I came to Skydive Milwaukee to take Accelerated Freefall (AFF) courses…read more
AFF begins with The First Jump Course (FJC). After that course, the student puts on her own parachute and then, accompanied by two instructors, she jumps out of a plane (AFF Level 1) and begins the progression toward complete solo flight.
My FJC course lasted 4-5 hours and my instructor was very thorough. She taught me everything I'd need to know for a successful skydive.
I didn't just jump into this (no pun intended). My first and only tandem was in 2001, and then I spent 2 years watching my he-pal do this. Once I decided to begin AFF, I spent 3 months sitting at SDMKE's picnic tables, observing instructors and learning "the rules" of this dropzone.
I also did my research. This sport, when done mindfully and properly, was one of the safest of "extreme" sports.
Maybe you're reading this because you're about to jump tandem, or maybe you're looking for a place to start AFF. Maybe you're in "the zone" and uber confident.
I can tell you about my own experience: I was terrified. Regardless of the research I did, or how much I wanted to experience motor-less, human flight, none of that really registered when I was about to throw myself from an airplane.
I read a female-skydiver's blog about her journey through AFF. She sounded so confident about each jump--even the ones she had to redo, she was just like, "Yay!" and "Woo hoo!" and "This Rocks!"
I felt nothing but terror. Though I was 100% sure this was something I would enjoy (because I enjoyed tandem so much), every single cell in my body screamed, "NOOOOOOO!!!!! Don't do this!!!!"
The weather was beautiful that day I finished FJC. The afternoon wind was nice. A good, steady wind is perfect for landing a canopy because you don't come ripping in, you just kind of softly float down, down, down.
I wanted the weather to suddenly go bad, for the wind to just get wicked strong... I wished for an upset tummy, but when none of those happened I reluctantly manifested for a flight. RELUCTANTLY.
Another AFF student was studying his workbook nearby and so I chatted him up to distract myself from my unrelenting anxiety. His name was Diego, he was a college student at UWM, younger than me by 20 years or so. I told him it was my first AFF jump. My voice was very obviously shaking.
And I asked: "Did you feel scared on your first jump?"
"Of course!" He said. And I felt so human when he added, "You're jumping out of a plane. It's scary stuff."
Within 30 minutes I was ascending to altitude. My two AFF instructors for Level one, Josh and Hooch, coached me through the jump.
Several times, Hooch asked how I felt.
"Nervous," I replied each time.
He gave me the hand signal for 'relax' and said, "Try to have fun."
Easier said, you know what I mean?
At 13.5K feet, I could feel my blood pumping in my ears. I took deep breaths and visualized a successful jump.
At 13.5K feet, the lights to the right of the cabin door changed from red to yellow to green. I watched other skydivers leave. That was the scariest part of the entire jump... watching others seemingly vanish and feeling the airplane lurch from the loss of their weight.
When the rest of the skydivers were gone, Hooch took position outside the plane, I crouched in the doorway and Josh was on my right. I looked into their eyes and I saw intense focus. I imagine they've seen everything from naturals to soup sandwiches.
It was that moment I realized there was no turning back. Both of these men were gripping the fabric wrapped around my arms, and one of them was hanging outside of the plane. I didn't want to be a soup sandwich.
All of my "why's" vanished, and the only WHY that remained was:
Why the EFF am I doing this?
But I jumped. I think I blacked out for a few seconds from the shock, but once I was focused, I completed the tasks assigned and deployed my pilot chute as directed. The parachute opened happily, I landed, and my instructors said it was a successful skydive.
I'm now licensed with close to 200 jumps under my belt. I don't have the terror, but there's still fear and the fear helps me focus. It keeps me alive. And if anyone tells you to relax, cool. If they tell you to smile, give them the finger. We all handle situations differently, and if you skydive with a mean mug, then get "mean mug" stickered to your helmet and OWN IT.
Anyway, it's one of the greatest things I've done in my life. It's pushed me physically and mentally, and I'm in love with the personalities I encounter in skydiving, and especially at Skydive Milwaukee.
You can ride with the window down and stick your face into the wind or float in one of those fancy iFly tunnels, but there's nothing like this experience. And you can't ask for a better place than Skydive Milwaukee. Good luck! See you out there!
