Help with understanding Licensing

[OldDogBrown 0]

Hey guys,

Information about this is so fragmented it is getting hard to decipher. So some help would be appreciated.

I am probably going to do an AFF in Europe in the coming months, and my girlfriend will probably do one in Mexico.

What does an AFF actually let you do afterwards? Would we be able to go to another country and continue learning/jumping there? Is an AFF something that gets recognised internationally, or -which is likely- does it depend on each DZ or country? As i understand 7 or however many jumps in AFF is very little so I know that we won't be off doing sport jumps at new DZ's immediately after.

What is an 'A' License? There seem to be a thousand different varieties of 'A' licenses out there.

My girlfriend and I travel a lot, and we do not stay in any one place for that long, which is why being able to do an AFF in one country, and being able to continue on in another is important.

I'll leave it at that for now.

Thanks in advance!
Dave.

[FlyingRhenquest 1]

Well here in the USA, the AFF is a series of 7 jumps designed to teach you the basic skills so you can fall out of an airplane, stay stable, hold a heading, pull at the correct altitude for your skill level and get a canopy to the ground safely...ish.

After that there are a minimum of 18 more "supervised" jumps where you go out with coaches and refine those skills. That gets you your A license, which allows you to make solo jumps at most dropzones (Some DZs have more restricted landing areas and may require a higher level of license to jump, always call in advance and ask when going to a new one.)

Of course we use Imperial licensing. I don't know much about your metric, but most of the training programs I've heard about sound pretty similar. They might slightly more or less demonstration of technical skill, but they're all basically oriented to teach you to know what you need to know so you can begin to learn safely.

I'm glossing over a whole bunch of details there, but hopefully that answer provides some of the info you're looking for.

*edit* Oh, in the USA at least you should be able to go to another dropzone and continue your training as long as you've logged your jumps. You should also get an A license proficiency card, start filling it in and having your coaches sign off on the things you accomplished on your jumps. I'm not sure how well that would work going from country to country, though.

I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

[councilman24 37]

This may be the first original question I've seen in years!

Countries all regulate skydiving to different degrees and in different way. In some places the government regulates training either directly or through delegated organization but the rules have the force of law. In other countries, particularly the U.S., there are very few real laws about skydiving. Here the United States Parachute Association (USPA) is a member run organization that has no legal authority. The Federal Aviation Administration (dept of the government) had recognized some aspects of USPA's rules so that if you meet USPA things are easier. But not so much in student instruction.

AFF is a training method. Each country has implemented that training method differently, and some may have not implemented it at all. AFAIK in every country when you finish AFF you are STILL a STUDENT. You may be authorized to jumpmaster yourself (ride the airplane without an instructor, get out and land by yourself). You may/will be limited to who you can jump with and have additional goals/skills to demonstrate to instructors and jumps to make to earn an A license. ONCE you have a beginning license from a country recognized by the FAI (international governing body) you should be able to move from country to country jumping more easily. But license requirements, both A and higher vary from country to country.

I would suggest that you will need to plan your instruction both through AFF AND through a beginning license. If you plan to move between countries you should plan it all out ahead in contact and consultation with the dropzones you plan on using. You might do AFF in one place and get to another country only to be required to start all over.

One constant may/should be if you go to USPA group member dropzones in other countries. They may have USPA rated instructors and follow the same system. Normally this would be in countries that do NOT have a strong national system. For instance there are no USPA member dropzones in UK or Australia, both of which have very strong national systems that have the force of law behind their rules. Non US USPA group member dropzone are listed here.
http://www.uspa.org/FindaDZ/GroupMemberListbyCountry/Germany/tabid/418/Default.aspx

That's not to say that other national systems are bad. Just that USPA's is probably represented more widely outside the originating country and would offer you more options under the same system.

The easiest would be to complete through your first license in one place or at least one country. Even moving between dropzones in the US will require some retraining and rejumps as the local dropzone and instructors get to know you. This will increase with time between jumps.

I'd be leery of things in Mexico. I see one USPA group member. Little oversight may compromise safety and recognition by other countries/organizations. I'm sure there is somewhere good to do AFF in Mexico, there just may be more bad places. Others here will know more about that. Also be aware that you may find a dropzone online or in a listing but it may be a dropzone that only does tandem skydives. You can find that in the US as well as other tourist areas.

Found this website researching this answer. http://www.skydiveworld.com/index.html

Good luck.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[GLIDEANGLE 1]

In the USA, an A-license is sufficient to let you do most common types of jumps independently. However, it appears to me that some countries consider the A-license to be somewhat "probationary" or "transisitonal" and place significant limits on what and how the jumper can do. Thus, it is entirely possible that you could get an A-license in country X and be free to jump independently, then find that in country Y you have unexpected limits and supervision requirements.

The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

[nigel99 613]

GLIDEANGLE

In the USA, an A-license is sufficient to let you do most common types of jumps independently. However, it appears to me that some countries consider the A-license to be somewhat "probationary" or "transisitonal" and place significant limits on what and how the jumper can do. Thus, it is entirely possible that you could get an A-license in country X and be free to jump independently, then find that in country Y you have unexpected limits and supervision requirements.

USPA A license is pretty well recognised, less than a A and you will really struggle. Just realise that not all countries allow an A as much latitude as in the US. Here in Australia an A is a novice and is very restricted.

Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.