Rating Certification Course
AFF INSTRUCTOR
The AFFI or freefall instructor course is the most advanced skydiving instructor rating. The AFFI course teaches instructors how to control and coach students through exits, freefall control and tasks, spacial and altitude awareness, and of course: assisting pull and deployment at the appropriate time. The AFF instructor can be looked upon as a “two mile static line,” with the primary goal of having the student deployed on time.
Since the inception of “harness hold” training (allowing students an extended time to adjust to freefall and perform the required tasks) skydiving instruction was transformed. Today the techniques, equipment and inclusion of coaching have made this the best way to train new skydivers; however, this “dispatching” method does require that the instructor have a solid ability in their own freefall skills and awareness in order to become an AFF Instructor.
Prerequisites:
- Must be 18 years old
- USPA membership
- Hold a USPA coach or instructor rating from another dispatching discipline (IAD, S.L or USPA tandem)
- USPA C-license
- Accumulate a total of 6 hours of freefall time
- Hold a USPA coach rating for a year or have a total of 500 jumps
- Complete required USPA AFF proficiency card requirements
- Use a current (within past 2 years) SIM and IRM
The USPA AFF Proficiency Card
The AFFI proficiency card is in the back of the IRM or can be downloaded from USPA’s website. This card needs to be signed off in the required areas. If you are already an instructor you can skip the topics that are marked with an asterisk (*). The first thing you should do if you consider taking the course is look at the proficiency card to see what needs to be done prior to the course. The signatures will be valid for 12 months. Some topics will get signed during the course by the course examiner. This is all marked on the card itself and is self-explanatory.
Course Schedule:
AFF INSTRUCTORS COURSE |
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| DAY 1 | 8:00AM | Introduction History of Harness Hold/AFF Equipment Role of the Instructor: ISP, Category "A" task, Instructor Techniques |
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| LUNCH | Category "C" dive flow demonstration and briefing Freefall training safety brief Freefall training, 3 jumps (weather permitting) Inverted exit demo, blocking demo Daily recap Evening work: answer questionnaire on Category "A" |
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| DAY 2 | 8:00AM | Recap Category "A" task Category "C" ground preparation demonstration and practice Supervision role Assign reading task: AFF emergencies, in IRM |
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| LUNCH | Category "D" dive flow demonstration and briefing Flat spin demonstration and briefing, Inverted recovery demo and briefing Freefall training, 3 jumps (weather permitting) Freefall score sheet breifng Daily recap |
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| DAY 3 | 8:00AM | Recap "AFF Emergencies" task Category "D" ground preparation demonstration and practice Assign reading task: AFF currency and renewal, Expired rating, in IRM |
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| LUNCH | Freefall training, 3 jumps (weather permitting) Daily recap |
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| DAY 4 | 8:00AM | Recap "AFF currency and renewal, Expired rating" task Canopy control coaching Category "E" ground techniques and training demonstration |
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| LUNCH | Evaluations: freefall and ground preparation Daily recap |
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| DAY 5 | 8:00AM | Evaluations: freefall and ground preparation Daily recap |
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| DAY 6 | RAIN DAY | ||||
| DAY 7 | RAIN DAY | ||||
The instructor's clinic is 7 days (a 50 hour program). As a participant, you must attend the entire program in order to gain the maximum benefit.. The program scheduling includes two rain days, as this is a jumping intensive course.
Skill activities:
- Slot flying and signals
- Blocking
- Release-redock-release
- Inverted exit recovery
- Spin catches
- Freefall Inverted recovery
- Supervision in the boarding and inflight phase
- Fulfill your role during freefall
- Monitor your novices canopy control to landing
- Perform a positive debrief
- Category E skill teaching
Five Levels of AFFI Training
| 1ST LEVEL OF RESPONSE: FLY YOUR SLOT | |
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MODULE 1 - SLOT FLYING and HANDSIGNALS
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MODULE 2 - HANDSIGNALS and PERPETUAL MOTION
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| 2ND LEVEL OF RESPONSE: BLOCK EXCESSIVE MOVEMENT | |
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MODULE 3 - BLOCKING and HAND SIGNALS
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| 3RD LEVEL OF RESPONSE: RELEASE – REDOCK – RELEASE | |
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MODULE 4 - CATEGORY D: SPIN STOP DRILLS
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MODULE 5 - CATEGORY D: INVERTED RECOVERY DRILLS
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MODULE 6 - CATEGORY D: EVALUATION SIMULATION
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Course Evaluations
Written Evaluations
- Pass the USPA General and AFFI exam with a pass mark of 80%.
Pass three (3) evaluation jumps
You will have a total of four jumps and must pass three. The jumps have a number of criteria: You must score a minimum of 75% to pass (plus pass all mandatory criteria).
The following is a description of evaluation jumps:
Category “C” main and reserve side (two jumps)
The Category “C” evaluations are done from a minimum of 9,000 feet, and you must demonstrate the proper responses to both the main and reserve side exits. The jump will be comprised of a blend of any of the trained techniques and skills. The “student” wave and pull altitude is 6,000 feet with a hard deck of 4,000 feet. You must complete at least one of the Category “C”’s as a two-on-one with a partner on exit.
Category “D”
The Category “D” evaluations are one-on-one jumps done from a minimum of 9,000 feet. The jump will be comprised of a blend of any of the trained techniques and skills. The “student” wave and pull altitude is 5,500 feet with a hard deck of 4,000 feet.
Supervision Test
The supervision jump will be included on one or more of the above mentioned freefall evaluations. The supervision test is done with the “student” being played by a course evaluator. The instructor candidate will have to demonstrate:
- Proper preparation for the jump
- Supervision in the boarding and in-aircraft ride to altitude
- Apply positive psychology and focus strategies during the ride up to altitude
- Fulfill your role during freefall, as described above
- Monitor your novice’s canopy control to landing
- Perform a positive debrief: The debrief will be done on recall. A video can be taken on the jump (recommended) for debrief reference and more importantly, the evaluator’s debrief of the candidate.
Presentations
Conduct presentations for Category “C” and Category “D” jump four.
Candidates will teach Category “C and Category “D” jump four from the SDU handout manual. The presentation will take approximately 45 minutes. The key issues are:
- Test all required review content for the category.
- Conduct the motor skill drills by the required repetition and holding times.
- Immediately correct any student body position errors that may occur.
- Teach all theoretical content correctly.
There are a number of other criteria scored in the presentation that are averaged in the total end score.
USPA IRM Requirements:
- Sit through and assist on two complete First Jump Courses.
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