AFF skydiving course

AFF — Accelerated FreeFall — is the training that takes you to jumping alone. Unlike a tandem, where the instructor does everything, here you have your own canopy from the very first jump and fly it yourself, with instructors alongside you in freefall.

What the course covers

• Ground school: equipment, procedures, emergencies and landing.
• Jumps with instructors flying beside you and correcting your body position.
• Progressively more independence on each jump.
• Solo jumping once the programme is complete.

Price

Requirements

• 18 years or older.
• Good general health, with no conditions ruling out physical exertion.
• Several days available — progress depends on the weather.

How many jumping days to plan for

The course runs across several jumping days, not necessarily consecutive. The pace depends on the weather and on your progress, so it is better to have slack than one fixed date. People who come regularly finish sooner than those who leave gaps of several weeks — after a long break, part of a jump goes on recovering what you already knew.

What the course asks of you

• To be 18 or over.
• No medical contraindications — the list is in the safety guide.
• A willingness to study. AFF is training, not an attraction: there is theory, there are practical assessments, and repeating a level happens.
• Time. This is not a single day.

What happens after the course

The course ends with a solo jump, not a licence. What comes next — further jumps, the licence, your own equipment and the directions available — is set out in a separate guide.

Equipment

On the course you jump the dropzone's equipment and you need buy nothing beforehand. There are good reasons not to: canopy and harness choice depends on your weight, your skill and the direction you take afterwards, and none of that is known before the first jump.

Read next