INSTRUCTOR DIARIES PT1
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February 15, 2017 skydive
Category: Tandem Skydiving
Things Instructors get asked.
Most people doing a tandem skydive often know very little about the sport of skydiving. We’re okay with this and we love teaching them about it and answering all of their questions. Here are the most common questions our instructors get asked with the most common answers
What’s the highest you can jump from?
Well if you ask Felix Baumgartner the answer will be 39kms! But for tandem skydiving, 14-15,000ft is the highest you’ll go without requiring oxygen hook ups in the plane. Regular skydivers are often jumping from 13-14,000ft unless its for a large formation record in which case they may go to 16-19,000ft.
Do you do that wingsuit thing?
Most of our instructors either wingsuit or have tried wingsuiting yes. Wingsuit skydiving is very different to wingsuit base jumping which is what most people have in mind when they think of wingsuiting thanks to the likes of Jeb Corlis and other wanna be rockstars on YouTube.
Does it (skydiving) still feel the same for you?
For sure, after thousands of skydives it’s not the same as when you do your first. But the feeling of freedom and joy of freefall never goes away, it just gets better and better.
How many jumps do you have?
Our instructors have anyone from between 2,000 to 18,000 skydives each!
Do you do it every day?
Yep, this is our job! Living the dream.
How many times a day can you do it?
On a busy day you can do 10 skydives. If you have two parachute rigs you and someone packing your parachute for you then you could do double this.
Are you a base jumper?
About 10% of skydivers are B.A.S.E jumpers or have at least tried B.A.S.E jumping.
How come you go up when the parachute opens?
You don’t. You continue to fall, however the speed at which you fall reduces massively. If someone is filming from the outside then it gives the impression of the parachute going up when it opens because the video person is still falling at terminal velocity.
How many tandems do i have to do before i can go by myself?
One. We make our solo skydive students do a training tandem prior to their first solo skydive. This gives them a taste of what skydiving is all about, opportunity to overcome sensory overload, helps overcome fear, experience controlling and landing the parachute.
Is it hard to breath?
No, just breath normally.
How do you know when to pull?
We wear visual altimeters on our wrists and often have audible altimeters next to our ear. We’re aware of our altitude 100% of the time, without fail. We ‘pull’ at a predetermined altitude every time. For tandems, its around 5,500ft
How fast do we fall?
In tandem skydiving it’s around 240km/h once we hit terminal velocity
Can we land in the water?
Yes you could with an inexperienced instructor. But that’s why we only hire very experienced and talented instructors for our beach-side dropzone.
Meet the team: Shelby Mcleary
February 13, 2017 skydive
Category: Our Team
What’s your role here at Skydive Jurien Bay?
Manifest/video editor/Ground Control Officer
If you could only have one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Sushi!
What is the most random thing you’ve watched all the way through on Netflix?
Better Call Saul
What was the last picture you took on your phone?
A pineapple that Baz is growing
What’s currently playing on your Spotify?
The J’s
What’s one thing that not a lot of people know about your job that they should?
Bringing the office girls food makes us happy!
What was your first thought when you woke up this morning?
Breakfast
What’s the most frequently asked question you receive from customers, and what’s the answer?
Are your eyelashes real? No they’re not.
What’s one of the most memorable things you’ve ever done?
Learning to skydive – life changing!
Can you describe your favourite interaction with a customer?
People who have no idea what to expect and are blown away by the whole experience, start to finish.
If you could wake up as someone else, who would it be and why?
A Dolphin! There’s no proof that mermaids exist (yet) so that’s the next best thing
Do you have any hidden talents or is there a fun fact about you we should know about?
My jokes are hilarious. What has two legs? Half a cat.
Meet the team: Robin Morris
skydive
Category: AFF Instructors, Our Team
Our resident geezer, Robin Morris is a man of many talents, including being an Intruder on Big Brother in the UK. When he is not going on Big Brother dates on national TV he is working tirelessly teaching people to skydive (and fixing our computers!).
1. What’s your role here at Skydive Jurien Bay
AFF instructor (teaching people how to skydive solo), IT manager, Party Liaison Officer
2. If you could only have one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Curry
3. What is the most random thing you’ve watched all the way through on Netflix?
Tony Robbins – I am not your guru (I can’t believe people buy that crap)
4. What kind of skydive excites you the most?
Fast skydives, angles, free fly, swooping (the parachute part)
5. What’s one thing that not a lot of people know about your role that they should?
A lot of it is unpaid
6. What was your first thought when you woke up this morning?
I did not need to drink all that beer last night
7. What’s the most frequently asked question you receive from customers, and what’s the answer?
How many jumps do you do a day? It varies, up to 10 on a busy day.
8. What’s one of the most memorable things you’ve ever done?
Nearly died on a motorcycle
9. Can you describe your favourite interaction with a customer?
Helping any of the students that are struggling with learning skydiving
10. If you could wake up as someone else, who would it be and why?
Alan Watts, he had a lot of answers to a lot of questions
Meet the team: Christine Sparrow
1. What’s your role here at Skydive Jurien Bay
DZ Mum, also provide fun coupons for staff each week (I’m also a owner of the business)
2. What was the last picture you took on your phone?
My son shredding in the wind tunnel
3. What’s currently playing on your Spotify?
Too old to have Spotify, but JJJ music from the 90s is all over my phone!
4. What’s one thing that not a lot of people know about being the owner of a skydiving dropzone that they should?
It’s like juggling a chainsaw and a chicken
5. What was your first thought when you woke up this morning?
How’s the weather?
6. What’s the most frequently asked question you receive from customers, and what’s the answer?
Why jump out of a perfectly good plane? Because it has a door
7. What’s one of the most memorable things you’ve ever done?
Jump out of a hot air balloon
8. Can you describe your favourite interaction with a customer?
They’re all always fun, but once when a tandem instructor was joking around with a customer, he told him he was new on the job, and had just gotten out of jail. The customer asked what he was in for, and he answered, quick as a flash, murdering my boyfriend!
Why learn in Jurien
February 8, 2017 skydive
Category: Learn to Skydive
10 reasons to learn at Skydive Jurien Bay
We have a new world-first AFF program which makes learning to skydive, safer, faster, easier and cheaper! At Skydive Jurien Bay, we’re 100% confident that we provide our students with Western Australia’s very best environment, support, team, instruction, and experience there is when it comes to skydiving and learning to skydive. Here’s why…
1. We’ve got the most advanced AFF course on the planet
That’s right, when it comes to crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s we’ve nailed it. We’re the only dropzone in the world to offer our students an Online Learn Course to assist with the theoretical training of our students. This gives each student the opportunity to watch interactive videos and learn about the sport of skydiving prior to doing their first jump. The benefit of this is that our students arrive to the dropzone already informed, there is less information overload, and the important information sinks in better: safer and better students.
Further to this, we’ve modified our AFF course to now include 20 minutes of wind tunnel flying at iFLY Perth. This is the equivalent of 20 skydives worth of freefall time and will ensure you can remain stable and on-heading before you even get into the real freefall experience. This makes it unlikely you will need to repeat stages (a costly exercise) of your skydive course because you haven’t met the objectives of a Stage.
2. Brand new state-of-the-art student skydive gear
One thing we’ve never compromised on is the safety of our students. It’s for this reason that we only use the very latest BOC skydiving containers, new parachutes, and automatic activation devices (AAD). Believe it or not, some skydive schools still put their students in old ‘rip cord’ type containers from the 1980s! No thanks.
3. Dedicated, friendly & professional instructors
With an immaculate safety record, highly qualified instructors, very personalised tuition, accommodation included, amazing coastal views, modern equipment, and an awesome family vibe, there really is no better place to learn to skydive in Perth, WA. In fact, a lot of our staff learnt to skydive with us and we’ve also had some students going on to represent Australia at world skydiving championships.
4. More personalised training and tuition
Unlike other dropzones which sometimes have as many as 15 students doing the AFF course at one time, we keep our student numbers below 5 per course. This ensures that each student gets the personalised training and tuition required to feel confident to take to the skies for their solo skydives.
5. Our students feel welcome & part of a family
We’re proud of our skydiver culture here at Skydive Jurien Bay. Everyone goes out of their way to help students throughout their learn to skydive journey. Our instructors, regular sports skydivers and staff are always willing to answer any questions, share stories, and make our students feel welcome. We look forward to welcoming you to our “skydiving family”
6. Constant guidance & skill development
Want to get serious about skydiving as a sport? Want to jump with the pros? Even once our students have completed their AFF course with us, we will provide advice and training required to progress each student’s skills and experience to ensure they continue to learn new things and achieve their goals. Whether a student wants to learn to freefly, fly a wingsuit, or become a canopy pilot guru, we will provide the mentorship and guidance required to achieve their goals.
7. Super competitive prices
At only $2570 for the AFF Course, or $3255 for the AFF Course PLUS jumps required to get your A-License, you won’t find a better value AFF course in Western Australia.
8. The most spectacular views
You’ve seen the view of Jurien Bay from the air right? It’s AMAZING. Why jump over a paddock when you can jump over the amazing Indian Ocean and Turquiose Coast.
9. Free accommodation
We’ve got a fully setup skydiver shack next to our office with all the necessary commodities to make it feel like home. And it’s free for all our students.
10. We’re open 7 days a week
No matter what your availability or work roster is, when you’re free, you can jump!
Book your AFF Course with us today.
Call 08 9652 1320 or contact us via the form on our Learn To Skydive page.
New AFF Course to learn to skydive *includes 20minutes tunnel flying at iFLY Perth from Skydive Jurien Bay on Vimeo.
go solo in 2017
February 7, 2017 skydive
Category: Learn to Skydive
2017 Learn to skydive course info & dates announced
Our team of skydiving AFF instructors are gearing up for a huge 2017 learn to skydive solo season here at Skydive Jurien Bay. Since 2009 Skydive Jurien Bay has been at the forefront of teaching people to skydive solo.
Watch the new AFF course video here
AFF Course update!
As you may have heard, we’ve recently updated our AFF course to include 20 minutes of wind tunnel flying at iFLY Perth prior to each students first solo skydive. This will give each student the equivalent of 20 skydives worth of freefall time prior to doing their first solo skydive. This means that our students will go into their skydive course with a lot of experience and confidence in their ability to fall in a stable body position as well as undertake basic maneuvers such as turns, slow fall/fast fall, and forward and backwards movement.
The cost of the course has also been reduced to $2570(value $2960, save $390)
Our Equipment
From our beginnings in 2009, we’ve always invested in the latest skydiving equipment for our students. We never have and never will compromise the safety of our students just to save a few bucks. Our students have access to the latest BOC (bottom of container) deployment skydiving rigs, and we recently purchased 6 new Javelin containers and Icarus parachutes. All our skydiving containers contain an AAD (automatic activation device) that will deploy a parachute if for some reason a student does not.
You’d be surprised but there are skydiving schools (NOT US!!) in Western Australia that still use skydive equipment from the 1980’s for their students! These rigs are very old and feature a rip cord deployment which means that any student that uses them will need to do a conversion course/training to use the modern BOC type containers.
2017 Course Start Dates
- March: 2, 7, 9, 13, 17, 20, 23, 27, 30
- April: 3, 6, 10, 18, 20, 24, 27
- May: 1, 4, 8, 11, 15 ,18, 22, 25, 29
- June: 1, 6, 8, 12, 15, 19, 22, 26, 29
- July: 3, 6, 10, 13, 17, 20, 24, 27, 31
- August: 3, 7, 10, 14, 17, 21, 24, 28, 31
- September: 4, 7, 11, 14, 18, 21, 26, 28
- October: 2, 5, 9, 12, 16, 19, 23
10 reasons to learn with us
Click here to learn why Skydive Jurien Bay is your safest bet when learning to skydive.
Watch an explanation of our traditional AFF Course (the one without the tunnel flying time)
AFF Course stage by stage detailed explanation from Skydive Jurien Bay on Vimeo.
For more info or to book your course, click here.
3 Little Birds
January 18, 2017 skydive
Category: Pro Skydivers
Three Little Birds is a skydive video put together by the “FLY4LIFE” boys in the United States. They are a team of professional skydivers who travel the world coaching and load organising. They are known for their modern flying style, creativity, friendly vibes, and epic video edits, just like this one. Enjoy.
FLY4LIFE – Three Little Birds from Richard Scheurich on Vimeo.
Why you have to wait
November 30, 2016 skydive
Category: Tandem Skydiving
With safety first, sometimes delays occur
You’re going skydiving for the first time. You’re excited, nervous, hell, lets just get this thing done! Well, a skydiving “dropzone” can’t operate like an airline.
We can’t make a specific time at which your plane will be pulling out of a gate. We have many variable factors, most importantly the weather, which makes the need to remain flexible imperative. Sometimes we need to wait till conditions become ideal so that you can have the perfect experience. Sometimes the weather may be great when you arrive, but we have experienced delays earlier in the day which have put us behind schedule.
We operate a turbine aircraft, which means we can’t shut down the aircraft’s engine regularly. Not only is it inefficient to shut down, but we need to wait at least 30 minutes for it to cool down enough to start it again. For that reason, we need to make bookings with enough leeway for people who have been travelling from a long distance or any other reason who are running late. We also have different landing areas for different wind conditions. Occasionally we cannot decide which landing area we will be using until the pilot has assessed the winds at altitude from the plane. The different landing areas take different amounts of time to travel between the landing area and the airport, so having had to use a landing area further away from the airport many times throughout the day can also put us behind schedule.
Sometimes you might get here, and we are in a hurry to get a harness on you and get you to the plane as quickly as possible because the plane is in the air, and you’re due to be the next person to go. In a perfect world, that would be the way it would always be for us. But if you do arrive on a super busy day when there is waiting involved, rest assured we are doing everything we can to get you in the air as fast as possible. When you learn to skydive yourself, you quickly see that it is normal to spend a lot of time hanging out around the dropzone! We ask for your patience and understanding, and try to keep the day of your skydive as free as possible of any other events you may need to get to in a hurry.
Relax, let us take care of everything to keep your experience safe and perfect. You will want to celebrate and enjoy the special feelings after your skydive anyway!
A new way to learn to skydive
November 29, 2016 skydive
Category: Learn to Skydive
Introducing the new hybrid Wind Tunnel/Skydive AFF course!
Skydive Jurien Bay has been given the go-ahead from the Australian Parachute Federation to begin running learn to skydive courses which include body flight training in Perth’s latest adventure sport facility, iFLY Perth. The new course will give students more confidence and experience when taking to the sky for their first solo skydive. Oh yeh and it’s cheaper!
The key changes in the new hybrid course are:
- Students will now perform 20 minutes wind tunnel flight and learn the basics of heading control, forward and back movement, and up and down movement prior to doing their first solo skydive. The wind tunnel flight time will teach the student the necessary skills to perform a controlled and stable freefall, something which is very important when skydiving.
- It’s cheaper! The cost of the course has been reduced to $2570.
- The course consists of 7 skydives (1 tandem and 6 solo skydives) with an instructor and will involve doing set drills on each jump.
Wind tunnel body flight training has revolutionized skydiving. In recent years wind tunnels have increased in numbers drastically throughout the world. With increased availability and decreased costs, more and more people are learning to fly in wind tunnels. Wind tunnels fast forward the learning process significantly and have allowed the sport to evolve exponentially. Every day people who train in a wind tunnel are now going on to be world champion skydivers.
Hybrid learn to skydive course inclusions
- Pre course online training (exclusive access to our online training module to learn important skydiving terms and processes)
- 20 minutes of body flight at Perth’s wind tunnel, iFLY Perth with an IBA Instructor
- One training tandem for purpose parachute flight tuition (this jump has proven to improve student parachute skills significantly)
- Six solo skydives with instructor (objective based jumps with set drills. The wind tunnel flying experience will make this significantly easier)
- APF membership
- USB with all your filmed skydives
- Skydivers Logbook
- $2570
****PLEASE NOTE: THE COURSE IS OBJECTIVES BASED. IF OBJECTIVES HAVE NOT BEEN REACHED, IT MAY BE NECESSARY TO REPEAT A STAGE. IF THIS IS THE CASE AN EXTRA JUMP WILL BE AN ADDITIONAL COST***
2016 fun jump wrap up
November 3, 2016 skydive
Category: Pro Skydivers
2016 Solo Skydiver Summary
In Jurien Bay our fun jumper season is between March and October (due to high winds either side of these months). In 2016 fun jumpers from all around Australia (and the world) came to the DZ to jump. Whilst we had a shocking year for weather (it seemed like every weekend we had an event planned the bad weather would roll in) we still managed to smash out plenty of skydives.
Our AFF program continues to prove popular as more and more people are becoming exposed to the sport of skydiving. Whilst a lot of people from WA are learning to skydive we also saw high numbers of people flocking down from Singapore to do their AFF course. We’ve got a good relationship with the Singapore skydive scene and they have continued to make the trip down to Jurien Bay to get in the sky.
One of the highlights from 2016 was the Performance Wing Suit Camp which was held earlier in the year with Jarno Cordia and Scott Patterson. The WA wing suit scene definitely benefited from having some of the world’s best wing suit coaches and canopy pilots in town enabling them to learn XRW as well as performance wing suit flying. This event also attracted quality media attention on the WA Channel 7 news.
Mason Corby made a visit to the Bay for a Downunder Dynanmics Train the Trainer camp. A group of WA’s more experienced freefliers were fortunate to attend this event and learn from one of Australia’s most experienced fliers and freefly organisers. A wide range of topics were covered during the event including load organising, teaching techniques and safety.
In October Jules McConnel came to the Bay to run a canopy course which proved super popular amongst WA jumpers. All levels were catered for ensuring everyone was able to take something away from the event and become better canopy pilots. Immediately following the course was a Train The Trainer course for canopy piloting, which Jules ran. The course was catered for WA instructors, to improve teaching methods when it comes to canopy piloting.
We chose not to have a J Bay Boogie in 2016, to give the team a break. A decision has yet to be made about a boogie in 2017 however it is our intention to run a series of workshops/camps around April / May.
In 2017, we’re going to really focus on a few key events at the start of our fun jumper season, capitalising on the perfect autumn weather.
Thank you to all the fun jumpers for jumping with us and to all the coaches who helped out during the year (Scotty P, Jimmy G, Peter Wally, and Red (The Boreman Water Bores Perth)
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