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BPA appear to have a hard and fast 'no-one over 50' rule for people doing their first solo jump in the UK. Several AFF instructors will take you through the AFF course outside the UK and that will give you an AFF qualification which is valid in the UK. Tunnel time is very good for developing the right muscles if you're struggling to hold an arch. If you tell the tunnel instructor you're aiming to do AFF they will be helpful. Some tunnels do specific courses for people planning to do AFF. Anne

Earthbound equivalent is called a Brocken Spectre, sometimes seen by mountaineers when they're above the clouds. Google takes you to lots of sites explaining the optics behind it. Anne

Haven't many jumps so I can only say what worked for me. That was to focus my brain on the routine of the jump as advised by the instructor, and keep going through it in my mind. So at door time my brain was concentrating on the steps I needed to go through rather than the thought of jumping out of a plane. Anne

During a folk festival a few years ago, with the streets closed to traffic, I saw someone try to drive a smart car through the middle of a performance by a group of morris dancers. The morris side immediately incorporated the car in the dance by continuing the dance round it. they did happen to be a sturdy male side who were dancing in a tradition which involved wearing wooden clogs while wielding large sticks. Anne

As far back as the 60s my family knew a Marist Brother who jumped regularly with the UK Territorial Army. Anne

If it's left you nervous, why not try a session in a wind tunnel to give you confidence in your stability and learn a little about controlling fall rate? You might be able to arrange something with instructors from the DZ. If not, wind tunnel staff should be able to help. Anne

In another sport I was taught to use visualisation in this way: When you're learning a new technique and the right way to do it suddenly clicks, really concentrate on what it feels like. Then before you go to sleep at night, relive that feeling in your head. It's surprisingly effective at improving the muscle memory, and it also helps if you need to be away from the sport for a few weeks. Anne

If you're planning on doing a fair bit in the tunnel, cordura on knees and backside will reduce the wear. Anne

Might be worth talking to a physio who is also a skydiver and asking whether taping would help. It wouldn't provide the protection that a brace does, but it can absorb some of the sudden stress on a muscle so it might provide a degree of protection by helping the muscles which support the joint. I've found taping useful for a knee injury, but that wasn't a skydiving one and I'm not a physio, so ask someone who knows what they're talking about to find out if it would be worthwhile. Anne

Worth having a word with the staff at the wind tunnel to get their view. They may have some useful advice for you, may be able to tell you good times to visit when they can give him more attention. Anne

Fracking's being linked to an earth tremor in the UK http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9207396/Fracking-caused-Blackpool-earthquakes-QandA.html A quick google shows a few studies linking it to earth tremors, not just that one incident. Anne

There's a restaurant called Le Berthoud in Ruel Valette near the Parthenon in Paris. Haven't been there for a while but it was one of those places with a linited menu of very fresh, very french organic food. Nice wines too. It's an old fashioned setup, starched tablecloths, waiters in long aprons and so on. Used to go there when we did the Pari Roller rollerblading event. Anne

Where in Europe are you studying and what is your budget? Anne

If you want to maximise your chances of getting your licence and minimise the risk of repeat jumps, you could do some AFF training at one of the UK windtunnels before you go. They are near Bedford, in Manchester and in Milton Keynes. If you know which dropzone will be your home DZ when you get back, ask whether they are organising any tunnel sessions you could join in with. Otherwise contact the tunnel you want to go to and explain that you want to prepare for AFF. Anne

Can you book time without using it all at once? If so, buy what you can afford. Even if you don't need it for AFF there will be other things you want to work on afterwards. Don't do a lot of time on your first visit as you'll lose concentration and stop learning.You can get a lot of learning out of 10 minutes tunnel time. Anne

Check the cost of visor replacement. I had a Freezr and loved it but the visor lugs were a weak point and when I realised that the price of 2 replacement visors (in the UK) would nearly buy me a new Factory Diver, couldn't justify keeping the Freezr except as a spare to wear with goggles. Anne

May sound silly, but smiling can help you relax. I've seen it loads of times watching beginners in the tunnel. The instructor does something to make them smile or giggle and suddenly they have a nice relaxed stable arch. And once they have felt what it's like to be relaxed, when they tense up again they actually do start to relax in response to the signal. Anne

If you decide to do a chilli in a slow cooker, cook the beans fully BEFORE you put them in the cooker. Apparently there are toxins in kidney beans which are destroyed by normal cooking but a slow cooker doesn't provide a high enough temperature to do this. Apart from that, a chilli is cheap and nutritious and you caan bulk it out with rice or a baked potato. Freezes well too if you want to make a load in one go. Anne

Agree with everyone who said windtunnel!! You said rejumps cost £200 so I assume you're in the UK. The three tunnels there are: http://www.bodyflight.co.uk/ near Bedford and http://www.airkix.com/ one in Milton Keynes and one in Manchester If you train in a tunnel you'll be in there for a couple of minutes at a time and in between you can have a quick look on a debrief station to see what your body was really doing, then try and correct any problems on the next go. Bodyflight definitely has this facility, think the others probably have something similar. Which DZ are you doing AFF at? Some of them organise tunnel training sessions. If there isn't a DZ training session and you can't organise something with your coach, then when you book a tunnel session let them know you're doing AFF - the tunnels have people who can help with preparation for AFF jumps and they may be able to lend you a dummy rig to wear in the tunnel. Anne

Out of curiosity, why is a front flip dangerous? Is it lack of space? I would have thought a back layout was more risky. Have you tried 'dozing off'? On your back with legs crossed and hands behind head. Semi on your side with arms pillowing head. And if you can get enough lift, there's the T - like bellyflying but with one leg vertical. Anne

Like elightle says, looking at your reflection can help. Also, if you're working with a coach, are they moving your limbs to the right position? That sort of physical feedback can help you realise where your limbs are. If you don't already have a coach, worth arranging a couple of coached sessions. And it may help to concentrate on feeling the wind - if it's pushing you one way you need to do something to offset that. But coaching is likely to be the most effective, as a coach will see and understand things that you wouldn't notice while you're learning. Anne

Never a good idea to have an animal on the loose in a vehicle if they're not used to it and likely to get distressed. If they freak out they can go any where and they are not transparent. I'm not being funny, I have seen a driver trying to get a scared cat off his head, while peering past a swishing tail at oncoming traffic! OK, it was funny after the event, but not at the time Anne

Some couples do it because they're not really into FB and the like so they do the minimum to allow them to keep in touch with people and events. Some do it because one of the couple is more sociable and 'manages' that aspect of life for both of them. One day there's going to be a divorce case that gets seriously acrimonious over ownership of the FB account and friends. It will be resolved by FB stating that the joint account violated its Ts and Cs, and deleting the whole thing. At which point someone else will realise it's the only way of getting data deleted from FB. Anne

I'd say yes. When you do AFF it's a big learning curve and you have to master freefall stability, canopy handling, and getting safely back to the landing area. If you are reasonably confident with freefall, it's easier to focus on the other aspects because your brain isn't overloaded with the strange experience of freefall. I did AFF prep at the Bodyflight tunnel, which is actually not too far from Milton Keynes, and is a much larger tunnel with more facilities. However the MK tunnel also does AFF training. The other thing Bedford has is a vertigo jump - it's not a bungee, it's a fan descender, and it's from 125 feet. I did that to prove to myself I could actually take that step into the great unknown. Anne

Can't recommend as M&S no longer cover skydiving, but if it's an optional extra on the insurance you take out and the options list shows both skydiving and parachuting, make sure you tick both. Anne