AFF Training and State-hopping?

[Fruitfly 0]

Hey! Question: Can I begin AFF training in one state, move to another for work, continue training, then move back to original location to complete it? This may be my scenario....

[matthewcline 0]

Short answer; Yes

Longer answer; It may mean a little repeat training or even a little longer train up for the next level, but that is standard CYA.

But the upside is you get to skydive and do so at more than one place!

Matt

An Instructors first concern is student safety.
So, start being safe, first!!!

[stratostar 5]

Yes there is no reason you couldn't, make sure you have your logbook up to date and signed ect. In some cases (I've ran in to this before) some dz's like to try to stiff students and charge them more or make them redo a level because they didn't start at that dz even if they were current, its pretty lame and fucked up thing to do, so if you run into that move on to another.

You can always have your current dzo make a call on your behalf to help roll out the welcome wagon, keep in mind not all dzo's will be willing to do so, I had a young lady from the Atlanta area that was invited to go on a road trip in the winter to jump at the farm. Her home dzo tried to tell her is was not safe to do that and later bitched me out for inviting her along because i was taking money away from the spring thaw.

We first made a stop in Alabama on a super nice friday and at this USPA gm dz we were not allowed to drop her due to a bunch of lame reasons and a travling current rated USPA instructor was not allowed to drop her, even had guys with the 101st AB on site and they were not allowed to drop her, so in short we wasted a day watching the blue sky fade.

However once we got the class act of skydive the farm, the dzo and staff bent over backwards to see to it this student was in the air, Hans was way beyond friendly and to be honest he took a loss on the income, didn't charge her gear rental and even had an instructor make jumps with her for slot only.

So you never know each place will set a the tone it's up to you choose wise.

you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

[CSpenceFLY 1]

Short sightedness like that is the reason some DZs like The Farm are thriving and others are dying.

Hans will be bring student gear to Fitzgerald to help out the people that could not secure gear from their home DZs. Probably will end up netting him new customers.

[guppykf 0]

You can and I did. However, it is my opinion, now that I am done, that it I would have been more confident and quicker trained if I would have stuck with one location. Like you, work has me travel a good deal. With having breaks in the training I didn't feel like I was building on skills as quickly and had restart in certain areas.

Some may say you can learn different techniques by having different instructors, but different techniques in the beginning may become dangerous because your mind may get two muffled in a dangerous situation in attending to basic skills. I think that is fine to learn later, but when you are learning the basics..not so much. It is my opinion AFF is to train you how to be automatic with your responses in order to fly safely and also to teach skills that you can build on in order to fly with others. I also think by being at one location the instructor learns how to teach you best in order for you to understand the concepts...each person learns a little differently. I think that benefits the instructor and the student.

When I completed AFF I felt that I knew what to do in situations, but I didn't feel automatic to my responses. I was lacking confidence that I would know what to do in a particular situation. So I sucked it up, got the checkbook out again and scheduled me some additional training at one location with some tunnel and sky time. I felt more comfortable after 4 jumps and an hour of tunnel with one instructor than I had in the 25 before.

I consider myself a "mutt" when someone asks me who my instructor was. Not a purebred, but I got a few bright spots from each of my instructors to make me the kitty I am. To the credit of my instructors each of them were very knowledgable and for emergency procedures they were all consistant on how to react. The main differences were in how to fly your body. I am grateful to each one for teaching me and will I react the way needed to save my own life ..only time will tell.

This is my experience. To the question you asked...state hop or one location it is my opinion for financial and consistant training to take a week off work to concentrate on AFF. If you can't then fly when you can, but be prepared that it may cost you a little more and may be a little more confusing between instructors. Good Luck and see ya in the sky!

THRIVING IN MY DASH!!

[stratostar 5]

Your right, this young lady is now an experienced jumper, who makes visits to the farm when not in school up north and has a number of friends @ the farm.

The main reason Hans and staff were so welcoming is not only because we're friends, he truly felt bad this girl had to sit all day on Friday. Not only did they make sure this student had a great time , skinnyshrek did stills and video and refused to take any payment. (I made sure to have her leave a couple cases of beer in his trailer though)

The whole trip was made great because of the kindness shown there, i can't say enough good things about the place, that dz made a skydiver that day and left a very great impression on this young lady, I wouldn't be surprised to see her working there in the summer or after collage.

you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

[DrewEckhardt 0]

Quote

Hey! Question: Can I begin AFF training in one state, move to another for work, continue training, then move back to original location to complete it? This may be my scenario....

Probably.

I did AFF 1-2 at home in Colorado, 3-6 whilst on a business trip to California, and #7 back home again.

[Fruitfly 0]

Thanks, this is really helpful feedback!

[Southern_Man 0]

Not every place follows the same student progeression. I'm really new at all this and not all that sure of the differences between the 2 page license card and the 4 page license card but I don't know if they would mesh together or not. Maybe somebody w/ more experience could elaborate further.

"What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

[darthur2000 0]

I did AFF at 4 different dropzones in 3 different States so it's doable. You'll want to carry your proficiency card with you as well because that's where the "A-License" stamp will go.

As for the different cards, they are both supposed to cover the exact same material. The SIM gives the entire dive flow and learning objectives for each jump so technically it shouldn't matter. That said, be ready to answer questions if you start with a 2-page at one DZ then the next one uses the 4-page card and they ask you a bunch of questions (the 4-page is more thorough in what skills the instructor signs off on so if they put you on the 4-page they will be looking to verify that all parts of the category were completed).