@AlexCorbin - I was on it back in 06 I think, great few days! Also the Paragliding course in Wales (naturally on a week-long course only 1 day was flyable!)
@Gunner - Yes! I was meant to come with you guys in 09 - the year it never happened 
We flew all but one day on the course I did. Best thing I ever did as a cadet I think.
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From ACTO 054;
b. Civilian Parachute Centres. RAFAC will not give authority for parachute jumping to take place at civilian clubs (even if they are BPA registered) unless that club has been assured by RAF HQ 22Gp. Only Regional HQ and HQ RAFAC can submit a request for HQ 22Gp to assure a civilian BPA club.
So with the loss of parachuting at the only realistic venue, presumably somebody at Regional HQ or HQ RAFAC has already submitted a request for HQ 22Gp to assure one, (or all), of the BGA club(s), so that parachuting can continue and doesnât just become another lost activity!
Whatâs that you say?..no one has made the requestâŚthought as much!
Should hope that parachuting is only happening at BGA clubs in extremis.
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They didnât. Apparantly, when the contract for the jump aircraft was signed with a civvy company 2/3 years ago, they âforgotâ to include flights for cadet courses!
Iâd get why though mummy and daddy sign their son or daughter up to cadets putting their trust in the RAFAC and RAF
Iâm fairly sure they wouldnât want us to be 100% sure itâs safe before we throw them out of a plane.
Think we are at that point now!
You think incorrectly. A request was made to assure two British Skydiving sites in Wales & West Region to 22 Gp in April of this year; a similar request has been made for S&NI in late 2019.
Whether 22 Gp have done anything about them is a different question entirely.
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The courses at Netheravon are already approved.
No, they arenât. Netheravon has two aspects to it - the Army Parachuting Association, which is a civilian British Skydiving club and does not use exclusively military instructors. This is not yet assured/signed off by 22Gp.
The Joint Services Parachuting Centre runs military courses under the auspices of the Joint Services Adventure Training scheme - which cadets and CFAVs are no longer eligible to attend. This happens to share an airfield and a location.
The two are not one and the same.
It was this subtle distinction which led to the request to assure the sites earlier this year.
Thatâs useful to know, thanks. We had started to book a course with the APA in 2020 and it had been approved but obviously somethingâs changed.
I suspect that actually, it is probably that whoever is doing the approving simply doesnât understand the difference. Which is, in part, what is driving the requirement to assure sites as we donât have an SME in the organisation who can provide technical advice on this particular area.
I only understand the difference because the APA used to be my home DZ, and although I no longer jump any more, I do have direct experience of both the British Skydiving qualification system and organising parachuting courses via the APA for cadets.
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Had a great week with the APA back in the day. Did a look at life course for potential officers with the RA. Stayed in the officerâs mess at Larkhill and did 6 jumps over the week, including one out of GO-RED
Iâve been in contact with the chief pilot at Netherathon- hopefully try and get some time and learn to be a drop pilot when they reopen in 2021
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The reality is though that itâs not even 100% safe sitting them in the plane in the first place.
I donât know the stats, but I wonder if jumping out is safer?
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Certainly going up with a parachute already on has to be safer than going up without one? As the top comment here says, like with motorcycling, dress for the crash, not the ride 
As anyone who jumps will tell you, rigs fail, reserves donât.
Iâd have more faith in a properly licensed reserve than I would in most light aircraft!
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PM your name?
Meteorite central.
Sadly, I doubt that RAFAC would give approval for an official course. That said, when I had a meeting with the Commandant of the JSPC at Netheravon many years ago, he said he WOULD approve it and even offered military instructors. However, final approval rested with HQAC and the then-incumbent who gave approval for activities, wouldnât budge (Iâm sure some of the longer-serving members of these boards recall the furore surrounding the course).
The only way around it would be to hold an unofficial course for RAFAC staff, organised along military lines, if sufficient people volunteered. Of course, it would just be purely coincidental, you understand, that a number of people who have interests in the RAFAC all happen to turn up at the same PuP at the same timeâŚ
I understand that the parachute school on the island of Texel no longer offer round parachute courses but there is another school in Holland that does offer courses from an Antonov AN2. Some guys from my former Regiment Sqn took part in a course there in 2015.
Do some digging 