Adriaan22

Hi everyone! I kind of introduced myself in a topic I made some time ago but thought I should also make it "official" here. :) I'm Adriaan, 22 years old and I'm from the Netherlands. (Secret shout-out to any Dutch jumpers here). I have done one tandem jump and had some minutes in a tunnel a few days ago, great fun! However, things will now get serious as I will start AFF tomorrow. I'm keeping up a daily weblog to share my experiences for educational or entertainment purposes. Unfortunately I lack the creative skills to make funny drawings like someone out here called Namowal.. But I'll try and document my adventure as well as I can. I already wrote some posts about why I have this ambition and how my tunnel experience was. So I you're interested in reading/keeping up.. you can find the weblog here: Weblog link I'll now continue packing my bags! Cheers

I made this thread some time ago but it helped me sort some things out, so thanks again! However now I'd like to announce that my AFF is only 4 days away at this point, so I'll be starting 15th of July. Tomorrow I will be visiting the windtunnel in Roosendaal here in the Netherlands to get some practice in advance. I started up a weblog where I will write down all my experiences regarding the tunnel and of course the whole AFF-training. The first post is already there and covers an introduction and why I made the decision to get into skydiving! You can find the weblog here!

Sorry to bump this but I thought I'd let you know I've made up my mind

@ ibx: It makes sense why that would be more challenging now, thanks. You do indeed have to do things on your own. If I look at my personality however, I prefer the (in-air) guidance above doing the freefall bit by myself after those S/L jumps. I can imagine you'll get a great sense of accomplishement though and it's clear there are certain benefits when compared to AFF. @ stian: I like your comparison. As I mentioned, I think I prefer the course to be more individualized. I'm also probably not thát proactive and I like the idea of a instructor keeping a watch during all phases of learning. It makes sense that you might miss some things going with AFF. I do like theory, understanding how exactly things work, being able to pack... @ Ron: Thanks for the clear comparison! My image is really starting to shape up completely. I like your course outline. It's a nice mixture of both courses. @ justme12001: That makes sense. I wondered already about who would give you feedback on how you during your progressing there. @ dragon2: Thanks for the info! Nice to know there's more Dutch peoply hanging around, it makes it easier as well to answer my initial question. I made my tandemjump on Texel last august and last weekend I went to DZ Oostwold (Skydiveblauwstad), close to where I live. (I don't think that DZ is (yet) in the database here?) Your description is pretty clear to me. An instructor would determine if you pass the stability tests? I like to have all the information I need to make choices like this. I tend to gather, then doubt for a while and eventually compare everything as much as I can, make up my mind and go for it! (So far this topic has broadened my view, which is great). One thing's for sure, I'm gonna get that license this summer, one way or another!

@ Scrumpot: That's nice to know, thanks @ jclalor: Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking. It really seems like after those 5 levels you need (quite) some more progressive training. First more static line jumps maybe and after that dummy ripcords and increased delays. And indeed, I guess there isn't a "wrong" way, just different ways Thanks. @ stian: Thanks for your elaborate answer. That makes a lot more sense and I would imagine it's about the same in this region. Why do you think S/L course is more difficult? I would imagine the mental pressure being more intense during AFF because you have a lot to learn in a relative short period of time and probably have more objectives to complete during the jump. @ IanHarrop: That was indeed the website I already studied for information because that's where it should be. Thanks anyway though! It's only partially and vaguely explained on this website. I'll try to translate: "If you, after finishing groundschool, made 5 jumps, you will get your S/L licence. This means you can start to freefall. This is of course only allowed when you are ready for it. "... So yeah, how is "freefall" defined in this context and what does "when you are ready for it" mean and who determines that.. Anyway.. I've pretty much got my mind set on AFF. I like how it's more individualized and shaped like a "crash-course" (hope it won't end that way though). I also would like to recieve the in-air corrections and having the ability to pull right from the first jump. I'll most likely be arranging this sometime soon. In the meantime however I'm looking forward to any further replies. Thanks!

Hi everyone! I've been following this forum for some after doing my tandem jump last year here in the Netherlands. Now that I decided to get licenced this summer I figured it would be time to also sign up here. I am pretty convinced to take the AFF way after gathering the information to make my choice. Yesterday however, I was at some local DZ to taste the atmosphere and watch some jumps and landings. I was approached by (probably) the DZO and I explained that I was interested in learning to jump. This DZ only the offered static-line method and he tried convincing me that static-line was the best way to go because it was cheaper and after only 5 static line jumps you're licenced and ready to go. You would still have a lot of mony left to make a lot more jumps for the cost of AFF. He then had to leave. This left me slightly confused. He made it seem that after 5 SL jumps, you can go any DZ, jump with or without static line from any height. I didn't get to confirm this. So is this true? (I would think you are not that expierenced in freefall because your chute openens rather quick after exit using SL). (I realize most of you are probably not from the Netherlands.. but the organisation putting up the rules here doesn't actually clearly mention on their website what you get to do after graduating SL school.) Another thing I was wondering about is the tandem jump I made last year. Would that also count as a jump in my jump-logbook when I get one when I start learning? Thanks in advance!