Accelerated Free Fall
Discussion
CountZero23 said:
Half way through mine, already totally hooked 
Having to take a few weeks off as broke a couple of my metatarsals on a landing (make sure you are at full flare when you hit the hard deck!).
You're doing it the right way by doing it as an intensive course, you should make progress much faster. It's MUCH cheaper to do in the states hence zoobeef's £700 deal. Weather is much more predictable over there too.
As BigJonMcQuimm said, wind tunnel will really help you nail body position, which can be tricky. Try to find a local wind tunnel Airkix have one in Milton Keynes and Basingstoke and there's another one in Bedford that I know of.
10 minutes of wind tunnel time works out around £100 for but its the time equivalent of 12 or more jumps so works out pretty cheap and allot cheaper than messing up a grading!
The Skydivers Handbook is the beginners bible and covers everything the course does and more. Buy a copy and get it read before you start if you can.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Parachuting-Skydivers-Hand...
Your profile says you're in Sutton so we share the same local dropzone (Headcorn, Kent). Drop me a PM if you want to meet up.
Awesome sport and a great bunch of nutters, beer is also a big part of the culture
PS - Look into getting your FS1 as soon as possible, takes about 10 jumps then you are allowed to start jumping with other people.
Nice one - thanks for that, very informative. I will buy that book now... Having to take a few weeks off as broke a couple of my metatarsals on a landing (make sure you are at full flare when you hit the hard deck!). You're doing it the right way by doing it as an intensive course, you should make progress much faster. It's MUCH cheaper to do in the states hence zoobeef's £700 deal. Weather is much more predictable over there too.
As BigJonMcQuimm said, wind tunnel will really help you nail body position, which can be tricky. Try to find a local wind tunnel Airkix have one in Milton Keynes and Basingstoke and there's another one in Bedford that I know of.
10 minutes of wind tunnel time works out around £100 for but its the time equivalent of 12 or more jumps so works out pretty cheap and allot cheaper than messing up a grading!
The Skydivers Handbook is the beginners bible and covers everything the course does and more. Buy a copy and get it read before you start if you can.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Parachuting-Skydivers-Hand...
Your profile says you're in Sutton so we share the same local dropzone (Headcorn, Kent). Drop me a PM if you want to meet up.
Awesome sport and a great bunch of nutters, beer is also a big part of the culture
PS - Look into getting your FS1 as soon as possible, takes about 10 jumps then you are allowed to start jumping with other people.
My profile is a little out of date, I'm actually living in Warrington now. The dropzone closest to me (Tilstock) doesn't do an AFF course so I'm going to Black Knights in Cockerham. My location is pretty handy for Airkix in the Trafford Centre though.
Is it best to get some tunnel time before the first jump?
mouseymousey said:
Nice one - thanks for that, very informative. I will buy that book now...
My profile is a little out of date, I'm actually living in Warrington now. The dropzone closest to me (Tilstock) doesn't do an AFF course so I'm going to Black Knights in Cockerham. My location is pretty handy for Airkix in the Trafford Centre though.
Is it best to get some tunnel time before the first jump?
Give the DZ a bell. they may have some pre-aff time with their instructors in the tunnel. The #1 rule with learning to skydive is listen to instructors and no one else. I know some DZ's run AFF trips to the tunnel where they have AFF instructors with you in the tunnel (rather than tunnel staff - aka tunnel rats who aren't necessarily skydivers), but dont know if BK do.My profile is a little out of date, I'm actually living in Warrington now. The dropzone closest to me (Tilstock) doesn't do an AFF course so I'm going to Black Knights in Cockerham. My location is pretty handy for Airkix in the Trafford Centre though.
Is it best to get some tunnel time before the first jump?
I've only been to Black Knights the once, and Cark a couple of times (skydive northwest) and the view from altitude at both DZ's is awesome. You'll love it.
mouseymousey said:
Nice one - thanks for that, very informative. I will buy that book now...
My profile is a little out of date, I'm actually living in Warrington now. The dropzone closest to me (Tilstock) doesn't do an AFF course so I'm going to Black Knights in Cockerham. My location is pretty handy for Airkix in the Trafford Centre though.
Is it best to get some tunnel time before the first jump?
Definitely worth it IMO, I took 3 attempts to get my AFF 3 which is just maintaining a stable arch while both instructors let you go. Doing a bit of tunnel time really helped me there.My profile is a little out of date, I'm actually living in Warrington now. The dropzone closest to me (Tilstock) doesn't do an AFF course so I'm going to Black Knights in Cockerham. My location is pretty handy for Airkix in the Trafford Centre though.
Is it best to get some tunnel time before the first jump?
Idealy go for 20 minutes in the tunnel rather than the 10 and do mention at the centre you want to train for AFF. Many of the people at the wind tunnels are just doing it for fun, an instructor will be able to give you much more valuable training if you tell him what you're after.
Allot of parachuting is muscle memory, practise your reserve drills (Look, Locatate, Cut-Away, Reserve!) and worth spending a few minutes a night practising your arched position on your bed. That way it all feels much more 'natural' when your out of the plane and you won't be flapping about trying to get stable so long and wasting important jump time!
My £700 was including flights out there and accommodation too. So a very good deal.
The best thing I can suggest is to practice your ground training between jumps on a board. Get the muscle memory of the arch set in. Expect to be nervous on the flight up, you will be going through things with the instructor so it's a little distraction but it's very nervy at first. You will get used to it though.
Once you're in the door you have so much to remember that the actual jumping out (which is done in an easy sidestep way) isn't too bad.
I found that going in the tunnel after my first few jumps really helped as it was much easier to see the arch work and if your drifting forwards and backwards etc.
The best thing I can suggest is to practice your ground training between jumps on a board. Get the muscle memory of the arch set in. Expect to be nervous on the flight up, you will be going through things with the instructor so it's a little distraction but it's very nervy at first. You will get used to it though.
Once you're in the door you have so much to remember that the actual jumping out (which is done in an easy sidestep way) isn't too bad.
I found that going in the tunnel after my first few jumps really helped as it was much easier to see the arch work and if your drifting forwards and backwards etc.
Zoobeef said:
My £700 was including flights out there and accommodation too. So a very good deal.
The best thing I can suggest is to practice your ground training between jumps on a board. Get the muscle memory of the arch set in. Expect to be nervous on the flight up, you will be going through things with the instructor so it's a little distraction but it's very nervy at first. You will get used to it though.
Once you're in the door you have so much to remember that the actual jumping out (which is done in an easy sidestep way) isn't too bad.
I found that going in the tunnel after my first few jumps really helped as it was much easier to see the arch work and if your drifting forwards and backwards etc.
wow. That's an amazing deal!The best thing I can suggest is to practice your ground training between jumps on a board. Get the muscle memory of the arch set in. Expect to be nervous on the flight up, you will be going through things with the instructor so it's a little distraction but it's very nervy at first. You will get used to it though.
Once you're in the door you have so much to remember that the actual jumping out (which is done in an easy sidestep way) isn't too bad.
I found that going in the tunnel after my first few jumps really helped as it was much easier to see the arch work and if your drifting forwards and backwards etc.
Do you mind letting us know who you did this through?
I was thinking of going to do my AFF through Freefall University in Spain but a trip to the US may be a good idea.
OP - Best of luck with the AFF and let us know how you go. I'm planning to do it this summer too.
I did my AFF in Australia (Ramblers in Queensland), partly because of my experience of the frustrations of learning to Paraglide in UK weather. I’d jumped static line on ‘roundies’ in the Army but not much was really transferable.
I subsequently jumped at Black Knights with my daughter (she was at Lancaster University) and really liked the dropzone – quite large, and easy to identify both in freefall and under a canopy due to the shape of the coast and, I recall, a saltmarsh. Most importantly very friendly.
At the time they had a plane (Pilatus Porter?) with a right hand door which, bizarrely, I struggled with . . . . all my muscle memory was going out of a left hand door! Looking at their website now it’s a Cessna Caravan which is brilliant.
Enjoy (but be prepared for weather frustration – this is the U.K.)!
I subsequently jumped at Black Knights with my daughter (she was at Lancaster University) and really liked the dropzone – quite large, and easy to identify both in freefall and under a canopy due to the shape of the coast and, I recall, a saltmarsh. Most importantly very friendly.
At the time they had a plane (Pilatus Porter?) with a right hand door which, bizarrely, I struggled with . . . . all my muscle memory was going out of a left hand door! Looking at their website now it’s a Cessna Caravan which is brilliant.
Enjoy (but be prepared for weather frustration – this is the U.K.)!
Excellent responses, thanks everyone.
I've been in touch with Airkix in Manchester and they do an AFF package which is 12 minutes (10 minutes plus 2 minutes "free"!) tunnel time and use of training rig, plus video analysis, plus tailored instruction depending on what you want. Package price is £135 off peak or £145 any time.
I will do my first jump, chat to the instructors and then think about the tunnel.
I'll report back once I've started the course.
I've been in touch with Airkix in Manchester and they do an AFF package which is 12 minutes (10 minutes plus 2 minutes "free"!) tunnel time and use of training rig, plus video analysis, plus tailored instruction depending on what you want. Package price is £135 off peak or £145 any time.
I will do my first jump, chat to the instructors and then think about the tunnel.
I'll report back once I've started the course.
mouseymousey said:
Excellent responses, thanks everyone.
I've been in touch with Airkix in Manchester and they do an AFF package which is 12 minutes (10 minutes plus 2 minutes "free"!) tunnel time and use of training rig, plus video analysis, plus tailored instruction depending on what you want. Package price is £135 off peak or £145 any time.
I will do my first jump, chat to the instructors and then think about the tunnel.
I'll report back once I've started the course.
I'd be inclined to do the wind tunnel first if you can, I did mine first on the advice of my mate who's an AFF instructor. It enabled me to get comfortable in arch and practice my turns. It saved money in the long run too as I didn't have to redo any of the levelsI've been in touch with Airkix in Manchester and they do an AFF package which is 12 minutes (10 minutes plus 2 minutes "free"!) tunnel time and use of training rig, plus video analysis, plus tailored instruction depending on what you want. Package price is £135 off peak or £145 any time.
I will do my first jump, chat to the instructors and then think about the tunnel.
I'll report back once I've started the course.
And as is said above, if you've any jump specific queries ask your instructors rather than random jumpers. They're the ones who see you in free fall and are trained to advise you
Most of all enjoy it, free fall is amazing
Try to avoid doing this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a80r13T7cGo
Foot still smarts a bit but off the crutches and wretched moon boot. Giving it another week then getting back at it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a80r13T7cGo
Foot still smarts a bit but off the crutches and wretched moon boot. Giving it another week then getting back at it
CountZero23 said:
Try to avoid doing this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a80r13T7cGo
Foot still smarts a bit but off the crutches and wretched moon boot. Giving it another week then getting back at it
Ouch! That looked like a hard landing! What did you do wrong?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a80r13T7cGo
Foot still smarts a bit but off the crutches and wretched moon boot. Giving it another week then getting back at it
I'm an ex fleet air arm pilot. I always had complete faith in my ejector seat & parachute.
Then one day they took us down to the parachute packing section to watch our shuts being packed. Having seen that, I no longer had any faith that they were likely to open, & vowed to ride the thing down if it came to the choice.
I am very pleased I never had to make that choice.
Then one day they took us down to the parachute packing section to watch our shuts being packed. Having seen that, I no longer had any faith that they were likely to open, & vowed to ride the thing down if it came to the choice.
I am very pleased I never had to make that choice.
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