Have just had an unbelievable experience at Chatteris today and not in a good way.
I did my AFF ground school and Level 1 with them back at the end of June 2012 but as the weather was so bad and because I had got the bug, decided to go to Freefall Universtity in Spain (which was amazing by the way).
Came back to UK and did another 10 jumps at Chatteris and then when their twin Otter was out of action (and I was told I wouldn't get any lifts in the other plane due to Tandems) went and did some jumping at Headcorn. Subsequently went back to Spain for a week at the end of October and then last weekend a couple of jumps at Headcorn, before returning to Chatteris today with 65 jumps completed.
On arrival was told that the rental rigs I would use were out with AFF students but they might come free later on, so I hung around for 2 hours. Eventually Gary asked to check my docs and log book and then asked what I weighed. I am 6ft 5" and weigh 16.5 stone, which he knows, as this was an issue at the time of booking my AFF level 1. Nevertheless, he put me on the scales (fully clothed with winter gear and shoes on) and said since I was slightly over 17st, I couldn't jump!
I know there are weight limits and had gone through all this as an AFF student, but I am utterly staggered that after 65 jumps (including 10 at Chatteris) and being exactly the same weight as I was back in June, that suddenly this was not OK.
I can only speculate as to what happened here - maybe they resented the fact that I went to Spain to complete my AFF; maybe the fact that I recommended Freefall University to another Level 1 student (who they had just told not to bother coming back until he spent some time in a wind tunnel) who subsequently took that advice and has now got his A licence; maybe they had just decided to get rigorous with their rules (although being explicit on what basis the weight limit is measured would be useful), but if so it would suggest negligence prior to today. Of course its possible that they just didn't like me, but this would of course be a very unprofessional way to drive out people you didn't like.
Overall, my experiences at Chatteris have been OK until today, although as far as I am concerned they are not particularly enthusiastic about progressing recently qualified jumpers. If you are still renting a rig, they always seem to make it difficult and they don't like any communication prior to coming up to try to make sure equipment will be available as they rather expect you to make the journey and take pot luck.
After today , I will never be going back, even when I have my own rig, as I feel that the treatment I got today was really shabby and at best seriously inconsistent. I don't suppose they will shed any tears, as inevitably it is the tandem factory that is their main focus, although whenever I meet other skydivers in this very small community, you can be sure I will be communicating exactly what I feel about them.
