You say smaller passenger are more likely to cause sidespins. What does smaller mean? Smaller compared to the average person, or smaller compared to the actual tandem master? I would have thought it means smaller compared to the tandem master, but I'm just guessing.
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Smaller passengers have smaller minds.
The closest I ever came to dying during a tandem was when a 90 pound girl grabbed my left thumb near pull altitude.
Remember this was before Cypres was invented or Vectors had two drogue release handles.
The problem is that small passengers are confident that I can solve every problem they can throw at me.
I do not share their confidence.
Big guys (anyone bigger than me: 6 feet tall, 190 pounds) are bright enough to understand that if they do something stupid, they will kill both of us. Big guys listen much better during ground school and follow directions better in the air.
The only time I got into a sidespin was with a guy my size who had few muscles and even fewer brain cells. He spent the entire freefall in a reverse arch. Oddly, he could not get his feet out in front for landing.
Passenger size also affects balance. Heavier students tend to flip you belly to earth, whereas lighter students just flop all over the sky.
In conclusion, start doing push-ups, chin-ups, squats and sit-ups. You will need all those muscles - especially core muscles - to do tandems. We need more female tandem instructors.
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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Smaller passengers have smaller minds.
The closest I ever came to dying during a tandem was when a 90 pound girl grabbed my left thumb near pull altitude.
Remember this was before Cypres was invented or Vectors had two drogue release handles.
The problem is that small passengers are confident that I can solve every problem they can throw at me.
I do not share their confidence.
Big guys (anyone bigger than me: 6 feet tall, 190 pounds) are bright enough to understand that if they do something stupid, they will kill both of us. Big guys listen much better during ground school and follow directions better in the air.
The only time I got into a sidespin was with a guy my size who had few muscles and even fewer brain cells. He spent the entire freefall in a reverse arch. Oddly, he could not get his feet out in front for landing.
Passenger size also affects balance. Heavier students tend to flip you belly to earth, whereas lighter students just flop all over the sky.
In conclusion, start doing push-ups, chin-ups, squats and sit-ups. You will need all those muscles - especially core muscles - to do tandems. We need more female tandem instructors.