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I was present during the jumps. I most say it's the least glamorous activity you could imagen. One hour pure oxygen pre-breath on the ground for crew and athlete, another hour climbing to altitude and then a high airspeed exit. A nine minute flight of which the last three minutes are pure agony, feeling your arms are being pulled out. Finally you land on the Colombian desert, dehydrated from breathing the AVO oxygen, under a triple digit sun. I can not exaggerate my respect for Jhonathan, it takes a special kind of person to really push the boundaries. Alea Iacta Est

Rodrigo worked with us(Colombian filmakers) at Skydive the Farm on the filming of a Skydiving documentary a few months ago. He was going to travel to Colombia in August for the premier of the film. Such a calm and pleasent man, always ready to help and teach. We cherish the memories of the short time spent with him. He will be sorely missed. Fly free Rodrigo. Alea Iacta Est

Gotcha. Thanks. Alea Iacta Est

I was in your shoes three months ago. I live in Colombia but have a second home in Coral Springs. I wrote and called several places in Florida but couldn't get straight answers and in many cases didn't get any answer at all. Then I found Skydive the Farm(Georgia) here at dropzone.com, they are ranked second in the nation by reviewers. Gave them a call and talked with Hans the DZO, he was very helpful and straightfoward. Despite the 12 hour long drive from Coral Springs, I chose the Farm for my AFF. Went there on March and did 8 jumps. The place is great and the staff is outstanding. I will be going back in a couple of months to finish my 'A' license requirements. Hope this helps. Blue skies and mild winds, Luis Alea Iacta Est

Nice short. Do Carlos and Drea really skydive? Alea Iacta Est

Thanks for your comments. I'm surprised more AFF students haven't chipped in with their own additions based on their experience. I have at least two more points: -Leave your I-pod behind. You will have a lot of free time waiting for the weather, but you want to be accessible and outgoing, talking with all the jumpers and instructors at the DZ. You will make friends and learn a lot. When everything fails you can grab an old copy of Parachutist. -Bring a pair of comfortable, well fitting, OLD sneakers. On your landings you will probably scuff them or/and drag them through mud. I arrived for AFF with a $100 brand new pair of New Balance shoes, after my first jump, landing on a muddy field, I went to Wall-Mart and bought myself a pair of "Skydiver" specials for $14. This are small things, but it would be very useful if one of you multi-thousand time jumpers, with tons of credibility, would take the time to write an article with all the practical advise that will make the AFF experience a bit easier for the newbie. Blue skies and mild winds, Luis Hernán Reina Alea Iacta Est

I want to write this post just one month after finishing AFF and doing my first solo jump. I know that shortly, as I do more jumps, my perspective will change and the small details of that experience will be blurred. Just some recommendations I wish somebody had made to me. 1 A week before AFF, take a an old backpack and put 20 pounds worth of books or sand and make several sets of squats daily. AFF is not particularly extraneous but each time you practice your exits and dives with your instructors, you will be kneeling and standing up a million times, so a small work out during the days before will be helpful. 2 Take a notebook and whenever you get a break, write down each of the malfunctions and the procedure to deal with it. You can even just copy from the SIM. There are quite a number of malfunctions and each has a specific protocol to correct it. Anything (like writing) that you can do to memorize this information is useful. Think about it, in your first jump chances are everything will work all right, but then again, there is a slight chance that you might experience any one of the malfunctions, you really want to know how to deal with them. 3 Each day, take with you some lunch, like a sandwich and an apple. Also take a couple of snacks. The DZ turns around the weather and you will always be jumping or waiting for the weather to clear. You won’t have time to look for lunch. Besides, the one time I went to town for lunch (it was raining), the weather cleared afterwards and I made my jump full of burritos and salsa, and regretting having eaten so much. 4 If you use prescription glasses, as soon as you get to the DZ where you are going to jump, ask your instructor to help you buy from the local rigging loft or shop a pair of goggles that are acceptable for your AFF jumps but at the same time that are comfortable in relationship to your glasses. In my case my first two jumps where done with the DZ’s goggles, which were pretty uncomfortable, then I bought my own pair ($15), which I chose from several models and it worked like a charm. During AFF you are subjected to many new sensations, tons of information and some anxiety, it helps if you can minimize small distraction like the one mentioned. 5 If you get motion sickness on the plane, tell your instructor about it and he will probably have you take a pill like Bonine. I did my AFF at Skydive the Farm (highly recommended), where they use an Otter and a Cessna depending on the number of divers. I had no trouble with the Otter, but every time I rode the Cessna, I would become nauseous and start cold sweating half way up, two times I even threw up 15 or 20 minutes after landing. Motion sickness can really take out the joy of diving, so don’t deal with it on your own, ask your instructor. 6 Watch out for the tranquility and beauty you encounter once your canopy is open. The Free Fall part of your dive is a high adrenaline rush and then suddenly you are floating. Don’t be fooled, your skydive is far from over, concentrate on flying your canopy and doing a perfect pattern and landing. You can get into as much trouble 30 feet from the ground as 14,000 feet above. 7 I met a guy who had repeated his third jump three times and was repeating his fourth jump for the second time. He was OK with it but at the same time you could see he was bummed. I did my progression without repeating any jump but I will say AFF is not very enjoyable, at least not for me. Each jump I was dealing with performance anxiety jump after jump, I didn’t want to let down my instructors. But my first solo jump is worth a million AFF’s. That first time you are up there by yourself, with no other task besides checking you altitude and pulling when you have to, is unbelievable, you are flying, on your own, the beauty of it is indescribable.

Thank you for the welcome. I'm so happy I went ahead and did it after so many years wanting to do it and not finding the time or the right circumstances. Now, I can't help looking at the sky every morning and judging the day as a can or can't jump one. Luis Alea Iacta Est

Hi, my name is Luis Hernán Reina, I'm a 42 year old Film Director from Colombia(South America). After many years knowing I would eventually do the free-fall training, I finally took the time and did it at Skydive the Farm in Georgia, one week ago. The experience was amazing, I finished AFF and did my first solo jump before the weather grounded me. The people at STF were just great, very friendly and knowledgeable. Now I'm going back to Colombia and hope to come back to the US in July to finish the requirements for my A license. I'm very glad of becoming a part of the Skydiving community. Blue Skies and mild winds, Luis Alea Iacta Est

Just finished my AFF course at Skydive The Farm. The place is great. Nice people, good airplanes, good student rigs and a nice location. Had my initial training and first jump with Andy. Levels 2-6 with Kevin and Jack. Level 7 again with Andy. They are all great instructors who took the time to explain everything in detail with an emphasis on security. I will keep going there to finish my A licence requirements and to do all the fun jumping I can. If you want to do AFF, don't think twice, STF is a really good place to do it and the price is better than most. Blue skies and mild winds, Luis