AFF-Help

[ChrisHawk 0]

I was wondering if there was anyone in the Denver area that can give me some advice and help with my AFF, I have not started yet but will in a couple weekends. I want to be able to sail right thru AFF and go onto bigger and better things, I have jumped ONLY in the military, 5 round static and about 7 halo's(high altitude low opening) which was about 7 years ago, but have always been loaded down with about an additional 110lbs of weight, so jumping with just a rig is completely new to me. I just don't want to get into repeating any levels. Afterwards I will be looking at RW or just some friends to jump with.
P.S. I had alot of bad habits in the military and just want to be told the CORRECT way of doing things, DZ JM's teach what they know, but I want input from as many people as I can so I can correct ANY flaw. I am not some wet behind the ears cherry, I am just honest with the fact that if I was to jump now I wouldn't know the first thing about modern rigs or training. Anyone can reply with suggestions, tricks of the trade, or just good advice. I am looking for someone in Denver also to help with pointing out faults on video or on the DZ.
P.P.S. I have a technical job so I will be trying for 20-30+ jumps a month.

[lazerq3 0]

I really cant help ya much as far as AFF goes cause Im going through it now myself. when you say you want to breeze right through with no repeats I honestly hope your able to and wish you the best of luck, however treat level repeats like you would a malfunction, that is hope you dont have one but be prepared to deal with it if you do!!!!
VIVA LA DROPZONE
jason

[Grogs 0]

Just 2 things really. Relax and listen to your JM's. You should have no problem with the relax part since you've done the HALO's so it's not completely new to you. If you can relax on the dive that will fix about 90% of the common problems for AFF students. Also, try and do more than 1 dive a day since the second and successive dives of the day almost always go better than the first.
Your JM is going to be a very experienced jumper, with anywhere in the neighborhood of 400-many thousands of jumps. They're not going to steer you wrong, and they'll be able to diagnose your problems individually. Since the AFF program is pretty standardized and the maneuvers they're teaching you are very basic, there really doesn't seem to be a lot of variation from 1 JM to the next. Little things maybe, like maybe doing a right turn first instead of a left, or a diving exit instead of a poised, but probably not anything outright wrong.
Oh yeah, 1 more piece of advice I guess. Try and hang around the DZ after hours and drink a beer or 2 with the regulars (or whatever, you don't have to drink beer). This is a great opportunity to get to know the people you'll be sharing the DZ with and while you're just hanging out you'll probably hear all sorts of stories about jumping and what to do or what not to do. You'll find you learn a lot that way.

[ColdDuck 0]

Well Grogs pretty well covered everything that i can think of.
But I had to repeat a level of AFF and my biggest probelm and from what I hear this is very common, relaxiation is very important. Since you have some idea as to what it will feel like I would say you have an advantage over any other student.
Anyway Good Luck