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My ground school and first 5 jumps with Danilo (Danny secondary) were great. Everything explained so well and demonstrated before each jump. After level 5 my confidence went, I donít know why, so I had a day and a half sitting, enjoying the weather and thinking.
I spent time talking to Andy and Uli and went back up. Levels 5, 6 and 7 went without a hitch and everything seemed so easy. The main thing for me was to actually do it, being scared of flying and heights. But after the first lift the problem with flying seems to have gone.
Everything about the course, from the training to the socialising, is great as everyone is so friendly and helpful. So donít think about it just book up and do it.

After being welcomed at the dropzone and shown around I could not wait to get started. the first half day is ground school. Then the nervous first jump.The adrenaline rush as you leave the door with nothing for 13500 feet below, is amazing. But then its straight into a well rehearsed routine which ends in the “first pull”! Don’t plan on much sleep the first night, 50 seconds freefall plays on the mind all night. The next 5 levels fly by. Somewhere around level 5 it stops being scary. From now on its all enjoyment. Level 7 is a nail biter but only because of the pressure I put on myself to pass. Then came the solos fun, fun, fun with the consols and beyond. “Copper up for just one more”.

I travelled on my own and was picked up at the aiport, taken to my hotel then straight out to meet the rest of the GANG….they all immediatly made me feel very welcome.
Ground school was at a good pace and was surprised at how I took it all in. I completed my AFF over three days and my instructor ( Ulli was just great – positive and constructive . The night life in Aranjuez lived up to my expectations .Level 7 is just the best, unstable exit is so much fun. Coming back in 3 weeks for some more jumping!

I couldn’t possibly recommend the Freefall University anynhigher!!!! From the second of arrival, we had all of our course material and the telephone number of our instructors, and an invitation to come out that night to meet everyone!!!! Everyone at the drop zone does a great job to make you feel at home. Safety is high priority at the freefall university!!! A large part of the ground school Is dedicated to techniques and procedures to ensure that you stay safe in the air, and on the ground too…

As for my personal instructor – Andy Gregory , I cant thank you enough or recommend him any more!!! He keep my nerves calmed down during every flight to 13.500ft and managed (somehow) to turn me from falling like a rock to something that resembles a skydiver in only 7 jumps… well done that man!!!!

As for the Course, I would not have believed that the pressure goes down and the enjoyment goes up after just 4 aff levels – from level 5 onwards, there is a feeling of calm… it’s a great feeling to see everything come together!!!

Skydiving – its easy!!! Jump… arch… and relax!!!!

When we arrived the we banded with both the other “potential” skydivers as well as the drop zone team….We were introduced to our instructor and went straight into training. Ulli was very good at providing the information, let it sink in, then going on, whilst all the time encouraging everyone all would be ok…
As soon as it was possible, the team were straight into jumping to get everyone through. Once the course was completed it was then onto the consolidation jumps, again these was no pressure to hurry these – all to be done at your own pace, fantastic as steady and sure is what I need. On these jumps advice was continually given to help you improve and learn – great just the way I need it…. I will be returning to complete more jumps in a few weeks and meet up with my new friends again!!!! That’s the thing it’s not just jumping but the interest of meeting people from all backgrounds and hearing about their experiences….Great time…. Great fun…. Great feeling

After 3 sessions at the body flight, bedford wind tunnel which has been very helpful, I have quit a job which I was obviously able to fund skydiving in the first place, sold nearly everything I own and I am back in Aranjuez for as long as funds allow. In short there is a unrivalled atmosphere at the Ocaña dropzone compared to anything I have experienced anywhere in the world, all the staff are sound, not a bad word to say about any of them. Aranjuez is a great city.
I’m craving the Freefall like a junkie craves a smack. If you think I’m mental you’re right, only I have burnt the papers which prove it. If you’re thinking of skydiving think of this dropzone. I have done my AFF course , CH1 and am about to get into formation skydiving with Luci Boella. Watch out for me on the news as I aint going home..

I went on my own to the Freefall University, having virtually everything arranged for me by the customer support team was a real bonus. And I had no sooner arrived in Aranjuez after a seamless journey when my phone rang and I was introduced to another bunch of students, already well into their AFF courses. I had not even reached the DZ and I already felt welcome. The following day at the DZ I started my Ground school with Ulli, Whose friendly casual confident manner made learning so easy, when the time came to jump I didn’t have a single question to ask, I knew exactly what was coming so I could just soak up the experience!

My Instructors Ulli and Paula were great, they are so enthusiastic and have so much experience, they looked after me both in the Air and on the ground. I managed to meet a lot of the Staff outside of the DZ as well. All in it was a fantastic experience, and for the price of an AFF course in the UK, I had a week long adventure in Spain! For those with a sense of adventure don’t just buy the sport, Buy the Lifestyle, go to the Freefall University_

The whole experience is amazing. Every jump begins the sheer amazement that you are about to throw yourself out of a plane at 13.500ft. I still haven’t got over the strange thoughts and feelings that you have as you stand in the door for those last few seconds, knowing you’re about to jump into the sky. The training, the equipment and the great instructors mean that you know everything is going to be ok!! Then you jump…

And then the truly amazing part begins. You arch hard for stability and there you are, handing on the air, nothing between you and the ground except 13.500ft of air. You look at your instructor flying next to you and you look at the altimeter on your wrist, it’s hard to describe what you’re thinking as you turn and track through the sky, watching the clouds rush past. All too soon the altimeter hits 6.000ft and you prepare to pull at 5.500ft you reach, arch and pull….You feel the sudden tug as the canopy starts to deploy, then you look up and watch as the canopy opens into a perfect rectangle.. It’s almost as good a feeling as free falling, when you see that beautiful, perfect rectangular canopy above your head. The canopy ride is great fun, it’s a mix of exhilaration about the free fall and the peaceful flight under the parachute

travelled on my own nd was picked up at the aiport, taken to my hotel then straight out to meet the rest of the GANG….they all immediatly made me feel very welcome.
Ground school was at a good pace and was surprised at how I took it all in. we had a few days of bad weather anly got 3 jumps in 4 days then in one I completed my AFF, yeahhhh!!!!
Level 7 is just the best, unstable exit is so much fun.
Coming back in 3 weeks.

Arrived at the DZ I met Tim who was my primary instructor for the AFF course, Andy was my secondary and I can’t have asked for better instructors and would highly recommend both.
Tim put me at ease straight away and went trough the ground school very well explaining and getting me to pratice for every eventuality. After the ground school on day 1 I carried out AFF level 1, and it was just unbelievable. However not as unbelievable as jumping solo for the first time on day 3 of my course…. All I would say if you thinking about doing it …stop thinking and crack on with it!!!!!!!

Forget your first kiss, the first fumble behind the bike sheds, the first drive after passing your test because you will always remember you first level 1, your first solo exit, your first hop and pop, your first consol and then your first fun jump, in shorts over Ocana as you track one way and then another knowing that you are hooked.

Go in with no pre-conceptions or worries and open up to the experience, open your eyes, listen to everyone and take that plunge knowing the wealth of experience all the instructors have and you’ll do well. My primary instructor was Ulli, who seemed more comfortable and at home during freefall than on the ground – I took that as a reassuring thing.

The exit and freefall is such an unnatural feeling, but because of that it is such a great feeling!

Thank you all at the DZ – Sam for all the sorting out, David, all the instructors who are great, all the packers (who are unsung heroes), Edu the pilot and Dolly!.

After a sleepless night it felt like a long day, caught the early flight to Madrid and then straight to the DropZone. Was met at the airport by Christo and had a speedy journey to Ocaña. Met by all the friendly staff who made me feel welcome. Ate lunch with Luci, who would be my fantastic instructor over the next week, then straight into ground school. Finished the ground school that afternoon and had time to watch the last load landing under canopy. Raring to go I couldn’t wait to get up in the air.

Letting my nerves get the better of me the first night in the hotel was slightly restless. Once I was back at the airfield I started to feel better. With the help of Andy Gregory, my secondary, the three of us were soon falling free from the Porter and I was receiving expert tuition all the way down. Managed 3 jumps but was starting to get tired and make mistakes. The great thing about the whole course was that I always made to feel in control and never pressured or rushed. No more jumping that day and back to the hotel for a good nights sleep.

Next morning it was back to the DropZone, another practice and back up in the Porter. This time, no mistakes and from now on it would be just me and Luci. Unfortunately the wind picked up a little too high and would have to wait a while for my next go. Gus, another student, and I took this opportunity to take the train to Madrid.

Next jump didn’t go as well as planned and started to get the fear a little. Everyone was very supportive and always there to chat. Thanks goes to Luci for giving me the confidence to go back up.

Next jumps all the way to graduation were a blur. Was up and down like a yoyo. The FFU was the best choice I made in a long time. Cheers to Samantha & David for the organisation, Ulli & Paula for driving me around, Andy Guler for helping me get back in the plane, Andy Gregory for being my secondary and of course Luci for being the best!

I wanted to do it from young age, 10-11, when my father was doing a charity jump. I didn’t do a jump till I was 21, my aff stage, but could not afford to carry on. Sorted out and here I am.
Skydiving is one of the best things I’ve done. It was great to be away for a week and learn this fantastic sport in the sun. The ground school and preparation for 1st jump really gives you the confidence to jump out of a perfectly good plane. Of course I was nervous but that’s all part of the rush. Once you are in freefall the nervs go and there is no better feeling.

My instructor was Ulli, who was fantastic and got me through the course in just over a day, though all instructors are good and friendly making the Freefall University a great place to learn. Just get out here and do it.

I decided to become a skydiver cause it’s cool man!! I wanted to skydive since doing some static line jumps a couple of years ago. I loved it. My first jumps were a bit skethy but from nmber 3 onwards loved it. Number 7 was the best.The weather is ace, the people are ace and the skydiving is ace.

Awesome just do it!

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I found the course really amazing. Uli was the most fantastic instructor, couldn’t have asked for more!! Come out here to join my brother and was interested on doing a tandem. The addiction took over and I ended up doing ground school and Level 1-7 in two days.

I ould not hesitate in recommending Ulli and Freefall University to anyone!! It has been the most amazing two days ever!!! Thank you to Ulli and everyone else at the Freefall University. I will definitely be back soon!!!

Always wanted to and never had the time in the army.

Now What can i say… Excelent, great, fantastic, brilliant, superb…I love it!!!

Nothing was too much trouble. All the staff were very polite and helpful. I would like to say thank you to everybody, all the staff including the packers who always got my rig ready when needed.

Uli my instructor helped me so much and did more for me in days than the UK did in months!! Thanks Uli!! I would recomend the Freefall University to anyone. I loved it. I will be back and all I can say is a big thank you to everyone for all their help. It was a pleasure to come here and as stated I will be back. Special thnks to Paula and Samantha who always sorted any problems.

If you want to learn to skydive then the Freefall University is the place to come and learn. All I can say is thank you!!!

I bet I am not the first person to watch an action film or extreme sports channel and say “wow, I would love to do that”. Well, after far too many years I finally picked up the phone, paid my money, took my choice and went skydiving at the Freefall University. Simply the best thing I have ever done. Period. Everything was taken care of for me. Flights, hotel, transfers, the lot. All I had to do was turn up and get my head around jumping out of a plane. This was made a good bit easier by Andy my instructor. He knew when to push me and when to ease off. After level 2 I could hardly walk let alone talk. Tired? I never knew the meaning of the word until that morning. Needless to say I cracked 5 levels that day.

Andy was a great judge of character and made the different levels and tasks safe but fun for me. Just so you know, level 4, when your instructor comes off you and round in front of you is unreal. Exiting a plane in a forward roll on level 7 watching your horizon change from earth-sky-plane-sky-earth is something I will not forget! The people at the DropZone are really friendly. The FFU and local Spanish staff are friendly and will always stop to help and give you a gear check. Nothing is too much trouble. I met a lot of great, like-minded people at the FFU, I am already planning a return trip and hope to jump with them once I have my next qualification. You only get one life, make the most of it. If you are reading this then you are considering skydiving. Stop considering, make the call.

Thoughts on the course, about time I got round to that… Superb. Everyone on the DZ… the FFU instructors, the guys from the spainish school, the other students and more experienced skydivers, the manifest, the guys packing, the pilots, and of course the resident bus driving Sylvan, are all incredibly friendly and helpful. The instructors especially helped you feel relaxed, I always had complete confidence in Luci and she made the experience a lot of fun.

The atmosphere at the DZ is very laid back, it doesn’t take long to sit back in to the pace. The only exception, for me, was the rate that Luci had me manifested for my levels! If you’re the kinda student that needs motivating to keep you progressing (can be tempting to sit back and chill for the afternoon) then Luci’s the instructor for you! The course itself… the ground school is intense. I found myself thinking I couldn’t possibly be taking it all in… but the following morning I had a chat with Jenn on the phone and without even thinking about it ran her through the plan for a jump, from exit to touch down, including the drills and emergency procedures… when I finished I stopped and said “bloody hell, I obviously do remember it all then!”. Its amazing that we can absorb so much information, but its also a credit to the course and instructors. To anyone heading out there… it will seem repetitive and a strain on the brain at times… but there’s a good reason for that! It works! There is no doubt at all that the very first jump you make is a totally fear filled experience. You don’t even know it at the time, but after a few more jumps when you start getting more comfortable with it all, and more aware… you realise just how you felt on jump 1. The rush is incredible. And the really great part is that there are milestones all along where you get a similar rush, but each is a bit different. For me, the best jumps were L1, my L3 repeat, my L7 repeat, and the first solo… and whichever level it was that Luci came round the front for the first time, the one where I have a massive grin on the video!! I would recommend the experience to anyone that wants to be a skydiver, it WILL get you hooked, and you’ll enjoy the whole experience. Ocana is a great place to learn and I don’t think you’ll find better instructors than those at FFU. For me one of the biggest things that persuaded me that this was a good place to go was the number of repeat visits. I will absolutely definitely be heading back! I hope people find my “review” useful. Sure I’ll see some of you out there soon..

When Pete first suggested the AFF last year I was thrilled at the thought, but doubted that I’d ever have the courage to jump. With adrenaline pumping just at the prospect plummeting to earth I read the course details over and over, and after the tenth reading, decided that maybe it can’t be that bad.

Two people to look after you for the first three levels, then down to one person for the last four. Someone will be there to literally hold my hand all the way – well at least until I pulled the canopy. What the hell, why not.

The prospect stayed on the back burner and we convinced ourselves that we’d probably sort it out sometime between climbing holidays when the weather didn’t look so great in the mountains…. sometime… mañana…

Friday 23rd June arrived and we avidly checked the weather forecast for the week ahead. The dry spell had come to an end, and our planned week on Scottish sea stacks was looking doubtful. Perhaps mañana had arrived after all, so I casually mentioned the AFF. That was it. Pete was a man on a mission. After a quick phone call to Spain, then a bit of a wait while we got confirmation that instructors were available, we booked our Easy Jet flights and car and finalised details with David at midnight. We turned up at the Drop Zone at 7pm the next day and introduced ourselves.

Everything was perfect, just the way we like to play. Last minute decisions put into action and there’s no time to have second thoughts. We started from nothing, so a full day in ground school taught us the essentials – arch, arch and arch, all about the reserve, arch, arch, oh and the landing, and arch some more, and relax. Yeah right!! And suddenly it was time for that first jump. I was so scared. The sound and the smell of the plane was just fazing my head, I couldn’t think, I felt sick, I focussed on looking out of the window. Andy kept telling me to smile, I grimaced, I almost wanted to cry! And then the door was opened. My heart jumped into my mouth, I could hardly breath, I couldn’t believe I was going to do this. But everyone else looked so happy, so relaxed, I just knew I was going to jump, and I knew that all had to do was arch. Just do it girl, I kept saying over and over, just do it, and arch. So I did. WOW! Wonderful, amazing, fantastic, surreal. My senses were pounded for the first two seconds as I shouted arch, arch, arch in my head and I focussedon the horizon. And suddenly there it was, right in front of me, as I had been told it would be, I was in the right position, arched, legs and arms relaxed, feeling the air rushing by me and feeling like everything was totally in control. I was loving every second of it. I completely missed my practice pulls and my final pull – trying to grasp Andy’s altimeter instead (!) – but Andy sorted me out and suddenly I was floating and shouting out for the sheer joy of an amazing jump and just glad that no one could hear!

The course is fantastic, everyone is just amazing, you don’t have to prove yourself to anyone, there’s never any undercurrent feeling of competition and everyone is really supportive – especially at those times when you’re so tired and feel like you’re just rubbish and you’ll never stop feeling scared. And when you pass, well, it’s just brilliant, and everyone shares in your bubble of happiness.

Beer and bbq’d sardines are a great celebration.

Andy was superb. So relaxed, so confident. Thanks Andy. The packers were brilliant. Never annoyed when you brought the bag back full of mud because you landed on the softest thing around – your arse! – or the lines were twisted because you were so excited that you forgot to gather them properly. Paula was wonderful – sorting out accommodation at the last minute and translating everything. The rest of the instructors were just great, and so supportive. Always ready to help and give confidence. The other jumpers – well all mad of course, but now feel like my new best friends.

Thank goodness for madness – why not join he club!?

Laetitia