The only school of its kind in the Midwest

Welcome to the Jump Institute at Start Skydiving Ohio. We provide the finest skydiving instruction in the country. All of our instructors and coaches are USPA Certified. They are dedicated to teaching you using the most current training methods and equipment. We train more skydivers than any facility in the Midwest, stop by and find out why we receive FIVE STARS from our past students.

If this is a once in a lifetime jump or the beginning of an exciting skydiving journey. Start Skydiving Ohio and the Jump Institute have a program for you. Our state of the art equipment, highly trained instructors and first class facilities will provide you with an experience you will never forget. On the day of your skydive plan on spending the entire day at Start Skydiving Ohio. Weather such as high winds, low clouds and rain may cause delays. We make every effort to accommodate our customers for the times they schedule but occasionally there are delays beyond our control.

16 and 17 year olds may participate in the AFF program with a notarized parental consent form.

Reminder:

Start Skydiving Ohio will not allow individuals who show signs of prior alcohol consumption to skydive regardless of the amount consumed. If we notice this while in the aircraft your purchase will not be refunded and you will not be able to Skydive Ohio.

Accelerated Free Fall

From your first AFF jump, you will experience first-hand the indescribable feeling of human flight.

The AFF ″First Jump Course″ is intended to provide each student at Start Skydiving Ohio with the necessary skills to safely complete their first solo skydive Ohio.

The United States Parachute Association protocol for training students is called the ″Integrated Student Program″ (ISP). The ISP is separated into ″Categories″, each with ″Targeted Learning Objectives″ (TLOs) that must be met before the student progresses to the next level.

The Jump Institute which is the training school of Start Skydiving Ohio classifies our jumps by category letter. Categories A through E are the instructional jumps where the student must be accompanied with an appropriately rated Jump Institute instructor. Our AFF program has 7 jumps, but there are only 5 letters between A and E, categories require more than one jump to complete. After Category E, students are cleared to self supervise. Categories F, G and H are completed with the assistance of a rated Jump Institute Coach. Once the student has completed 25 skydives, and has their A license requirements signed off by an instructor or coach, they must perform an A License Check Dive with an Instructor. Now they are eligible for their A license and are no longer a student. While a license is not required to jump legally, the USPA license will allow the skydiver to travel to other USPA drop zones and use their license to prove they have the skills required to jump.

The Program

During the AFF program, two instructors jump with the student during their first three AFF jumps. On the initial category skydives, our instructors hold on to the student until the student deploys their own parachute. Hence, this method is called ″Harness Hold Training.″ Our AFF instructors have no physical connection to the student other than their grip on the student, so once the student's parachute is deployed the instructors fly away and deploy their own canopies.

Deployment of the main canopy for students in the AFF program is generally 5500 ft AGL. If the student experiences trouble in the deployment of their parachute, our instructors first use hand signals to remind the student to ″Pull.″ If the student still experiences trouble, our instructors will assist their student by physically placing the student′s hand on the pilot chute, but if the student still has trouble, the instructor will deploy the canopy for the student. The instructor has the prerogative to pull the student's main canopy at any time the student appears to be in danger. Extra ″pull″ handles are installed on student gear giving additional access for instructors.

Once the student has proven they can deploy their own parachute on the first few jumps, the student will be released on subsequent category skydives and will have the opportunity to prove to our instructors that they have the basic flying skills required to skydive without assistance. On release skydives there is a possibility an instructor may not be able to dock and assist at pull time, so it is important that the student has already learned the skills required to pull on their own.

Once the student has proven they can deploy their own parachute on the first few jumps, the student will be released on subsequent category skydives and will have the opportunity to prove to our instructors that they have the basic flying skills required to skydive without assistance. On release skydives there is a possibility an instructor may not be able to dock and assist at pull time, so it is important that the student has already learned the skills required to pull on their own.

Instructors on all AFF categories have a hard deck where they must pull their own parachute and save their own life. If they have not been able to assist their student by this altitude, the student′s rig is equipped with an ″Automatic Activation Device (AAD)″ that will fire the reserve parachute if the student passes the activation altitude at freefall speeds. While it is extremely rare that a student will have an AAD activation, this final level of protection protects the student as much as possible from the consequences of being out of control or not being able to deploy their own parachute.

As the instructors′ freefall with the student, they are able to correct the student′s body position and other problems during freefall by communicating with the student with hand signals in freefall and debriefing the student and conducting corrective training after the jump. Later categories only require one instructor and involve the student learning to perform aerial maneuvers such as turns, forward movement, flips, and fall rate control. The purpose of the maneuvers are to prove to the student and instructor that the student can perform a disorienting maneuver causing intentional instability followed by regaining control. Each AFF skydive at Start Skydiving Ohio is progressive in nature, building on skills previously learned.

Our instructors determine when the student has passed the requirements or ″Targeted Learning Objectives (TLOs)″ for each level. During the AFF jumps, the student will have radio contact with ground personnel who direct the student′s maneuvers under their parachute; however the student must have the skills for a solo landing in case the radio fails.

All AFF Students will be given an application and encouraged to join the USPA before making their Category C skydive.