Cheapest AFF in the world?

[JamDav 0]

Now before you all jump on and tell me this post has been on before i have looked at these but they weren't much help. Here is the thing...me and a friend are doing a round the world trip South America all over, NZ, Oz and Asia all over so we would be in the vicinty of a vast amount of DZ's and we would really like to do our AFF so we can jump at loads of locations as we go. On previous posts there were a few examples of places to do it but i was wondering if anyone had any experiences in any of these parts of the world. Preferably somewhere cheap but safe in South America as this will be the first leg of our tour and we could get it done soon

[NWFlyer 2]

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and we would really like to do our AFF so we can jump at loads of locations as we go.

Just to make sure you understand something - being "done" with AFF may still make it a challenge to jump at "loads of locations" as you go. Here's the thing. "Graduating" AFF gets you one thing: the ability to self-supervise as a student. You are still an unlicensed skydiver. While it is definitely possible to move from dropzone to dropzone before you get a license, it can be more challenging when you're not yet licensed, particularly when you are moving across countries and licensing organizations where the steps and process to get licensed can vary. You may find yourself spending money and time on jumps and refresher training with an instructor to evaluate your skills when all you really want to do is walk in and do a solo skydive. (This is not a bad thing for your safety, but I suspect you'll find that "AFF graduate" won't always open the doors that you think it will without additional verification by the dropzone that you're visiting).

If you can pull it off, and since your goal seems to be not to spend any more than you have to, your best bet may be to earn an A license and then start your international skydive adventure. It will likely wind up costing you less in the short- and long-run and will likely be less frustrating.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[guppykf 0]

When learning any new skill consistency is a tremendous asset. It would be recommended for you to complete your training at one DZ so that you and your instructors can gain familiarity with one another to assist training you most efficiently. Also learning at one DZ will help you with your landing pattern techniques and required adjustments based on wind and obstacles, in order to keep yourself and fellow skydivers safe. Not including the familiarity you will gain to the gear in which you will be using so that you can expeditiously perform EP's, when they are needed.

Additionally, if you move from DZ to DZ then you will probably need to be retrained in many of the areas and repeat jumps so that instructors have a good assessment of what you have learned before moving you to the next skill set, which increases costs to you.

When I did my training I did the beginning portion at one DZ then started to "float" around in order to try to expedite my training and looking back I really wish I would have taken vacation and get it all knocked out at once to assist building on skills more quickly. You will notice if you jump a second jump the same day, you really can apply the lessons learned from the previous jump more readily.

After you are licensed then tour the world; in my opinion you'll have much more fun that way jumping with a vast array of people.

Good luck in your training! Hope to see you in the sky soon!

THRIVING IN MY DASH!!

[Remster 24]

Skydiving is _exactly_ the best sport possible to base a decision mainly on price.

Remster

[jguy904 0]

well said--

MUFF #3384, DIRTY SANCHEZ #28(Chief Recruiting Officer), FALLING GATOR #7801-A, POPS #10957, FLYING HELLFISH #847, HISPAS #79, SRA #9229, Surfador Rodrigues

[aeroflyer 0]

I think like said earlier in the US you need to get your A license, but in Canada you get Solo supervision license after PFF (like AFF). Then you can move around Canadian DZ's till you get your A. If you're in Canada I would recommend NouvelAir in Montreal, they have the tunnel close by and run a really great program.. I did my pff there in 2009. Super experienced and great facilities.

Also, there's some good aff programs in the US. Personally I would recommend Elsinore, I had a great time although I was never a student there. Nice people though.

[mik 2]

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and we would really like to do our AFF so we can jump at loads of locations as we go.

Just to make sure you understand something - being "done" with AFF may still make it a challenge to jump at "loads of locations" as you go. Here's the thing. "Graduating" AFF gets you one thing: the ability to self-supervise as a student. You are still an unlicensed skydiver. While it is definitely possible to move from dropzone to dropzone before you get a license, it can be more challenging when you're not yet licensed, particularly when you are moving across countries and licensing organizations where the steps and process to get licensed can vary. You may find yourself spending money and time on jumps and refresher training with an instructor to evaluate your skills when all you really want to do is walk in and do a solo skydive. (This is not a bad thing for your safety, but I suspect you'll find that "AFF graduate" won't always open the doors that you think it will without additional verification by the dropzone that you're visiting).

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This was exactly my experience. I did my AFF in South Africa and returned to the UK hoping to jump. I had something like 18 jumps in total. When I called the local UK dropzone, immediately on return from South Africa, the conversation went like this

Q When did you last jump?
A Saturday - 5 days ago
Response - Well, you are not very current so we will start you with ground school ($160) then a jump with 2 instructors ($$$ lots) then you will probably have to repeat a few AFF levels ($$$ lots more)..... you see the training in [pick whatever country you want] is never as good as the training we offer.

My view at the time was that the local DZ was just being difficult and looking for the opportunity to make money.

THe next DZ I called charged $160 for a comprehensive safety briefing / check on my knowledge and a check out jump with the Chief Instructor - once he was happy that I was safe I was cleared to jump alone. I thought this was fair and this became my local DZ.

But paying $160 or whatever the local rate is for a series of check-out jumps could quickly become quite expensive.

***********************************************
I'm NOT totally useless... I can be used as a bad example

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