Doing my AFF this Saturday, any tips?!!!

[zf15z 0]

Thanks for the advice so far, getting excited now, early start tomorrow so I am not hitting up the booze!

[skyrider 0]

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Basically they grab you and throw you out of the plane as most won't jump on their first go.

This is not how we do it at our dropzone!

1a) I would NEVER throw a student out of a plane! The student voluntarily enters the door and starts the exit count when we give them a shake. When they leave, we go with them.

1b) 99.9% of my students have gone on their own. 0.1% have ridden the plane down after deciding they did not want to jump.
Back to the Original Poster's question... I have taught hundreds and hundreds of people... Some are 17 waiting until the following weekend so they are old enough to jump. Some are 80 years old. Some are athletic. Some can't walk across the hangar without tripping over their feet. They all were happy with the jumps... So my advice, don't over think it. Don't lose sleep worrying you won't be able to do it. It is so simple physically, so just relax, have fun, and go jump!

And without fail,99 percent of those returned, and made the jump, usually on teh same day! (I can;t recall a single one not returning)

[skyrider 0]

I can't believe I have forgotten the "NUMBER ONE" thing to know about making yoru first AFF..."Locate the restrooms!" Skydiving is the best laxative known to man!

Seriously...eat good the night before, and that morning, sleep well (no parties th enight before to brag to friends) , "Listen" , ask questions, relax, enjoy the day of your life you will never forget, and will be telling your grand children about!

[tdog 0]

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I can't believe I have forgotten the "NUMBER ONE" thing to know about making yoru first AFF..."Locate the restrooms!" Skydiving is the best laxative known to man!

On bridge day they put a port-a-potty on the bridge and Jason announced it was for the "pre-jump-dump".

[skyrider 0]

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I can't believe I have forgotten the "NUMBER ONE" thing to know about making yoru first AFF..."Locate the restrooms!" Skydiving is the best laxative known to man!

On bridge day they put a port-a-potty on the bridge and Jason announced it was for the "pre-jump-dump".

Good point...maybe second best.....

[osmrwangs 0]

As someone who repeated AFF Level 1 3 times... my advice as a successive failure will echo that of those whose advice I admire here:

1. Pull Priorities (Pull, Pull at the right altitude, pull stable - arch-pull).
2. Relax (when you smile, you relax).
3. ARCH! (If you forget to relax, at least arch).
4. Listen to your instructors. They have dealt with people like you before. You're less unique than you think.
5. Pay attention to hand signals, rig shakes, etc.
6. Every few seconds (5 or so) say your altitude out loud or yell it at your main side. They like that, even though they have no idea what you're saying, they at least know you checked your altimeter.
7. When you pull, remember what you're supposed to look for. Your instructors will cover most scenarios of "bad stuff". Pay attention. Even as a new skydiver, some of these have happened to me.
7. Pay attention to the landing pattern stuff in ground school in the event your radio fails.
8. YOU are responsible for getting your canopy out, piloting it safely and landing. Take this seriously but don't freak out.
9. (related to #4) Ignore my advice unless other people with way more jumps agree. I'm a noob. Your instructors have seen almost everything you can throw at them and they will get you through it.
10. Have a BLAST! This is way cooler than golf.

[Gators1240 9]

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Pay attention when learning hand signals on the ground and keep drilling them, it's amazing what you can forget as soon as you exit the plane.

+1

I remember on my AFF Level 1 we had a long spot (which I didnt really know of at the time) and my AFFI gave me the hand signal to pull at about 7500 ft and I had forgot what that signal was. It confused me because I had just looked at my alti and knew it wasnt time to pull yet and we were already done with everything we were planning on doing that jump. Needless to say my AFFI ended up pulling for me and in the confusion of what was going on after they pulled and let go of me I went into a little bit of a spin which ended up in some nasty line twists. But I kicked out of them and all was well. I never forgot that handle signal since

[KWRider 0]

Did my AFF 1 3/6/10 and had a blast til I broke my ankle because I forgot to PLF. I'm about 90% now and ready to get back up there. My advice is to relax and have fun. ARCH, PULL, and by all means PLF!

Never Too Old

[SansSuit 1]

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Thanks for the advice so far, getting excited now, early start tomorrow so I am not hitting up the booze!

OK, now it's Sunday. How did it go?

Peace,
-Dawson.
http://www.SansSuit.com
The Society for the Advancement of Naked Skydiving

[Ryye 0]

...should we be nervous..

Some of the greatest accomplishments were done by people too stupid to know they were impossible.

[Nightingale 0]

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Sorry! What i meant was a very basic understanding of what it entails.

You're jumping out of a plane.
It can kill you.

Other than that, forget everything you've heard and everything you've read, and LISTEN TO YOUR INSTRUCTORS.

Oh, and have fun!

[Gators1240 9]

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LISTEN TO YOUR INSTRUCTORS.

+1

Also make sure to ask them a million questions regardless of how stupid it they may seem, the information gained from said questions could end up saving your life. and as always have fun!

[JMantheDrumMan 0]

Coming from someone who just got off of student status a month ago, my number one piece of advice for every single skydive you make is this...

HAVE FUN!

If you jump out of the plane, make sure you have a smile on your face... Make sure your instructors see it, because they like to know that they're dealing with a fun person who genuinely wants to be in the sky. If there's a camera and you've gotten through your dive flow... GEEK IT! The more you're smiling, the more relaxed you are, and the better you fly.

[zf15z 0]

Sorry for late reply, all is good!

Well I did all the ground school but didn't get to jump on either Saturday or Sunday because of cloud and high winds.

Hoping to go up this Saturday and do my level 1 though =]

Apparently it's a sport of sitting around...English weather isnt all that great this time of the year.

Thanks for all the advice though.

[ManagingPrime 0]

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Apparently it's a sport of sitting around...English weather isnt all that great this time of the year.

Indeed. My late advice: Plan for this downtime due to weather.

I bought cards and a game box (chess, checkers, etc.). A friend bought a kite. Others bought toy rockets...some freaks bring extension cords with bare wires exposed...don't ask.

In any case plan for the downtime as it's a great opprotunity to socialize around the DZ.

[skydave238 0]

1) Practice
2) Practice
3) Practice
4) Practice!! The better you know what you have to do, the better you will perform.
5) Always have FUN. Even when things dont seem to go as planned.

Good luck!

David

ps. Practice!! It costs you absolutly nothing to practice on the ground!!

Ready...Set...Go..!

SkydiveSwakop

[Warpaint 0]

I just graduated student status a week ago. Here's what helped me.

-Arch. It solves many problems.
-Learn the hand signals. You'll get an array of them, know them all.
-Slow and smooth. Practice slow and smooth, that way when adrenaline is coursing through you, it actually comes out normal speed.
-Know your dive flows. Rehearse them in your head on the ground, and on the way up. Remember that you have to successfully demonstrate the manuevers in each dive to be cleared for the next. No sense in repeating the dive because you forgot what to do.
-Shout commands at yourself in free fall. Vocalization is a huge part of memory. While you can barely hear yourself, and your instructors cant hear you at all, it helped me a lot to shout what I should be doing as I was doing it.

"STABLE, HEADING, ALTITUDE, CHECK RIGHT, LEGS OUT, GOOD, RIGHT 90, ALTITUDE, FORWARD MOTION, 1, 2, 3, 4, ALTITUDE, LEFT 90"

-Don't panic. The instructors are there to help you if you need it all the way through jump 7. Relax, enjoy, have fun.
-You will be grounded again if the winds arent right for a student. It's frustrating to spend all day at the drop zone with no jumps, but it happens. Remember it is for your safety. Check wind and weather forecasts over the dropzone to have an idea ahead of time whether or not it makes sense for you to go. My DZ is an hour and a half away... you better believe I know what I'm gonna find there before I even head out.

[dks13827 2]

it will be great, like this !!!
http://www.vimeo.com/4712582