Cheapest way to become a qualified skydiver ?

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Ive wanted to skydive for ages but if i do i really dont want to do a tandem or a static line. Whats the cheapest way to become qualified to do it myself ?

I plan on doing a lot of jumps so i would need a full licence not just one where they babysit you in the sky.
 
Accelerated Free Fall I believe is the course to qualify to jump on your own

Somewhere in the region of a grand, and then you need to do 10 solo jumps (£350 ish including kit rental) to get your A license
 
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Accelerated free fall usually works out cheapest, ~£1000ish then 10 jumps to become fully qualified. You have to pay for the course in one go though.

Raps will work out slightly more expensive, £250ish for the first part of the course then around £35 pound each jump after that. Think it usually takes people around 25-30 jumps before they get qualified. Good thing about this is you can payover a long period of time as you do the jumps.

If your at uni joining their skydiving club will be the cheapest way to learn
 
IIRC a lot of people learn to skydive out in Spain. However how good that is I have no idea. Hopefully Freefaller will be along with some advice.
 
AFF is the cheapest & best way. RAPS (static line) can potentially work out cheaper, but it's never the case due to the travelling costs between going to the drop zone, time spent waiting around.

If you're going abroad and want to get your 8 jumps in, plus 10 more consols, flights, accomodation, you're looking at around £2.2k all in - I've just organised a 5 person skydiving holiday with my mates doing exactly this.

Don't be under any illusions, it's an expensive sport, especially starting out. Only once you get your own kit, it then becomes around £20-£25 a jump.
 
I did the RAPS course - static line basically. I managed to get a huge subsidy from my university when I was there which was great. The course was still the same price, but the tickets for a jump came out 50% cheaper at the time which was fantastic!

I was fully qualified in 19 jumps - this is how my costs broke down at the time:

RAPS course (+1 jump): £175
18 jumps @ 18: £324
Day hire for parachute, equipment and packing: £10 per day qualified in a total of 10 days (not consecutively!): £100

Total = £599

However this was subsidised by my uni at the time, nowadays it'll be another £200 on top of that probably. So around £800 I'd say.

Howeve you'd want to buy your own kit like an alti, goggles, gloves, helmet, knife, jumpsuit and then when you've qualified a rig - you can then get cooler audible altis etc... but that's entirely optional.

AFF courses the initial outlay is quite a lot more - for the minimum 8 jumps (8 levels) it will be around £1200.
And if you don't fail any level you will need to do 10 consolidation jumps @ £30: £300
Then kit hire for the day every time you jump: £10 (these prices may have changed)

So just for the jumps alone you'll be paying £1500. So it is more expensive.


Advantages of RAPS:

Progressive.
More time under canopy (SO important).
Get used to jumping at low altitudes.
More time to learn skills.
Cheaper.
Familiarise yourself quicker with DZ - spend time getting to know the area
1-2 day course, quite intense studying

Disadvantages of RAPS:

Slower.
Can get busy and be hard to get a slot / wait for rig to be ready.
If you fail a level it can take longer to get to Freefall.

Breakdown is:

Static line x2~3
Dummy pullsx3 (if you do static lines well you'll have to show you're able to deploy the parachute yourself using a dummy run)
5s freefall (keeping stable) x 2
10s freefall (keeping stable)x 2
15s freefall (start to use altimeter)x 2
Unstable exit (recovering into a good stable position) x1
Turning jump (Dive exit, left and right turns)x1
Tracking jump (lDive exit, earn to move across the sky) x1
Track and turn (Dive exit, learn to move across whilst turning) x1
1/2 series x1 (dive exit, backloop (360 degrees), stablise, left turn, right turn, track forwards)


AFF:
8 jump levels - initially with 2 instructors, with dummy "test" pulls, then as you get better and moer stable, and able to fall "down the tube" without moving, 1 instructor only will join you. Again, turns and tracking will be taught, and ability to recall altimeter readings and pulling on altimeter instead of count. You go through all the same things, except you start at 12,000+ ft. However you will need to do a "hop 'n' pop" i.e. a low level jump and deployment, i.e. max of 6,000ft jump (static line is 3,500ft).
You then have to do 10 consolidation jumps where you must do certain drills observed by either a ground observer or a willing instructor to jump with you. And get signed off. So you get more freedom more quickly, but you have to be sure you'll follow a set jump routine and do all your canopy drills correctly too.


MAjor issue you will face in this country is weather. If you do do it abroad, make sure you get a BPA certified instructor - if not, you will have to do some conversion jumps when you get back to the uk to get your "A" Licence. Achieving your Category 8 jump is not enough anymore as I believe they've changed the rules as you may need to learn how to pack now to be qualified - which is no bad thing IMO.
 
While this subject is up, without too much of a thread hijack, whats the best way to go about doing tandem jumps?

Where is the best place to do it and about how much should i pay?

Dont want to do a whole licence, just jump out of a plane!
 
Well all I know is I did a 15,000ft one in New Zealand over lake Taupo in 2006.

Singularly the best thing I have ever done!

The buzz was immense! Could do with getting that hit again tbh. :D
 
I have done a static line jump for charity. I hate heights too!!! I was the only one who had a lift back to the airodrome as i landed in the middle of a busy road next to the airport!!!! They had to stop the traffic for me to land!!
 
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so i need to shop around for a RAPS course ? and that will get me a bit of paper saying i can jump out a plane wherever its aloued ?
 
Do you get much in the way of large pressure changes, like in diving but reversed with Sky diving?
 
so i need to shop around for a RAPS course ? and that will get me a bit of paper saying i can jump out a plane wherever its aloued ?

Well it'll be the cheapest by slowest route to get qualified, but IMO a better way of training. If you can get lucky and spend a week at a dropzone you'll be qualified in a week if the weather is good for jumping! I kid you not! :)

Once you're qualified, you can jump from whatever plane, helicopter, hot air balloon you want - it just depends on the DZ owner and what requisites he has. The BPA do set some rules, and the DZ has discretion to do as it pleases - i.e. 50 jump minimum before a heli jump or minimum IC1 before doing and formation work etc...

Do you get much in the way of large pressure changes, like in diving but reversed with Sky diving?

Nope. I've jumped at over 24,000ft (with oxygen) and never had any issues. :)
 
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