AFF Course
How do I become a skydiver?
Below are detailed breakdowns of the eight levels that the AFF course comprises, along with a video demonstrating the skills required to pass each level. Watching these before attending your course will help familiarise you with techniques and equipment in advance.
Level 1
Firstly you move to the aircraft door with both the primary and secondary instructors holding onto you from each side of your skydiving suit and parachute harness. It is your responsibility to ask them if they are ready. When they say 'OK' you should shout “READY, SET, GO” and you can then jump from the aircraft with both instructors holding you and you’ll begin to free fall. You should then scan the horizon and pick out a reference point that you can use to refer back to and gauge your heading. This allows you to ascertain if you are involuntarily rotating. You should then check your altimeter (on your left hand) to check your altitude and tell this height to both of the instructors holding you by your sides. Whilst doing this the instructors will provide you with hand signals to amend your body position and an ‘OK’ signal once corrected. This is known on the AFF course as the H.A.S.P procedure (heading, altitude, secondary instructor and primary instructor). You should then reach out and touch your deployment handle three times to show that you are aware of its position. You may then continue to free fall to an altitude of 6,000 feet. At 6,000 feet you should then open your parachute using the deployment handle and continue to control and land the parachute as directed in your ground training.
We also recommend the AFF Level one as an alternative to the traditional charity raising Tandem jump. You will find it much more exciting and the cost is less than most parachute centres are offering for a Tandem jump. You will get one day of ground training and one day to jump on your own and experience accelerated freefall. Make more for your charity by being a little more daring. We offer a discount for group charity bookings.
Level 3
You will exit the aircraft and carry out the H.A.S.P procedure, then you will need to reach and touch your deployment handle once, you can then continue to free fall to 6,000 feet. At this time your instructors will aim to release you if you have managed to position your body correctly, this is to demonstrate that you can stay in control and maintain a heading. At 6,000 feet you will deploy your parachute and land at the designated landing area. During the next four levels, you will be reduced to one principle instructor having demonstrated the ability to control and understand the previous lessons.
Level 4
You will exit the aircraft and carry out the H.A.P procedure (same as H.A.S.P but without your secondary instructor). When you receive the 'OK' signal from your instructor you will complete one practice parachute deployment. Your AFF instructor will then release you and move so that they are now facing you. The instructor will then ask you to complete a 90 degree turn to both the left and right which you will continue to practice as signalled by your instructor. When reaching 7,000 feet you will signal 'no more work' to your instructor (by a shake of the head) and then finally upon reaching 5,000 feet you will deploy your parachute and land at the designated landing area.
Level 5
This is primarily the same as level four except that you will be expected to perform a number of left and right 360 degree turns (instead of 90 degrees turns as per level four). As with level four, you will again signal 'no more work' to your instructor and continue to monitor your altimeter where upon reaching 5,000 feet you will deploy your parachute and again land at the designated landing area.
Level 6
You should move towards the aircraft exit and ask your instructor if he's ready. You will then dive out the aircraft and your instructor will follow you. Your instructor will then move in front of you and if your body position is correct your instructor will give you the signal to complete a backward somersault (as taught prior to the skydive). By doing this you are proving that you can regain control after losing stability (for example the somersault). You will then check your altimeter and providing that you are above 7,000 feet you will create some forward movement for five seconds (this is known as tracking). Once you have reached 4,500 feet you will deploy your parachute and land at the designated landing area.
Level 7
This is mostly an amalgamation of levels five and six and as previously you will move to the aircraft exit and ask your instructor if he's ready. You will then complete a forward somersault out of the aircraft holding the position for three seconds, regain stability and check your altimeter, followed by creating forward movement (a track) for five seconds. Next, you complete a series of 360 degree turns both left and right. All manoeuvres must be stopped by 6,000 feet and again once you reach 4,500 feet you will deploy your parachute and land at the designated landing area.
Level 8
You will exit the aircraft when advised by an instructor at 5,000 feet and deploy your parachute stably within ten seconds. At this point, you will receive congratulations as you will have now completed your British Parachute Association AFF Course in Spain. If you wish to obtain your BPA A licence, you will need to complete a further 10 consolidation skydives and complete the canopy handling level one (CH1) exam.
The CH1 Exam
The CH1 or Canopy handling exam is a 2-page open book exam which consists of 14 questions. All the answers are in the manual this shows that you have read and understood the manual. You will then need to take this exam to your local Parachute centre and the CI will check and sign.
Locations we use
Our Skydiving holidays are mainly run in Spain, Portugal, Italy or USA.
Learn Skydiving aims to visit the location that offers the most reliable weather.
Why jump aboard?
It’s been known for UK AFF students training in Britain to take up to one whole year to accomplish what can be delivered within just a few days on these holidays.
The course is called an Accelerated Freefall course (AFF) and is designed to be completed quickly.
The British rules state that if you don’t skydive within a month you’ll have to repeat the last skydive you completed, whether you passed or failed it. This can make learning in Britain expensive.
However, once you’re a qualified skydiver, you’re not as restricted by the weather and this makes skydiving in the UK much better.
Though not mandatory, 20 minutes of wind tunnel training can be used as a prerequisite of attending an AFF course and massively reduces the number of level retakes, if any! We can provide this in the UK prior to your AFF course. Please contact us for more details on how to book yourself onto a course with ourselves or a third party instructor. You don’t need to be a Learn Skydiving customer to attend a wind tunnel course.
Parachute Landing
Overview
The AFF course is known to allow rapid progression of your sky diving skills. Your first jump is usually from between 14,000 and 16,000 feet and you will be accompanied by a primary and secondary instructor and they will guide you through the art of free fall by way of hand signals. You will experience around 60 seconds of free fall before you begin to open your parachute at 6,000 feet. Your first jump is part of an average of a 6-7 day course comprising of eight AFF levels and a minimum of ten consolidation jumps that will qualify you as an official skydiver in your own right. If you wish to progress further with skydiving this is probably the quickest and most motivating method in which to progress. The first thing you must complete is the mandatory ground training. It consists of a minimum of six hours and covers orientation of the parachute, the centre facilities, equipment familiarisation, post-landing procedures, body position during free fall, aircraft exiting procedures, the AFF sequence and actions to be completed, aircraft drills, flight procedures, flying and controlling the parachute, parachute landing procedures and emergency parachute operation. There are eight levels to be completed for the British AFF qualification and students must pass each level in turn before commencing the next level.
Level 2
You will exit the aircraft and carry out the H.A.S.P procedure exactly as detailed in level one. Once you receive an ‘OK’ from both instructors, you will reach and touch your deployment handle twice. You will then complete a 90-degree turn left and right and then continue to free fall to 6,000 feet where the secondary instructor will attempt to release you, reducing the instructors stabilising effect. At 6,000 feet you will deploy your parachute and land at the designated landing area.
