Birdman and AFF Skydiving

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Welcome Aboard to Srinath from Manchester who is here to learn to skydive with us. Although Srinath started a skydiving course a number of years ago it served only at the time to wet his appetite. We were delighted to be a part of his return to the sport

Kamil joined us recently to complete the beginners skydiving course . He is also from Manchester and though , like most of our clients a newcomer to the sport of skydiving he took to it like a duck to water and finished the course in a few days before getting into his consolidation jumps.


Adrian is doing great and is alternating between birdman with Paula and freefly with Danny ( who is feeling freshly minted after his recent world cup gold )


Kamilla is going great guns through her 200 jump tickets preparing for her license and also undertaking the formation skydiving for beginners ( FS1 ) course.


Chris Davies just passed his WS1 boogie style and is already tearing out new vapour trails over the skies of Madrid on a bigger wing. Flocking next.. bird is the word. ..


Chris is quickly followed by Anne into WS1 training .. she is trying her new toy today, one of our Phoenix fly tracking suits which is the intermediate suit to get your skills up to speed for the full wing.. Bird is the word! Birdman especially in the early days is about building on your tracking skills without wings and then putting progressively larger wings on.

 


Pedro leads the charge to try out one of our new table tennis tables ( where is the table tennis ball .. answers on a postcard ) . We have 2 cafes on the dropzone and of course the hotel restaurant. We have a recreation room also for students with free wifi and plugin cable also. We are in the process of putting in a second floor in the packing hall  which will double available space.

 


Louise Burrell from Scotland who joins us to learn to skydive.  Loiuse is no stranger to action  and im sure her colleagues back home will be delighted to hear she is doing just great on the freefall course.


Luke Maddison from Dorset in England joined us to learn to skydive. Luke is going from the sea to the sky as he  works as a professional diver.


Welcome back to Neil Bate who after graduating the AFF programme with us two years ago. He  makes regular trips out to us from London as we are his home dropzone. He has done practically all his skydiving here , a growing trend for our graduates.

Zelem joined  us from London to learn to skydive.  He only had a few days to spare so didnt book for week that would be typical and while a shorter stay did give less “wiggle room” in terms of time any concerns over it proved totally unfounded. Working 1:1 with Mike his instructor he finished the AFF course in two days and has most of his 15 consolidation jumps ( solo skydives ) done with 2 days to spare.


We love Birdman if you hadnt guessed 🙂 Not only do we offer 1:1  coaching both for complete beginners and those wishing to take their flying to the next level but we offer specific workshops for groups who  assuming they have the basic course completed ( WS1) wish to take it to the next level in terms of flocking. Choca block with practical tips are camps are becoming a real hit and are held on average once a week.


Chris Ward joined us to learn to skydive also and is pictured here with Darren and Mike. Hes making rapid progress on the  advanced skydiving course.


Scott Stephen learned to skydive elsewhere about 2 years ago but didnt keep up the sport. Often people ask us what is required to ” re certify ” after a long break   often with lower jump numbers . The reality is it varies depending on time and number of jumps so its hard to give a definative answer but in Scotts case we did a refresh ground school reviewing equipment , freefall procedures  , emergency procedures , canopy control and safety. After this a jump with an accelerated freefall instructor was undertaken and Scott was re certified to skydive solo. Welcome back to the sport Scott and thanks for your confidence in choosing us.

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Welcome Aboard to Srinath who is here to learn to skydive with us. Although Srinath started a skydiving course a number of years ago it served only at the time to wet his appetite. We were delighted to be a part of his return to the sport.

Kamil joined us recently to complete the Accelerated freefall programme. He is from Ireland and though , like most of our clients a newcomer to the sport of skydiving he took to it like a duck to water and finished the course in a few days before getting into his consolidation jumps.


Adrian is doing great and is alternating between birdman with Paula and freefly with Danny ( who is feeling freshly minted after his recent world cup gold )


Kamilla is going great guns through her 200 jump tickets preparing for her license and also undertaking the formation skydiving for beginners ( FS1 ) course.


Chris Davies just passed his WS1 boogie style and is already tearing out new vapour trails over the skies of Madrid on a bigger wing. Flocking next.. bird is the word. .. have you heard.


Chris is quickly followed by Anne into WS1 training .. she is trying her new toy today, one of our Phoenix fly tracking suits which is the intermediate suit to get your skills up to speed for the full wing.. Bird is the word!

 


Pedro leads the charge to try out one of our new table tennis tables ( where is the table tennis ball .. answers on a postcard ) . We have 2 cafes on the dropzone and of course the hotel restaurant. We have a recreation room also for students with free wifi and plugin cable also. We are in the process of putting in a second floor in the packing hall  which will double available space.

 


Louise Burrell from Scotland who joins us to learn to skydive.  Loiuse is no stranger to action  and im sure her colleagues back home will be delighted to hear she is doing just great on the course.


Luke Maddison from Dorset in England joined us to learn to skydive. Luke is going from the sea to the sky as he  works as a professional diver.


Welcome back to Neil Bate who after graduating the AFF programme with us two years ago. He  makes regular trips out to us from London as we are his home dropzone.

Zelem joined  us from London to learn to skydive.  He only had a few days to spare so didnt book for week that would be typical and while a shorter stay did give less “wiggle room” in terms of time any concerns over it proved totally unfounded. Working 1:1 with Mike his instructor he finished the AFF course in two days and has most of his 15 consolidation jumps ( solo skydives ) done with 2 days to spare.


We love Birdman if you hadnt guessed 🙂 Not only do we offer 1:1  coaching both for complete beginners and those wishing to take their flying o the next level but we offer specific workshops for groups who  assuming they have the basic course completed ( WS1)  wish to take it to the next level in terms of flocking. Choca block with practical tips are camps are becoming a real hit and are held on average once a week.


Chris Ward joined us to learn to skydive also and is pictured here with Darren and Mike…

 


Scott Stephen learned to skydive elsewhere about 2 years ago but didnt keep up the sport. Often people ask us what is required to ” re certify ” after a long break  ( often with lower jump numbers ). The reality is it varies depending on time and number of jumps so its hard to give a definative answer but in Scotts case we did a refresh ground school reviewing equipment , freefall procedures  , emergency procedures , canopy control and safety. After this a jump with an accelerated freefall instructor was undertaken and Scott was re certified to skydive solo. Welcome back to the sport Scott and thanks for your confidence in choosing us.

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Welcome Aboard to Srinath who is here to learn to skydive with us. Although Srinath started a skydiving course a number of years ago it served only at the time to wet his appetite. We were delighted to be a part of his return to the sport.

Kamil joined us recently to complete the Accelerated freefall programme. He is from Ireland and though , like most of our clients a newcomer to the sport of skydiving he took to it like a duck to water and finished the course in a few days before getting into his consolidation jumps.


Adrian is doing great and is alternating between birdman with Paula and freefly with Danny ( who is feeling freshly minted after his recent world cup gold )


Kamilla is going great guns through her 200 jump tickets preparing for her license and also undertaking the formation skydiving for beginners ( FS1 ) course.


Chris Davies just passed his WS1 boogie style and is already tearing out new vapour trails over the skies of Madrid on a bigger wing. Flocking next.. bird is the word. .. have you heard.


Chris is quickly followed by Anne into WS1 training .. she is trying her new toy today, one of our Phoenix fly tracking suits which is the intermediate suit to get your skills up to speed for the full wing.. Bird is the word!

 


Pedro leads the charge to try out one of our new table tennis tables ( where is the table tennis ball .. answers on a postcard ) . We have 2 cafes on the dropzone and of course the hotel restaurant. We have a recreation room also for students with free wifi and plugin cable also. We are in the process of putting in a second floor in the packing hall  which will double available space.

 


Louise Burrell from Scotland who joins us to learn to skydive.  Loiuse is no stranger to action  and im sure her colleagues back home will be delighted to hear she is doing just great on the course.


Luke Maddison from Dorset in England joined us to learn to skydive. Luke is going from the sea to the sky as he  works as a professional diver.


Welcome back to Neil Bate who after graduating the AFF programme with us two years ago. He  makes regular trips out to us from London as we are his home dropzone.

Zelem joined  us from London to learn to skydive.  He only had a few days to spare so didnt book for week that would be typical and while a shorter stay did give less “wiggle room” in terms of time any concerns over it proved totally unfounded. Working 1:1 with Mike his instructor he finished the AFF course in two days and has most of his 15 consolidation jumps ( solo skydives ) done with 2 days to spare.


We love Birdman if you hadnt guessed 🙂 Not only do we offer 1:1  coaching both for complete beginners and those wishing to take their flying o the next level but we offer specific workshops for groups who  assuming they have the basic course completed ( WS1)  wish to take it to the next level in terms of flocking. Choca block with practical tips are camps are becoming a real hit and are held on average once a week.


Chris Ward joined us to learn to skydive also and is pictured here with Darren and Mike…

 


Scott Stephen learned to skydive elsewhere about 2 years ago but didnt keep up the sport. Often people ask us what is required to ” re certify ” after a long break  ( often with lower jump numbers ). The reality is it varies depending on time and number of jumps so its hard to give a definative answer but in Scotts case we did a refresh ground school reviewing equipment , freefall procedures  , emergency procedures , canopy control and safety. After this a jump with an accelerated freefall instructor was undertaken and Scott was re certified to skydive solo. Welcome back to the sport Scott and thanks for your confidence in choosing us.
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Super sonic Skydiving mark 200

Congratulations to Kamila  she finished her AFF Course this week. She decided  to  ” go for it ”  in style , while sipping on a lightly fizzy zumo de naranja it  was decided with no turning back. She sent a message home saying “dont put on the kettle  ..im staying  ” and purchased 200 jump tickets. Nice. Reminds me of a certain young Mr. Tropicana who equally smitten by skydiving instructed his dz pals to say ” hes not  here ” to anybody that enquired as to his wherabouts.. congratulations Kamila and welcome to the world of skydiving.


Welcome back to Chris Davis who trained on AFF with the Freefall University some time ago. On this visit he is  completing our wingsuit course , WS1 .. Starting off with our introductory  suits hes being going supersonic and will soon move to the big wings


Nick ” the right stuff ” Shuttleworth is getting through his consol jumps after completing his AFF course. He did 3 consols after completing his level 7.


On his first consol hes decided to pull out the big moves and get into turning on the hill , an advanced move normally reserved for champion skydivers. Turning on a sub terminal wind flow without having gained earth reference after acceleration is ,,, well .. difficult .


A portion of the accelerated freefall training programme is devoted to intentionally creating ” instability ” .. frozen in time here Nick is going over the top in a back loop. Once rotated360 degrees its alti check   , recover belly to earth and hold heading.


And Boom there it is , the boxman position ..nice.

 


“He tracks like a bullet ” his camerawoman said , a track is practiced on the course and in some consolidation jump exercises .. its a vital skill to have for later on when you begin to skydive with other people as in a planned fashion you gotta go to your own quarter of the sky to avoid opening your parachutes in the same place.


Welcome to Martin Ballatchet From London who has joined us to complete the accelerated freefall course.  Martin will be jumping with Mike.


Joe and Anne are preparing for wingsuit training by brushing up some tracking together. . . Joe learned to skydive with the Freefall Uni some time ago and has been back several times since. She is either going all super sonic and over the skies of Madrid or in Headcorn Parachute club in the UK. Wingsuit 1 or WS1 next .


Welcome to Brad Clark from Kent in england  he  arrived yesterday night to complete his skydiving course . He will do his ground school today  and probably his first jump later today.

Senor Tropicana and the Gold Medalists

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Freefall University Sponsored Paula Silva and the bad boys  are back from Gap smoking fine cigars and turning points for fun over the skies of Madrid to celebrate the kings birthday.  Indeed ! Scoring an incredible 215 points without losing a smile or breaking a sweat the team stormed home past Russias Defy gravity and the S – Fly factory team to take first place by 44 points.

The sweetest thing about the whole deal is that  ” Overflight ” also from the DZ took gold in the intermediate category. Overflight includes former students of our AFF courses who have progressed through our schools advanced courses to include the Birdman training program. Indeed..

The video above is some scenes from the competition to give you an idea of what birdman is about ,, who said its about flying in straight lines. So Senor tropicana .. sit back relax and enjoy the flight.

And the beat goes on


Welcome back to Vidar and Kent from Norway (on the left) these guys
did their accelerated freefall course with us earlier this year. This is their
third visit to us in as many months. Its been great to be a part of their
training of course and especially their progression.
Congratulations to Arun Cardoza (on the right) for his AFF Graduation
this week.


The right stuff! Welcome to Steven Marlow who arrived yesterday evening
from the midlands in the UK to learn to skydive with us.  He did his ground
school this morning and this afternoon did his first accelerated freefall jump
He is pictured here just before the jump.


Adrian Daszkowski, thank you for your confidence in selecting us for your
freefly and wingsuit  coaching.  Adrian plans 200 coached jumps over the
next 2 months.


Arun , thats the ticket ! Add recently qualified skydiver and solo skydive
result =  Big Grin. Nice accuracy too under that ” Navigator ” parachute.


Craig Hiller.. rock on ..Seen here getting ready for his level 7 today
with Jane, lets see how it goes:-)


And that would be a a pass! Congratulations and welcome to the fabulous
world of skydiving.


Ellie, Ellie , Ellie , every time I turn around there you are .. Great to have
you back again for another skydiving holiday with us.. lets see how many
jumps you  can fit in this time!

 


Welcome to John McConville all the way  from ( lol its only 2 hours..
quicker than driving around the M1 !  )  London
who visits us to complete our accelerated freefall course.


Saul who joined us for a week to complete the AFF Course and a “few” solos
was last seen zooming past the 25 jump mark.  He completed Accelerated
freefall in 3 days of jumping and im pretty sure was using 2 rigs to get as many
solo jumps in as possible 🙂 Ah reminds me of myself when I started jumping
when all you wanted to do was get back up as soon as possible ! Actually
that has  not changed .. Skydiving ..you have to experience it to know why..

Adrenaline Adventures

 


Welcome  and thanks you for confidence in choosing us for your aff training Nick. Nick Shuttleworth is seen here going through equipment check procedures with his his instructor in advance of his Accelerated freefall Level one skydive.


Crack on John! Accelerated freefall  Course and 15 consolidation skydives completed in just 5  days ..nice !


And  also Craig . who has just two jumps  less than his friend John… you guys gotta go home to London with the same number of skydives each…


Way to go Ewa from Poland! Ewa  did her wing suit course last month and ordered her new ” Shadow ” wingsuit and is back now with in training with us for next years competitions. Perhaps she is inspired by our resident wingsuit  team who are current world champions in acrobatics having blazed their way to first place in recent world cup in Gap. If  you would like to try wingsuit out or need coaching get in touch.


Kamila is on her level 4 today with Mike. And is  getting through the course at a nice pace . At some point in the course , I guess what you would call a sense of ,, erm .. apprehension is replaced by a sense of anticipation and fun ( although its still natural to feel the tingle of nerves .. this in our view is a good thing )  Kamilas level 3 release was clearly that point check out that Grin !


Motte Bella ! Welcome back to our dropzone Bella. Bella  was on an AFF skydiving holiday with us a few weeks back and is now back for some more fun jumping. Great to have you.


And Joe also has returned for some more skydiving with us in the Madrid
sunshine. Awesome.


Siesta time! Adrenaline does take it out of you though! In talking to
our students on the phone before they get here in helping them make accomodation
arrangements I generally tell them them that skydiving will tire one out such that you would sleep on a bed of nails. In this case Kamilla has chosen a corner of our carpeted hanger.  Adrenalin / endorpins you gotta love it.

September Sunshine

Steven Marlow, John McConville, Craig Hiller, Dennis and Saul Whitford, FFU
graduated this week. They completed the accelerated freefall course in Spain
and at least 1o consolidation or solo  skydives each.

Welcome to Kamila Rurarz whos dream it has been to learn to skydive
for quite some time. She arrived and go straight into her ground school
with Darren.

Dennis how many times have you been back now ? Dennis is doing great
stuff with his accuracy under canopy.  While our landing area counts
somewhere in the region of 30 kilometers squared our aim is to coach
students on progression to land within 15 meters of target although
a longer walk should always take precedent over an ” unstabilized approach ”
In any event Dennis has cracked it.

The last days of August


Congratulations to Robert,  he chuffed with himself having complieted
full AFF Course and  his consolidation jumps and more  in  just one week.


Ellie , congratulations on becoming a qualified skydiver . She has  completed the
accelerated freefall course and the 10 consolidation jumps. Formation Skydiving
next.


Thomas Moran also finished his course and consols in just a week, he is
doing his CH1 today.


Welcome back to Etienne from Malta, he dis his course last year and is back for
fun jumping with his friend Chris.


There is a steady and higly satisfying stram of  former students coming back
for our advanced courses. Petri,  who learned to skydive with us last year
graduated last year have now  his  own rig now and is learning to  Freefly.


Mike and Darren, 2 FFU  advanced instructors are big  into wing suits
as well:-) They been getting up to a lot of acrobatic stuff. Tell you what ..
Its a characteristic of a the type of instructor you want… one who loves
to fun jump.


Colin Fox  has joined us from England and is ready for his AFF level 1,
his son is following his steps also and will soon complete the course.


Matt Jones ready to go again. Rock on.


Welcome to Tim Namsoo, he is doing his ground school today, here he is learning
PLF’s, Parachute landing fall. Sounds ominous but a vital safety point is how exactly to
“touch down” .. say for example you mistime applying your ” flare ”
or the ” brakes” you will have descent in your wing. The principle aim of
a ” plf ” is to not have a rigid body ,, bend your likes .. make like a
spring”  .


Nice and soft:-). Another point to note is Tim doesnt have his hands out.
It is human instinct to put em out .. dont ,,, keep them wrists tucked in.
It will avoid mass momentum being absorbed in your wrist if your hand
touches down first.


Dean Fox and his dad after level 1 today. Sweet as fellas.


Natalie is graduated now, consols next.


Chris and Thomas going up for another fun jump.


Colin on level 3, and doing great.

Summer Time


Natalie is practicing her body position for her level 1 with Jane, ready, set arch…


Greg turn now.


Chris, Arun and Greg are about to finish the ground school today.


Welcome to Matt Jones, Matt arrived today, gs is done and he is now ready for his
level 1.


Natalie is also ready for her level 1 today, happy days.


Michael Telford just passed his level 7, congratulations Michael.


FFU students all geared up and ready to board one of our pilatus.


Michael 1st consol, welldone.


Joaquin and Ewa, with new toys, new wing suits and they look great.


Hamish Just passed his level 4 today, his smile says everything about his jump.


Arun Cardoza just passed his level 1, with style his instructor says:-)


Matt Jones is going up again, lets check that gear before we board.


Chris Marks Level 2 done and level 3 on his way.

Welcome to the Uni


Welcome to Chris Marks, Arun Cardoza, Natalie Williamson and Greg Young,
they arrived yesterday evening and ready for GS today.


Michael Telford is about to finish his course now, level 6 next.


Ali is also doing great, level 4 passed.


Welcome to Hamish Payne, Hamish arrived today from London to join us on an
AFF Course.


Welcome back to Scotty, he did his course with us last year.


Ellie is also back for the 3rd time, she did her AFF course earlier this year.


Ellie, Michael, Robert, Hamish, Matt and Petri, all AFF graduated of 2011


Welcome to Colin and Dean Fox, father and son decided to take a new adventure
together, this time skydiving in Spain.

Graduation jumps


Congratulations to Bella and Luke, AFF and consolidation jumps in a week.


Ali from Iran, finished his ground school yesterday and here he is ready for
his level 1 with Ryan, have fun Ali.


Carlo is on his level 5 today with Mike and this time we are going up with him
to see how it goes:-)


Looks like Carlo just did a great exit with Mike, lets have a look at the rest:-)


Looks very stable to me…


360 left and 360 right turns , done….

Wave off and pull at 5.500 ft, level 5 passed, welldone Carlo.


Welcome to Tom Moran from Ireland and Michael Telford from London who
Arrived this morning for an AFF Course.


One of your 1st lessons will be “equipment” in this lesson is where you learn everything
you need about your rig and how it works.


After that you learn “body position”


Bella with her instructor Mike after her graduation jump.