Who Are These People Skydiving?

Have you ever been waiting in a long line, shuffling slowly, but steadily, toward the front of the queue — when someone from behind breezes by, seemingly bypasses the entire line, only to set up near the front? If you have, you know how infuriating it can be. If you haven’t, hopefully, you never have to. Truth is, no one likes the feeling of getting skipped.

However — consider that even in the above scenario, we may not have the whole story. Perhaps that individual has a back story. Perhaps they were there the day before and were given a fast pass for when they returned. Or maybe, after waiting for their fair turn, they needed to run to the restroom and had someone hold their spot. From your perspective, as a fellow frustrated queue member, you simply wouldn’t know.

Something similar can occur at the dropzone. While you wait for your first tandem skydive, you may seem the same faces boarding the aircraft again and again. And, naturally, you start to wonder, what gives!? Who ARE these people?

Allow us to explain.

The Difference between Fun Jumpers and Tandem Skydivers

As you wait your turn to jump, the individuals you may see boarding the aircraft multiple times are licensed skydivers, or what we call fun jumpers. With time, patience, and consistent effort, these individuals have made their way through a training progression to learn body flight skills and canopy control — enough so, that they can make solo skydives.

On the other hand, it is likely that you are joining us for a tandem skydive. Tandem skydiving, as the name implies, is completed with another person. The professionally trained and licensed instructors you will be paired with are in high demand. After all, you cannot complete a tandem skydive without them! And, each of these instructors can only take one student at a time.

As a tandem skydiver, there is a great deal of prep that goes into getting you in the air for your first skydive. Time must be taken to give you a jump briefing, to inspect the harness and equipment you will be using, to gear you up securely, and to answer any remaining questions you may have. Additionally, after each tandem jump, the parachute must be refolded into the skydiving container, the harness and equipment removed and looked over, and the student debriefed. To ensure customer comfort and skydiving safety, we take our time to make certain these steps are completed thoroughly.

Because of all their training, licensed skydivers require less prep time than someone who has never made a skydive before. Furthermore, there are less technical components involved with a solo licensed skydiver than with a tandem skydiving pair.

AFF Students and Weather

Or, perhaps you are going through the Accelerated Free Fall Program. You may also find yourself confused as to why other skydivers are getting the chance to jump while you are not.

Usually, the weather is the culprit. Our ultimate goal is for our students (and future licensed skydivers) to have longevity in the sport. This longevity is achieved by making wise, informed decisions. Initially, you will have to trust our judgment on optimal conditions for student jumping.  Per the United States Parachute Association, as a novice unlicensed skydiver, wind and cloud restrictions are much more stringent for you than for a licensed skydiver.

For any skydive operation, efficiency is key

At WNY, we strive to run an efficient skydiving facility that provides an enjoyable experience for our customers. We want to assure you, that as a tandem student, you are not being skipped. Because preparing tandem skydivers is more time-intensive, our dropzone continues to run the aircraft with intermittent loads of licensed skydivers to avoid downtime and maintain business efficiency.

We promise it’s worth the wait

Your first tandem skydive is going to blow every other adventure you’ve had out of the water. As a full-service skydiving dropzone, we aim to provide you with the experience of a lifetime. Give us your time and we will give you a memory you will never forget. Come check us out at WNY Skydiving today.