AFFI

I have been in Rock bands, played football all through high school, raced high performance motorcycles not to mention being as cute as a baboons ass. More than anything, chicks totally dig skydivers. If you are still having trouble getting the babes now that you are a skydiver with an astronomical 80 jumps then just hang in there, you will find a sucker (pun intended) eventually. Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

I sure would like to read that "Life After Skydiving" thread. Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Here is lots of reading on the PLF: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=search_results&search_forum=all&search_string=PLF&sb=score&mh=25 Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

If someone experiences a function repetitively they will improve (at their own rate) and traverse toward levels of proficiency. I went through old school AFF and did not know what a flat turn was until I had a couple hundred jumps. I did not learn much on AFF student status compared to what the graduated students of the course I teach obtain, in fact they are where I was knowledge wise after 150+ jumps. Did I have poor instructors? Was I just a slow learning student? I believe that my instruction was adequate for the program utilized at the DZ I undertook student status at. I believe that I was able to grasp and learn in the AFF training method quickly. Perhaps more than anything, the issue for my (lack of) personal understanding of good sound fundamental knowledge was the program of study I undertook. The curriculum is one of the primary aspects concerning the body of knowledge any given student will graduate with. With certainty I believe that an additional aspect which is undoubtedly important is the amount of effort each individual student puts forth in applying themselves to learn any given syllabus. The “backbone” of the equation is the instructors; they are the ones responsible to do their very best in teaching the curriculum that the skydiving school they work at employs to a variety of individual students that learn in differing ways. Quite a monumental feat and varying instructors have strengths and weaknesses that can compliment one another IF the instructional staff works together, that is the tricky part. The “central nervous system” of that backbone is the management of the instructional staff. There should be regular meetings, practice jumps and sharing of techniques and information and to ensure that everyone is on the same page in their understanding and the DZ’s intended implementation of their syllabus. This will better ensure that any deficiencies in the instructional staff are addressed and are improved in order to provide the best instruction possible for our clients, the skydiving students which is the most important aspect to consider no? Certainly, some skydiving instructors are more through than others, some are better teachers, some are better flyers and some just want to enjoy the status and boost their jump numbers as much as possible without applying themselves in the most important job in skydiving, teaching others to do it safely with a solid foundation of fundamental skills. And some just do not possess the ability to teach… I personally would hold a higher standard necessary to acquire a rating for solo freefall instruction – but??? There are so many variables involved and it is not like we can form a union or anything eh? The structure of the skydiving family tree to me is comparable to the drug cartel. The drug lords are like the successful DZOs. The pushers are the instructors. The junkies are the fun jumpers are the sport jumpers who just cannot get enough. Agree wholeheartedly. Don’t think that is going to change unless this industry changes and puts the skydiving professional above carny status on a societal level. Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

It matters to me, because I'm curious and I'd like to know. Just to know. Besides Jump Shack's 20-year-old pictures (available where?) and anecdotes (remembering that the plural of "anecdote" is not "data") are there any controlled studies which looked at the effects of, say, pilot chute size, initial freefall speed, and body position? Mark Look. high speed partial - whatcha gonna do? Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Cool, I bow to you humbly with all sincerity.. With some searches you may find many revelations, concerning the inadequacies and strengths of solo freefall instructors which has been discussed ad nauseam in these threads over the years. With so many years as an instructor, perhaps you would have the gist of the issue by now. Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

What exactly are your credentials? Your background professionally? Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

First off I wish you a speedy and good recovery, don’t rush it, allow your body to heal and rehab properly by listening to your professional health providers. Sounds like a pretty serious injury. Secondly, learning to safely land a canopy is amongst the more critical and difficult aspects of skydiving to reach a level of proficiency at, so take your time and by listening to your professional skydiving instructors who are working directly with you. It is nearly totally impossible to give effective counsel concerning flaring for landings without being there with you. So you will receive advice from well intentioned skydivers but it is the instructors working directly with you who you really need to focus on for guidance. Expect them to put you back up on a larger canopy, that way you can have slower landings while you learn. Don't get in a hurry, you have the rest of your life to skydive, the trick is to maximize your healthiness so you can make more jumps before the dreaded day comes whey you have to leave the sport, which is inevitable. So stay safe, EPs, learn when to stay on the ground when the winds are outside a conservative guideline and most of all - Cherish the moments you get to participate in this sport, the people are wonderful... Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Yes, in some situations, all they have to fall back on is their training. If I do not truat that a student is ready yet, do don't jump yet. I have experienced this first hand. Someone I taught ground trained and took on her first solo (non-tandem) jump. Lost radio under canopy, got overwhelmed and was flying an erratic pattern, at 100 feet was in a direct line to fly right into a power pole, we, the ground crew, out hearts were all beating hard no doubt. At 70 feet or so she executed a perfect Slow-Flight/Flat-Turn maneuver (75 degrees?) half brakes calmly applied and finished her flare from there a little high, performed a PLF, got up and walked away. We were astonished and I suspect she would not have done such a great job at staying alive without the prior ground training. For me, there are 2 areas where I deliver an unbalanced percentage of the material in comparison overall and that is EP’s and how to make safe landings in a variety or circumstances, and review those areas at the end review before the jump, then fill in all the gaps as best as we can for the rest of the information. Often times when everything works out we will have cloud cover that green lights should go on for the experienced jumpers, a chance to educate the jumper a quick review about clouds, take them up with the intention of landing with the plane, just they do not know that. At the door from altitude when we check the spot I let them make the call, usually they make the right one, and while we descend (I hate landing in air planes) we have opportunity to discuss the potential for a cypress fire and all that that implies along with a few other things. Would you (instructors) sacrifice a significant part of your earnings over a two week period to stay on the ground as much as possible to provide sufficient ground training for a particular student in need, then for them go on and succeed… It’s a beautiful thing… Most Instructors don’t do this for the money (besides, it aint there), it is for the opportunity to do something we love, and how well we do our jobs may have some affect on the outcome of another’s life in the future. As we suggested earlier about teaching judgment, that is key. Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

I was trying to give good input, but apparently I am scaring an instructor I respect most on this forum. I will wait for his much more experience to shed better light on the matter… Sincerely... Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

It is easier than taking a shit... Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

http://www.uspa.org/publications/SIM/2008SIM/Section4CatA.htm Cat A - Section D- Where? Ummmm, all I notice about how low you are allowed to turn according to this curriculum is - Section D, Item #2, Subsection E: e. Small toggle inputs can be used to make minor heading corrections at any point in the canopy flight. Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

And they already have been. You are correct, you should go do some searches and you will find that these topics have been discussed ad nauseam in past years in other threads This particular thread is to discuss a fatal accident. Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Howzbout it feels as good as anything else that starts with the letter "S"... Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

We teach flat turns from the first jump and on, we even have canopy control skills that teach Slow Flight /Flat turns on every dive flow in the course. That being said one would rarely need to turn more than 90 degrees to avoid and obstacle low to the ground which flat turns are all about. That being said there is something to be said for going by the book and I am more comfortable with 1,000 feet as well. We teach that when you start the pattern all you need to do is 90's unless an avoidance maneuver dictates more than that, and it if does we teach the importance of performing a flat turn. The salient point is that all the instructors are on the same page teaching the same thing. There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking it slow while learning to pilot a canopy but it is important that all the instructors where you work to be on the same page with the instructional information you convey to your students. Do ya’ll ever have instructors meetings? If you are teaching your course right out of the SIM then yes, it is important for all the JM’s to be on the same page. If not then you should have a detailed curriculum that is standard so all the students are being taught the same thing by all the different instructors. Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Always stay close, Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Don’t ever let your guard down; I had to wait 2 years and a couple hundred AFF jumps before I had to make my first balls to the walls save - there were some interesting situations during the 2 year wait, but when the shit hits the fan really hard and sprays all over you - be ready. Treat every one like they are going to be the one that makes an eval dive seem easy in comparison. and watch the little people, so far my wildest ride was with a 100# chick! First release dives are my favorite, anything can happen! Better than night jumps! Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

I got mine with Uncle Don as well, he became a good friend and is sorely missed... Yeah, he was tough but it made me beter... Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

If I had time I would write a dissertation on this subject, but that would take me an hour, so in short: I have personally known 3 people that use the one hand per handle and practiced it that pulled out of sequence. All 3 lived but sustained serious injuries substantial enough to end their skydiving careers - gruesome landings... I practice both 1 and 2 handed, it goes something like this: One hand per handle, I experience a difficult extraction with the cutaway and must bring my reserve hand over to assist thus making the cutaway 2 handed. I did a search for you, go through it and perhaps you may find some information you are seeking. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=search_results&search_forum=all&search_string=Cutaway%20with%20One%20hand&sb=score&mh=25 Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

A GREAT answer! So in short; tell them that their instructor can answer questions pertaining to the skydive. You can be friendly about it, maybe show em how to pack by allowing them to watch, or maybe talk about the weather or how crappy of a season the Astros are having (which usually applies). Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

I drive a 5 hour round trip every weekend. Tent, bunk house, camper, under the stars - I sleep where ever and sometimes I even make it a one day trip! Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Do you have that clue? If so, could you get a dum-dum like me to understand it so I can teach it in a simplified manner? Is it really important to understand it like Einstein or can an uneducated half-breed South Texas beaner like me be able to grasp it? Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Agreed. Physics is BS and completely irrelevant to skydiving. At least to your average skydiving student eh? Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

To me, a "H&P" is exactly what the SIM says it is... 2007 SIM Section 4 CATEGORY F: LEARNING AND PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES A clear and pull is used for emergency exits and pre-planned low-altitude jumps. Training: The sequence consists of a clear and pull from two altitudes: (1) first from 5,500 feet (2) once successful, from 3,500 feet Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

correction No, you have 12 jumps, you are a SUB-lowtimer... Kelpdiver is a lowtimer... Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…