You may have already seen this in the news and if you haven’t… where have you been? A Skydive Langar staff member has secured nationwide fandom after landing on a unicorn – with the video being shared across news outlets and social media channels across the UK and beyond. The skydiver in question is tandem instructor Jan Zackl, who performed the feat as part of our … Read More
Formation Skydiving and Artistics World Cup – Good Luck Everyone!
It’s that part of the season where competitive skydiving reaches its crescendo. Having recently celebrated success amongst Langar staff and fun jumpers at the British National Canopy Piloting Championships and the British National Canopy Formation Championships, and with the Wingsuiting World Championships also on this week, we are excited to wish lots of luck to our friends and colleagues at the Formation Skydiving and Artistics World … Read More
Wingsuit Performance World Cup 2023; Good luck Ryan!
We’re wishing GOOD LUCK to Langar team member Ryan today as he embarks on his first FAI Wingsuit Performance World Cup, taking place this week in the Czech Republic. Ryan is representing Great Britain in the wingsuit performance advanced category in which he will be judged in three criteria – speed, distance and time. While we eagerly await the first round scores and send Ryan all … Read More
Understanding Skydiving Weather
Skydiving is a sport dependent on certain weather conditions being fulfilled to make it safe. For us in the UK, ‘good weather’ can seem harder to find than other popular skydiving locations like the USA… but we have a lot more jumpable days here than you might think! And, being open 364 days a year (every day except Christmas Day), we’re well positioned to make the … Read More
Proper Dink Canopy Formation Boogie 2023
The Proper Dink CF Boogie may be over, but the jorts will live on… Not sure what a Proper Dink is? Want to learn more about canopy formations? Then this post is for you! Here’s our review of the first ever Proper Dink CF Boogie. The Proper Dink Canopy Formation Boogie took place in early July here at Langar and is the first event of its … Read More
4 Way Tips from Chimera
Guest post from Chimera 4 Way Formation Skydiving Team, the current reigning 4 way champions Thank you all for attending the Chimera Scrambles at Skydive Langar. We loved organising it and hope you had a good weekend. We have gathered some general tips and advice based on what we saw at the Scrambles and hope you’ll find all of this useful. Exits In four way, it’s … Read More
Coach the Cameraflyer: How to Film for Bigway FS
During Boogie One, Pete Harries, camera flyer at Skydive Langar and videographer for national championship winning team Chimera, hosted the first Coach the Cameraflyer workshop, focusing on how to film for bigway FS. This post is a write up of that talk, and also contains a video of his presentation plus the presentation slides themselves. If you’ve got any questions, feel free to contact us or … Read More
Equipment requirements for tracking and freeflying
Ready to start your journey toward TR1 or FF1? You’ll need a coach and the right equipment. The aim of this post is to outline specifically what equipment you’ll need so that once you have it, you’ll be ready to get coaching. Remember, you can always seek advice from an instructor or coach at the drop zone and our coaches will always check over your gear … Read More
High Performance Landing Area
Definitions High Performance Landing – Any landing where speed is deliberately increased for landing. PLA – Parachute Landing Area – A suitable area where it is intended parachutists will land. HPLA – A landing area reserved for parachutists intending to do a final turn greater than 90° Why have a HPLA? High performance landing areas keep traffic predictable. Skydivers who have declared a landing in the … Read More
FS1: The Key to Jumping With Your Friends
FS1 stands for formation skydiving 1 and is the first qualification you’ll aim to get after your A licence. While formation skydiving is a whole discipline in itself, the name FS1 for this qualification is a little misleading, because that’s not really what it’s about. Instead, think of FS1 as your gateway to jumping with other people. Because you can’t jump with anyone other than a … Read More
Skydiving World Championships 2022: Langar Teams Represent GB
The Skydiving World Championships are taking place right now in Arizona, USA, where skydivers from across the world compete across various disciplines to be named the very best on the planet. It’s especially exciting for us because there are a number of Skydive Langar staff, sponsored teams and fun jumpers in attendance. We’re really proud of all of our skydivers who are representing Great Britain; the … Read More
How to stay warm when skydiving in winter
Skydiving is an all-year sport. In fact, we skydive every day except Christmas Day (weather permitting). The main difference between jumping in the warmer summer months and the cooler winter months is the temperature, and the aim of this post is to share our top tips on how to stay warm as we move into winter. Should I skydive in the winter? Yes! Absolutely! There’s no … Read More
We’re hiring! Jobs at Skydive Langar
We’re looking for full time and freelance staff for the 2023 summer season. Could you be part of the Langar team next year? Currently seeking: Tandem Instructor – full time and freelance Packer – full time (negotiable) If you are interested in applying for either of these roles, please email ops@skydivelangar.co.uk letting us know which role you’re applying for and any relevant experience you have. Tandem … Read More
Tips for Putting Together a Freefly Team for Nationals
Skydive Langar is proudly hosting the Artistic Skydiving Nationals for the first time ever at the end of September, and so we thought it would be a good idea to take some time and explain what ‘Artistics’ actually means, and why all Langar’s freeflyers should think about taking part. Freefly and Freestyle Essentially the difference between the disciplines boils down to the number of performers. Freestyle … Read More
Introduction to the British Skydiving Operations Manual: What Does It Mean?
An introduction to the British Skydiving Operations Manual (Ops Manual) is an essential part of earning your B licence. You must be introduced to the Ops Manual to get your B licence signed off. But what does that actually mean? The aim of this post is to shed some light on why this brief is so important and what the Ops Manual can empower you to … Read More
What is CF? Your guide to Canopy Formation
Skydive Langar is proud to be hosting the British National Canopy Formation Championships for 2022. To mark the occasion, the aim of this post is to tell you all you need to know about CF (also known as CRW, or Canopy Relative Work) and how CF jumpers compete. What is Canopy Formation and who can do it? Canopy Formation, or CF, is the discipline of building … Read More
How to Become a TR Coach – Top Tips
With tracking growing in popularity, there is even more demand than ever for TR coaches. The aim of this post is to outline the general steps you can take to become a TR coach; it’s worth noting that every coach’s personal journey is different, but this should help you plan your own route. If you’ve got any questions on becoming a coach and coaching at Langar, … Read More
What is Wingsuiting?
Wingsuiting is something a lot of our students ask us about. Sometimes referred to as ‘squirrel suits’, wingsuits are jumpsuits that allow skydivers to fly for longer in the sky using their ‘wings’. Skydive Langar is home of the British Wingsuiting National Championships for 2022, taking place this weekend. The purpose of this post is to give you an introduction to the discipline and tell you … Read More
Do I have to wear a jumpsuit to skydive?
In short, the answer is no, you do not have to wear a jumpsuit to skydive. But there are many reasons to choose to do so anyway. The aim of this post is to explore some of those so you can make better informed decisions about what to wear on your next jump. Do I have to wear a jumpsuit for a tandem skydive? If you’re … Read More
Skydiving Currency: What it means and why it’s so important
Skydiving is often compared to skiing; it’s high adrenaline, weather dependent and typically comes with an epic community of awesome people. But unlike skiing or snowboarding, skydiving currency is an incredibly important part of our safety. While you might go skiing one Christmas and then not visit the slopes again for another couple of years and still be fine, if you’re getting into skydiving, you need … Read More
B Licence to C Licence: What’s Next?
You’ve got your B licence and you’re absolutely rocking that full face helmet! But what’s next? British Skydiving’s guidelines provide a good pathway for B licence jumpers to take, and the aim of this post is to explore those in more detail and also to consider the many other ways you can enjoy this part of your skydiving journey. As always, if you have any queries … Read More
Load Organising at Langar: What to expect and how to become an LO
Load organising is the term used to describe group skydives which are planned, briefed and debriefed by a load organiser, or ‘LO’. Load organising happens across disciplines and here at Langar, we regularly host ‘invitational’ load organising (where participants receive an invite to join) and ‘walk up’ load organising, which is where you simply turn up on the day and join in. It’s a great way … Read More
How to become a Progression School Coach – FS, FF and TR
Our Progression School was created to make more, better coaching available to our jumpers. Since its launch, we’ve welcomed an array of new coaches across FS, FF and TR, and we plan to look in more detail at disciplines like CF and WS in the future. The aim of this post is to describe the process of becoming a Progression School Coach and unlocking the benefits … Read More
A Licence to B Licence: What can you do?
The journey from first jump to A licence is clearly defined. You decide you want to skydive, you book onto either an AFF or a Category Systems course and you progress through the levels until you reach A licence status somewhere between 18 and 25 jumps later. Once you have your A licence, you’ll want to start working toward your B licence. The aim of this … Read More
How to use instructional tools to benefit your coaching briefs
British Skydiving has provided British Skydiving instructors with a number of frameworks designed to help us to be more effective instructors. These frameworks apply to coaching, too – and with our Progression School, we aim to upskill our coaches to be able to make better use of these tools that we as instructors already use to teach our students. You can find another blog post on … Read More
What is a Skydiving Boogie?
If you’ve spent any time on the drop zone, it’s likely you’ve heard excited voices talking about Boogies… but what exactly is a Boogie? Here’s everything you need to know. What happens at a Boogie? A Boogie is essentially a skydiving festival. A Boogie typically has even more jumping with even more organised jumps, too. There are usually more parties and more social activities going on … Read More
Methods of Instruction for Instructors and Coaches
Everyone from budding coaches to fully fledged and experienced instructors will know that there is a set of methods of instruction intended to guide our coaching and instructional techniques. Those techniques are most commonly taught as part of the methods of instruction brief needed to start on your coaching journey. But their power lies not in that initial introduction, but in the way they are practically … Read More
Skydiving Jumpsuits: What Should I Buy?
New to skydiving and wondering what jumpsuit to buy? This blog post is for you! Your choice of jumpsuit is influenced by a number of factors. While we’re not going to recommend any specific manufacturer (there are lots, each have their benefits), we will share insight into the considerations you need to take when choosing what to buy. This post is intended mainly for those of … Read More
You’ve got your A licence…. what now?
Congratulations, you’ve achieved your skydiving A licence! A whole world of new experiences, new people and new fun in the sky awaits… And while your journey from novice to A licence holder has been pretty well defined, what comes next is relatively open. The purpose of this blog post is to help you understand what happens once you’ve achieved your British Skydiving A Licence. If you … Read More
What’s New with FS1?
British Skydiving has changed the way we award FS1 (the qualification needed to jump with other people, usually obtained just after A licence). The change to the rules is a fairly simple one but it does have a knock on effect to the way we award the qualification – and what you can subsequently do in the sky – so the purpose of this post is … Read More
Introducing the Progression School
One of the best things about our sport is that there are so many different routes for progression! You really can never get bored. Whether it’s working toward your FS1 straight after getting your A licence, learning to fly like a plane with WS, getting to grips with all the angles through FF and TR, developing your canopy knowledge with CT, or learning to capture the … Read More
How to Use the Wind Tunnel as a Tool for Skydiving
Wind tunnels are great fun. Pitched as “indoor skydiving simulators”, they offer skydivers and non-skydivers an opportunity to try body flight in a different environment, and have been popping up across the UK since 2005, most recently at the Bear Grylls Adventure in Birmingham. While we believe that no experience can ever come even close to that of a real life skydive, we do recognise that … Read More
British Freefly and Freestyle National Championships 2021: Results
We are very proud to have hosted the 2021 British Freefly and Freestyle (Artistics) National Championships. Here are the final scores. Thank you so much to everyone who attended and who helped to make the event great. Fancy joining in next time? Check out Chris Cook’s blog post explaining the rules and some top tips to put together your freefly / freestyle team. Freefly A Team … Read More
UPT Sky Games 2021: 20 Way Formation Skydives
We’re very excited to be hosting the first ever UPT Sky Games during Boogie 2. Having watched events like the Arizona Challenge and the Power Games in awe, we wanted to create something of our own to push the boundaries of bigway skydiving, and to have a lot of Boogie fun! The event is invitational and is being run by Chimera with support from UPT. The … Read More
8 Way FS Dive Pool and Tips for a Scratch 8 Way Team
So, the 4 way formation skydiving championships is over for 2021 – but the 8 way version is still to come! Whether you’re in the early stages of training, are thinking of putting two 4 way teams together or just fancy doing something fun with some buddies, this post is here to help you, with some tips from some of our 8 way friends from Microclim8 … Read More
How to Catch Tandems
In mid to high winds a 300-400 sqft Tandem Canopy will act like a sail and drag the Tandem Student and Instructor. For the instructor this can be difficult to stop whilst attached to the student. It’s very useful to have “catchers” assistants who help collapse the canopy after landing. We’re always happy for anyone to help with this. It’s a great way to help out … Read More
Thinking about Nationals? Tips for putting together a last minute 4 way team…
The British Skydiving National Championships are just around the corner. Whether you have a team ready, or you’re thinking about whether or not to throw one together, this blog post is for you! Skydive Langar proudly sponsors Chimera, the top ranked open FS team in the UK, and Chimera have put together all their advice for FS jumpers in the run up to Nationals here. Tips … Read More
“PANIC!” – What happened to CH1?
I’ve seen and heard a lot of rumour and speculation recently about the proposed changes to the canopy system used in the UK. There seems to be a great disturbance in the Force with much worry about what the Dark Side are trying to impose. I was not part of the working group but I am, as a Chief Instructor, a member of Safety and Training … Read More
Fitness Inspiration for the Skydiving Season
Good news! It looks like we aren’t too far from skydiving in the UK starting up again. The bad news? Given the winter lock-down following on from Christmas, most of us haven’t felt the inspiration to keep our fitness at a decent level for sports. Last year, we found that once jumping started after the first lock-down, a lot of experienced skydivers were reporting niggling injuries … Read More
Langar Zoogie!
Lockdown regulations may have kept us at home for a while, but that didn’t stop us bringing together a few hundred of our skydiving friends for an all day (and all night!) online Boogie – the Zoogie! Check out all the videos from the day, plus some extra resources, here: Ally Milne: A Beginner’s Guide to the Basics of Tracking Ally has been skydiving and instructing … Read More
Chimera Book of Bigway Skydiving Formations
Are you looking for inspiration for your next bigway skydive? Perhaps you’re load organising and in need of some new ideas? Or just jumping with your friends and want something new to do? Bigway skydiving is so much fun, but working out which formations to build and how to transition between them can be tough. Even if you’re the most experienced bigway organiser, sometimes you just … Read More
We’re Open!
UPDATE: As of 1st August, Advanced booking is no longer mandatory for qualified jumpers. Visitors to the airfield agree to having their temperature checked and will need to sign a symptom declaration upon arrival. Social distancing will be maintained at all times and protective equipment will be worn by staff and visitors when necessary. Hand sanitising stations have been added around the DZ. Tandem Skydives We … Read More
COVID-19 Staff Training
This week we completed a staff training programme to trial skydiving again under new social distancing measures. We aren’t yet at the point of being able to resume operations, but it’s a step in the right direction! The situation changes day to day and we’re watching closely ready for when we can open. Below are some of the new procedures that have been introduced. Arriving at … Read More
A Safe Return to Swooping
This is a weird situation for me. I haven’t gone over a month without at least one skydive since 2010. When we do get back jumping this is going to provide me with challenges that I have never had to deal with before. The one that concerns me the most is not being current under my parachute. Most people know what it is like to feel … Read More
How to Jumpmaster
The role of the jumpmaster (JM) is to organise and take care of the skydivers on board the aircraft. This job starts on the ground by making sure everybody has been checked on the flightline, and spans all the way to ensuring that everyone exits from the correct spot, with several other elements along the way. There are many aspects involved in being JM and often … Read More