Welcome to Start Skydiving University!  In conjunction with AirRage Skydiving Standards we provide the best 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 has 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 most of the day at the skydiving center.  Weather such as high winds, low clouds and rain may cause delays.  We make every effort to accomodate our customers for the times they schedule but occassionally there are delays beyond our control.

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

Tandem  Skydiving

You must be 18 years of age to perform a tandem skydive at START Skydiving.

Maximum weight limit is 235 pounds.

Tandem skydiving was the brilliant innovation of two pioneering parachute manufacturers in the early 1980's.  Seeking to expand the available options for skydiving instruction, both inventors shared ideas until they reached their goal - a parachute built for two!

A tandem jump is a fantastic introduction to the unique sport of skydiving.  Tandems offer prospective students the opportunity to experience the freedom and exhilaration of skydiving, without spending a lot of time in the classroom. The tandem training process takes only about an hour.  Tandems are available in two formats:  simply as a thrilling once-in-a-lifetime experience or as the beginning of your free fall student training progression.  Students choosing the latter option shift from tandem jumps to Accelerated Free Fall (AFF) training after two or three tandems.

Your Tandem Instructor is a highly experienced skydiver who wears an oversized parachute, built to safely carry two people up to a combined weight of 500 lbs.  Your Tandem Student equipment includes a special purpose harness that attaches at four points to the front of the Tandem Instructor.  The skydive itself begins with a team exit from 10,500 feet MSL, followed by a 50 second free fall.  After about a four minute canopy ride, you arrive smoothly in the landing area.

Tandem skydives are ideal for those who long to experience human flight, but would rather not make a solo jump for their first skydive experience.  Tandems also open up the world of skydiving to adventurers who are physically or otherwise unable to make a solo jump.  Countless tandems have been made by people with physical challenges, such as wheelchair-bound persons, the elderly, and others.  Start Skydiving has developed special equipment and has a trained Staff to provide these students with an incredible skydiving experience.

Because this is such an incredible experience and your mind goes into adreneline overload we encourage every first time jumper to purchase our professional video and stills package. This is something that you can share with others and relive your experience over and over.

Many tandem graduates have a personal breakthrough in conquering their fears and living their dreams, often coming away with a life-changing experience.  You can read some of these inspiring stories on our testimonials page.

Accelerated Free Fall

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

Accelerated Free Fall also called AFF evolved from concept to reality in 1982, developed as a faster and more efficient way of training skydivers than the common method of the day, using a static line attached to the aircraft to deploy the student's parachute shortly after exit.  

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 with the necessary skills to safely complete their first solo skydive, with some in-air instruction from two AFF Instructors who are along for the ride.

You will again make a team exit from the aircraft between 9,500 and 12,500 feet MSL, with your instructors holding on to each side of your parachute harness.  Both Instructors maintain their hold on your harness until the parachute opens, using hand signals to guide you through a stable free fall, periodically monitoring your altitude, practicing main parachute deployment, and offer you a smile and a thumbs up as you open your own main parachute at about 5,500 feet.  Although you are trained to land on your own, your first few jumps include radio guidance from your Canopy Flight Instructor in the landing area below.

Each AFF skydive is progressive in nature, building on skills previously learned.  This instructional framework is adapted from the United States Parachute Association's Integrated Student Program (ISP), which breaks down your student progression into categories.  After successfully completing the learning objectives for each jump, you move on to the next skill set, progressing through the AFF Categories to your ultimate objective - independent solo free fall!  

You will jump with two Instructors early in your training, developing basic skills such as a relaxed free fall body position, heading and altitude awareness, and unassisted main parachute deployment.  

Once you have mastered these basic skills, you will shift to jumping with one Instructor, who trains you on different types of exits, forward movement, controlled turns, and free fall acrobatics.  

After completing the final jump in your AFF progression, you move on to the more advanced Categories, where you fine tune your skills through independent free fall and free fall formation jumps guided by a USPA Coach.  The final jump in your student training is your USPA "A License Check Dive," after which you will be a licensed skydiver.

The USPA ISP is designed to take you from the First Jump Course through 25 jumps and completion of your A License, and includes the most recent advancements in AFF instruction and Coaching techniques.

AFF students will receive a Start Skydiving logbook to serve not only as an official record of their training, but also as a personal skydiving diary.

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