Start Skydiving and the Jump Institute have a program for you. Our state of the art equipment, highly trained instructors and first class facilities will provide you with an experience you will never forget. On the day of your skydive plan on spending the entire day at Start Skydiving.
The Jump Institute which is the training school of Start Skydiving classifies our jumps by category letter. Categories A through E are the instructional jumps where the student must be accompanied with an appropriately rated Jump Institute instructor.
As the instructors freefall with the student, they are able to correct student′s body position and other problems during freefall by communicating with the student with hand signals in freefall and debriefing the student and conducting corrective training after the jump.
Once the student has completed 25 skydives, and has their A license requirements signed off by an instructor or coach, they must perform an A License Check Dive with an Instructor. Now they are eligible for their A license and are no longer a student.
Once you have logged 25 jumps and shown the required skills, you'll be eligible to apply and test for your USPA 'A' license. This means you are a qualified skydiver and are clear to jump solo without supervision.
Get your Skydive Licence to jump solo The AFF course (Accelerated freefall course) is your ticket to freedom in learning to skydive all by yourself.
Is it possible to skydive alone the first time you jump? The short answer is no. Skydiving alone requires a license, and it's also a crucial part of becoming a skydiving instructor.
AFF is your introduction to the world of skydiving solo. AFF is an eight-part course – four to six hours of ground training followed by seven supervised jumps – that teaches you the fundamentals of becoming a licensed skydiver.
In our Accelerated Freefall program (AFF), you will begin with an extensive 4-6 hour class and begin your solo 'category' jumps. Once you complete each category, you will be cleared to solo status. However, you will need 25 total jumps before you earn your A License and become a certified skydiver.
The Quickest Route To Becoming A Qualified SkydiverJump solo on your very first skydive from 15,000ft.Open, fly and land your own parachute.Be cleared for unsupervised freefall in as few as 7 jumps.Work towards obtaining your skydiving licence..
What's the weight limit for skydiving? 18 stone or 114kg fully clothed is the maximum weight for a tandem skydive novice. The weight limit set for tandem skydiving is for your - and your instructor's - safety and takes into consideration the essential equipment and accessories you need for a safe jump and landing.
Alternobaric vertigo may be a consequence of skydiving as this phenomenon is caused by the difference in pressure between the middle ear space and inner ear which consequently causes vertigo (Bentz & Hughes, 2012).
One of the most common misconceptions about skydiving is that you HAVE to start with someone on your back.
Static Line Jump 7: 5 Second Delay. As above, but you count to 5 this time. Still not at terminal velocity.
AFF Jump 4: Solo Skydive. Finally, jump 4 is when your entirely skydiving solo! While you’re still under instructor supervision, they’re only there as a backup. You freefall and pull your chute totally by yourself.
Freefall up to terminal velocity (10 seconds or more)
In AFF, you start right at the highest altitude. The idea is that your first jumps are done with your instructors jumping with you and holding on to you on either side (NOT fully attached like in a tandem jump).
This is only my opinion, however! Some would argue that even the very first static line jump counts as a solo skydive, and others say there’s no real difference between a tandem jump and doing it yourself. At the end of the day, you’re still throwing yourself out of a plane!
You can see the parachute being pulled out by the static line!
Tandem skydive takes about 30 minutes of training, but it can take up to 4 hours depending on weather and other unforeseen factors. First-time solo students, please plan to spend the entire day with us.
You will jump with a USPA Certified instructor with years of skydiving experience. One of the requirements for becoming a tandem instructor is 500 jumps, but all of our tandem instructors have between 1,500 to 7,000 skydives.
The first jump is always a tandem skydive with an experienced skydiver or instructor. When people decide they want to pursue a career in this adrenaline sport on its own, or just want to experience a free fall alone they need to jump a lot of times with an instructor and pass skydiving training to be able to do so.
In order to get an A License, you must start AFF training method. ONLY three tandems will count toward your A license.
In order to get an “A” License, you must start the Accelerated Free Fall training method, and complete the 25 jumps required. The 25 jumps consist of 7 AFF jumps, 5 Coach jumps, 12 Solo jumps and 1 “A” License Check Dive.
Skydiving is not a physically demanding sport, but you do need to be in good health! For our solo students, you need to have enough upper body strength to pull all the necessary handles and steer the parachute!
Do not consume alcohol before your jump. To speak to you for your good and your safety. If there is the odour of alcohol present we will keep your deposit and you will not go for a skydive! 5. Who Are You Jumping With On Your First Jump. You will jump with a USPA Certified instructor with years of skydiving experience.
A solo skydiver is an individual who has made a successful first jump without the assistance of an instructor. Once you have completed a tandem jump and are cleared for solo jumps by your instructor, you are considered a solo skydiver.
There is no one definitive path to becoming a solo skydiver. Some people may choose to take a course at a skydiving school, while others may choose to learn from friends or family members who are experienced skydivers.
Becoming a solo skydiver takes time and practice. There is no one definitive path to becoming a solo skydiver, so the amount of time it takes will vary depending on your experience and skillset.
there you go, folks, the pros, and cons of being a solo skydiver. Ultimately, it is up to you whether or not you want to take the step to become a solo skydiver – but remember that safety should always be your top priority!
After you’ve made a few tandem jumps and caught the skydiving bug, you’ll want to study up on the varying levels of skydiving licensing.
Generally speaking, your USPA A License requirements aren’t too extensive when compared to some of the more advanced levels of jump school (like getting your tandem instructor license !)— but it still requires a lot of studying, training and focus to achieve.
You’re probably curious about the solo skydiving classes you’ll need to achieve licensed status. You’ll begin with a ground school course and including instruction on equipment, parachute packing, and flight regulations.
If you’re ready for solo skydiving, you’re in luck. Our Chicagoland Skydiving Freefall University (Freefall U) can get you trained and certified in no time.
Categories A through E are the instructional jumps where the student must be accompanied with an appropriately rated Jump Institute instructor. Our AFF program has 7 jumps, but there are only 5 letters between A and E, categories require more than one jump to complete. After Category E, students are cleared to self supervise. Categories F, G, and H are completed with the assistance of a rated Jump Institute Coach. Once the student has completed 25 skydives, and has their A license requirements signed off by an instructor or coach, they must perform an A License Check Dive with an Instructor. Now they are eligible for their A license and are no longer a student. While a license is not required to jump legally, the USPA license will allow the skydiver to travel to other USPA drop zones and use their license to prove they have the skills required to jump.
On the day of your skydive plan on spending the entire day at Start Skydiving. Weather such as high winds, low clouds and rain may cause delays. We make every effort to accommodate our customers for the times they schedule, but occasionally there are delays beyond our control.
The AFF ″First Jump Course″ is intended to provide each student at Start Skydiving with the necessary skills to safely complete their first solo skydive.
We provide the finest skydiving instruction in the country through our Accelerated Free-Fall (AFF) program. All of our instructors and coaches are USPA Certified. They are dedicated to teaching you how to skydive solo using the most current training methods and equipment. We train more skydivers than any facility in the Midwest, stop by and find out why we receive FIVE STARS from our past students.
You must be at least 18 years old or older in order to participate in the AFF program.
Deployment of the main canopy for students in the AFF program is generally 5,500 feet AGL. If the student experiences trouble in the deployment of their parachute, our instructors first use hand signals to remind the student to ″Pull.″ If the student still experiences trouble, our instructors will assist their student by physically placing student′s hand on the pilot chute, but if the student still has trouble, the instructor will deploy the canopy for the student. The instructor has the prerogative to pull the student’s main canopy at any time the student appears to be in danger. Extra ″pull″ handles are installed on student gear giving additional access for instructors.
All AFF Students will be given an application and encouraged to join the USPA before making their Category C skydive.
You can train for your very first skydive in one of basically 3 methods. Tandem, not “alone” where you are attached with a tandem instructor. Accelerated Freefall, where you exit the airplane at altitude, typically 10,000′ to 14,000′, with your own/solo equipment and two AFF instructors holding onto you/your harness throughout the freefall. Or Static Line/Instructor Assisted Deployment, where you exit the aircraft alone and the parachute deployment is initiated as you fall away.
If on the other hand you mean “alone” as with no instructor supervision, then essentially 25 jumps. 25 jumps, along with a laundry list of other stuff, is one of the requirements for the first license you can qualify. That license being through the United States Parachute Association, who also align with the FAI.
I pay $15 to $27 for a full lift 14000 ish depending on the drop zone. That's with me having all my own gear and packing for me self. Which I never do so add another 7 to 10 bucks per jump.
When the canopy had deployed, I felt the joy of achievement and exhilaration. “Nothing bad can happen to me anymore!” It was time to relax and enjoy the awesome bird’s eye view of the dropzone and countryside below. If the free fall was like making love with angels, I had now gotten angel’s wings. I enjoyed every second of the glide.
He DID land upside down because he went extremely headlow off an extremely low 35-meter antenna and his foot snagged the lines on deployment, and but he too was fine, because he at least had the sense to pick a water-landing site.
With AFF you are solo in as much as you are not attached to anyone or anything. Your instructors could, at any time, release you in free fall and let you go. They do this in fact, in subsequent jumps, as you proceed through the program.
Bottom line, I think, it all boils down to confidence and motor skills, and there’s simply no substitute … for the latter. Some people are born with the kind of confidence that allows one to do an extremely terrifying stunt without the handicap of excess adrenaline. But without the reflexes built up by practice no amount of confidence will save you when things go south, and what better way to prepare for that than the relatively well-controlled and tightly regulated field of skydiving?