Our home dropzone is the Joint Services Parachute Centre (JSPC) at Netheravon. This is on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire. Netheravon is one of 27 parachute centres in the UK affiliated to the British Parachute Association (BPA).

Netheravon is a military dropzone. It has been the home of the Army Parachute Association (APA) since 1962. Membership of the APA, although predominantly military, is open to civilians at weekends.

The dropzone is fully open every Saturday and Sunday throughout the year, bar a couple over the Christmas holidays. It is also fully open on bank holidays. More recently, you can now jump midweek as well, but it is advisable to phone ahead to check on 01980 678 277.

Netheravon has an excellent website as well, which is kept well up-to-date with the latest news and events. Find it at www.netheravon.com.

There is free bunkhouse accommodation available. To arrange this, ask a member of the Assistant Staff when you arrive. You can also camp there for free. There is a shower block but get up early if it's a busy weekend.

There is a café on-site serving cooked breakfast and food throughout the day. And the on-site bar is excellent. Both are very cheap.

Jumping Guides

As Netheravon is a military dropzone, their pricing is some of the cheapest in the UK, particularly as we have some special deals. All prices are listed in the guides below.

If you have military connections, for example you are in the TA or OTC, then you get extra discounts. Ask one of the committee for more details.

Have you made your first jump and want to do more? See the skydiving student jumping guide.

Are you an experienced skydiver? See the experienced jumping guide.

Do you want to do a tandem skydive? See the tandem jumping guide.

(Note a student is an undergraduate or postgraduate at university. A skydiving student is one who is still training and has not so far reached their CAT 8 qualification.)

Dropzone Membership Fee

For student members of the Club, membership of the dropzone is £15 for a year from day of purchase. This is half the normal cost. To obtain this special deal, you must take your student card and Bristol Skydiving Club membership card to the dropzone. If you are not a student at Bristol, you can't get this deal - sorry.

For those on training courses, you don't need membership until your 2nd jump - don't panic!

Identification

Very important. As Netheravon is a military dropzone, you will need to show ID to get in. The first time, please take your passport or photocard driving licence. Once you have Netheravon membership, this card will be sufficient instead.

Getting There

(There's also a printer friendly version of this.)

Every weekend, we sort out lifts to and from the dropzone to get everyone jumped loads throughout the year. This is done primarily by the Progression Officer.

Netheravon is not hard to find. This map shows the route from J17 of the M4. Please check this on a road atlas before you leave so you don't get lost.

Once you reached Netheravon on the A345, turn left down the road immediately after the Dog and Gun pub. Turn right at the triangular junction and go over a little bridge. Half a mile up the hill, the entrance is on the right hand side.

Park on the left before the security building and then sign in at the guardhouse. Everyone will probably need to show their ID.

Then follow the road right the way through the military camp, out of the far gates and on towards the parachute centre.

Weather

Skydiving is obviously a weather-dependant activity. The wind limits are 21mph (Force 4) for experienced skydivers and 15mph (Force 3) for student skydivers. And you need to be able to see the ground from the aircraft when you jump. Therefore, clouds are bad. Keep a check on the weather using the links page.

Forecasts are never 100% accurate and it is always the skydiver who goes to Netheravon rain or shine who gets the most jumps in. But be sensible, and if the forecast says Force 6 then think about going for a game of snooker in Bristol instead - or take up windsurfing.

Parties

Netheravon is a very sociable dropzone. They hold parties quite frequently. The details will appear both on this website as we get them. They are generally fancy dress and though it is not compulsory to dress up, you will have more fun if you do.