane must be irrational; and despite all precautions, this is dangerous. I have the (probably normal) ambivalent emotions of fear and allure. I don't know why I still want to skydive but I (think I'm going to) love it! Hopefully I'll go to Spain in the coming months and spend 10 days getting my license. Blue skies everywhere!