We do a lot of tandems at infinite Skydiving so it’s only fair we share with you some of the fun we are having, the pictures paint a thousand words as it were, so we’ll just let them speak for themselves.
Some of the tandem Skydives were for charity and some for birthdays and other special occasions but the results were the same… everybody who made a skydive with us went home smiling and wanting to do it again in the near future.
if you fancy flinging yourself into the blue then let us know, we know you will have a fantastic experience with our team.
After the 108 way in 2009 Skydive Chicago are holding another attempt at a world record, this time looking to put 135 of the worlds top freeflyers in formation.
Andy Ford from Infinite Skydive is amongst those invited after completing successfully the Arizona WR try outs in April and will be blogging throughout the Summerfest Boogie and the WR attempts and hopefully the WR itself.
Video clips, Images from the jumps and some interviews with some of the nicest and coolest flyers around will be in the daily updates.
Check back here from the 28th July onwards to keep up with what’s going down.
Easy! turn on that shiny mac book and google skydiving or skydiving in london etc. etc. Maybe your looking to do a charity parachute jump for a current uk charity or a cause that is close to you personally. Many 1st time jumpers opt to make a tandem for charity to raise funds for the cause that may have affected a family member or close friend. Of course you may wish to purchase a gift or voucher for a friend or maybe even just feel the need to take to the skies for yourself.
Well as most of us have already realised the world wide web can be a tricky and frustrating place to navigate as everyone with access to a computer seems to have a website! The most difficult part is to know exactly what you want as generally it’s all going to be new information at this stage of the process. Does any of the following form part of your “I am looking for this to go skydiving” list:
Professional and helpful voice on the phone who know what they are talking about because they really skydive not just sell skydives.
Prompt and concise reply when you e-mail your questions and inevitable concerns (everybody is a little nervous when thinking about making a jump from a plane)
A good feeling about the people you are booking with.
A competitive rate for either yourself or your group
A company that are looking to make that skydive a fantastic experience not just treat you like just another Tandem or AFF student once they have taken your credit card details.
We feel the same when we book services online so we do understand how it feels to be ignored and frustrated when you require information about something your looking to do for the first time that you want to be 100% right (no-one wants to do a 98% correct skydive 😉
So where do you look? your favorite web search engine is most peoples first port of call! Enter your desired question and bam! a list of providers of the service your looking for.. Well, generally most people start on the top of page one and go to the sponsored links.. Why look any further right? after all these are the top on page one, they must be the best. Actually the sponsored links and most of the page one are the companies with the large marketing budget, not necessarily the best staff or experience, the more you pour money into ad-words the higher up the list you rise, it’s all about the money!
Scream louder...
Here are some tips to help you end up with a great Tandem or AFF experience and not end up sitting in a field with a styrofoam cup of weak coffee wondering what is going on whilst all the people in the colourful suits buzz around having a good time.
Rule number one above anything else is to find a parachute centre or skydiving centre that are the providers of the skydive you wish to make. Not an agency that take your credit card details and then sell the product to the centre taking a chunk of your money for the privilege, usually £50 or more. Yes they have fancy headed paper and nice envelopes but is that worth the extra money. We too have some pretty fancy headed paper as it happens.
Rule number two check whether there maybe any further charges for the day, if the Tandem skydive is only £150.00 whilst everyone else seems around the £220-£250 range it’s probably to good to be true and other charges may “suddenly occur” on the day.
Rule number three ask questions, we expect you to ask a lot of questions after all you are looking to put your life quite literally in our capable hands. If you don’t get the answers you are looking for, make a call elsewhere, customer service should be a main priority.
Then AFF is one way to be trained to become a licensed skydiver in the UK, static line parachuting or the progression system as it is more professionally referred to is the other available method. In the opinion of Infinite Skydiving Instructor Andy Ford AFF is the only way to seriously train to become a skydiver. “I trained on static line back in the day and spent a lot of time sat on the ground because of unfavourable weather conditions, I became a static line parachute Instructor over 11 years ago and watched 1000’s of students try to progress from static line to freefall with dummy pulls being the hardest point to get past” (A dummy pull is a fake handle that the student has to reach for and pull a second after exiting and maintaining an arched position whilst the parachute opens automatically)
1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, check canopy
Andy goes on to say “The dummy pull was a toughest part of the progression,I have seen maybe 4 or 5 students carry out the three consecutive perfect jumps to progress without having to repeat the process multiple times, very frustrating to get the 2nd perfect jump done only to have to start again after messing up the dummy pull on the 3rd attempt”. In the worst case I watched a student on one dropzone spend a year and 70 dummy pulls getting onto freefall (good effort Graham!)
Arch position right of the sill of the plane
The static line progression system or R.A.P.S (Ram. Air. Progression. System.) is a very laborious way of getting to A license and i believe few make it without changing to AFF or giving up and missing out on the wonderful world of freefall.
So if you fancy having a fun and challenging day out then a R.A.P.S. S/L course is a nice introduction to parachuting. At about £225 for a day’s training and one static line jump it is the cheapest solo way of doing a parachute jump.
Even though for a skydiving school the S/L course is a more lucrative way of introducing people into the sport at a ratio of 1 instructor to 12 students, Infinite Skydiving have decided not to train static line parachuting as we feel it is not an efficient use of our instructors. We want our students to be skydiving solo and enjoying the sport in a few weeks not a few months. All of our instructors have taught static line parachuting over many years. (Andy Ford and Andy Scott started on the traditional round parachute static line parachute courses in the late 80’s)
AFF or Accelerated Free Fallis without doubt a better system if you are serious about getting into skydiving. A day of ground school much the same as the R.A.P.S system but with some specific lessons about freefall/ in air signals/ Ac emergencies/ freefall emergencies as the aircraft will fly to 13,000ft and not 3,500ft and we are exiting into FREEFALL!! not just instant canopy ride.
Once the ground school and check of understanding are finished we generally pack up for the day to give the student a break, a lot of information is taught during the lessons and the students are generally a little tired and still processing all the information, Infinite Skydiving have found that the general performance is much better waiting to jump the next day. AFF levels one to four can easily be achieved within a day with some of our students completing five and six before retiring for a well earned beer. The AFF course and 10 consolidation jumps can be done within a week or a few weekends of fair weather
All lessons, parachute equipment and briefings required to attain ‘A’ license
8 levels of AFF with world class Instructors (all of our Instructors are world record holders, current or ex world champions & national champions in our excellent sport)
1 month membership to the British Parachute Association (B.P.A. the UK governing body for all civilian parachuting)
10 minutes flight training in the Airkix wind tunnel at milton Keynes coached by our AFF Instructors (£175.00 if booked separately through Airkix)
Every level videoed to assist with de-briefing, imperative to see your progression (Available on DVD at the end of the course for a £50.00 donation to a charity we support)
Free equipment loan throughout consolidation jumps (I.E. helmet/goggles/altimeter/Jumpsuit/parachute system)
Free coaching and briefing for all consolidation jumps (10 jumps in total)
Professional coaching and on hand advice throughout skydiving progression with briefings/parachute packing lessons as you approach ‘B’ license (50 jumps)
Free logbook for you to keep a perfect log of all your descents (up too 200 in a book)
All of the above costs you £1,400.00 with no hidden extra’s (unlike many European courses we won’t mention) If you like we offer a level one only package for £375.00 if you wish to try the sport without committing to the full 8 levels (you can always carry on after you have completed level 1)
if you wish to take up this amazing sport then give us a call on 07876500515 or drop us a line on Info@infiniteskydiving.com and feel free to call just to discuss the course.
It’s rare that Skydiving is lucky enough to have a new dropzone open as we are a struggling sport with the price of real estate and cost of keeping a skydiving centre profitable in the current economic climate, so when the Emirate of Dubai opens a skydiving centre with two dz’s it really is something to celebrate throughout the sport. It is even rarer if not unheard of for a sport to have such backing as the prince of Dubai his highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum who already has 300+ skydives and has a personal interest in seeing his project Fazza Sky grow into one of the world’s leading dropzones.
Fazza sky dropzone
So with a backdrop of the incredible Palm Jumeriah beneath you when you exit the aircraft the view is breathtaking and 90% of the time you are freefalling over the water between the palm and the dropzone.
The Twin otter jump aircraft run in generally parallel to the beach so the probability of landing in the water is fairly low with safety boats on all three sides of the dropzone on standby incase the unthinkable should happen. The minimum requirement to jump at the Palm dz is a USPA B License or equivalent with anyone below that standard jumping into the desert dropzone on highway 66 on the way to Al Alain exit 47.
The student dropzone in the desert of Dubai
The Desert dz caters for AFF students and those working towards B license with a Pilatus porter and Twin otter and at the moment a Shorts Skyvan as the jump aircraft.
With the available aircraft it is no suprise that the dz at the palm is hosting the 2011 International Parachute Championship and Gulf cup in Canopy swooping and FS 4 way with teams travelling from all over the world to compete.
In the future the world record 500 way team are looking to beat the current 400 way formation record in the skies over Dubai and the 2012 World Parachute Championships could be in either Dubai or Italy
Here are a few images taken with the GoPro HD over the Palm DZ.
If you want a fun place to skydive with spectacular views and a good vibe then pop over to Dubai and soak up some sun.
How do i fly head down? How do i transition in place? I seem to track across the sky when I am head down! I find it hard to dock when head up!…
All the above are statements or questions from skydivers who are trying to attain a competent degree of control in freefly skydiving. The answer to all of the above is get some coaching, both in the tunnel and in the sky! preferably by the same people as they will recognise the area’s you need to work on and that will make coaching easier as the communication will be well established.
From tunnel to the sky.
Even with tunnel coaching to help you attain the body position basics you will need to tweak them for the sky as there are some slight differences once you are wearing a parachute. There are no short cuts to getting good in the air, however, competent concise coaching will help you achieve your aim faster and safer than the “try it and see” method.
We have just returned from a coaching week in Eloy Arizona at the skydive Arizona dropzone. Our main aims were to get our student (Michael Wilson-Roberts) to achieve the basic’s of head down skydiving whilst maintaining the highest degree of safety. We covered the following:
Exits – both inside centre and tail were practised and we also included some head up exits.
Basic body position – The daffy, straddle and stall flying positions were covered to give a broad spectrum of possibilities when flying larger formations.
Transitions – Sit to head down transitions and head down to head down on varying axis
Docking – controlled smooth low docking once stopped and static
Movement – Controlled forward movement to cover distance with safe stopping before taking grips or transitioning
Good altitude awareness
Sub terminal transitions
Transition from head down to track
Once the basic body position has been established and the student can start to feel the position rather than just hold a rigid shape then progress becomes rapid.
After 58 jumps we had Michael flying very smoothly, great exits and good transitions. Easily able to fly safely with other competent flyers.. check out his moves on the video…
For the 2010 season Infinite Skydiving have the pleasure of promoting their formation skydiving coaching school at the dropzone every weekend.
What’s new??
Once the AFF course and consolidation jumps have been completed we have British Parachute Association accredited coaches available to get you through the FS1 requirement (Manual). laid out here is the FS1 as in the BPA Operations manual.
6.4. Formation Skydiving (FS)
6.4.1.To obtain Grade 1 in Formation Skydiving (FS1) the parachutist must, be introduced to FS by a CCI/Advanced Instructor nominated FS1 Grade parachutist or equivalent of proven FS instructional ability, have received a full safety brief and demonstrated the ability to:
a) Control fall rate.
b) Control horizontal movement, (forwards, backwards and sideways).
c) Achieve ‘docking’ techniques.
d) Turn in place.
e) Dive and approach a target.
f) Complete four points of 4-way FS.
N.B.(1) No more than one Category 8 jumper per group, all other jumpers in any group must be FS1 parachutists.
N.B.(2) Training programmes other than those contained in the BPA Formation Skydiving (FS) Manuals are acceptable for training for FS1, provided all the requirements of sub-para 6.4.1. (above) are met.
SEC 2/PAGE 9/FEB 2006
The cost is minimal at £45 per one on one coached jump with a full brief and video de-brief for each jump. You can also get the footage on DVD to take away at the end of the course for a charity donation to Karis kids who we are working with in 2010. (more about the charity later)
The FS1 is a fun and worth while level of skydiving to attain (mandatory if you want to jump with your mates) and we see many skydivers get a little lost as to where to get the correct high quality coaching needed to safely and quickly gain the qualification, learning the up to date techniques used by the UK’s best teams who are also still paying the worlds top coaches thousands of $$$ to coach them and filtering the skills and techniques down to you at such a small cost is fantastic value.
check out some of our current students:
Our coaches are Phil Hartree (also one of our AFF Instructors) Georgie Roles, 4 way FS team member from the “Jet Blondes” and currently uk FS team “Fend 4 Yourself” and Benji Dawson who also flies camera for our FS, AFF and Tandems providing awesome footage and images.
have fun in the skies and enjoy the journey
Fordy
Directions:
Only an hour from the capital we are easily reached from London and the South East as well as Bimingham and the West Midlands by both rail and road with the m40 corridor only a few miles from the Airfield.
www.infinite skydiving have started training students this year to qualify for their british parachute association skydiving license. Matt Short has completed his AFF ground school and is awaiting the weather before making his level one skydive with Infinite Skydiving. After 6 hours groundschool covering all the required modules of the Accelerated freefall course Matt is ready to go and very excited about getting in the air. Matt from London wanted to complete AFF last year but decided to wait for the start of the 2010 season to train and make the most of the days getting lighter and the weather getting better to pursue his new sport…
We look forward to putting video of Matt’s AFF level’s up for you to enjoy.
The event to start the 2010 season for the hardcore freeflyer will most definitely be at Skydive Spain this coming March. An invitation to Europe’s seasoned and proven head down flyers with the right attitude towards team play have been sent and the 30 available slots were snapped up within a few days, even at the top if you snooze you lose!.
With 2 Do-28 15 place Dorniers going to 16,000 + ft the event organiser Andrew Lovemore of Skydive Spain envisages multiple point 15 and 30 way formations yet unseen on the European freefly scene with load organiser’s Fabian Raidel and Mike Carpenter at the helm. The Invites for the team consisted of representatives from Volare, Skywalkers, Aria, The Bad Lieutenants, Darkside Freefly and Babylon to name a few…
The sequential scene in Europe has been lacking somewhat behind the likes of the Lodi Sequentials, Project Horizon and Summerfest where multiple point skydives are a matter of course, hopefully this event can redress the balance with the awesome available talent we have here.
Check back to see the progression toward what could be described as the biggest European freefly event of 2010..
8am on the ramp, kitted up ready to go.. dirt dived and in the air by 0845, running in on the 2 minute call with O² still on, red light comes on and the climb out begins.. As front float i have a radio to leave on the verbal ready from the base plane, the ready is the key and the visual is totally different from the previous jumps for me as I am now lower than the base and looking at it as it accelerates fast, people swarm towards the centre.. the build reaches 102 or something along those figures. My personal skydive was shocking as my slot seemed to be a way away from where i was on exit and the visual was totally different than expected, even though I had the same slot but different exit… not getting to your slot is a non excusable offense on a WR attempt and the canopy ride was full of remonstration and emotion, i can say with fervour that after so many successful dives to the slot, i hate front float ha ha 🙂
The attempts throughout the day have seen a 106 and other big but incomplete builds, many people are commenting on how the huge amount of people makes everything fairly confusing, a huge shifting picture, inverted and incredibly fast… if it was easy it wouldn’t be a world record huh!
Will try and get some footage to add some time today..
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