Accelerated Free Fall (AFF Program)
The AFF course of instruction is to teach you the basic skydiving skills to become a sport skydiver. AFF is a 7 level course with each level containing it's own 'targeted learning objectives' or TLOs that you must master before moving to the next level. The cost of AFF includes all the materials and equipment you will need to complete each skydive. First-time students learn to skydive with their own parachute system, experiencing the thrill of freefall with two instructors at their side�not attached to them. You will exit the airplane with 2 AFF Jumpmasters (JM) who will assist you during freefall. The jumpmasters maintain grips on you from the moment you leave the aircraft until opening, assisting you as necessary to fall stable, perform practice pulls, monitor altitude, etc. You will then deploy your own parachute. You then make a solo canopy descent, with radio instruction to help guide you to a safe landing.
Level 1 requires 6-8 hours of intense ground instruction, including emergency procedures, learning body flight maneuvers and hand signals that instructors use to coach you as they fly alongside.
Levels 1, 2 & 3 require two freefall Jumpmasters to accompany you. These dives concentrate on teaching basic safety skills such as altitude awareness, body position, and stability during freefall and during the pull sequence, and most importantly a successful pilot chute deployment. On level 3, the JMs will release you in freefall for the first time, to fly completely on your own.
Levels 4, 5, 6 & 7 require only one freefall JM and teach you the air skills such as turns, forward movement and docking on other people, front loops, back loops, dive out exits from the plane, etc.
Each AFF level is designed to take one jump, and requires about 45 minutes of training. After successfully performing the objectives of each level, you move on to the next level. After you've successfully completed level 7, you will be cleared to self-jumpmaster, which means you can skydive without an instructor present, but that doesn't mean the learning ends there! You will practice and hone your skills by yourself and in small groups until you obtain 25 jumps and qualify for your A license.
A tandem skydive is recommended first.
