Solo Skydive License
Earn Your Wings: Inside the AFF Program
Solo Jumps
A chain of events led your tiptoes to the edge of a perfectly good airplane a few kilometers above the planet. Perhaps you were destined for a life in the sky. Or, maybe that one-time life experience of tandem skydiving awoke a curiosity you didn’t even realize you had. Regardless, that skydive had a profound effect: it confirmed a deep-rooted desire for flight, and it obviously piqued your curiosity to answer what else is possible in skydiving. You sampled human flight and now you need more!
Imagine authoring the rules in a world where you can bend time, move and travel in a way that is literally impossible to do when you’re on the ground. Your playground is in the clouds, the sunsets, the bright blue skies that are inaccessible for most people. But not you. You’re going to learn how to fly on all axis, rotate your body with fine precision, change vertical and horizontal speeds dramatically, fly in formation with other skydivers, flock in a wingsuit, explore the very edge of performance parachute flight, and experience a culture built upon safe, fun-seeking experiences and lifestyle adventures.
The Accelerated Freefall (AFF) program is your gateway to this world of human flight: a world that is challenging, magical, transformative, and rewards every visit with a strong hit of neurochemical blissfulness. The AFF, or Solo License, the program is an immersive and advanced training program that utilizes all methods of learning to maximize skills development and skydiving technical knowledge. Our program uses visual media, practical on-ground training, two in-air instructors, parachute radio instructors, and video debriefing, all with highly experienced, top-rated Canadian AFF Instructors.
Alberta Skydive Central is a top student skydive development center within Canada. During the past five years, our dropzones have produced more solo student skydivers than any other skydive center in Canada. This is largely due to the success rate, and thus the fun level, our students achieve with our program.
Change your perspective of the world, find your boundaries and fly past them at 200km/h!
1
Ranking For Solo Licenses
105
Average Students/Year
40
First Jump Courses/Season
Our Accelerated Freefall “AFF” Program
Accelerated Freefall (AFF) is a 9 level, 9 skydive program that culminates with you achieving all of the necessary requirements to acquire your Canadian Sport Parachute Association (CSPA) Solo license or Self Supervised USPA. This enables you to do solo skydives, without an instructor, anywhere in Canada and the United States.
From your Level 1 AFF jump, you’ll wear your own parachute system, deploy that parachute system at the proper altitude and fly your parachute safely back to the ground. This is an immersive and highly attentive feedback-based program. For every jump, you’ll be briefed in detail and practice on the ground with your instructor to learn the practical, physical skills of using your body to control human flight, the theory and practical application of parachute flight, and the technical aspects of skydiving equipment.
Your instructors will be with you in-flight, freefall, and provide radio guidance under the parachute system. During freefall, instructors will take a “harness hold” on your parachute system. That means that during your jumps, two instructors fly with you, securing a grip on each side of your harness from inside the airplane until you deploy your main parachute. During exit and freefall, they are with to ensure stability and altitude awareness and provide in-air coaching and skill analysis. During the parachute flight, they’ll provide ground-to-air radio guidance.
Ground School
AFF begins with a full day of Skydive Ground School. It is an interactive, media-rich, visual, auditory and practical learning environment. Students must take ground school prior to the Level 1 jump as it provides the basic safety and flying principles for both freefall and parachute flight, such as equipment operation, aircraft exit technique, freefall communication (hand signals), freefall body position for stable flight, parachute opening technique, and sequence, emergency procedures, parachute operation maneuvering, landing pattern, and procedure. It typically requires about 6 hours.
Phase one: Introduction to the sky
During the phase one skydives, you’ll be jumping with two instructors that are holding onto your harness, assessing body position and performance, and providing immediate feedback or corrective instruction during freefall. These levels focus on the very basics of safe, stable solo flight: stable exits, stable freefall, altitude awareness and focus heavily on practicing and executing proper, stable parachute deployment body position. While a ground-to-air instructor is providing assistance during parachute flight, students are taught how to properly fly their parachutes to the landing area and land safely.
Phase Two: Learning to let go! The journey to flying solo
Once stable freefall and exits are achieved, students jump with a single instructor. Solo students refine skills such as hover and heading control with the use of turns, flips and manipulating freefall body position. Students will also be pushing their understanding of parachute flight dynamics by undertaking skills that use more of the range of the parachute’s capabilities while receiving less and less radio guidance. Typically by this stage, students are flying and landing parachutes completely by themselves.
Includes
∙ Ground school training course and learning materials
∙Nine (9) skydives (from 10,000 feet)
∙ Gear rental (parachute system, altimeter, helmet, jumpsuit)
Learning & Skills Objectives
∙ Aircraft safety and exit positioning
∙ Freefall body positions
∙ Parachute system equipment and accessories operation
∙ Emergency procedures and safety checks
∙ Parachute landing patterns and landing techniques
∙ Basic skydive safety rules and technical knowledge
AFF Prerequisites
∙ Completed one skydive (tandem or solo) within the last three years
∙ Be in reasonable to good physical condition
∙ Have a fun, positive attitude and willing to
AFF Program Costs
Alberta Skydive Central has created its own advanced version of the AFF program by pooling the expertise of our staff that has worked all over the world in the skydiving industry. While the CSPA/USPA model covers the very basics required to acquire a solo license, our model also incorporates additional skills development, teaching techniques, and requirements that we’ve deemed fundamental to accelerating learning at a hyper pace.
Some solo license programs do not include instructor harness hold jumps. In our opinion, this is an archaic, less safe, and slower progression model. Without an instructor in the air assessing, providing real-time coaching, and debriefing, the quality of instruction is dramatically reduced. While these programs may be advertised at a lesser rate, it’s ultimately about acquiring basic, fundamental flying skills. In the end, you’ll spend the same amount of money and have fewer freefall skills. And the whole point of the license system is to become a proficient flyer.
It’s also important to note that all of the skydives in our AFF program are from 10,000 feet. On each skydive, you’ll have about 5000 feet of freefall to practice.
| Jump/Level | Phase 1/2 – Skills & Learning | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Ground School | Equipment Orientation & Practical Familiarization Exit, Freefall Body Position & Deployment Procedures Parachute Malfunctions & Emergency Procedures Parachute Flight, Landing Patterns & Landing Techniques General Aviation & Skydive Safety Rules & Practices | $795 |
| Phase 1 | Jump Preparations Basic body positions/turns/altitude awareness 4 Skydives with two Instructors (2 on 1) Flight plan & parachute landing Guidance | $1,995 |
| Phase 2 | Practical training & preparations More advanced body flight positions freefall maneuverability (Flips and stuff) 4 Skydives with one instructor (1 on 1)1 Self supervision check out | $1695 |
| Membership | Affiliate membership | $140 |
Upon completion of the AFF program, you will be able to continue on to get your A license with either CSPA or USPA, your international skydive license. Did we mention we have a drop zone in Florida too? If you don’t get completed and want to join us down south, we have a full service location there too.
* Please note the phase is not refundable, if you do not complete the jumps included in the package. Any additional jumps outside of the number included will be an extra cost to candidate.
Most Advanced Learning Program
Advanced Learning
The AFF program is the most advanced learning program for student skydivers. It’s an intense, interactive, physical, and mental course that incorporates both ground and practical training. At its core is the two instructor harness hold system – meaning that for at least the first few of jumps you’ll have two instructors lightly gripping you in freefall so that you can practice and experience directly in the environment from phase 1.
The course uses a building block system that continually challenges and pushes you to unlock the next level of human flight. It has evolved over three decades, incorporating new skydiving techniques, equipment and integrating the latest adult learning theories. Ownership of safety, skills development, and autonomy are increasingly transferred to the student.
In Air Coaching
Only a student instructor harness hold program, such as AFF, provides an opportunity for detailed and precise in-air coaching. Skydiving is a finesse sport, based on smooth, precise, and timely movements. It is impossible to coach from the airplane or ground to that level of detail, and thus, without in-air coaching, you’re really left to figure it out on your own.
With an instructor just a couple of feet from you during the entire freefall, you’ll get feedback and coaching with the opportunity to learn, apply those changes and immediately understand how new inputs impact your flight. The instructor is also there as a safety mechanism, and in this regard, aids in performance through increased confidence and self-awareness.
Maximum Freefall Time
Skydiving uses many high performance-training techniques (visualization, mental and physical rehearsals) to maximize learning and progression to make training as efficient and cost-effective as possible. Ultimately, time in the environment (i.e. freefall) is the most valuable training and learning tool.
10
Skydives
90,000
Feet of Freefall
50
Min of Parachute Flight
LET’S DO IT!