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IAD / SL

Having its origins in the old military-style Static Line procedures, IAD is a more modern approach to this tried and true method of learning how to skydive. Every method ultimately leads to solo jumps from 14,500 feet. However, unlike the Tandem or AFF program, the IAD method begins with a first jump from 4,000 feet. As you progress and learn to fly your body, we take you higher, exposing you to more and more freefall each time.

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Differences – Which Method is Best For You?

Many instructors see the difference between IAD and both Tandem and AFF in this way:
– With Tandem and AFF, you are actively being taught how to skydive, during the skydive. In the beginning, someone is always holding on to you, but every jump is from full altitude, 14,500 feet.
– With IAD and Static Line, you are given training that you use as you teach yourself how to skydive. With both of these methods, no one hangs on or touches you until you make it to full altitude freefall status – when you dock on your instructor.

Whichever method you choose, Glidersports Skydiving can help you realize your goals, from your first jump to your thousandth! Give us a call to reserve a spot for you in the IAD/SL First Jump Course. The sky is waiting!

Each method has its own set of variables and costs. The IAD has a minimal initial cost of only $199 for the First Jump Course and your first jump, then every jump toward you’re A-License is only $99! Beyond costing less in the beginning, the IAD method has two distinctly positive benefits:
1. IAD skydives are less expensive than other methods of learning affording you the ability to make more skydives in a day.
2. Students of the IAD program tend to be more comfortable exiting the airplane at lower altitudes, which is important in the unlikely event of an aircraft emergency.

Ground School – The Glidersports First Jump Course

Your training begins in the Glidersports First Jump Course with one of our world class instructors. This is where we’ll teach you how to safely skydive for the first time. Here’s what you’ll learn in the First Jump Course:
– The components of a sport parachute system, and how they function
– Thorough training of emergency procedures
– The dynamics of body position
– How to calm your mind so that you can perform
– Aircraft safety and emergency procedures
– Exiting the aircraft
– The importance of the wind
– How to safely fly a ram-air parachute
– How to fly a normal landing approach
– All about malfunctions, and how to deal with them
– How to safely land a ram-air parachute
– How to safely perform a Parachute Landing Fall, or PLF
– How to (neatly) handle a parachute after landing

After your First Jump Course, your instructor will take you out to our 350-acre landing field. You’ll review the wind conditions, as well as identify any potential landing hazards, such as runways, power lines, and bodies of water.

Gear-Up…Into the Wild Blue Yonder

We use only modern, state-of-the-art equipment to ensure the performance and safety of our skydiving students. (This is aviation, after all.) We’ll provide your jumpsuit, helmet, goggles, and an altimeter, and your instructor will select a student parachute system
appropriate to your size, weight, and experience level. Once you’re both ready to go, you’ll board the plane for the ride of your life! Your instructor will hook your seatbelt into your rig, then he’ll secure himself. If you’ve never been aboard a small plane before, you’ll probably be reasonably nervous; don’t worry, that’s a normal feeling when a human being is facing the prospect of leaving the ground! The plane will taxi out for takeoff, and that’s when the pilot will order the door closed.
You’ll hear and feel him hit the throttle as the plane lurches aggressively forward, sending you down the runway, and you all take off into the sky! At 1000 feet above the ground, the skydivers’ seat belts come off, and you’ll be able to relax for a few moments. You’ll hear new things, see new things, and smell new things – and if you focus on breathing steady, the nervousness you felt before will just melt away into excitement! Keep your eyes open and pay attention to what’s happening around you, and above all, enjoy yourself!

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The Jump

Once the plane reaches jump run (the plane is flying into the wind, over the landing area,) the signal, “Door!” is called out, and your instructor will open the jump door. The cabin fills with cool wind and the combined scent of sky and airplane exhaust…it’s glorious! Your instructor will look outside the airplane to verify the exit point, or “spot,” to make sure you’ll be able to land on target after your parachute is open. Then he’ll extract your pilot chute and its bridle from your parachute rig, which will be held tightly against your back until you exit. You’ll then move into position in the door and into your exit posture. Your instructor will tell you to, “Look Up!!” and that’s when you’ll lift yourself off the step and into the wind. As you fall away, you keep your eyes on the airplane and give your best arch…and you hold it…hold it…hold it…and that’s when you’ll feel the parachute begin to inflate behind you. Everything gets much quieter as the action slows down, and you look up to see your parachute above your head. This all happens pretty
fast, and that’s the nature of the IAD progression: We put you through intensive training, so that you are able to perform all the tasks on the jump. You’re going by yourself – you are responsible, and you are training yourself how to actively participate in what’s
happening – essentially teaching yourself how to skydive.

The Canopy Flight and Landing

An instructor on the ground will begin speaking to you on the radio, reminding you to release your brakes and perform a controllability check, then turn toward the target landing area. You might have the opportunity to play with the parachute, but every situation is different; depending on the wind conditions and your weight under the parachute, you may have to maintain a heading back to the target in order to make it back. It’s a good idea to identify landmarks on the horizon as marker points for your heading, and airport runways are always identified by their orientation to degrees of a compass. Parachutes are fun to fly, and Glidersports Skydiving has a full range of new, state of the art Student Parachute Systems for the optimal safety and performance of our student skydivers! You’ll most likely fly a normal landing approach, just like an airplane…but unlike airplanes, parachutes only get one shot at it. (We don’t have thrusters.) A normal approach will usually begin at around 1000 feet, where we turn onto our Downwind Leg. At roughly 500 feet, we turn onto our Base Leg, and then onto Final Approach for landing at 250 feet. (All skydivers are cautioned never to turn aggressively below any of these altitudes, mostly because of the risk of misjudging distance to the ground – low turns are known to injure and kill skydivers, regardless of the size of the parachute.) After you’ve landed, you’ll gather up your parachute and head back to the hangar for debriefing, where you and your instructors will review what happened on the jump, both positive and negative, so that you can do better on the next skydive, and the next, and the next, and the ones after that, etc. The truth is that skydiving is a never-ending process of learning and having more fun doing it than you ever imagined.

Beyond Today…

It’s easier than ever to get started in our sport, and Glidersports Skydiving offers more than any other dropzone in the local Midwest. We have the fastest, newest, and safest fleet of performance aircraft, the best skydiving equipment available, and a staff that has been hand-picked for their experience and dedication to their love of skydiving. Our location ain’t bad, either – we’re just over an hour outside Kansas City, within eyesight of Truman Reservoir in historic Clinton, Missouri. We are the cutting edge of local Midwest skydiving, and we’d like to prove it to you! We invite you to come out and try skydiving for yourself, and become a part of the Glidersports Skydiving family – IAD is one of the most economical ways to get started toward the skydiving A-license, and you can get started for as little as $199! That includes your First Jump Course, gear rental, your Student Jump Ticket, and the instructor’s debrief; you’ll also receive a Student Log Book to begin keeping track of your progress, as well as a First Jump Certificate you can proudly display on your wall! (here’s where I would link: For information and a detailed description of USPA’s ALicense dive flow progression…) You’ll find the dates for the next Glidersports Skydiving First Jump Course on our calendar, and space is limited, so give us a call today to reserve your spot! We look forward to meeting and flying with you! Static Line?? What is this Static Line of which you speak??? The static line method was, in the beginning of sport parachuting, the only way one could learn. It is fairly simple, and a (mostly,) foolproof way of deploying a parachute from a falling jumper…as long as the jumper isn’t attempting to do cartwheels out the door of the plane, that is. Everything in skydiving starts with the ARCH! In most sport skydiving training, Static Line skydiving involves the use of a 15-foot long lanyard (the static line itself,) that’s attached to a ring inside the airplane. The static line l usually ends in a foot-long length of cable (essentially the ripcord,) that holds the parachute container closed. As the jumper falls away, the lanyard stretches to full extension, and the cable slips out, allowing the parachute to deploy. All the jumper has to do is let go and arch, and deployment happens automatically. If the student has a good arch and handles things well for two jumps, they will then be taught the Practice Ripcord Pull or PRCP.

A student has to demonstrate two PRCPs consecutively before they are given a freefall rig with a real ripcord. The Clear and Pull jump is a momentous occasion in the Static Line Progression, as it is in IAD – the moment when you take ultimate responsibility for your own life, and you officially become what is known as a “skydiver.” Should you ever find yourself at this point, know that you will be called upon to purchase a case of beverages to be shared with your new sky family. The Glidersports Skydivng IAD Progression trains students on modern gear, using what is known as a throw out pilot chute. This small deployment parachute is usually located at the bottom of the main parachute container, neatly rolled into a spandex pouch. The handle itself may be either a hackey-sack or a pvc-style handle that is sewn to the top of the pilot chute. You simply reach down, grab the handle, and throw it into the air stream. Many older student systems used ripcords to deploy the main parachute, but modern skydiving systems use ripcords only for Reserve Parachute deployment, and we feel that students should train on the same exact type of gear they’ll be flying once they have their licenses.

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First Jump Course

 

(Ground School)

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]First Jump Course is where you learn all the ins and outs of skydiving preparing you to safely perform a solo skydive. It is required for anyone wishing to skydive solo. You must be 18 years of age or older. The class typically starts at 9am on a Saturday or Sunday and lasts for 6-8 hours depending on the aptitude of the students. First jump is included in the cost of this course.

$100

per student

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IAD/SL/PRCP

 

(Instructor Assisted or Practice Ripcord Jumps)

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]IAD/SL Categories A-D are made under the supervision of an instructor. Before making an IAD/SL Category A skydive the student must have already taken the FJC and been cleared to perform the actual skydive.

$99

per skydive

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Coach

 

(Coach Jumps)

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]IAD/SL Categories E-H are coached skydives. A skydive coach will provide instructions and then supervise the jump to make sure goals are met.

$99

per skydive

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