To comment on silverpaw - it IS expensive but for what you get it's really rather reasonable - it depends also on the way you consider a lot of money - i.e. how much would you spend on a computer part, or on a car or whatever... it's all relative really!
Static line in general:
You start off by doing a days worth of training - and it does really last a whole day, they usually do it on weekends, but you can probably book yourself in on a weekday - it really depends on the place. Now in the states and other places static line courses are more rare - they prefer their AFF. Once fully trained and if you are very lucky you MIGHT be able to do a jump on the same day - but that is very weather dependent. What you are then supposed to do is, do 2/3 good stable static line jumps exits - and then you move onto DPs (dummy pulls) where they place a rip cord at the bottom of your container (where it would be located) but it is just the rip cord - it doesn;t DO anything as you are still on static line so the parachute still opens for you! The whole point of the DPs are to demonstrate that you are able to maintain a stable exit and body position whilst deploying your parachute. You have to do 3 GOOD DPs consecutively and then you can go on to your 1st 5 second freefall!!
Then the progression is as follows:
- 2x 5 seconds
- 2x 10 seconds
- 2x 15secs (with wrist altimeter)
- 1x 20 seconds
- 1x 20 seconds with turns
- 1x unstable exit + backloops
- 1x dive exit, tracking turns
- Qualifying jump called 1/2 series which is: dive exit, 1 left 360, 1 right 360, backloop, track
Up to 15 seconds you are taught to count the delay - i.e. one thousand, two thousand, three thousand and so on up till the total time of the delay, for eample, 10 seconds or fifteen seconds. now when you get onto fifteen seconds you are still supposed to count, but what you have to do is check the altimeter at 7seconds and then at 15seconds when you pull. Then your instructor will ask you for a recall. Now you may think this sounds easy, but when you are concentrating on gettin your body position right, and counting the time properly and generally starting to enjoy the fact that you are no longer vertical when you parachute deploys (like static line) - you are nicely horizontal staring at the horizon - and possibly have an instructor in front of you keeping an eye on you - but they are not allowed to touch or hold you (that's AFF and I will explain that later) - anyway back to the alti checking - you know if you've just looked at your watch and someone asks you the time... you have to re-check your watch don't you?! Well in GENERAL that's what people do - you don't conciously take note of the time - so it is one thing that you have to be very weary of - as obviously your altitude is somewhat important!!
Anyway to progress you have to remain stable, and not go drifting too much or generally going all over the place. Also you must learn to be altitude aware as you go higher (20 seconds and above), you also must learn to deploy your canopy on altitude rather than counting - and maintain a stable body position when you deploy - as deploying on your back isn't the prettiest or the best of things!
When you get onto 20 seconds you have to learn to turn - and obviously you have to get this right before you progress. you have to do a left 360 and a right 360 - you pick out a heading on the horizon and you have to make sure that when you turn you get back on heading and so on. You have to prove your ability to be acurate - if your not then you could be potentialy a hazard for others!
When I say dive exit I mean stand and jump out of the plane towards the rear of the plane at 45 degrees - i.e. you pick a point between the tail and the horizon - that's the general rule! A normal exit on satic line until you get onto your dive exit, is a seated exit. You sit down, stick your legs out of the door and pivot yourself so as you jump out you are perpendicular to the plane and you hit the slip stream with your chest and your body square on - by doing this you won't twist or flip around and you should get stable nice and evenly. Some people have difficulties with the seated exits but if you get it right it works fine. Also it is required for a static line exit - if you think about it, you don't want a line to be stuck to your back and you jump out head first... it might end up between or your legs or something hideous like that!!!
The unstable exit is probably one of the best exits and the most fun jump you get to do in RAPS... basically the instructor throws you out and you are supposed to keep an unstable position for about 6 seconds, then arch and get yourself stable. This is to prove and to get you to practice getting yourself out of an unstable position if ever you have a problem. My unstable exit was great... I was sat by the door chin tucked into my knees arms around my legs tucked into a little ball, and I got an almight shove out of the door... I saw, green, white blue, green white blue faster and faster! woohoo this is soooo fun - oh oops I've got to arch now... so I arched and bang, I was stable - it's amazing how amazingly well it works!
For a practical demonstration you can try doing this... get an ordinary piece of A4 - though if you can cut it into a square so much the better... anyway, drop that piece of paper... what happens? it flaps around and falls really uneavenly. Now make a fist and scrunch the paper AROUND your fist so that it folds into a little bit of a bowl shape... now drop the paper - you'll see that the curved edge of the paper will be at the bottom and it'll fall really stably without flipping or anything. Try dropping it upside down... i.e. with the "bowl" area facing the ground... what happens? It flips over and the curved area is back facing the ground - it's the same principle with skydiving - when you arch with your belly towards the ground - and your legs ups and arms high you are making a hollow on your back, and a curve on your belly, and it's doing the same effect than on that on the paper - however we have rudders and everythings!
Tracking is essentially horizontal movement across the sky - used mainly to get away from formations - though you learn these skills much before you actually do any formation work - they are vital core skills to have. As you can imagine deploying your parachute near other people can be harzardous! The earlier you master these skills the more competent you become at doing them instinctively. Now I hardly thinkg about how I move... I just think... right, I want to go there, and I go there - just like looking up a tree, or crossing the road, you look instinctively, and you walk and move instinctively with how you feel you have judged the situation. The less you think about htings and do things by instinct the least likely you are to make mistakes!
well that's the theory!
When you've proved your competency to control your movements your instructors will tell you to get onto your 1/2 series. Now this basically invovles you in doing a sequence of moves to prove you can do a controlled skydive. Oh by the way I forgot to say that from your unstable exit you start jumping at 13,500 feet. And your 20s you jump from around 7/8000ft... It goes up the longer the delay (obviously!) - but as you become more of an expert you can start pulling lower - the UK minimum is 2,500ft... but to be honest... that's bloody low!
Anyway when I did the static line course each jump was around £30 though my uni subsidised it and I got £9 back - which is actually pretty damn good. The intial course, which makes you a member of the
BPA for the year, gives you the days training, and your first jump is £140 approximately - this is from the DZ that I went to in Nottingham - called Langar (see my previous post for the URL of all the DZs).
If you are GOOD you can get your "A Licence" in 16 jumps - which is a certificate issued by the FAI (Federation Aeronautique International) stating that you are no longer a "student" jumper and that you have the basic required skills to jump by yourself and entitles you to jump abroad and move on to formation skydiving and so on. On average however people typically do it between 20-30 jumps, I did mine in 24. Unfortunately I did mine over winter - nov/dec - which meant that 13000ft was bloody cold! lol! And there are a few rules when you are on static line that you must jump once every 3 months, and to progress they prefer you to leave a gap of no more than a few weeks - if you exceed that they'll give you a free retrain or recap - it really does depend on how comfortable or proficient you have been to day! So if you bear in mind you can do it in 16 jumps, plus the £140 to join - WITHOUT the uni subsidy for jump tickets - the cost comes to about £600 very roughly - which in one chunk is a lot... but spread over a few months isn't too bad - that's one of the advantages of static line over AFF... the gradual thing. However you have to probably spend another 150 or so realistically!! Then you have to buy yourself and altimeter (approx £90) a helmet (from £50-£££!), some goggles (£8), a knife (£5), a jumpsuit (from £100-£200)... so it all clocks up... though there is a lot of second hand stuff which is very good and reliable (besides you know it works!
) - and it does bring the cost down - by about 50% in most cases. Then if you're really rich you can buy yourself a parachute!! But a brand new one can cost up to over £3500!!! Excluding the parachute, you can easily spend close to a grand on jumping and accessories!
It now leads me on to AFF which I will do on another post cos I need to pop out now! so please bear with me! Any questions so far?
but then again I can't afford to jump at the moment! Often at DZs I spend the night in my car or a tent if I'm compus mentis enough to put it up - and basically will be up at sunlight - no matter how much sleep I get or however hung over I am! 
Ok so the sports are still amazing!