So you want to be a TM and/or AFF Instructor

[Ron 10]

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I disagree that going from no ratings to S/L I, TMI and AFFI in 2 weeks is going to make a good Instructor.

Derek, I can agree. But I don't think anyone getting a rating by just passing the USPA class will be able to do anything more than be allowed to perform the job.

Instructors and not going to be made by the USPA no matter what the course, or how fast, of slow they take the course.

It is the individual that will make themselves an Instructor.....Not a course.

So like I said if the canidate gets his ticket (even if it is just one a year or every two years) and thinks he knows it all....Then he will suck no matter how long it took.

If the guy gets the "permission slips" in two weeks, but then works on being a good "I"...It will not matter how fast he gets the permission, he will become a good "I".

I still work on being better everyday.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[Deuce 1]

Well, I had my Coach rating for a while and then got my AFF rating, and my Tandem rating about a month after that. I've used both ratings every week for the last year.

I think it is really important to get to using those skills hard and heavy right after they are aquired. Somebody getting ratings that aren't needed by the DZ where they jump might be doing themself a disservice.

A jumper who is not going to be on the AFF or Tandem wheel and thus kept current, probably should put off the rating until they can be kept current.

[CanuckInUSA 0]

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Somebody getting ratings that aren't needed by the DZ where they jump might be doing themself a disservice. A jumper who is not going to be on the AFF or Tandem wheel and thus kept current, probably should put off the rating until they can be kept current.

Well Duece you bring up a good point that I'm concerned about. I have the time and money to pursue these TM and Instructional ratings this summer, but I'm about 99% certain that the DZ I do most of my jumping at would not let me use them at their DZ. So that pretty much puts me between a rock and a hard place (or however that saying goes).

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[Deuce 1]

Steve, you have the jumps and time in to be a good instructor. But if you can't instruct, you end up losing those skills pretty quick.

Confirm with your DZ management if you'd get to instruct. That "we have all the instructors we need" thing can turn around on a DZ in a heartbeat. If there's a boogie where everybody is out of town, you are suddenly very much in demand. One or two times you save their bacon like that and you find yourself on the wheel.

PS, I took Jay Stokes class with Ms. Yong, and she taught me how to deal with small students, which has really proven invaluable with smaller students when things go south. The first time I was upside down and spinning like hell with a little female student I literally thought to myself "I've been here before in the AFF course, I can fix this" and I did.

My experience with the AFF course was that is a very valid test of flying skill. Almost half the guys who took the course with me were invited to finish it when they had aquired the necessary belly skills.

[riggerrob 643]

To summarize: ticket-punchers may earn ratings in (2 week) cookie cutter courses, but it takes a lifetime of dedication to become a good instructor.

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

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To summarize: ticket-punchers may earn ratings in (2 week) cookie cutter courses, but it takes a lifetime of dedication to become a good instructor.

That is correct. I know more than a few skydivers who got their AFF ratings for free who have NO BUSINESS WHATSOEVER touching real students. Doesn't stop them from getting their rating renewal pencil-whipped every year though.

AFF is serious business and ought not be undertaken by those with less-than-professional mindset and less-than-proficient airskills. Thankfully, some people are smart enough to know their limitations and will either refrain from doing so, or will be smart enough to only volunteer for the slots they know they can handle until they get their minds right and their reflexes turned back on.

Chuck