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sayrepolice

Failing AFF sessions?

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Looking into going the AFF route after I did my first tandem jump. I spent about 5 mins. in a wind tunnel and had a hard time trying to stay in the center of the tunnel. My question is how often can someone go through all the levels of AFF without having to repeat any of them? I just dont want to start this, and have it take two hundred jumps to get my license. LOL! Thanks in advance for the help.

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The AFF levels (in the UK) are eight jumps, and people generally repeat one of them on average (less likely if you've been in a tunnel).

I imagine that it'll be the same in the US (if that's where you are).

Tunnel flying is a bit more difficult than skyflying as you have to be flying "down the tube" in the tunnel whereas I doubt you'd have to repeat an AFF level for a bit of back-sliding for example.

Good luck with AFF - and getting licensed!

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The tunnel is the number one way to guarantee passing AFF. Nothing is 100%, but with a bit of tunnel time, I don't see someone failing, and I have a track record of real students that proves this theory...;)

When will you be ready to pass AFF??? It is not about tunnel minutes but about skills.

When you can get in the tunnel and feel in your stomach the "oh crap this is going to be fun" instead of "oh crap this is going to be scary."

These are the skills:

1) Fly straight down without going up or down or left or right (not perfect, but enough you don't need help from the tunnel rat)

2) Can do turns in both directions and stop them.

3) Can move your hands around a bit, like to the position you are going to use to "pull", without crashing into the net or anything.

4) Ability to smile and laugh while flying.

With these skills - you will not only pass AFF, but be so far ahead of the curve your post AFF, pre licence jumps, will be easy.

Note - I passed AFF without a minute of tunnel time without any complications, and so do a lot of my students... But the skills listed above will allow you to fly comfortably in freefall - so the only skills you will need to apply in the sky are: 1) Altitude awareness, 2) how to pull your pilot chute, 3) and the whole canopy thing.:P

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If you weren't kissing the tunnel walls at high speeds you'll probably be fine. It doesn't have to be perfect.
Why don't you just play 'chicken' on the railroad tracks? It would be a cheaper way to toy with death, I'm sure.

CWR #2 - "You SAID collision!"

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hey,
i just graduated aff (isp) on may 20th (receiving my A this sundayB|). it took me 7 jumps on the isp program to graduate.

i had 5 minutes in the wind tunnel prior to aff, and that helped so much. even though it may not seem to before you jump. just practice good stability in the tunnel, and it will work itself out in the sky.

hope this helped sayrepolice.

-jake

Step into my (sub)terminal Playground

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I've heard instructors around here say that it's about 10% of people that pass without any repeats.

However, keep in mind that every jump still counts towards your license (A license in the USA = 25 jumps). No jump is wasted; it's all experience and learning.

If you want, you can click on my link and read my jump diary. I wrote it right after each AFF jump. Everyone's experience is different.

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Great aspirations to blaze thru AFF without any repeats, but so what if you do a Level more than once? Don't be such a perfectionist that you'll be hard on yourself if you do a level more than once. It's OKAY! Really, it is. MANY do! If you need to learn a proficiency by doing a level more than once, perhaps even twice, then so be it. Don't consider it as a "failure", think of it as "gaining more experience", you "get to do it again and learn from it." which is more than some who never get to that point. You'll be better off in the long run.





_________________________________________

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Repeat AFF levels?

Been there done that!

But only because I was scared.

The freefall maneuvres are not really complicated, I think the first jumps are more a matter of getting used to seeing a planet come at you at 120 mph than anything else. You don't have to perform like a world champion skydiver the first times.

There are other things that are more important, like maintaining altitude awareness and getting out a canopy and landing it safely.

And: This is fast, so your learned responses will take over, and that means that if you're convinced that you're gonna fail, you will fail.

Try to think positive, listen to your instructors, remember to breathe.

Many people only need 7 jumps to finish the 7 AFF levels, some people need more, but I'm pretty sure you won't need 200 jumps to get your licence.

:)
I hope this was of any help!

Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet.

I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

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Most skydivers I know repeated at least one level of AFF. Good news, tho: the jump still counts towards your A even if you have to redo it. Even your tandem counts.

Have fun, is all. I still remember my first AFF jump like it was yesterday as one of my favorites...and I had to repeat it =)

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Few weeks ago I completed AFF in a weekend. 8 jumps in two days. Prior to that I had a tandem and about 8 or 10 min of tunnel time. I had to repeat one of the courses not because of the freefall maneuvers but because of my altitude awareness.

I was super hard on myself but went right back to the school and waited for the next plane. The second time around I rocked it and even had a large line twist. After that I was very happy I repeated the course. And like someone else said, it also counts towards the 25 jumps for my A license.

Dont stress about AFF, just go out and do it. Im sure you'll do fine. ;)
Poetry don't work on whores.

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Not to brag, but, I spent about 5-6 mins in the tunnel before AFF, and I got to skip a level and didn't re-do any levels. I think the key was, I was so stoked about jumping that failing was never something I thought about!

THINK POSITIVE!!!

Change your attitude!!!

Good luck!

-A
"Don't keep your pilot chute a secret"

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I've never been in a windtunnel but just because you had a hard time staying in the centre is not an indicator that you will fail levels. You have 3 jumps for f sakes! The main point is that you'll be able to pull at the right altitude and get stable (plus know emergency proceedures). Don't worry about being able to stay at one spot at this point.

>> just dont want to start this, and have it take two hundred jumps to get my license.<<

Why not find out?

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Just remember that unless you do tunnel flying regularly, we are the only sport, except maybe rodeo, that has such a short time to practise techniques.

I have over 200 jumps, just got my new RW suit, and am just starting to work on leg turns.

When you break the skydive down into its many parts, considering that I'm jumping with 4 or 5 other jumpers, and that the total success of the dive is most important, I may have ten seconds to concentrate on the technique.

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I repeated level 3, 2 times and level 4 ,2 times, then went to the tunnel the rest i all got in one. You don't need to be able to stay dead still in the tunnel to pass aff. The sky is a lot bigger! As long as you aren't majorly backsliding or something such that you're a danger to other groups you'll pass. Oh yeah you gotta get practice pulls and turns an all that too :P

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