bogwarrior

Hi Tenshi, I might possibly agree with you if the instructors had regular day jobs and did this at the weekends for kicks. However when you take three or four days out of your working week as a professional skydiver ( Ulli and Paula are both AFF-I´s ) to take people on a a course then I think its more than fair that they recieve renumeration for what they are doing. Having watched Ulli and Paula work for the last year or so i have to say people coming on their course get great value for money. I do confess to being biased however .. they are friends of mine. David

Hi Rory, I would check with the dropzone you intend to jump at it may be that they require you only to have third party liability. Im not sure if your Spanish Federation memberhsip covers you for third party liability abroad. Generally speaking you can also sign up for a 30 day membership of the USPA ( but that may have changed as it was two years ago that I met somebody who utilised the temporary membership). A USPA AFF instrucor can issue you with an A license, once you do the exam etc. he can sign a temp A license into your logbook while you wait for the real thing to come through, or you can pay to have your application expidited and you will get your card in a week. David FFU Ocaña

I was sad to hear. It is clear that Don touched many skydivers lives as he did my own when certifying me as an AFF Instructor. Ill never forget that moment and he was an integral part of it. David

Tampa

Its a toss between :getting my AFF rating.. really struggled with the pressure on the course. Last jump of the course just said "fuck it im gonna enjoy this one " to myself going out the door. The evaluator beasted me , but i was all over him and he actually pulled for himself. Perfect score! Or having struggled on progression , getting stable for the first time and staying that way all the way down ( screaming my lungs out ) whilst watching the Irish Parachute Club below me get ever closer..

Hi Steve, Langar is top notch, http://www.air-supply.co.uk/run by Phil Curtis, I cant reccomend him highly enough. Hes got a lot of experience teaching.

I tried a friends Katana 97 and with my wright it was loaded at 1.6. I have previously flown a Velocity 96 but sold it as I hated the openings. I normally jump a Stiletto 107 which is my work canopy. Throwing the pilot chute to open the Katana I wondered what i was going to get , but a nice soft snivel that transformed into a smooth opening awaited me . Snatch was nice and deceleration also nice. I did have a 90 degree off heading in the end , but it wasnt a sudden jerk like the Stilleto and especially the velocity gave me .. i was well able to keep up in the harness.. Once opened I knew i was flying a different canopy than used to.. i could feel the speed and the descent rate. Let the brakes off and it took off. I did a few practice turns 90 degrees buidling to 270 and was aware that It loses a lot of height in a turn. The riser pressure was light and remained light whilst picking up speed.. nice.. the velocity was somtimes a battle with turns having to be finished with harness only.. So now at 2000 feet ( i dumped at 6000ft ) what type of turn would i try for the landing ? I decided to be conservative and go for 90 degrees only. Having set up , i picked my moment ( or rather my height ) and initiated a smooth turn ( loving the riser pressue ) . Noticable was the dive in the turn and speed build was nice .even from the 90 degrees. Four seconds of netural flight and onto the rears ( ok I slingshotted a little ! )..again nice with no major pressure ( decided on next jump to find the rear stall point ! ). I enjoyed the swoop which was about 40-50 metres which was pleasing for my first go on the canopy. In hindsight i transitioned a little early and popped up a foot or two on the flare... the flare is good on this canopy too. Lots of lift and stop when you need it and it seemed less fussy than the velocity.. Overall I had a grin from ear to ear having tried the Katana and after another lob or two on it have orderd my own.. All round nice canopy in the right hands , but definatley has the capacity to spank you if you dont treat it just right...

Hi Laura, To answer your question. The weather is good for jumping but it is colder than when you were here in Summer. Temperatures get up towards 15 degrees. Notably also it is dark after 630, but as you know the fun doesnt stop. The Universities in Aranjuez are full of students and as the locals are not on holidays as was the case when you were last here. Thus the clubs , pubs etc. are even more lively than when you were here. Best wishes David Cowman The Freefall University Spain http://www.freefalluniversity.co.uk All the fun under the sun..

Hi Padraig, Take good care of Laura and Gill for us ! Are you jumping the porter yet over there . Last i heard it was waiting for some IAA authority ? David The Freefall University Ocaña - Southern Madrid http://www.freefalluniversity.co.uk

Hi, The Freefall Uni has not closed! Far from it , we are now better position than ever to offer skydiving holidays in MAdrid Spain and working on improving every day. We have retained some of our staff from Lillo and moved to Ocaña for very definate reasons, primarily the night life ,size of landing area , etc. Proximity to most places people would like to go visit including madrid , alternative activities etc . This transition took place in July. Remember especially over winter it gets dark at 6-7 pm. Generally we head into Cheers, Avalon , the Hangar bar , the Dubliner or one of the 100s of bars restaurants etc. ( Opinions Jill / Luara Sick Puppy ? ) We have in two months working here trained 33 students mostly from the UK and Ireland and conducted numerous continaution courses. We are also being joined by schools from around Europe so people contemplating coming on their own will have tons of company.. We have as I some staff from Lillo and appointed more to include BPA AFF instructors with British ratings . Many people have been worried about skills transferance between Spain and the UK..no bother anymore, our graduates from here have jumped at various centres across the UK already. We are really excited about what we are achieving here as we are in a position to offer fantastic holidays overall , not just fantastic skydiving! We have Andy Guler of the Swiss team running the Formation skydiving school. Ninja who who trains people to fly . Our qaulification dives are not engineered to make the four point four way easy ... but are actually drawn from the same pool or randoms that the team we Sponsored the " Freefall University Five " ( who won gold at the UK nats ) faced in competition. Louis Harwood of Avalore who is running the Freefly school and can again issue BPA FF1 and FF2 qualifications. He is going to be working hard this winter with a lot of people already booked in and has positive enerrgy for the DZ..even if some around here still believe the world falls flat! We have three rated canopy coaches onsite and two can issue the BPA CH1 qualification. There are more exciting developments for the Freefall University Ocaña , lets just say the project is gathering momentum think super airplane ..but cant say anything just now ... .. ..but most importantly the students and staff are having a ball both skydiving and holidaying in general.. Sorry , if that sounded like a bit of advertising , but just wanted to make sure that the record was kept straight. Best wishes David Cowman The Freefall University Ocaña http://www.freefalluniversity.co.uk ps Dean look forward to seeing you at the weekend

dont worry Gill , Laura , Mike! Daniella might pop over for a day or two anyway to see ya!

Mike Worthington, Thanks ever so much for the sentiment. Making the move to Ocaña..was... a bit like finally making it ashore you could say. Aranjuez city is 9 minutes ten seconds away if you do a leisurley 80 KMPH. Really going to come into its own when the evenings start to get shorter. Im sure nobody has ate , drank, or danced in the same place twice even after being here for over a week on their AFF " holiday ". You could say there is too much choice but the Hanger Music Bar and Avalon night club are fast becoming favourites. The range of accomodation options and other evening and poorer weather activities is growing also. Then for non skydiving partners of course theres the museums , the casino, the golf course, quad biking , canoeing et all . If thats not enough then you have the train that runs every 20 minutes to downtown Madrid. As an aside note it seems that every time i check the Lillo website these days the distance to you from the airport is getting smaller ,, they do of course say " the world is becoming a smaller place " but it was last quoted at 90km.. ahem.. As for fitting in, well it seems im joining a growing contingent of people who didnt " fit in " in Lillo. Let me expand: First of we have the Swiss National team ( currently advertised as being residents on the Lillo website ). Which as I understand it actually spent about five days team training in Lillo in late 2004 before heading home never to be seen again. Perhaps they didnt " fit in " . Then we had Jan Wildergruber who owns and flys what is known in the world of skydiving as " Jans Beach " . He after a period of growing frustration ( the source of which to his credit remains a mystery ) decided he didnt " fit in " packed everything in the back of his plane and flew of into the sunset. This three months short of the time frame Lillo expected he would " fit in ". Then we had Brian Vacher who is also advertised on your website as running the canopy school . As I understand it, he too departed the " Lillo shores " a few months back. Guess he didnt " fit in" either. http://www.safeflightschool.com Then theres Mike Vetter who according to Lillos website is running the 4 way school. As i understand it he resigned from Lillo staff at the end of June deciding he didnt " fit in " with the Lillo Philospohy. So when it comes to people who didnt fit in and are now somwhere else, I am I believe in good company. As for the village of Lillo being 15 minutes down the road from Ocaña.. Assuming a constant speed of 192 Kmph then perhaps.. but .. youd have to allow , particularily in the rain, adequate braking distance however in case you overshot.. David Cowman

The Freefall University has relocated to Ocaña dropzone, 5 minutes from Aranjuez and 25 minutes from madrid.. THere is info on our website at www.freefalluniversity.co.uk Our new location gives people the best mix of jumping during the day and something to do at night ..when you cant or dont want to jump. There is a free shuttle service between the dropzone and Aranjuez city mornings and evening. We have had a number of people graduate our programme however `progress has been severly hampered by severe hangovers... I will be adding activities to the list as time goes on. Also more training companies from the UK will be coming out to work with us also to provide coaching in various disciplines. Blue Skies David Cowman The Freefall University Ocaña http://www.freefalluniversity.co.uk Sponsor of the FFU5

Hi, James, to be honest i dont , but when i see you here I will prob remember you.. were you the guy who followed me and Adam out with a 3chip camera ? Freefall University accomodation to my knowledge is full, but the place Theresa has is popular and although i havent seen it , i hear for what you pay its a good deal. Splitting the cost of a car is the way to go...some of the back roads around here make for interesting boy racer type drives. One of Skydive Lillos staff ( ask for Paula ) and some weekend jumpers are well into Bird Man jumps. Often they fly with the plane and get GPS readouts so they can tell their distance over the ground ( Paula is up to about 120mph forward speed ) . Anyway look forward to seeing you. David http://www.freefalluniversity.co.uk

The Freefall University is a Company based in Lillo ( for UK AFF students ) . Our students tend to hire a car from pepecar, or easycar which is a spin off from easyjet. http://www.easycar.com/aspx/nossl/default.aspx Alternatley the trains are not complicated but you must arrive in Barajas by 6pm to meet the last train. Another option is to email lamorna @ freefalluniversity.co.uk and check to see if we have any body making the trip the day you arrive. Include your flight arrival time . It may mean a wait but its possible that you can share the cost with other people. Best wishes David Cowman http://www.freefalluniversity.co.uk

Hi, I was there last weekend and loved the place. The people are friendly , the operation was efficent and the PAC 750 is a really nice plane. The scenery is fantastic especially if the tide is in and the climbing tours of the lake district are not to be be missed. Bunkhouse is good , cafe is good and the local town is walking distance , but car pooling makes things easier.

You cant go wrong. Great build quality ( apparently the materials used are the same as in bullet proof vests / useless info ). The customer service was also excellent for me. The guy who makes them takes pride in his work and its obvious. David

Hi Liam, Email either the Freefalll University or Skydive Lillo direct and let them know what you want to do when your here, i.e. coaching / Discipline / goals for yourself in the sport. During your dates there is a lot going on in general on the dropzone , so finding people to jump with wont be a problem. Only other word of advice i would give you , is dont be afraid to buy in blocks and save yourself some dough. Its more or less back to back non stop.. so getting the " jumps in " aint a problem , its more having an idea what you would like to achieve .

I jumped here at the 4way grand prix in May 2005. In chatting to Kay in the office in advance of arrival I got the impression the staff were very helpful and this proved to be the case. Kay , Stuart , Derek and all the staff were helpful and you got the feeling they loved doing their job. The centre piece of the DZ is the plane , fast and comfortable. I did eight jumps in a day and a half and the scenery over the bay was awesome with tours of the English Lake district on the way up , the climb was always interesting. As i was there for an event the DZ was quite busy , but you never go the feeling that the manifest was not in control with a smooth operation and plenty of calls to let you know what load you were on. The cafes food was great , especially the " Sticky toffee cake and custard " a real treat! The tandem passengers were well looked after and the video that i saw of them was excellent. All in all , if your thinking of doing a tandem , or popping in for a couple of jumps id recommend NWPC Cark.as a weekend dropzone. The bunkhouse was basic, but warm. There are great keenly priced Bed and breakfasts in the local town.

Hi, I got a HC1000 in the end ( will prob get another model in the next months as this was an expensive month for me so i could not get the one i wanted which was the VX although the PC1000 is getting good initial reports. ) Anyway, i was pleased with the results. Colours were much richer especially when put on DVD. I would agree that the quality of the wide angle lens is very important , to the point i almost feel a single chip with really good quality glass is the same as a 3 chip with a mediocre one ). I am awaiting good wide angles from a supplier at the moment. A guy who works here in Lillo , Nils Predstrup is about to get a PC1000 , so ill be watching that with interest , as this cam has 3 cmos chips and not 3 CCD´s but has the advantage of being so much smaller. Cheers David

Hi Ram, Yeah, bit of rushed gibberish.. 1. Anybody using panasonic 3 chips 2. do the normal rules apply when choosing a conversion factor for a wide angle for this lens .. .7 seems to be narrow , but maybe this camera naturally has a shorter focal lenght ?

Hi, Anybody using the panasonic GS400 3 CCD ? The lens is a 43mm thread so any ideas on a decent wide angle lens for it and what factor should i get for four way. If I was buying a standard Sony HC90 for example id get a .5 but people are telling me i should get a .7 as this lens is different in focal lenght ? Any ideas would be appreciated. David

I hear good things about Aerograd, but only from the boogie perspective.

Look no further than Lillo. Got a Beach 99 on the way also.

Hi, One of our students went on holiday there a while back and found that the DZ was closed " temporarily ". I would get in touch with them to make sure they are open before going out of your way. David C The Freefall University Spain