AFF First Jump Guide
Everything you need to know before your AFF first jump — ground school, equipment checks, hand signals, and what to expect at 14,000 feet.
Training (14)
Gear (8)
Safety (6)
Conditions (4)
Physics (1)
Discipline (7)
Training Guides
Training
Training
AFF Stage 1 Checklist
Complete AFF Stage 1 checklist covering ground school, equipment checks, aircraft procedures, freefall skills, and post-jump debrief.
Training
AFF Stage 2 Checklist
AFF Stage 2 training: forward motion skills, altitude monitoring, instructor approaches, and deployment procedures.
Training
AFF Stage 3 Checklist
AFF Stage 3: 90-degree turns, altitude awareness during maneuvers, formation flying concepts, and advanced deployment.
Training
AFF Stage 4 Checklist
AFF Stage 4: 180-degree turns, altitude management during complex maneuvers, instructor dock attempts, and independent deployment.
Training
AFF Stage 5 Checklist
AFF Stage 5: backfly orientation, instructor dock practice, independent altitude management, and pre-solo consolidation.
Training
AFF Stage 6 Checklist
AFF Stage 6: solo freefall practice with instructor supervision, self-deployment, altitude judgment, and skill consolidation.
Training
AFF Stage 7 Checklist
AFF Stage 7: all skills demonstrated, solo jump preparation, A-license requirements, and the path to independent skydiving.
Training
Student to Sport Transition
Completing AFF, earning your A license, finding your place in the skydiving community, and building skills beyond training.
Training
First 100 Jumps Guide
What to focus on, common mistakes, skill building, finding coaches, and making the most of your first hundred skydives.
Training
Licensing Explained: A Through D
USPA A, B, C, and D license requirements, skill progression, experience requirements, and what each level authorizes.
Training
Skydiving Hand Signals
Complete guide to freefall communication: altitude signals, deployment signals, formation flying signals, and emergency communications.
Safety
Skydiving Fear Management
Understanding the psychology of fear, using fear productively, managing anxiety, and developing mental skills for safe jumping.
Conditions
Drop Zone Etiquette
How to behave at a skydiving facility, safety rules, social norms, and being a good member of the skydiving community.
Canopy & Discipline Guides
Discipline
Canopy Piloting Basics
How parachutes fly, basic flight controls, landing approaches, and the foundational skills every skydiver needs under canopy.
Discipline
Canopy Control Fundamentals
Toggle steering, riser control, flight performance, pattern flying, and precision landing techniques.
Physics
Freefall Physics
Terminal velocity, drag coefficients, body position effects, air density impact, and the real equations behind skydiving.
Discipline
Formation Skydiving Introduction
Formation types, dock techniques, grip points, relative flight skills, and the fundamentals of flying with others.
Discipline
Angle Flying Basics
Body position orientation, relative wind angles, and progression toward dynamic freefall disciplines.
Discipline
Tracking Basics
Horizontal freefall flight technique, body position, tracking drills, and safety separation.
Discipline
Sit Flying Introduction
Vertical freefall orientation, sit fly body position, altitude control, and progression to dynamic freefall.
Discipline
Wingsuit Fundamentals
How wingsuits generate lift, flight characteristics, safety considerations, and training requirements.
Discipline
FS Terminology
Essential formation skydiving vocabulary, formation categories, grip points, and judging terms.
Gear Guides
Gear
Packing and Container Basics
How to pack a skydiving parachute: container system components, proper folding, line management, and safe deployment.
Gear
Rig Inspection Checklist
Complete rig inspection: container, harness, AAD, pilot chute, reserve, and main canopy. What to check every jump.
Gear
Gear Maintenance Guide
Harness care, container cleaning, line inspection, AAD servicing, and extending your equipment's life.
Gear
Reserve Packing Guide
FAA requirements, professional rigger services, reserve inspection, packing intervals, and what you need to know.
Gear
AAD Overview
How automatic activation devices work, CYPRES and Vigil systems, servicing requirements, and their critical safety role.
Gear
Altimeter Essentials
Digital vs analog altimeters, proper usage, wrist mount placement, altitude calls, and automatic altitude awareness.
Gear
Oxygen Systems Guide
Oxygen system types, proper usage, FAA requirements, flow rates, and safety procedures for high altitude operations.
Gear
Canopy Size Guide
Wing loading calculations, choosing the right canopy size, downsizing progression, and matching canopy to skill level.
Safety & Conditions Guides
Safety
Canopy Emergency Procedures
Malfunction recognition, cutaway technique, reserve deployment, and post-malfunction landing. Every skydiver must know these.
Safety
Cutaway Procedures
How to release and cut away a malfunctioning main canopy, reserve deployment after cutaway, and the critical sequence.
Safety
Hook Knife Usage
Cutting lines, entanglement emergencies, proper technique, where to carry your hook knife, and when to use it.
Safety
Hypoxia Awareness
How altitude affects oxygen levels, time of useful consciousness, symptoms, prevention, and oxygen system usage.
Safety
Skydiving Injuries
Common injury types, causes, prevention strategies, landing accidents, and how to minimize risk at every level.
Conditions
Weather Planning
Cloud base requirements, wind limits, visibility, precipitation, and how to make safe go/no-go decisions every jump.
Conditions
Wind Reading Guide
Wind patterns, drift compensation, landing approach planning, and how wind affects freefall and canopy flight.
Conditions
Cloud Types and Aviation
Cumulus, stratus, cumulonimbus, cloud base assessment, and aviation weather interpretation for skydivers.
Conditions
Night Jumps Guide
Requirements, safety procedures, lighting equipment, FAA regulations, and the unique experience of jumping after dark.