toby@nas.nasa.gov (Toby Harness) (02/21/91)
With the rather low air fares to Europe from the west coast (USA) available at the moment (no doubt having to do with that thing that is not in any way what-so-ever about oil), several of my friends and I have been talking about a trip East, to include, of course, skydiving. I know that there are a few European DZs listed in the back of the _Parachutist_, but was wondering if anyone would provide other suggestions or comments. (I think we're talking mostly about England, France, and Germany.) What are some of the better DZs? Is April/May a good time of year? Is being an (United States of) American in Europe at this time a dumb idea? How much does a lift ticket cost? To what altitude? What kind of jump-ships are used? Is camping permitted or sensible? Does customs (USA or theirs) cause any extra grief about checking through a rig? Does any paper work (USPA, FAI, national) need to be filed? Anything else we need to know before just doing this?
bchurch@oucsace.cs.OHIOU.EDU (Bob Church) (02/22/91)
In article <1991Feb21.052216.4896@nas.nasa.gov> toby@nas.nasa.gov writes: [ Stuff about skydiving in Europe. ] >Anything else we need to know before just doing this? When jumping at Z-Hills, Deland and Eustice I've met a lot of jumpers from Europe. They all tell me that because of the cost of jumps in Europe that they can fly to the U.S., get a place to stay and make a few hundred jumps and save money over making the same amount of jumps in Europe. Weather is also a major problem, at least in Britian. I once jumped with a group from France who wanted to do a non-jumpsuit load. It seems that no suiters are illegal in France. Bob Church bchurch@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu
fischer@canada.mpr.ca (Roger Fischer) (02/22/91)
I learned skydiving at the Paracentro Locarno in the southern part of Switzerland (the Italian part). The Paracentro is located at the Locarno Airport. It is very professionally organized. When I was there in 86 they had a Pilatus turbo porter and a turboprop Cessna. On a nice weekend both planes are constantly in the air, stopping only to refuel. The climate in the area is very mild and the scenery is beautyful. It is a favorite vacation spot for Swiss and Germans. I can't remember prizes, but I am pretty sure they are higher than here in North America. I also don't know much about camping. Wild camping is strictly vorbidden and the (private) campsites are usually crammed. The Paracentro can refere you to private hostels that cater specifically to skydivers and are very reasonable in prize. Hope this helps. Roger -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roger W. Fischer fischer@mprgate.mpr.ca fischer@mprgate.UUCP ...seismo!ubc-cs!mprgate!fischer ...ihnp4!alberta!ubc-cs!mprgate!fischer
geoffc@zebedee.uucp (Geoffrey Coan) (02/24/91)
In article <1991Feb21.052216.4896@nas.nasa.gov> toby@nas.nasa.gov (Toby Harness) writes: > With the rather low air fares to Europe from the west coast (USA) > available at the moment (no doubt having to do with that thing that is > not in any way what-so-ever about oil), several of my friends and I > have been talking about a trip East, to include, of course, skydiving. > I know that there are a few European DZs listed in the back of the > _Parachutist_, but was wondering if anyone would provide other > suggestions or comments. > > (I think we're talking mostly about England, France, and Germany.) > Well I'm an English skydiver so I can only say about English DZ's from experience. Some of the larger (= better ?) DZ's in the UK are Headcorn (Kent), Sibson (Peterborough), Langar (Nottingham) and Cranfield (Bedfordshire). England is not a warm skydiving country, it is *COLD* here and thermal underwear can be a good idea. April/May should be a bit better though. Jump prices vary but are around 14 pounds (about 25 dollars ?) for 12,000ft. Aircraft tend to be small cessna's or Islanders although the larger DZ's have Skyliners and Skyvan's (20 people). If you want to come to Europe to skydive the best thing is to come over for a boogie - say the Belgian Herc Boogie or the Polish Helicopter Boogie (which I'm going to) rather than just come to 'local' DZ's. Geoffrey -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- are you ready to SKYDIVE ?? Geoffrey Coan well all right then, if you say so ... ..!ukc!axion!tharr!zebedee!geoffc <- UUCP'd from my ST via tharr; *free* UK public access to Usenet 0234 261804 ->
rand@skydiver.Eng.Sun.COM (Iconoclast at large) (02/26/91)
In article <1991Feb21.052216.4896@nas.nasa.gov> toby@nas.nasa.gov writes: > >With the rather low air fares to Europe from the west coast (USA) >available at the moment I think it has already been posted, but if cranking out massive quantities of skydives is the goal, you will want to check on the cost/foot of altitude in europe...it isn't cheap. Of course this isn't relevant if the goal is to just jump somewhere else :) >(I think we're talking mostly about England, France, and Germany.) >What are some of the better DZs? I was in Germany not too long ago and jumped in a little town a couple of hours east of Munich called Ampfing. I was there in late October and the weather was fine...can't speak to April/May. The tickets were more than it is here, but I can't really remember just how much. They had two very nice turbine Porters and were open all week. This is the drop zone where the "Colibri" team trains and the nationals are held. I also went to a boogie in Hassfurt (central Germany, near Nurmberg). This was run by a group that flys all over Europe in a pink Skyvan and holds boogies wherever it lands. I thought it would be fun to get hooked up with them and follow them around...mabey even fly with them. I don't think it would be too hard to get a schedule of the Pink Boogies, but I don't have one. >Does customs (USA or theirs) cause any extra grief about checking through a >rig? Does any paper work (USPA, FAI, national) need to be filed? >Anything else we need to know before just doing this? I didn't have any problem with carying my rig on any planes and my USPA card seemed to be enough along with my logbook to get me onto a load. As to anything else, I would make sure to learn the words skydiving and airport in the languages of the countries you are traveling in. These 2 words usually got me near enough to where I could see canopies and then drive toward them. (In german skydiving is fallschirmsport or fallschirmspringen and I think airport is something like flughafen?) The Ampfing telephone number used to be 08636/440. Rand
peltoniemi@cc.helsinki.fi (02/27/91)
In article <1991Feb21.052216.4896@nas.nasa.gov>, toby@nas.nasa.gov (Toby Harness) writes: > > With the rather low air fares to Europe from the west coast (USA) > available at the moment (no doubt having to do with that thing that is > not in any way what-so-ever about oil), several of my friends and I > have been talking about a trip East, to include, of course, skydiving. > I know that there are a few European DZs listed in the back of the > _Parachutist_, but was wondering if anyone would provide other > suggestions or comments. > > (I think we're talking mostly about England, France, and Germany.) What about Finland? > > What are some of the better DZs? Is April/May a good time of year? Is > being an (United States of) American in Europe at this time a dumb > idea? How much does a lift ticket cost? To what altitude? What kind > of jump-ships are used? Is camping permitted or sensible? Does > customs (USA or theirs) cause any extra grief about checking through a > rig? Does any paper work (USPA, FAI, national) need to be filed? > Anything else we need to know before just doing this? We have a nice DZ in Helsinki, operated by the Parachuting Club of Finland. One Twin Otter and Europes cheapest jump tickets (under $15 for 4000 m!). The DZ is non-commercial and all work is done by volunteers, so you cannot expect very luxurious ground services. We jump from mid-March to October Mo-Fr 16--21 (or until dark), Sa 9--18 and Su 11-18. Except for midsummer, the whether is rather chilly and approximately every third day is too windy or rainy for jumping. The telephone is +358-0-378827 or for courses also 373026. English is usually spoken satisfactorily. terveiset, Jouni Peltoniemi