Jumps after AFF

[tmarine253 0]

I have found a bunch of information that is close to what I need answered but cannot find anything dead on. After AFF will I be able to solo jump? Or will I need to pay for coached jumps each time until I get my A license? My other question is would I be able to travel to another dropzone to jump. I am currently doing AFF at Deland and plan on finishing on Saturday, it would be amazing if I could finish the rest of my jumps at Palatka due to the drive being cut in half. Anyone with any information on this topic would be greatly appreciated if they responded. Thanks.

[simon021 0]

I was cleared for solo and coach jumps after AFF. Although there is really no point in doing solo jumps, as you learn much more with another person. I only did one solo jump, and it was mostly a gift from my instructor just to let me have a single no pressure jump doing nothing but looking around enjoying the sites and staying altitude aware. It was a nice break after having a structured dive plan every jump previous to that one. But after that it was right back deep into the learning process :)

I have no idea about jumping at other drop zones. I was kind of wondering this myself, but honestly probably wouldnt jump anywhere else unless it was traveling with people from my home DZ.

[tmarine253 0]

Coached jumps are just about double the price though right?

[labrys 0]

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Coached jumps are just about double the price though right?

They are, but you could end up spending a lot more than double trying getting your license requirements signed off if you do a bunch of solos and don't learn how to do the things you have to do to get your license.

Owned by Remi #?

[SivaGanesha 2]

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Coached jumps are just about double the price though right?

It depends on the DZ's pricing structure but, yes, the above is a common scenario. Other DZ's charge the same amount for all post-AFF, pre-A license jumps.

Another option is to do formation (RW) jumps, which are legal for students up to 4-way as long as there is at least one D license holder per student on the jump. This definitely provides for intense learning, and may not cost any more than a solo jump, but it also may be difficult to get stuff on the card signed off on such a jump.

BTW I'm not advising you--just mentioning some of the options.

"It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

[ManagingPrime 0]

Get your G&H coach jumps done and card signed off on first. I made the mistake of doing a bunch of solo jumps after my F's and it ended up costing me more and I almost missed a boogie.

[tmarine253 0]

I do not know what G&H jumps are but my next question is how many coached jumps should one do? I have read in places it is 9 or 10. After that would a skydiver in the process of getting an A license do solos?

[SivaGanesha 2]

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I do not know what G&H jumps are but my next question is how many coached jumps should one do? I have read in places it is 9 or 10. After that would a skydiver in the process of getting an A license do solos?

Category G and Category H are on the card you should be in the process of getting signed off on, jump by jump. Actually any given jump may not neatly fit into one category--a coach may sign off some (but not all) G stuff and some (but not all) H stuff on the same jump depending on what is planned/successfully completed on the jump.

I don't think that solos move you any closer to the A license unless all other requirements have been completed and all that remains is to log the rest of your required 25 jumps. But they can be an inexpensive way to get in the air if money is an issue, as it has been for some of us in the past.

"It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

[TSISK 0]

After aff 7 i was able to split up some solos with coached. If i did 3 or 4 jumps i would 2 coached and 2 solo. It was cheaper to do it that way but def get as many coached as your instructers suggest

[deltron80 0]

Shockingly, skydiving can still be fun if you're alone. Some consider this a radical concept, but you will still fall in a similar manner without someone watching you do back flips.

If you're not a girl you may not have tons of people clamoring to jump with you for free. You can still work on your exit, body position, tracking, and canopy flight alone. Also, it's fun.

Actually I'm lying. You should never ever jump alone. Total waste of time and money and completely unfun.

[ManagingPrime 0]

Assuming you don't have any repeats

1 A jump: 2 instructors
1 B Jump: 2 Instructors
1 C1 Jump: 2 Instructors
1 C2 Jump: 1 instructor
2 D Jumps: 1 Instructor
2 E Jumps: 1 Instructor
2 F Jumps: Instructor watches you Hop and Pop and signs off on you jumping by self.
G&H can be signed off on by coach or instructor. No set number of jumps for these...but a budget of 4 jumps seems about right.

I would suggest doing all of those jumps before jumping by your self. The best advice is going to come from your instructor...communicate your objectives, budget, etc. and they will set you on the best course.


I'm about to leave the office now, but I'm sure someone can point you to some helpful documentation on the USPA website.

Be safe and have fun.

[ILUVCHUTERS 1]

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Although there is really no point in doing solo jumps, as you learn much more with another person.

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I beg to differ. There is a lot to be said for solo jumps. Practicing of skills, for one thing. Like front loops, back loops, barrel rolls, unstable exits, purposefully getting unstable then getting stable again, etc. Practicing gaining control of your own body before attempting to fly with someone else is an important skill, I think. Then, coach jumps are great for learning how to fly with other people, and having them watch you do those skills you practiced so you can get feedback on how you are doing those skils.

Every so often it's great fun (for me, anyway) to go out and do a solo jump. Nobody to bug me...

[GLIDEANGLE 1]

Regarding coached or not: If you are in training at Deland... walk over to the Skydive University folks and chat with them about coached jumps... I think it might change your perspecive on coached jumps. They may be able to connect you with a SDU coach near you.

If you must jump solo:

Solo freefall can be fun for a couple of times, but you aren't going to make much progress on RW skills that way.

On the other hand... solo Hop and Pops focusing on canopy skills can be quite valuable (and cheap). So far this year 75% of US skydiving fatalities have been due to canopy control issues. There is lots to practice:

= Flat (braked) turns. It is hard to practice that too much! Try them with a differing depth of brakes, compare moving outside toggle up vs. inside toggle down.
= Toggle Flares. Try different speeds of stroke to see different effects.
= Rear riser turns with brakes stowed and unstowed.
= Rear riser flares.
= Stalls from brakes and rear risers.
= Braked flight and it's effect on the "accuracy trick".
= Upper wind assessment under canopy.
= Accuracy.

FOR ALL OF THESE EXERCISES:

1. Be sure you are above your decision altitude. (Except for accuracy landings and upper wind assessment.)
2. Be sure you have no traffic (check before EACH task). [Nearly 1/3 of all US skydiving deaths so far this year have been due to canopy collisions!]
3. Be sure you can navigate to the LZ safely. Get to your holding area first.
4. Chat with an instructor or coach as you plan each jump. There are hints about all of these that can be very helpful.

Good Luck in your skydiving studies.

The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

[skybytch 259]

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Although there is really no point in doing solo jumps

There isn't? What about flying the parachute? Poor canopy control is more likely to injure or kill you than is an inability to dock with someone else in freefall. It's more likely to injure or kill someone else too.

Do solos, pull high and work on all those canopy related things in Cats A-H, especially those that you didn't do on your AFF jumps.

[simon021 0]

Let me rephrase my statement. I should have been much clearer. I did not mean that solo jumps have no value what so ever in skydiving. I guess I was just saying that as a student, maybe it's better to use coach jumps to help develop our skills. Jumping with a more experienced person is going to be more beneficial than jumping alone (from full altitude)

I was also not considering hop n pops. I do feel there is always a benefit to this for canopy control. This is actually one of my main focus's as a student. I intend on spending a lot of time on canopy control. I'll admit I was not thinking about canopy control when I posted this, I was thinking about freefall since he was asking about having a coach or not.

I stand corrected. I should not have made such a blanket statement.

[scruffy 0]

I've done 4 jumps since I got off AFF. 2 were solos, 2 were coach jumps. The first solo was my "graduation solo" just to enjoy being in the air after having to meet dive flow TLOs. The second was because I was at a new DZ and I wanted to open high to orient myself to a very different landing area. Both were very relaxing and enjoyable. The two coach jumps that followed were so I could scratch off some yellow card requirements ( I still have a long way to go with that obviously, a little overwhelming when looking at a nearly empty card). I definitely got a lot more out of the coach jumps because I was able to get valuable feedback on where my belly flying skills (or lack thereof) stand.

I now have some understanding of what controlling my fall rate is going to be like from now on, and I finally know what I look like in freefall now thanks to my coach wearing a camera (I'm way to broke to be paying for video), Even after I clear my exit and freefall skill requirements I will definitely be doing as many coach jumps as I can budget for simply for the feedback having a friend to jump with gives me. Plus having someone in the air to share the enjoyment of the sport with is just awesome.

Peace, love and hoppiness

[Gators1240 9]

I just finished my AFF and A license at deland. You are able to jump there solo after AFF but it would be much better to get hooked up with some people (whether it be coaches or just other fun jumpers with more experience than you). Certain things you cannot do alone, i.e. maintain fall rates. In addition to that one of the requirements for you A is to participate in at least 5 group skydives consisting of at least 2 or more people. The general rule at deland is that doing group skydives you should have at least 100 jumps between the two people, so you being just off aff should try to find someone closer to 100 jumps themself, if not more than that.

[tkhayes 126]

there will be a mix of coach and solo jumps as yu progress to your license. The key thing is to always knock something off your license Proficiency card on every jump, even the solo jumps. Make sure you make some dive plan with the help of a coach or instructor to work on Canopy, Freefall, or other skills.

If you do a coach jump, then they should behelping you to knock off several things on your card each time as well, or they are not earning their pay. Keep good records in your logbook of what you did and when and details. And you will likely end up with your license requirements finished by jump 23 or 24

[Gators1240 9]

Not only that but don't stop trying certain things such canopy control and landing accuracy after you knocked those blocks out on your a license proficiency card. I completed all of my accuracy requirements for my b license before I got my a and still try and get as close to my target as I can on every jump I do. Keeping good records is vital for getting that done and make sure you put distance from target for your landings.

[pirana 0]

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I do not know what G&H jumps are but my next question is how many coached jumps should one do? I have read in places it is 9 or 10. After that would a skydiver in the process of getting an A license do solos?

The above questions and your original post tell me you have not looked at the SIM. You can read it free online, or spring for a hardcopy at about $25.

Coach jumps are great, but there is plenty you can do alone in the air. You can begin working on fly-by-feel. By that I mean making small body position adjustments, feeling the air, and recognizing the results. You do not have to have someone in the air with you to do this. You can work on tuning your movements - stability, starting and stopping turns crisply and on heading, steering and controlling heading in a track, etc.

Stick your hands out - see how it feels. Pull them in tight, dig in a knee, then the other knee. Can you do a short and stable intentional backslide? Can you maintain stability in asymetric positions?

One of your goals as you progress is to move from flying your body by memorized concious mechanical instructions to flying-by-feel. Think of it as a child learning to walk. They eventually no longer have to conciously think about where to put each foot each step; and instead simply go forward.

Don't underestimate the value of REALLY learning to feel the air; during the exit, on the hill, in manuevers, while tracking, etc. Soon you'll not have to think at all to manuever - you'll just do it.

And don't forget all the stuff on your A license card. I see others have posted things to do, they are all in the SIM. Accomplish something under canopy every dive. There is lots you can do.

Good luck and have fun.

" . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

[pirana 0]

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there will be a mix of coach and solo jumps as yu progress to your license. The key thing is to always knock something off your license Proficiency card on every jump, even the solo jumps. Make sure you make some dive plan with the help of a coach or instructor to work on Canopy, Freefall, or other skills.

If you do a coach jump, then they should behelping you to knock off several things on your card each time as well, or they are not earning their pay. Keep good records in your logbook of what you did and when and details. And you will likely end up with your license requirements finished by jump 23 or 24

Excellent advice. I saw a license card last night, person with just over 25 jumps (most of the training at some other DZ), with the card only about 1/4 complete. I know a lot of it had to have been done, and the student concurred, but the log lacked all the details. From another DZ, with no log details; I'm not signing stuff off. Plan to knock stuff out every jump, then LOG IT & GET THE LOG AND CARD SIGNED!

" . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley