Wind tunnel training before your AFF course:
a smarter way to get ready for the sky
Last updated: 4 December 2025
The bottom line:
With wind tunnel training (indoor skydiving) you give yourself a head start before your AFF course. You get used to the feeling of the air, your body learns the basic position, you receive direct feedback and you step into the plane with much more calm and confidence.
- Wind tunnel training lets you learn to fly before you jump: safe, controlled and without fear of heights.
- You get used to airflow and the sensation of falling, you develop a stable body position more quickly and you better understand what your instructor is asking from you.
- It makes your first jumps of the AFF course calmer, more effective and often simply more fun.
Wind tunnel training as preparation for skydiving
In the past you learned to skydive by simply jumping and finding out what happened in freefall. It worked, but it was intense and you only had about 30 seconds per jump to try something new.
Nowadays we do it in a smarter way. With wind tunnel training you can already learn to fly before you ever step out of a plane. You train in a controlled environment, with an instructor next to you and a floor that is always close by. That allows you to start your first AFF jumps in a much more relaxed way.
What is a wind tunnel (indoor skydiving)?
A wind tunnel is a vertical tube with a powerful upward airflow. You lie in that airflow and it supports you in the same way the air does during freefall. It feels like skydiving, just without the aircraft and without the actual jump.
Many people know this as indoor skydiving. For you as a (future) student it is mainly a flight lab: a place where your body can calmly get used to flying, rolling, turning and correcting, without also having to think about exit, altitude, opening and landing.
Why wind tunnel training before your AFF course helps
- You get used to the sensation of flying
The first time in the air is not only mentally exciting, your body also has to get used to the airflow. If you already know that feeling from the tunnel, it is less overwhelming and you can focus more on your exercises. - You receive direct, visual feedback
In the tunnel the instructor is literally next to you. You get hand signals, instructions and sometimes even a small physical correction of your position. Everything you do, you feel and see immediately. - You learn a stable position more quickly
A stable freefall body position is the foundation of your AFF course. In the tunnel you can log a lot of “flight minutes” in a short time. That is why the basic position often already feels familiar during your first jumps. - You build real confidence
The moment you are hanging in the air for the first time and you notice: hey, I can do this, is gold. You take that feeling with you into the aircraft. The nerves stay, but the panic is gone. You know that your body already knows what to do. - You are allowed to make mistakes without consequences
In the tunnel there is no canopy opening, no landing and no altitude awareness pulling at you. You can wobble, turn, fall over and simply try again. Making mistakes turns into practice, and that is exactly what you learn the most from.
Wind tunnel training does not remove the tension of your first jump, but it does remove a lot of noise in your head. You can focus better on what you have learned instead of having to discover everything at once.
The sport is changing, and that is a good thing
Skydiving has changed a lot in recent years. Where you used to be mainly surviving during your first jumps, you can now learn to fly much more consciously. The combination of a AFF course and wind tunnel training makes the first step for beginners more accessible and safer.
You can see it with experienced jumpers as well: teams train dozens of hours in the tunnel to refine their freefall skills. You can use that same technique as a beginner to make a strong and relaxed start.
Of course you can also learn to skydive just fine without tunnel training. Wind tunnel time is not a mandatory part of your AFF, but it does give you a useful advantage in both technique and mindset. And it is fun too.
This is what it looks like when you do a wind tunnel session for the first time:
Wind tunnel training as preparation for your jumps: safely getting used to freefall.
Where can you go indoor skydiving?
In the Netherlands you can go to:
In Belgium there are tunnels in:
Tip: make sure to tell them you are about to start an AFF course. Instructors can then give you specific drills that connect directly to your freefall exercises during the course.
Ready to learn how to fly?
Wind tunnel training is not a must, but it does help. Especially if you want to step into the plane with a calmer mind and a head start in technique.
If you want to make your first AFF jumps with the feeling that your body already knows a bit about flying, a wind tunnel session is a very logical way to prepare.
More inspiration about skydiving
- ➔ Your first skydive: from threshold to euphoria
- ➔ 5 myths about skydiving: what is true and what is not?
- ➔ How to start skydiving: the step from interest to action
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“The wind tunnel gave me calm. When I really jumped, my body already knew what to do.” – beginner student