AFF Instructor Gear

[billvon 3,090]

>Thank you for you opinion Bill, But it is just that, "YOUR OPINION".
Of course. Pretty much everything here is opinion.
>His question was" what are the requirements" and every Instructor has their
> own......
As I stated in a previous post, the only hard and fast gear requirement (from USPA) is that the instructor use a visually accessible altimeter.
>Tell us all in what way does an open faced helmet have anything to do
> with "preventing" a spin? The only thing a full faced helmet prevents is being able
> to stick your tonuge out at them for legs out, or do you just yell at them also?
Students tend to spin when they get tense and stop flying. In my experience, being able to see someone else's face goes a long way towards preventing them from getting tense in the first place. I've had several students make comments to the effect that "I figured things were going OK because you were smiling" and I've had a few that said "I knew I was doing something wrong because you were frowning at me." That is feedback you simply can't get from a full-face. As Rick Horn once mentioned, people wearing full face helmets look like bugs to students.
We would not allow a student to wear a full face helmet because if he did, we couldn't see his face, and it's critical for an AFF JM to be able to read a student to see how he's doing, if he's checked out, if he's happy etc. The same thing works in the other direction.
>We all have gotten hit on exit and at pull time, but if you have never had to
> agressively stop a student that is going into a rapid spin, then I'd say you have
> been pretty lucky I guess huh? I have had a few over the (1500+ AFF jumps)
I have had to stop several rapidly spinning level IV and V students - I just didn't get kicked in the face doing it, since I either used my legs or my side to do it.
>We all concider our job as an AFF Instructor a VERY serious one, and the safety
> of our students and ourselves shouldn't be taken lightly. We want to see the
> student progress and enjoy what we love, and also jump for a long time and
> being safe keeps you able to do that!
I agree - and in my opinion, using an open face helmet helps both teach students in freefall (by giving them better feedback) and helps keep them safe (by reducing the tension level a bit.)
-bill von

[Hooknswoop 19]

"Jumping a tiny canopy just so you can land before your student to radio him down is a lame excuse. You should jump a mid-sized canopy, and spiral as if the devil was after you to land before the student."
I said it was an advantage and I like jumping a small main. Why should I jump a larger main?
"Secondly, you do not need a full-blown AFFI to talk down students. Any Instructor A (Canadian term) who has demonstrated competence at talking down first jump students should be able to talk down an AFF student."
Again I haven't had the luxury of having anyone talk a student down for me, in AFF anyway. I either have to jump w/ the radio or get on the ground and hustle to it, depending on where I have taught.
Thirdly,"
I agree w/ your third point.
Hook

[GroundZero 0]

Ed,
I jump with one of those leather conehead hats... (Fraphat)... I like the student to understand my jestures and expressions. I think it helps with the aerial, non-verbal communication.
But I gotta say, many times I wish it was a Bell with a D.O.T. and SNELL rating. But because I don't have a hard hat, , (and some of my rigs don't have a CYPRES), I'm a bit more careful.
Chris
p.s. Think of the student as a card in your bicycle spokes... it helps to keep your cranial mass outa the way.... (while the frap-hat offers little protection, but does a nice job of keeping your hair in place.)

[Sebazz1 2]

Yeah actually that's a good question Chromey but it all comes down to individual jumpmaster preferences. I myself wear a leather frap hat with clear goggles. I like the fact that I can talk/yell at my students and that I can make good solid eye contact with them and they can see my facial expresions (No matter what is going on in freefall I am usually ear to ear grinning). Some JM's use full face masks and some wear frap hats. I am always aware of my head in good and bad situations and avoid getting kicked.
For the canopy stuff I just jump what i like to jump. Doing tandems most of the time I fiend for AFF or fun jumps so I can jump my own gear. I can talk to my students under canopy before I even land so getting down quick is not an issue.
~Blue Skies~
Sebazz........

[Shark 0]

For the canopy, I don't think size matters.... I jump a Spectre 170 and have not even thought about "beating" the student down. Maybe a spiral or some sashays. After all, they are pulling much higher than me/us.
====================
Hey Ed,
You were my Reserve JM on my Level 3 at Skydance in July '99. Neal was on the main side.
Mark

[Hooknswoop 19]

I've had students under Sabre 230's, 210's, 190's, 170's, and 150's. So a 1.2 wingloading under a 170 wouldn't beat the student down by much, especially if you had to fly back to the DZ a bit and couldn't spiral much. I am not suggesting that AFFI's should jump very small mains in order to get down quickly, just that I have found that it is an advantage for me.
Hook

[GroundZero 0]

Hook,
I jump smaller canopies and have students jump larger Falcon 300, 265, 235, etc. canopies... I usually open just after seeing complete inflation of the student canopy (usually high... 3000-4500'... pull the transmitter outa my jumpsuit and talk for a minute, spiral down and complete the conversation...
I agree that canopy size is not important when instructing AFF. Jump what you like and watch your student... I personally like the JM's to CARRY the transmitter. Every time we hand it to someone on the ground, he can't see where the student is landing... (bad spot or bad student, take your choice.)
Chris

[riggerrob 643]

Back to the debate on which helmets freefall instructors should wear ....
I have to agree with Bill Von.
An once of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If you can convince the student to relax by making funny faces and yelling, then they won't tense up, they won't spin and you won't have to chase them.
I only wear my full face on early release dives. Remember that my full face is an old Hansen camera helmet that protects the point of my jaw (a huge target) but leaves my mouth exposed.
Finally, bill made a good point about using your legs to stop a spinning student. Next time I have to stop aspinning student, I am going to try and stick a knee into the spinning mess. Mind you between now and then, I am going to use every other trick I know to prevent students from tensing up. Every second word in my briefings will be "relaaaaaaaax."

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

Quote

A couple of other questions.
1. What type of suit do you generally wear for instruction?
2. What is the decision making process on whether or not the student wears a weight vest / belt?

I wear my RW comp bootie suit. I use my legs a LOT when I skydive and I find that that my booties give me a much quicker reaction time in getting to a spinning or flipping student. If the student is extra light, I just pull on my slip-ons for a bit of extra upper-body range.
I have only had to put weight on three students in the past 15 years of Instructing. These were both tiny little girls that flew "butt up" and just couldn't arch from the pelvis. I put 10 pounds on one 80 pound girl once and it immediately un-fucked her. Oddly, eventually (after student status), she developed a good arch and never had to use weights again.
Concerning radio protocol: If you do not have a third party on the ground controlling your students, then you had better be jumping the transciever. We had an incident several years ago where the JM and student took a bad spot. The student went flying along with no idea where the DZ was, so she was heading for a spot on the other side of a road about a mile from the DZ. Unable to communicate with his student, the JM had the great misfortune of having his student fly right into the side of a moving semi, killing her.
Chuck
My webpage HERE

[Shark 0]

We always hang a transceiver close to the landing area at 'Snore. Just for such times, etc.

[Hooknswoop 19]

Different situations affect gear choices. A good instructor and skydiver is constantly evaulating the conditions and his/her gear and if appropiate, making changes. For example, my VX, a bad demo canopy choice, my Safire 189, great demo canopy choice. Cold outside, wear gloves, etc. And there are times when not changing gear, even if a different gear choice might be a little better, but sticking with what you are used to out-weighs the small advantage a particular gear change offered. We all make gear choices, some good, some not so good. Some jump gear that they shouldn't be jumping, usually because they don't realize how far in over their head they are. Some consider injuries to be an acceptable part of skydiving and are willing to pay that price to jump the gear they do. An educated gear decision beats an ignorant decision any day of the week, the problem is that it is damn hard to educate someone that has made up their mind.
Evaluating the ricks require a conscious effort and either experience or good counsel, and both doesn't hurt one bit.
Hook