Very BAD experience at iFly Orlando

[thomas_crowe 0]

My girlfriend, and a very good friend of mine want to learn AFF, and we were going to ben in the Orlando area this time of the year anyways, so i called iFly directly. Not being from the area, and not having much tunnel experience at all, i presumed this was the best way to handle it.

Called and spoke with iFly (manifest i presume?), explained i was looking for around 45mins of tunnel time & RW coaching for myself (~360 jumps, all RW), and 2 others looking at going through AFF. No problem i was told, was given the times they had available, and i paid for the tunnel time and the coaching.

Fast forward to today, go to check-in and waiver, get told a completely different story. Was told i did not purchase a block, that we 3 would be treated as first-time flyers, put in with the "tourist" flyers (not keant to be disparging at all, but there is a difference in a one-time flyer and someone wanting instruction), be given different instructors for each 15-block, and that "coaching" was limited to keeping us stable, NOT instructing!

We aren't doing this to just have fun (well we do want to have fun, but hopefully you get my point), we are doing this to help with skydiving flight skills. And based on what i was told, that is not aparently going to happen. I now know, that i should book through a tunnel instructor, and NOT the company, to get skydiving coaching. Would have been nice to have been told that initially.

I've done tunnel time with coaching at ParacleteXP before, and the difference is night and day.

I'm hopeful when we get to an assigned instructor it will be a different experience. As of now to say displeased is a HUGE understatement.

Sorry for venting, maybe I've got it all wrong and this is on me. But to spend this kind of moeny to be spoken down to in a rude fashion just doesn't seem right.

Thomas Crowe, NRP
Nationally Registered Paramedic
Red Hat Linux Geek

[PhreeZone 15]

The way most iFly's operate is that if you are buying 15 minutes you are going to be flying that 15 minute block over the course of an hour. Some times it might be flown with another person that has a block but most times its whuffos at Orlando. In that case you will end up doing either 2 minute or 2:30 minute rotations and will be sitting on the bench during the down time. The newer tunnels all have video on replay that you can watch during the down time but I don't think they ever put that back into Orlando. The instructors during these blocks are there primarily as safety spotters but if you talk to them ahead of your block most are willing to work on basic items (simple drills and exercises) with you but they have to be ready to help the next person in once your time is done so don't expect them to do any coaching or talking in between sessions. For your friend explain the goals before the time and I have seen a lot of coaches work on hand signals, body position and pulling in the tunnel despite it being "whuffo time". The best thing to do if you are needing some more coaching during these sessions is to hire a coach and to have them meet you at the tunnel to fly with you the entire time. This gets you full debriefs in between your flight time, and coaching out side the tunnel. There are some great coaches that already work at the tunnel that will come back and coach during their off time and there are also coaches not associated with the tunnel that will coach about any time you want them to.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[Anachronist 2]

So first off, XP is amazing, they truly are the best. Also you've learned a lot, some of which I will restate.

Aside from that, the best way to approach tunnel is to go through an instructor that has a relationship with them. You will almost always buy a piece of an hour 10, 15, or 20 min, and therefore get it at the hourly rate.

You buy that from the instructor, not iFly, even though you might be presenting your credit card to iFly, it is because the instructor booked the time. Otherwise you are a tourist, especially at iFly Orlando.

You can go through an instructor that works at the tunnel you are going to and finding the right one is important. But book with the instructor, not the front desk, unless the instructor tells you different.

Basically how it works (with some variation) is a instructor will book an hour and then sell pieces to people, you all go in together for the whole hour and rotate.

As for the instructors, there are some tunnel instructors that have never been on a skydive, and more that are not AFFIs. Pick an AFFI if you want to learn skydiving skills.

If you plan on coming to IFly Orlando again I'd be happy to give the contact info for some AFFIs who take people there (pm me). If you go to XP then almost all of them are good, you just have to find one you like, and stick with them.

[thomas_crowe 0]

I have to update; the instructors completely turned the experience around for us; they were awesome!! My experience, it would seem, is limited to the front desk. To the instructors, a sincere thank you; you did a service to iFly and really turned the experience around for us!!

I now know how to book time better, and make for a better experience.

Thomas Crowe, NRP
Nationally Registered Paramedic
Red Hat Linux Geek

[WickedOne513 0]

I recently started at the tunnel myself, I fly at iFly-SF Bay. I can only speak to the way that it worked for me.

I called iFly front desk and they transferred me to one of the coaches. I spoke to them about my needs, because I was already a skydiver I did not need a first jump course.

I have a feeling that the two new people probably caused the issues. In my experience going to the tunnel, the front desk people are not trainers and are just trying trying to figure out the best fit, with little to no experience or knowledge.

I am glad that your experience with the instructors went better.