Parachuting in Ireland

Fionn101

Wondering where is the best place to go for this ,

The idea of a tandem jump to start with would be great but I need to become profecient myself , is there any schools that offer a full training course ?

And ideally would like to hear from someone who has taken said course, I'm looking for professionalism and not any old cheap jump.

And whats it like ??? taking the jump I mean, say compared to a bungee (for the first time )

Also how long of a freefall do you get ?

Should I wear my brown trousers .....

Thanks

Fionn
So looking forward to doing all this

spacemonkey

I did a static line Jump with Falcons parachute club a few years ago and have done a number of bungee jumps since. I havent done a freefall parachute jump (would love to bit pricey though) but the parachute was amazing and would say it was a much better experience than the bungee jump.

Bluehair

Check out the Irish Parachute Club at http://www.skydive.ie

Without a doubt one of the best, friendliest and safest dropzones in the world (not kidding, take this from a skydiver). Definately the place to go for a introduction to the sport.

E-mail info@skydive.ie

(Just a word of warning though, you'll more than likely want to do it again... and again.... and again... and eventually your whole life revolves around skydiving. Soon you'll wonder what you ever did with your weekends!? )

Enjoy.

Fionn101

Ideally I wan to go to a place where they will teach me to jump on my own , perhaps even go to the level of taking a friend on a tandem dive.

would this place you recommend be suitable???

thanks for the replies.

Fionn

fragile

Fionn, the Irish Parachute Club is definitely the best place to skydive in Ireland. There are two options available when learning to skydive:

(1) Static Line Progression - this takes about 22 jumps to complete and for the first few jumps a static line is connected to your parachute from the plane which automatically opens your chute. Your first jump is from 3000ft and progressivly gets more advanced. The advantage of this choice is that you only have to pay for each jump when you take it, so there is no big initial payment of cash needed. Each jump is 30euro.

(2) Advanced Freefall - this is for people who are sure they want to learn to skydive. It involves a lot more training initially as the first jump is from 10,000ft with a 30sec freefall. The course is very intensive and can be completed in a couple of weeks. It costs €1400.00.

The one disadvantage of learning to skydive in Ireland is that by law students are not allowed to jump through clouds. I am currently doing the static line progression course and as you can imagine the cloud cover in Ireland at this time of year often falls below 3000ft meaning you can't jump. The last three times I travelled to the drop zone in Offaly I had to go home after spending the whole day hoping that the clouds would lift If you can afford it an alternative would be to learn to skydive in a country with better weather, I have heard really good things about this dropzone in Madrid http://www.skydivelillo.com/english/. It is run by a bunch of Irish and English guys and they offer all inclusive packages, for flights, accomodation etc., and teach you to skydive using the Advanced Freefall method in just one week. I think its about 2000euro for the package.

Whatever route you choose you will not be disappointed, I have never met a person who jumped from an airplane and regretted it

Hope this helps

Fionn101

thanks so much for the reply , I really do want to be accomplished at this , I fly a lot , and I wanted to have a 2nd avenue of escape if it all went pear shaped.
Before any pilots jump on the bandwagon saying that it is safer to stay aboard a striken plane i'd agree 99% of the time ..... only 99% though.(one engine , one overhead wing , one chance (as they say))

Fionn

fragile

Fionn101 wrote:

thanks so much for the reply , I really do want to be accomplished at this , I fly a lot , and I wanted to have a 2nd avenue of escape if it all went pear shaped.

If you mean you fly on commercial airlines then skydiving skills won't be of any help as they don't carry parachutes, the reasoning being that by the time a pilot knows that things have gone pear shaped and he can't rescue the plane it is too late to use a parachute

Before any pilots jump on the bandwagon saying that it is safer to stay aboard a striken plane i'd agree 99% of the time ..... only 99% though.(one engine , one overhead wing , one chance (as they say))

The vast majority of airline crashes happen within one mile of the runway, and at this altitude a parachute would be useless, so learning to parachute for this eventuality is kind of pointless......just do it because its fantastic fun

FX Meister

Are there any base jumpers in Ireland? I started training in Offaly with the idea that I could progress on to this. It seemd that no one there was interested and I couldn't stand the waiting around to jump. I've heard rumours that dude have jumped the Westlink. I've done a lot of rope jumps but that's as far as I've come to real freefall.

uberwolf

fragile wrote:

I have never met a person who jumped from an airplane and regretted it

only cos they'd met the ground before you met them

Fionn101

I knew it , I knew someone would ....

>>If you mean you fly on commercial airlines

no I don't mean commercial. but thanks for the advice

fragile

FX Meister wrote:

Are there any base jumpers in Ireland? I started training in Offaly with the idea that I could progress on to this. It seemd that no one there was interested and I couldn't stand the waiting around to jump. I've heard rumours that dude have jumped the Westlink. I've done a lot of rope jumps but that's as far as I've come to real freefall.

ya, the waiting around sucks, but I guess its the best you can get in Irish weather

I don't know of any base jumping locations in Ireland, certainly none that are legally accessible to the public.

The general concensus is to do more than 250 skydives before learning to BASE jump however you will feel a whole lot more comfortable (and therefore progress faster) if you have more.

This is a good site, basejumper.org/ for information, courses, equipment etc.

Bluehair

Don't know who jumped the westlink (checked it out once but landing is a prob) but there is an an antennae in Ireland thats jumpable.... if you can get to it

Best restricting Base jumping to France and Italy plus a few cool spots much further afield...

FX Meister

Yeah but if I did get into it I think a lot of the buzz would be finding spots in Ireland to do it. So where is the antenna to do it from here?

fragile

How about the Spike in O'Connell Street, would that be high enough

FX Meister

But it's pretty hard to get to the top, I've looked into it.

gamgsam

FX Meister wrote: »

But it's pretty hard to get to the top, I've looked into it.

Slings and foot loops will get you up, I'm gonna do it some day. Can't base jump though

johnny 71

hi, i was just reading your post and i was just wondering if you would recomend doing the aff course in offaly,and also did you enjoy your experience out there

quietsailor

I'm in the middle of a static course myself but if you have the money an AFF course is a good idea. What we all want is to qualify with our A licence and an AFF will get you there a lot quicker.

One thing I will say is that a static line student will have more jumps than you to get their licence so their canopy control and landing skills will be better. I've seen people who trained via AFF and now have completed 100 jumps go back to sit canopy control courses. They were delighted to be learning things I and the other statics on the course thought were basic knowledge. -- you spend a lot longer progressing through the static line course so you have more time to learn the subtlies.

Finally - most people think you are slightly mad for learning static so it has a certain Kudo attached to it, whether its good or bad though no-one will tell me :eek:

PeakOutput

quietsailor wrote: »

I'm in the middle of a static course myself but if you have the money an AFF course is a good idea. What we all want is to qualify with our A licence and an AFF will get you there a lot quicker.

not necessarily, its exactly the same number of total jumps and exactly the same requirements for your a licence regardless of which method you choose

static line can be done with a cloud base of 3k or thereabouts, there are far more days like that in ireland then there are blue skies days which the aff students need so depending ont he time of year static line may well allow you to get your jumps in faster then aff

One thing I will say is that a static line student will have more jumps than you to get their licence so their canopy control and landing skills will be better.

again i dont see why this is true unless something has changed since iv done it its still 24 jumps to get your a regardless of teaching method. static line students usually initially have better canopy control then aff students because all they are doing is stable exit to canopy ride. but the difference is negligible and i wouldnt advise taking it into consideration while choosing which method any instructor worth their rating will teach students the importance of good canopy skills regardless of training method

I've seen people who trained via AFF and now have completed 100 jumps go back to sit canopy control courses. They were delighted to be learning things I and the other statics on the course thought were basic knowledge. -- you spend a lot longer progressing through the static line course so you have more time to learn the subtlies.

canopy control courses are usually tailored to individuals skills i would recomend them to anyone under 100 jumps and probably even under 200 jumps. anyone with more jumps then that can probably decide for themselves if they need a canopy control course or not

Finally - most people think you are slightly mad for learning static so it has a certain Kudo attached to it, whether its good or bad though no-one will tell me :eek:

it does feel good when your talking to the old timers in the states about how they started and when they find out you did static line out of a 182 as your first few jumps it definitely helps trigger further conversation alright

i did static line for 6 jumps then got a job on a dropzone in the states and did aff, both have advantages and disadvantages usually one says the one they did is better

Diageio_Man

FX Meister wrote: »

Are there any base jumpers in Ireland? I started training in Offaly with the idea that I could progress on to this. It seemd that no one there was interested and I couldn't stand the waiting around to jump. I've heard rumours that dude have jumped the Westlink. I've done a lot of rope jumps but that's as far as I've come to real freefall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-WCIFAirnY

heres the jump from the m50 bridge.

PeakOutput

Diageio_Man wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-WCIFAirnY

heres the jump from the m50 bridge.

he also said that that was the worst base jump of his life and he would never do it again

there are base jumpers in ireland but i dont know if they are active while in ireland

your best bet (if your too impatient for the skydiving thing to naturally develop into base jumping) is to apply for a death camp at something like bridge day

the chances of you killing yourself are exponentially increased though compared to doing it the 'traditional' way

on a brighter note ill be doing my first base jump around this time next year at bridge day with all my friends woop woop

quietsailor

PeakOutput wrote: »

not necessarily, its exactly the same number of total jumps and exactly the same requirements for your a licence regardless of which method you choose

again i dont see why this is true unless something has changed since iv done it its still 24 jumps to get your a regardless of teaching method. static line students usually initially have better canopy control then aff students because all they are doing is stable exit to canopy ride. but the difference is negligible and i wouldnt advise taking it into consideration while choosing which method any instructor worth their rating will teach students the importance of good canopy skills regardless of training method

Just to be clear I call qualifying achieving your A licence
I'm not completely sure of the certification so I can't properly argue with you on this but I do know I've done 25 jumps so far - with a few repeats which most people will have unless they are incredibly athletic and co-ordinated - and I'm nowhere near finished. I have 3 more jumps to finish before my basic training is completed (tracking, s-tracking, hop and pop) then I have consoles/6 jump course to do so there is no way i could have qualified in 25 jumps.

From the way I understand the instructors in the IPC the 7 AFF jumps will bring you to the same level as the approx 25 static jumps will( if your perfect). and then you must progress to your six jump course so it can't be the same number of jumps for AFF and static. What I think you mean is the money works out the same?

I'll ask the instructors in the IPC this weekend to write it down for me and more importantly if I can post it here. I know they are reluctant to allow us to post the jump progression on the UCC parachute club pages

OP one very important thing in this sport no matter what anyone tells you ignore all of us UNLESS it is your instructor at the dropzone. Even if you read something interesting on the internet go and talk to an instructor about it before you act on someone elses instruction. I'm pretty sure PeakOutput will agree on this one.

PeakOutput

quietsailor wrote: »

OP one very important thing in this sport no matter what anyone tells you ignore all of us UNLESS it is your instructor at the dropzone.

1. i dont have an irish skydiving licence i have an american one so i could have forgotten things

2. this thread is years old so i doubt the op is still reading but im more than happy to chat skydiving

quietsailor

I didn't get a chance to talk to the instructors this weekend, we had 19 1st time staic jumpers up with us from Cork and there was a lot of tandems on the DZ as well. Fun weekend if it wasn't for the frost Sat night. I bummed a bench in a caravan but some fo my friends were in a tent :-)

Your American licence will allow you to jump in Ireland won't it?

PeakOutput

quietsailor wrote: »

Your American licence will allow you to jump in Ireland won't it?

yep but im in college here so dont have any money and cant get much packing work so no disposable for skydiving

i work on a dropzone in the states during the summer season so thats when i get to jump

Cú Giobach

I just had to post here.
I did about 85 jumps with the IPC back in the mid 90's, and it still feels like yesterday.
How are things in Clonbullogue these days??
Was just looking at photos of my old friends "Charlie Delta Papa" and "Bravo November Kilo". I see the 206 has a door now (very posh)
Happy days standing in a field freezing cold for days waiting for the sound of Tommys voice calling out the names for the "first lift".
Ahhh....Gonna have to do a jump soon for old times sake.
Blue skys.

quietsailor

Cú Giobach wrote: »

I just had to post here.
I did about 85 jumps with the IPC back in the mid 90's, and it still feels like yesterday.
How are things in Clonbullogue these days??
Was just looking at photos of my old friends "Charlie Delta Papa" and "Bravo November Kilo". I see the 206 has a door now (very posh)
Happy days standing in a field freezing cold for days waiting for the sound of Tommys voice calling out the names for the "first lift".
Ahhh....Gonna have to do a jump soon for old times sake.
Blue skys.

Ah they've gone terrible posh now, there is Pilatus Porter there for the high lifts and there are computer monitors to tell you what lift your on, but C-D-P is still dropping static students good-oh.

You should go up this weekend, theres going to be a lot of people there for the bank holiday weekend so there will be a big gang there, you'll surely knock across people you met before?

Cú Giobach

quietsailor wrote: »

Ah they've gone terrible posh now, there is Pilatus Porter there for the high lifts and there are computer monitors to tell you what lift your on, but C-D-P is still dropping static students good-oh.

You should go up this weekend, theres going to be a lot of people there for the bank holiday weekend so there will be a big gang there, you'll surely knock across people you met before?

Just looking at that picture of C-D-P raises the heart rate, even after all these years, and the hanger has hardly changed at all, thanks for that. Was looking at my log book yesterday bringing back a few old memories.
I'd say having the porter must be great, the last time I was in one of them I had a malfunction (line over), can still feel my amazement looking at the size of my tiny little (magic mushroom shaped) round reserve.

Unfortunately commitments mean I won't get the opportunity to get to Offaly anytime soon, but its always in the back of my mind, and I know I will do one (just the one ) when I get the chance.

"Only skydivers know why the birds sing"

holystungun9

check out skydive ireland

www.skydiveireland.ie

AkiThePirate

Does the SLP course work out at only €660? :eek:
Even including transport, food, etc. that's much cheaper than AFF.

I'd go AFF if I could afford it, but college, eh? :rolleyes:

quietsailor

AkiThePirate wrote: »

Does the SLP course work out at only €660? :eek:
Even including transport, food, etc. that's much cheaper than AFF.

I'd go AFF if I could afford it, but college, eh? :rolleyes:

After either course you have to do a 6 jump/conversion course/consoles course. I'm not sure exactly what it is but factor these additional jumps into your costs.

I'm going up to the IPC again for the 1st time in a long time so I'm going to ask if I can post details of the progressions here, I don't know if they'll approve or not. I can't see how the Static line would work out so cheap though,
300 for the initial training leaves 360
@40 a jump that gives you 9 jumps, I can think of 16 jumps you need to complete the progression - thats assuming you don't need to repeat any,

I'd say the costs are more like (minimum)
(300 for training) + (16 jumps@40 per jump = 640**) = 940minimum


(**If you buy jumps in blocks of 10 they will give you a discount of 40 Euro**)

bog_savage

So you want to learn to skydive and earn your A licence ?
Your options are

AFF : currently €1080 in the Irish parachute club for the 7 levels ,
You don't have to pay all up front , you can pay jump by jump .
includes all instruction , membership for 1 year , gear rental and 7 one way flights to 13,000 feet ;p

Once you have completed AFF and are cleared to jump on your own ,
you do 10 console jumps
You will be supervised by an instructor but will be jumping solo , practicing what you learned during AFF and getting used to taking care of yourself .

Then a "hop & pop" from 4,000 and one from 2,500 . This is to practice low level exits and immediately opening the parachute . Incase you need to exit low if there is an aircraft problem of for the days when its cloudy and you need a fix

All jumps after you finish AFF are only €25 each from 13,000 and €12.50 up to 4,000( +15 for gear rental , and if you pack it after you get €7 back )

Static Line : currently €288 for instruction , membership for 1 year ,1 jump from 3,200 feet and gear rental . all jumps after cost €25 +€15gear rental I think ???
Usually takes 25 jumps approx .
Even though Static line takes more jumps to complete , the jumps are cheaper , and its a jump ! its fun !

* The person who does static line will have better canopy skills when they finish their course because they have 25jumps v 7jumps when finished AFF . Canopy skills will be the same when comparing same no of jumps !

* The static line progression will make you a more self reliant v the AFF graduate who always had an instructor beside him to save his ass !

* Aff graduates usually have better freefall skills because they had instructor right there in freefall to give instant correction .

* After 100 jumps most differences will have evened out between graduated from either system

* Doing a canopy course has nothing to do with how good you are now , its about how good you want to be . I have 1350 jumps and still do courses to improve my piloting .

bog_savage

The 6 jump course comes after you have learned to take care of yourself on solo jumps and is not a requirement for the A licence.
Over the 6 jumps you learn how to safely fly with other people on multi-way jumps .


The requirements for A licence are ,

• 25 freefall jumps
• 5 minutes of freefall time
• Have made 5 formation skydives (FS) involving at least two participants, or have made 5 free-fly (FF) jumps, either option having been under the supervision of an Instructor
• Have demonstrated control of the body in all axes (back-loops, turns, barrel rolls, etc.)
• Be able to pack a main parachute
• Have demonstrated the ability to land a parachute within 50 metres of a target, on at least 10 jumps

AkiThePirate

Thanks a million for the info, guys.

I'll almost certainly signing up for an SL course once the days get a bit longer.
Now to sort out transport. :P

bog_savage

re transport , try looking for a lift here

www.irishskydivers.com/forums/

Fredrik

I was thinking of doing an AFF course in IPC, but realized, only transport there and back would probably double the cost if I go by myself. Is there anyone from Cork that goes to the IPC drop zone regularly? I have a car, but going by myself seem a waste of good money that can be used for more jumps

ps. that forum in last reply doesnt have much of activites on it (im not gonna go to portugal )

bog_savage

There are a bunch who come up from cork regularly .
The Irishskydivers website is a little quiet at the moment

You could also try posting on http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150121627084460&set=at.10150121283274460.321435.630319459.630319459&ref=nf#!/TheIrishParachuteClub

or the guys at University of Limerick Skydiving Club , I know there are a few Corkonians come up from there

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=487458161237&set=a.487458086237.264662.622261237&ref=nf#!/pages/Skydive-UL/135071881357

Fredrik

Great, thanks for the links. The IPC facebook was a fairly obvious place to post in, not sure why I didn't think of that one.

bog_savage

actually this might be even better

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000427441938

jimmurt

Does anyone know if there are people who travel to the IPC from Kilkenny/Waterford area? I completed the AFF course abroad recently and want to do the 6 jump course.