Bailey’s AFF Journey: Overcoming Fears to Learn to Skydive
In this blog post, we’ll delve into Bailey’s personal account of his learn to skydive course. Join us as we explore the challenges and experiences that shaped Bailey’s transformation to be able to conquer his fears and reach his goal.
Bailey’s skydiving journey began with an intense day of ground-based training. He knew he had to be mentally switched on for the long day ahead:
“The first day of ground based training was a big one. With a full day of theory ahead of me I knew I was going to have to switch on for a long day. It was a huge day with a lot of knowledge and techniques to memorise. It was good to come home at the end of the day, have a nice meal with the lads and revise for an hour or two using our logbooks.The logbooks were a great resource and had plenty of research material. I especially liked the ‘Be Positive’ Pre-Jump Preparation spiel on page 5.”
Throughout the course, Bailey’s greatest hurdle was conquering his fears and calming down. Our instructors did a great job with expert AFF skydiving tips to keep him on track, positive, and focused:
“The biggest challenge throughout the course was overcoming the butterflies in my stomach. The instructors were great at reminding me to calm down and breathe, both in the plane and during freefall. By the time I was setting up to do my stage 9, I had next to no nerves and my first Solo free-fall was pure excitement from boarding the plane to gathering up my deployed canopy.”
The intimate nature of the course fostered a great connection between Bailey, his coursemates, and their instructors, creating a personalised learning environment. The students were able to understand their performance in debrief sessions, going through the instructor’s helmet-cam footage.
“Being a part of a small course (3 students) made the course feel more intimate with our instructors. We quickly knew each other’s names with the instructors picking up on our individual strengths and weaknesses. Viewing the instructor’s helmet-cam footage was a great resource and was invaluable for us, to see what we were doing right or wrong during freefall.”
Learning to skydive is incredibly rewarding, but it can also be a demanding experience, not so much physically, but mostly mentally. Some people find it easy, for others it requires discipline and determination. Bailey shared his thoughts on this:
“Each day of the AFF course was a big one, with somewhat early starts, learning new skills and overcoming our fears. I was very fatigued at the end of the first and second day, less so on the 3rd and I was used to the rhythm from the 4th day onwards.”
And his commitment paid off. Bailey conquered his fears to complete the AFF course, made new friends and gained invaluable skills that will shape his future skydiving endeavours:
“Overall, completing the AFF Course is my single proudest achievement. Not only due to suppressing a fear or two, and getting some amazing footage, but with the skills and experience I learned throughout. I have a lot of things to work on, and my journey has just started, so I’m keen to see what I can achieve by continuing to skydive.”
Bailey chose to do his AFF course at our Airlie Beach Skydivers dropzone, a picturesque location with stunning views of the ocean, a relaxed atmosphere, and with student accommodation available. We call it the “Learn to Skydive Holiday Package”.
Ready to embark on your AFF journey?
Submit your expression of interest to discuss availability and requirements with our skydiving crew. If you want to know more about the AFF course you can browse our learn to skydive options in Cairns, Airlie Beach, Hunter Valley or Sydney.
If you are like Bailey, and want a full time experience, you may want to choose a learn to skydive package to complete the course in a few days. However, if you are busy with a 9 to 5 you can opt to learn at your own pace with our PAYG option, and get your skydive licence in Australia in a few weeks or months.
Visit our AFF FAQs for more information and don’t hesitate to contact our team with any questions you may have.
We hope to see you in the sky soon!
Blue skies,
The 1300SKYDIVE Team.