thourb

The only problem with going straight to AFF is that as soon as you leave the plane on AFF level 1, you have to begin a series of tasks. Doing this on your first jump, with no prior experience of jumping could be a drawback. If money isnt an issue, i'd suggest to start with a tandem. This will help you know whether skydiving is for you - and will help you get over any nerves or sensory overload when you do your first AFF Jump. Just my .02... bear in mind that this is coming from someone that has only done one tandem and starts AFF in 3 weeks!

I have only done one tandem and a bit of tunnel time so far, but i'll chip in with what I can... Anyone who is more experienced than me, please correct anything wrong i say! What is the average temperature at jump altitude? Couldn't tell you an average temperature - but i did my tandem in the middle of British winter time. I can't begin to tell you how cold it was on the ground, let alone in the sky at 13,500 ft - however, the sheer fact that you are jumping out of an airplane will take your mind right off the temperature. Did you ever feel like backing out and not jumping on your first time? Nope. Not at all. I initially did the tandem for the experience. Didnt expect to get hooked as I have done. If you are doing a tandem first, you have the comfort provided by an experienced TI strapped to your back. If you're nervous about going straight for AFF or RAPS, this may be the best choice for you. How much does a good rig cost? Is packing hard? Couldn't tell you. Have seen the pro's pack and they make it seem easy. I guess its just practice, practice, practice. The thought of me eventually jumping for the first time using a main parachute that I packed makes me more nervous than i ever felt during my tandem. Skydiving rigs vary a lot in price. I am not concerning myself with that for a while yet. Get licensed first, log a load of jumps, then get a rig. You will undoubtedly make friends and contacts during your training and early jumps - you may well find that you can pick up a bargain from somebody who is changing their rig. After reading the posts on here, the general feeling is that as a "newbie" it is probably best to go with a secondhand rig for starters. Do you really notice the acceleration immediately after jumping from the plane before you hit terminal velocity? Not really. Terminal velocity for a skydiver in a standard belly to earth position is around 115-120mph. It is likely that your aircraft will be travelling at a fair pace when you jump out anyway, so you only accellerate a little bit - its not like you're going from 0-120mph in 5 seconds! Anything you'd suggest? Maybe to quell any nervousness I'll have when flying to altitude or during jump etc? Read up on everything before you even leave for your jump! If you are going on a tandem first, you have your instructor to worry about any emergency procedures. I have found it useful to read the posts on DZ.com and read the Skydivers Handbook. Also, watching the videos on skydivingmovies.com can be useful too! Knowing exactly what you are getting into can only help calm your nerves when you get around to doing it! Don't worry about being nervous during the jump - it's not really the sort of environment where you have time to be nervous! I've heard that you really aren't supposed to look down at the ground. Anybody know why that is? During the actual ride up, there is no reason for not looking down. Go ahead! Enjoy the view! When you are in freefall, the best position to be is belly to earth with your back arched. This is much more easily achieved with your chin up and head facing forwards. As soon as you look down, you almost automatically lose your stable arched position and this can cause you to lose control. It is re-assuring however, that you can recover from most situations in which you are spinning/out of control by just re-arching your back correctly. Hope that this has helped! If you're anything like me - prepare to become an addict!

Congratulations on booking your RAPS course! You start that the same day I start my AFF in spain :) Good luck to you! I've been keeping myself entertained by reading the USPA SIMs, BPA Operations Manual and a couple of good skydiving books - The Skydivers Handbook (Dan Poynter/Mike Turoff) and Skydive (Sport Parachuting Explained - By Chris Donaldson). Have found all of this to be good reading ahead of starting my course. Also reading all of the posts on here and watching almost every video on skydivingmovies.com Hope that the British weather gods are smiling on you! Blue skies!

I'm going to be doing my AFF in about a month in Spain (freefall university). Flights are about £50 return Accommodation for 10 days is about £100 AFF Course costs are £850 Total course cost: £1000 Consolodation jumps at FFU are £200 for a block of 10. From what i've been told, you can integrate the costs of doing the CH1 course with your AFF and consols, so the CH1 course only costs about £200 for 10 jumps. Total price: £1400 Total Jumps: 28 (8 aff, 10 consols, 10 ch1) I thought that was a pretty good deal, so thats why I went for it. I'll let you all know how it goes :) *edit* - FFU has BPA qualified instructors too, so should be less chance of problems when trying to jump here.

Welcome to the forums

Got a £140 discount as it's the winter season there too... Still, i'd imagine that the weather should be fine in the middle of spain at any time of year

I'm doing it at the Freefall University near Aranjuez in Spain (30 mins from Madrid) - http://www.freefalluniversity.co.uk For the £1200, im getting: - 8 AFF levels (including kit hire) - 10 Consolodation Jumps (including kit hire) - 10 nights accommodation - 10 days Car Hire - Return Flights Not a bad deal, all in all i didnt think... It was a bit cheaper for me as i'm going with a friend and we can share a twin bedroom rather than both paying for seperate accommodation... I have been impressed with their customer service so far; even when they made a mistake (booked the wrong dates), they were polite and corrected it immediately

Dont worry, i don't have that much money to blow! Its already been well spent on my course. I guess i'd rather pay a bit more for tunnel training first as its cheaper than re-taking one of the AFF levels and im sure i'd get more fly time for my money...

Thats great everyone

Spoke to the people at my local dropzone, they say that it would be best to do AFF first before spending a lot of time in a tunnel, to determine strengths and weaknesses... In the meantime, i've already booked some tunnel time at Airkix as a Christmas present for my mate (and a present from me, to me as well ) - just to get the hang of the basics (body position and turning mainly)

Hey everyone