I am currently working in Germany and went to Skydive Lillo to get my USPA A License. I started training with my first jump in July and return in mid-August to complete my licensing requirements. I really enjoyed jumping with and learning from the instructors who call Lillo home. There are upsides, and a few downsides to jumping in Lillo, and I think I would be misleading if I didn't address both. Upsides to jumping in Lillo include: a well versed and knowledgeable staff from all over the world. They have instructors from Spain, England, Romania, and a few other countries, and can speak just about any language that is common in Europe. The instructors that I worked with were very patient with me and were always offering advice on how to control my body better and how to perform the required skills better, and safer. The "student" landing zone comprises of two seperate fields, split by the road leading to the dz, consisting of plowwed, soft ground which made for some interesting and dirty, but soft, landings. More than once I made my way back to the hangar covered in soft earth due to high flares or downwind landings. To address landing patterns, there are two here, one left and one right hand pattern, marked clearly by a T that can be seen almost from the exit of the plane. There are also two wind socks up, one on the runway and one at the edge of the student landing area in order to aid you if the wind shifts and the T hasn't been changed yet. The packing/waiting area is carpeted, with chairs and other places to lounge when waiting for lifts or if on weather holds. The food served on the dz is very basic, but is good and very reasonably priced. The downfall to the dz dining is that the cafe is not open on Mondays, so plan to bring food or walk back into town, which is about a mile to a mile and a half depending on destination. Downfalls to jumping at Skydive Lillo are primarily two... First, the weather during the hot part of the summer makes for some interesting rides due to turbulance and winds shift frequently during the afternoons during the summer, causing many hours of downtime, they grounded students at 15, which is for their safety. The other downside is Lillo itself. There are few choices of food offerings in the city itself, and when I was there the only other people that I met that were near my age in town were from the dz. Im not sure about lodging in the city, as I stayed with one of the tandemmasters at his house both times that I visited.
Hopefully this message helped.
Blue Skies "...And once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been, and there you long to return..." - Leonardo da Vinci
