the Cost of Skydiving

AFF CLASS and USPA licensing. In early 2007 I went to the local drop zone to check into getting licensed to skydive. The owner of the dz was there and was very helpful in providing me with all the information on skydiving, the ways to get your student license and the requirements for that and other ratings. First thing was to find out if I have it in me. So I did a tandem jump from 14,000ft for $200.00. WHAT a rush!!! So I knew at that moment I was hooked. I signed up and paid for the ground school which was 299.00 which included the first AFF jump. AFF means accelerated free fall. You attend a ground school, then make your first jump. Instead of doing a tandem jump, you are all on your own, with 2 skydiving instructors on your side. It's a accelerated course to becoming a licensed skydiver. The class was intense, I didn't want to miss anything. It came time to go up and jump. We climbed up to the altitude and exited the jump plane... It was so fun and relaxing. after that, there was stages 2 through 7 to take you to the student license point. You have several things to demonstrate in each one of those jumps. Once you successfully complete your courses you are a student rated skydiver until you meet the USPA requirements for your A rating and so forth. When I did my AFF class and jumps I did them all in a short time frame. Making sure nothing would slip my mind or I wouldn't have my full attention because it demands your full attention and then some. I took me a month and a half with the weather being a set back of a couple days.

That dz was excellent! They have a turbine engine jump plan that will climb like a rocket getting you up to a higher altitude than most dropzones in the mid west. The cost was well worth it. It's a expensive hobby, and one that is not for everybody. The employees were very professional, and have several of hundreds and some had thousands of jumps under their belts. The facility was clean, and accommodating.

Check around at the dz's near you. See what type of aircraft they fly, what the jump altitude is and what the rates are. The higher the altitude the more time and training you get in each jump. Don't worry about the cost unless it's way higher than any other dz. Skydiving is a extreme sport. You shouldn't enter it trying to go the cheap way, It will come back to get you!