Wanted: New AFF Stage

[aykay 0]

Why is there no AFF stage for learning how to be unstable? This might sound strange as AFF is designed to teach the essentials of begginer skydiving ie.being stable etc. What if your doing your first hop n' pop at 4000 feet and do find yourself doing the wrong things? Shouldn't you have been prepared earlier in the training at altitude? Having almost finished my AFF as I have to retry my 4000 hop n' pop (sound familiar) I know I would have preffered to feel what unstable feels like at 14000. It is possible to get to your final jump and find it's your first time being unstable or on your back. Just in case your going to say that you shouldn't get to your graduation jump if you cant keep stable.

I know the AFF course has been deveoped over many years by the experts. Just my thoughts.

[stuffit 0]

In AFF, we had to do a sit exit at altitude to see what it was like to go unstable. Almost everyone goes to their back in this level and then recovers. Maybe your DZ is different.

Edit: I also remember doing flipping exits and then getting stable.

[kelel01 1]

Yeah, and that was the purpose of our front and backloops as well. And believe me, I made it nowhere near doing either one and went plenty unstable.

Kelly

[billvon 3,080]

We do one unstable exit and one backloop (intentional instability.)

[skyyhi 0]

Yep, during AFF we had a sit exit, back loops, front loops and barrel rolls, all designed to make you go stable and recover. . .so maybe it is just the progression where you are. . .or maybe none of these things ever made you go unstable. . .

________________________________________
Take risks not to escape life… but to prevent life from escaping. ~ A bumper sticker at the DZ
FGF #6
Darcy

[idoru99 0]

During my level 6, my instructor had me do a barrel roll out of the cessna to try to get me unstable so I would have to get stable before doing the rest fo the Level 6 routine. It didn't have quite the effect on me he wished, but it did me a little start when my exit wasn't like the rest.

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The greatest risk you take in life is the risk you don't take.

[Zoter 0]

Dunno about USPA AFF...but doesnt BPA AFF require you to demonstrate to your instructor you can recover from an unstable position?...or did my instructor just have a warped sense of humour getting me to fall out the plane backwards more than once ??

Nah ..seriously...I think its a AFF lvl6 requirement ( not entirely sure though...)

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

Front loops, back loops and barrel rolls are all designed to teach you recovery from instability. Many times, I will have my front-looping students simply stand in the door of the otter and reach over and hold their feet. I will nudge them out and tell them to count to three before arching hard to regain stability. It's not about performing a "perfect" loop or barrel roll; it's about being able to get back onto your belly should. In the "real world" outside of student status this becomes very important should you zoo your exit or get clocked in freefall by one of your buddies.

That said, one time last year I had a visiting skydiver from Missouri who was "signed off of student status" (AFF method) by his dropzone, yet he had never performed flips or barrel rolls of any type. Unbelievable.

Chuck

[crzjp20 0]

i had a great instrustor that put me on all kinds of planes, and different exits to get me to be unstable and all that jazz. BUt i had the advantage of doing some of my jumps during a boogie and juming from all kinds of planes. Never really had a problem, just alot of fun.

Skymonkey i think you now who i am talking about.... you trained him to be an AFF instructor if i am not mistaken.

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Fear is not a confession of weakness, it is an oportunity for courage.

[rushmc 23]

Back in the "Old" days" (when your first jumps were static lines hooked with break cord to the pilot chute of a modified round main and a hand deployed reserve mounted on your belly) one of the jumps I had to do was to go out the door and go limp like a rag doll for 10 seconds. Then go to the arch and deploy when you reached the correct pull altitude. That is still one of the most fun jumps I have ever done!!! That is how I was trained to get stable and it was a great confidence builder!

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[ScubaSteve 0]

I looked down on exit and went unstable on a level 5AFP. I just arched like a mother and rolled right back over. It really helped my confidence and trust in the arch.

[vonSanta 0]

in Denmark we have (for both SL and AFF) a "stability test" jump - exit in a cannonball, hold it for ten seconds, then go stable on belly. And a tracking test (and for AFF'ers a hop n' pop).

I combined the two in one jump, and it was great . Even got it on video, heh.

10 levels in all for AFF.

Santa Von GrossenArsch
I only come in one flavour
ohwaitthatcanbemisunderst

[aykay 0]

I had the video of my "back loop". It looked like a piece of crispy bacon flopping round trying to jump out of the pan . I made it back over though. I'll try just going limp out of the plane or "cannon-balling" on exit. I think it would be cool just falling without having to do anything.