How to Learn to Skydive: 5 Steps to Your A Licence

Learning to skydive means going from tandem passenger to a skydiver who jumps alone, opens their own canopy and lands where they planned. The good news: you need no experience at all to start. Two methods get you there, AFF (called PAC in France) and the traditional static-line method, and both lead to the French Parachuting Federation (FFP) A licence: at least 12 jumps, including 5 solo. Here is the full map, exactly as our instructors draw it for students arriving in Beni Mellal, with the steps, the timescales, the requirements and the best season to start. The day you open your own canopy at 1,500 m above the Tadla plain is a day you will never forget.

How do you learn to skydive? The 5 steps

You learn to skydive in five clear steps, each one bringing you closer to the sky: ground school, a first supervised jump, progression jumps up to your solo, consolidation jumps, then signing off your A licence. With AFF, your solo can come as early as your 7th jump if you pass every level first time; the FFP A licence needs at least 12 jumps.

1. Ground school. Equipment, body position, aircraft exit, reading your altimeter, deployment, emergency procedures, flying your canopy and landing. You rehearse each move until it becomes a reflex.
2. Your first jump. On AFF you jump with your own parachute, held by two instructors, and you deploy it yourself. This is Level 1, the jump of our AFF first jump.
3. Progression to solo. Stability, heading control, turns, then the "release": your instructors let you fly on your own while they watch. The FFP requires at least 6 accompanied jumps before Level 4, your first jump with no instructor in freefall.
4. Consolidation. Solo jumps, still planned and debriefed by an instructor, to make your skills automatic and add one new skill per jump.
5. The A licence. Signing off specific skills in freefall, under canopy and in theory. It is your first independence qualification.

Each step is explained in detail below. What each level involves, jump by jump, is covered in our guide to AFF levels.

Two ways to learn: AFF or static line

Fundamentally, every serious school teaches the same skills: holding a stable position, watching your altitude, deploying at the right height, flying your canopy and landing safely. What changes is the order in which you learn them, and so how quickly you get a taste of real freefall.

AFF (Accelerated Freefall), or PAC in France

PAC (Progression Accompagnée en Chute) is the FFP's method and the French equivalent of AFF as taught by American, British, Spanish and Portuguese schools. From your very first jump you leave from altitude with your own parachute, held by two instructors who fall alongside you. You experience real freefall, you read your altimeter and you deploy yourself, by 1,500 m at the latest.

Under the FFP's technical directive no. 49 (version of 27 March 2026), PAC has four levels, with a minimum exit height of 3,000 or 3,500 m depending on the level. At PACMA every jump leaves from around 4,000 m: close to 50 seconds of freefall to work through your plan without rushing.

The static-line (traditional) method

On the "traditional" method (static line), your parachute opens automatically thanks to a line attached to the aircraft. You exit lower, at 1,000 m minimum under FFP rules, and there is no freefall at the start. Progression is more gradual:

1. a stable exit on static line;
2. a practice deployment ("dummy pull") while holding your position;
3. delayed openings, with no more than 10 seconds of freefall;
4. freefall at terminal velocity with heading and altitude control;
5. recovering from a deliberate instability and varied exits.

Each level is passed with two consecutive successful exercises. Level 5 of the static-line method gives access to the A licence, just like Level 4 of PAC.

The two methods compared

Our instructors' view: AFF is the most common route for adults who want to learn quickly, because every jump gives you real freefall to work with. Static line is still an excellent method, but fewer schools offer it. At PACMA we train using PAC, the French AFF. And if you are not yet sure about jumping on your own, a tandem is a superb first step: freefall with no technical responsibility, to taste the sensation before you commit.

The journey in detail: from ground school to A licence

Ground school

This is the foundation stage, the one that gives you confidence. You learn the arched freefall position, how to read your altimeter and the deployment sequence, then the emergency procedures: what to do if your canopy is tangled or opens badly, how to cut away the main and pull your reserve. You practise them on the ground until they are reflexes. Then come the landing pattern, the priorities under canopy and the flare. As FFP rules require, every student rig is fitted with an automatic activation device (AAD), which opens the reserve automatically if needed.

Progression jumps

Each jump is prepared on the ground with your instructor and ends with a debrief that sets the next goal: you progress on every jump, and you can see it. Repeating a level is part of learning: you go again, often with a simpler task, and you get to enjoy one more jump. It is common, especially at Level 2, and says nothing about your talent. Just allow in your budget for the fact that a repeated jump costs extra.

From solo to A licence

Your solo marks the end of AFF, and the start of a great adventure. For the FFP A licence you need at least 12 freefall jumps, at least 5 of them solo, and to sign off specific skills: flat 360° turns both ways, holding a heading 90° to the jump run, a five-second "arrow" (forward movement), a stable exit, plus canopy exercises (stall, turns, landing unassisted). Elsewhere the thresholds differ: 25 freefall jumps for the USPA A licence, a minimum of 18 jumps for British Skydiving's. The equivalences are explained in our guide to skydiving licence levels A, B, C, D, and the consolidation phase in what to do after AFF.

Which federation applies to you? Your licences depend on the federation of the country where you train and, later, of the country where you jump. In France it is the FFP; in the UK, British Skydiving; in the United States, the USPA; elsewhere, your national federation, which also issues the international FAI certificates. Training done abroad is picked up at home on the strength of your logbook: talk to your home school before you go.

How long does it take to become a skydiver?

With AFF you need at least 7 jumps to reach your solo and 12 for the FFP A licence. On an intensive course, AFF can fit into a few days: Skydive Empuriabrava in Spain, for example, quotes about 5 to 7 days depending on the weather. Spread over weekends, it can take months.

An intensive course has a clear teaching advantage: when you jump several days running, yesterday's skill is still in your body, and you progress fast. Several weeks without jumping, on the other hand, often means a full re-brief and sometimes a refresher jump.

Our advice: build some slack into your trip. The weather and your progress set the pace, not a fixed timetable. A windy day becomes a useful day (you revise procedures and prepare your next jumps), and at PACMA a jump the weather prevents is rebooked free of charge: you lose nothing. To compare where to train, read our guide to doing your AFF course abroad in winter.

Do you need to be fit? Age, fitness and medical

No, and that's great news: normal fitness is enough. You need to be able to carry your kit to the aircraft, hold an arched position in freefall and cope with a landing. For AFF, an FFP-approved medical less than three months old is compulsory, along with a federation licence and insurance. Under-18s need parental consent.

Age

The minimum age depends on the federation and the school; the rule applied at PACMA is shown on our AFF course page. There is no maximum age as such: the doctor's opinion is what counts.

Fitness

You do not need to be an athlete to become a skydiver. A flexible back helps a lot with the arch, and strong legs help with landing, which is usually done standing or in a slide. Tell us your weight and height when you book: student gear has to suit your build, and the chief instructor signs it off.

Medical

For the AFF first jump and the AFF course you need an FFP-approved medical less than three months old. If you do not have one, the club doctor can examine you on site (200 MAD).

Licence and insurance

A federation licence with insurance is compulsory to jump as a student at an FFP club. At PACMA you take it out on site, on top of the course price.

Teaching language

Understanding every instruction perfectly is a safety matter, not a comfort. Wherever you train, ask which language the briefing and ground school will be taught in before you book, and tell the club your language when you book.

Can you learn to skydive at 40 or 50?

Yes, absolutely! There is no maximum age as such for learning: what counts is an FFP-approved medical less than three months old, then your ability to hold the position and land. At 40 or 50 you often have what you lacked at 20: the time, the budget and the patience.

Our instructors give three tips to students who start later in life:

• Prepare your back and legs. A few weeks of mobility work (core, back extensions) and leg strengthening make the freefall position and landings more comfortable.
• Be frank with the doctor. Back or knee history, current medication: the doctor decides, and it is better to say everything before rather than during your course.
• Choose an intensive pace. With age, skills stick better when you jump several days in a row than when jumps are weeks apart.

The rest comes down to concentration and following instructions, and life experience is often a real asset. It is never too late to live this dream.

What if your dropzone is closed for winter?

If your dropzone closes or slows down between November and March, turn winter into an opportunity. You have three options: do your course in the sun, work on your position in a wind tunnel near home, or wait for spring. The first is the most effective: you come home with your AFF done, perhaps your A licence too, just as your club reopens, with a head start on the whole season.

In northern Europe, winter means short days, low cloud and waterlogged landing areas. Yet it is the best time to train, as long as you head south:

• Continuity. A winter course has you jumping day after day, without the breaks that slow learning down.
• Headspace. On holiday, away from work, you can focus entirely on your progress.
• Timing. Trained over the winter, you arrive in spring ready to jump at your club as soon as it reopens.
• The setting. Often clear winter skies, a large landing area and, in Beni Mellal, a view of the snow-capped peaks of the Middle Atlas.

Two tips to make the most of it. Keep your schedule flexible: wind and cloud can pause jumping for a day anywhere in the world, and students jump in ground winds up to 7 m/s until the canopy module of the A licence is signed off. And dress for altitude: at 4,000 m in January the air is fresh, and thin gloves and thermal layers under your jumpsuit keep you nice and warm.

Learn in Morocco with PACMA: AFF first jump (€500) or AFF course (€1,300)

Here in Beni Mellal… The Parachute Air Club du Maroc was founded in 2000 and has jumped at Beni Mellal airport since 2003, at the foot of the Middle Atlas. It is a club approved by the French Parachuting Federation (FFP): PAC training and FFP licences, qualified instructors, an AAD on every rig, weather calls made by the chief instructor. A Pilatus PC-6 Porter takes 9 skydivers to around 4,000 m in 15 to 20 minutes.

For the 2026-27 season, the dropzone is open every day from 8:30 am to 6 pm, from 5 December 2026 to 4 April 2027: four months to learn in the sun, facing the Atlas. Two ways to start:

• Start with an AFF first jump if you want to test yourself first: ground school and a real first freefall jump from 4,000 m, held by two instructors. You then decide in the cold light of day.
• Book the AFF course straight away if your mind is made up: it is the most direct route to your first solo, with one or two instructors in freefall depending on the level, and each jump prepared and debriefed.

On top of that, budget for a medical if you have no certificate, the licence and insurance taken out on site, accommodation and lunch under the caidal tent by the runway (70 MAD). The full calculation to your A licence, item by item, is in our article on skydiving licence cost.

Getting here takes 2 hours by road from Casablanca airport and 2 hours 30 from Marrakech. For a course, the most enjoyable option is to stay locally and live at the pace of the dropzone. Friends and family are welcome at the dropzone to watch you land and share your pride.

Ready to go from spectator to skydiver? The season opens on 5 December: pick your first day and book your AFF course. In a few days, you'll be the one opening your canopy above the Tadla plain.

Is a wind tunnel a shortcut?

Yes, for one specific thing: body position. A few minutes in a wind tunnel help you understand how your body reacts to the airflow, stabilise your arch and practise turns without the pressure of altitude. It does not replace the aircraft exit, deployment or flying your canopy.

Some schools build it into their course: Skydive Empuriabrava in Spain lists a "PAC PLUS" course with 15 minutes of tunnel time at €2,199, against €2,099 for the standard course (public prices checked on 18 October 2026).

Tunnel time complements training; it does not replace it. It is especially useful before a course if you are anxious, or if a stability level is giving you trouble. The differences between the two are covered in our article on indoor skydiving vs real skydiving.