To Contact Me


Who in their right mind would want to jump out of a perfectly serviceable aircraft ? ‐ Well,
for a start there is no such thing as a perfectly serviceable aircraft, and secondly it is fun!.
I made my first skydive on Thursday 1st September 1994 at San Jamul, Ottaway Lakes, San Diego, when visiting the U.S.A.
on holiday. It was a tandem skydive which required minimal training as you are attached to an experienced instructor who
controls the freefall, opening and flying the parachute. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and immediately thought I need
to enquire how/where I can learn to do this exciting sport back home in the U.K.
British Skydiving, formerly known as the British Parachute Association (BPA) prior to November 2019, organises,
governs and aims to further the advancement of sport parachuting within the U.K. The association is funded by membership
subscriptions and has an annually elected council which controls all aspects of skydiving on behalf of the Civil Aviation
Authority (CAA). In the U.K. there are nearly thirty affiliated drop zones (parachute centres) within British
Skydiving where you can learn to skydive.
In the U.K. there are two types of training courses you can take to learn to skydive, the RAPS course and the AFF course.
Both courses work towards you gaining the British Skydiving ‘A’ Licence which allows you to jump on your own
unsupervised.
The Ram Air Progression System (RAPS) or static line progression is a course where you can become a licensed skydiver
in a minimum of 25 jumps. You exit the aircraft at approximately 3,500ft A.G.L. and the opening of your square ram air canopy
(parachute) is initiated by a static line attached to the aircraft. The first jump entails no freefall, but you can soon
progress onto freefall initiating the deployment of the parachute yourself by means of a ripcord and spring‑loaded pilot chute.
As your exit height from the aircraft and your time in freefall increases you gradually learn all the skills required to become a
certified independent skydiver.
The Accelerated Freefall (AFF) course which can be completed in a minimum of 18 skydives is a more intensive and faster way
of progressing to become a certified independent skydiver. The course entails 8 levels/8 jumps and 10 consolidation jumps.
On your first skydive you exit the aircraft from a minimum altitude of 12,000ft A.G.L. with two AFF instructors who will assist you
during the 50 seconds of freefall. The instructors maintain grips on you from the moment you exit the aircraft, assisting you to fall
stable and perform certain tasks till you initiate the deployment your parachute at approximately 5,500ft A.G.L. On your third jump the
instructors will release you in freefall (though staying in proximity) for the first time, allowing you to fly completely on
your own. As you progress, only one instructor will accompany you as you learn the same air skills as used in the static line progression
system, which are:
• Perform controlled 360° turns in both directions.
• Dive exit - dive from the aircraft into the stable position.
• Unstable exit - exit the aircraft in an unstable position (back loops). Hold the position for a short time then
return to the stable
belly‑to‑earth position.
• Back loops - perform back loops whilst in freefall and regain stability.
• Tracking - where you move through the air horizontally to gain separation from other jumpers before initiating the deployment
of your canopy.
• Track turns - initiate a turn when tracking in a specific direction as an avoidance manoeuvre.
Once qualified, you can start progressing in the sport and learn how to jump with other people.
For a more detailed explanation of the training syllabus and classification of skydivers see the
British Skydiving website.
I learnt to skydive in 1995, by doing an AFF course with Scotty Milne (former Red Devil competition team leader and five times
British Skydiving Champion), who was the club chief instructor and principal AFF instructor at Skydive Strathallan, Perthshire,
Scotland.
As I progressed in the sport I became interested in the video and photography aspect of skydiving. Once I had gained the experience
and required qualifications, my skydiving career started to orientate towards the following:
• Tandem video/photography.
• Video/photography of formation skydiving, from 2‑Way, 4‑Way, to large formations.
• Cameraman for several competition Formation Skydiving (FS) 4‑Way teams. The cameraman exits the aircraft with the
four team members at 10,500ft A.G.L. and the video is used by the judges to score the number of set formations they can achieve in
35 seconds of freefall. As a cameraman for these teams I was taken on training camps to Perris (California) and Eloy (Arizona)
in the U.S.A. where the teams were coached by world renowned skydivers, such as Dan BC, and Andy Delk, of Arizona Airspeed.
I reached a stage in my skydiving career where I had attained the required qualifications and felt I had the experience, that I would
like to train to become an instructor. Training to become a skydiving instructor
required a serious commitment, which sometimes meant putting my jumping on‑hold while I prepared and practised my classroom teaching
techniques. I became a BPA qualified Tandem Instructor (TI) in Septemeber 2003 and a Category System Instructor (CSI) in May 2007.
The latter involved taking students through the RAPS course (as noted earlier). Being an instructor brought a lot of responsibility
and hard work, but it also very rewarding to take a novice student through the Category System, from their first static line jump, their
first freefall, to attaining their ‘A’ Licence and above.
As to‑date, I have nearly 3000 skydives with an accumulated freefall time of 31hrs, 04min.
• Approximately 2000 skydives with video/camera.
• 544 skydives as a Tandem Instructor, on which I had four malfunctions.
• I have been skydiving (apart from various Drop Zones around the U.K.) in: Norway, Spain, Dubai (United Arab Emirates)
and the U.S.A. (California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada).
I attained the following skydive ratings/qualifications: (when British Skydiving was known as the BPA).
• BPA qualified Category System Instructor (rating lapsed).
• BPA qualified Tandem Instructor - Vector/Next tandem system (rating lapsed).
• BPA/FAI ‘D’ Licence holder.
• BPA qualified Jump Master (JM1).
• BPA qualified Formation Skydiving Coach.
• BPA qualified Canopy Handling Coach.
• BPA Freestyle/Freefly Grade 1 certificate (FF1).
Parachute Container & Designer/Manufacturer:
• Talon ‑ by Rigging Innovations.
• Javelin Odyssey ‑ My current container made by Sun Path Products Inc. which is equipped with a PD Reserve (160 sq. ft.) and
a Cypres 2 ADD (Automatic Activation Device) by Airtec GmbH & Co. Safety Systems. See photos below.
Parachute & Designer/Manufacturer:
• Predator (190 sq. ft.) ‑ By a South African parachute manufacturer. My first canopy on which I did approximately 150 jumps.
It was an ideal canopy for a jumper coming off student status and one on which I fine‑tuned my canopy flying skills till I was
experienced enough to convert to a higher performance canopy.
• Sabre 1 (170 sq. ft.) ‑ By Performance Designs Inc. A zero‑porosity high performance 9‑cell canopy released
in 1990 which was one of Performance Designs most popular canopies till the arrival of the Sabre 2 in 2001. I did approximatly 900 jumps on this
canopy with no malfunctions. It was the canopy I used during my first camera jumps and many more afterwards. With my wing loading of 1.32 it was
an exciting canopy to fly yet forgiving of bad body position (to an extent) during openings, which was important during my early jumping career
and early camera jumps.
• Stiletto (150 sq. ft.) ‑ My current canopy by Performance Designs Inc. A zero‑porosity high performance fully elliptical
9‑cell canopy with responsive handling, snappy turns, flat glide, and a short recovery arc. I have done over 1000 jumps on this canopy
with no malfunctions. A great canopy for camera jumping as the openings are soft and with good body control always on‑heading, yet a canopy
radical enough to get exciting high‑performance landings.
Landing my Stiletto 150 canopy. Photo by Laszlo Andacs.
• Katana (120 sq. ft.) ‑ By Performance Designs Inc. A zero‑porosity high performance fully elliptical 9‑cell canopy
designed for soft, smooth openings with a long control range, a steep dive, light front riser pressure and a powerful flare. Not a canopy to be
jumped by inexperienced skydivers. It snivelled a lot on opening and tended to veer off‑heading rapidly without good body control.
That said, I did over 200 jumps on this canopy with no issues and found it was a delight to fly with its light control inputs and
high‑performance landings.