What is an Accelerated Free Fall course?
Accelerated Freefall (also known as AFF) was developed in the USA to allow anyone to experience, learn and enjoy one-on-one training during freefall. It is now recognised worldwide as the best way to learn to skydive and here at Skydive Tilstock our AFF skydiving school offers a high standard of instruction, teaching you to become a skydiver in less than a week with no previous experience needed.
- The Accelerated Freefall course consists of eight levels (one jump per level).
- Jump solo on your very first skydive.
- Open, fly and land your own parachute.
- Be cleared for unsupervised freefall in as few as 7 jumps.
- Work towards obtaining your skydiving licence.
Ground training
Starting at 9am, one day of ground training teaches you everything you need to know to complete your first solo skydive from 12,000ft (4000m). During the day you will learn:
- To check and fit your own equipment
- To exit the aircraft
- Safety procedures
- To open your parachute
- To deal with emergency situations
- To recognise the dropzone
- To land your parachute
What is not included?
- Any repeat levels.
- Personal accident insurance.
Included in your AFF course fee you will receive:
- All instruction for the course
- Kit hire for all the equipment required, including jumpsuit, altimeters, helmets, goggles and of course
parachutes.
The 8 levels are as follows, providing each level is completed successfully and safely:
Level 1- level 3: Two instructors with you during the freefall
Level 4- level 7: One instructor
Level 8: Checked out by an instructor for a low altitude (5000 feet) hop and pop jump.
Upon successfully completing all 8 levels you will need to complete 10 solo jumps to attain your solo skydiving licence.
What happens next?
Unsupervised free fall: A minimum of 10 ‘Consolidation’ jumps without an instructor must be made before you can become a licensed skydiver. Your instructors will still be working closely with you giving you new things to try in free fall and you’ll receive further canopy control training helping you achieve your canopy handling grade one certificate (CH1).
Provided you refresh your ground training at least every month and jump every two months, there are no additional costs for this. Please be aware that you must pass each level before continuing onto the next skydive. Sometimes it is necessary to repeat a jump and these re-jumps are at an additional cost.
Age, weight and health
Do I need to see a doctor and bring a medical?
For the student courses there is a need to bring our doctors medical) If you are uncertain about any possible physical limitations. However, we recommend to consult your doctor (regular GP doctor who knows your medical history) – just to be on the safe side. If you have any doubt, please contact us for double checking prior to booking your course.
Are there any age or weight restrictions for the course?
No person under the age of 16 years, or aged 55 years or over, will normally be permitted
to carry out Student Solo skydiver training, students must meet a good physical condition and body posture. In general, the maximum weight limit is 92 kg (14st 7lbs or 203 lbs) and the body height should not exceed 2m. For more information, please don’t hesitate to contact us anytime.
PRICING AND PACKAGES
We offer three AFF packages as well as a more flexible pay as you go option as detailed below.
AFF Level 1 – £370
This includes your ground school and AFF Level 1 skydive and is an ideal way to see if AFF is the thing for you.
Silver level – from £1,450
Our silver level AFF course package includes all ground training and everything covered from AFF levels 1 to 8. At the end of this course, you will have all of the skills to skydive solo, however, you will probably want to go on to get a BS “A” license. This license means you can jump without restriction at skydiving centres around the world. To earn it, you must complete an additional ten jumps, known as consolidation jumps. These are not included at this price tier.
Gold level – from £1,800
Skydive Tilstock’s gold tier AFF course includes everything in the silver tier, as well as the ten consolidation jumps required to get your BS “A” license and is the perfect way to kickstart your skydiving career!
Pay as you go – from £90 per AFF level
You can pay for each individual level and go at your own pace. Ground training and AFF level 1 start at £370, then each tier has its own cost. For more information on our pay as you go structure, contact us today.
AFF COURSE FAQ
We’ll answer some of the more commonly asked questions below, but if you have any other questions or queries, please don’t hesitate to get in touch today and a member of the team will get back to you shortly.
What is Accelerated Free Fall?
AFF is the quickest method of becoming a qualified parachute jumper or skydiver and is also the easiest way to learn with approximately 30 seconds of free fall on every jump guided by our expert instructors. All jumps are made from at least 12,000ft and AFF usually turns out to be much cheaper in the long run and much more fun than the outdated static line method which so many cannot get to grips with.
What are the benefits of AFF over other training methods?
There are many benefits but two of the main ones are the continuous exposure to free fall, that means that you are in free fall for a long time giving you the time to practice your free fall techniques. Another is our ability to teach you in free fall using hand signals to adjust your body position thereby giving you a better result.
Why should I have a BS (British Skydiving) instructor?
If you do not have a BS instructor you cannot be awarded UK qualifications, it is as simple as that. Many other countries have a qualifying system that does not have the same requirement as ours and we have some British instructors who do not hold UK qualifications for various reasons. One of the big problems in the industry is foreign qualified instructors advertising for UK students.
What time should I arrive at the airfield?
AFF training starts promptly at 9am so students should arrive by 8.30am unless you have been informed otherwise. All the details you need are explained in your confirmation letter – if you have already booked and not received one please do get in touch with us.
What do I need to bring?
We will provide all the skydiving equipment, so you just need to make sure you bring thin layers of clothing to wear under your jumpsuit so it’s not too bulky and allows for movement. Regular trainers are the best footwear. In the summer months you won’t need a great deal except a hat, sun cream and sunglasses, but in winter you will want a fleece for example as it is a little chiller at altitude. You might want to bring a book to read during any downtime and free Wi-fi is available in the café.
What are consols?
Consols are ‘consolidation jumps’, so-called because they are designed to be used to ‘consolidate’ what you have learnt during your AFF Levels before we let you loose on the skydiving world! As you will have only competed seven jumps you are still very new to the sport and there is an intermediate period when you are still classed as a ‘student skydiver’ and must still be supervised by a qualified skydiving instructor on the ground before you jump, and in the aircraft. However, you will exit the plane completely solo on your consol jumps.
Do many people have to repeat jumps?
Some students sail straight through and others have a sticking point. It is difficult to predict how you will take to skydiving until you start. Please do come with a contingency fund in case you do need to pay for any additional jumps as these are charged in addition to the course price.
How will I know how I am doing on the course?
As well as your debriefs we film your jumps on digital video, these videos are used to show you how well you are doing and are also combined for you to have and take with you as a record of the whole course. There is no extra cost for this with us (most centres charge extra for video).
