DanglesOZQld

InstructOr dude lol! I had a bagload of jumps under my belt and then did a full time week long course at another nearby dropzone. Cost a fair bit and not being a real good person study wise it was a challenge but well worth it in the end. Study as much as you can on the ground, talk to others who have been there and know what is involved and practise any skills you are lacking in. One thing I notice a lot is that some instructors struggle with different weight and height students with regard to fall rate. Be prepared to don a baggy jumpsuit for the lighties or arch/add weight for the faster fallers. Aff is about you being with the student , the B rels you can make them work a bit more! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

We have a professionally printed certificate which is then printed overtop with the details like student's name and jump height , date and Tandem Masters name etc. We always hand these to the jumper personally and sign them also if asked. Also a popular thing with us is bought T shirts are signed by both the Tandem Master and the Video dude/ette if they were on the jump. -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Once when flying back in the early days I had a husband and wife spilit to go to an Island we were flying to. My mate flying the second aircraft had the husband and the wife was in the plane I was flying. I thought it quite odd at the time but it did make sense when you thought about it. This couple had two kids. It is really up to the couple to weigh the risks involved and a personal decision for themselves to make. Like what was said earlier though I do not think other jumpers should be looking after the kids without prior arrangement. BSBD! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

1 in 100 etc etc , not in Australia!! Anyway the retained numbers should have NOTHING to do with the way you train new jumpers!! -BSBD -Dangles "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

No: (1) "MADE" to do.......please! Good training outweighs doing a Tandem jump first in my opinion. If I had not seen the number of students go through our course I would at first have agreed to the Tandem first principle. Also I gained my jumping licence by first doing a Static line course as opposed to an AFF course. Of Course, pardon the pun!, I believe that aff is the only way to go but it is always good to have an alternative. To me a "first jump mandatory" tandem is only going to feed the tandem mills and is not as good as an aff taught well on the ground! Making a tandem mandatory on the first jump would suit the dz's that rush the training and make the rest look bad however!!! BSBD!! -Dangles. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

-Yeah , been with a few killer Affs and have done the "will never happen to me " bs and it nearly has!! I do not agree with or feel that rsl devices should be on gear at any stage but certainly feel that Cypres should be mandatory for low time or inexperienced jumpers as it is in Australia. Apart from Tandem equipment I have personally never jumped with a cypres but have seen it saving more than one life whilst acting as a jm. BSBD! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

And by the way , here in Oz there is no requirement at the moment to hold a CPL to fly jumpers. I have seen many so called pilot professionals that made me GLAD to have a rig on my back and be able to jump out of the "ship" rather than land with them. BSBD! -Mark. Holding a higher rating does NOT allow you to fly better all the time. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

AVERAGE WIND SPEED!? BAROMETRIC PRESSURE!?! Possibility of landing awkwardly and missing a few days work!?! Canopy opening (HARD!) insurance?!? If in doubt and a low jump number or even a high one ask someone with a bit of experience or an instructor or C.I even and make up your own mind! There are wind limits for a reason. Learn to respect them and that Mother nature can well.......be a mother when she wants to be!!! I put wind down as similar in nature in some ways at least to water in a river. Even on good days a little wind can make landing downwind of a building/treeline/mountainrange/whale carcus area HAZARDOUS! BSBD! -Mark. IF IN DOUBT SIT IT OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

293 jumps.....I was beginning to want to ask the C.I to take an extra rig on the front to do an intentional when my "nice" canopy openings of some 200 jumps turned sour. Can still see it as I have the whole thing on video.......Dumped stable , then the prick(et?) did a 360 degree turn , stopped completely then kept turning the other way till chop chop. I was doing a video of a four way fun jump but my lovely RSL made sure that I received a reserve that had around 8 line twists in it. (HATE RSLS!!) Kicked out and landed safely. Go Cypres! Ban RSLS!! BSBD! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

As a tm/Aff instructor and vidiot I believe that good training is just as beneficial as doing a Tandem first and then an instructional jump solo with own gear. On the whole though with the be all and end all being the money factor (unfortunately!) with a lot of places a tandem either as a fun thing or a TAF takes a lot of the unknowns out of the jump. The students know what freefall is like and then adjust to having their own gear and having also to think more for themselves than treat it as an amusement ride or similar. I have seen variants of both and it is not always something that can be judged by what the person has done. Train/learn/be around others who have been there and know/ Learn to WALK before you RUN!/ Never think you know it all - YOU DONT!! The best jumpers in the world would say that they are always learning. When I was flying aircraft the same applied - "Learn from the mistakes of others because you will never do or be around long enough to do them all yourself!" BSBD! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Otters must be one of the safest jsps in the world!! We used to jump out of Nomads in Australia when they had a lot of twubble wif a little thing like da tail falling off. Something about resonance in both engines causing the tail to fall off when it felt like it. Happened mostly with the army aircraft at low level. We had a strengthening mod done to ours and our tail dain't sep from da plane. Funny that! BSBD! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Just had a friend who had the procedure, he is going to jump again in one week after the op doing camera and see how it goes. (He does everything tm / Cm / AFF etc). He was told by his doctor who did the procedure that 14 days is the usual but this dude skydives and most would know skydivers are NOT the usual patients! BSBD! -Mark. Example - I had three Wisdom teeth out tuesday and did three jumps camera on the next day. Funny how nice that Piri Raptor helmet feels around your jaw the day after!!!!!!!!!!!!! "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

-And don't start sounding like news reporters with the bs of "it crashed on its way to"..... That had NOTHING to do with the aircraft more of an unfortunate problem in flight that was not able to be overcome , such as fuel transfer or similar. This aircraft was never designed to make huge over water crossings and any smallish aircraft with mods (fuel pod extras in or external etc) with the added complexities of doing such flights there are many more added risks. Learn some facts or read up some more, hell even talk to the person who gives you your freedom every time you jump and you might learn something!! Skydiving is the same as flying - You NEVER know everything and there is always something to learn!!!!! BSBD! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

A T tail is a "Yaw" bitch with a load full of whiney American skydivers who would then complain about "turbulence" on the way to height. Having flown for some time and then jumped out of them there are only so many "gives" for the amount of "takes" you have with regard to design. We have had a relative of the xl called a Cresco for some time and although it had a smallish door it was a homesick angel and we put up with that. Us jumpers in smaller countries can't have King airs and Otters at every dz. Funny how some can worry about tails being close and other bs when they have not even jumped out of a navajo or c182 in the hanging door slot with a lump of lead on their head (And not some little piece of crap like a micro dv camera either!!) Anyone who has jumped in thew good old "pre digital cam / vid" years would know what I am talking about!! BSBD! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Being a full time jumper is a lifestyle thing and not a job that will make you rich. After a great deal of pushing we got a rise after some 5 years of a few dollars a jump. I used to work for another dz every few weekends but choose not to go there at all now due to money being a more important factor than proper training and/or procedures. BSBD - Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Got my Private Pilots Licence and was flying around the countryside when one weekend the school I was with decided to have a fly away piss-up type deal to Corowa just over the NSW border in Australia. Shortly after landing I looked up and saw a lot of chutes in the air and though to myself I would love to give that a go someday. It was the state champs or something from memory, or just a big boogie not really sure. Got some friends together and did a weekend course a few months later. My parents knew they couldnt stop me from doing it and my flight instructor thought I was crazy!! PS- I have lost two friends to skydiving and around 10 to flying. Gotta love that "perfectly good aircraft" crap! BSBD! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

We all have to start somewhere and for me it was a drive of some 2 1/2 hours each way each weekend to my favourite dz and at the time the weather had the tendency of being crap for a whole weekend sometimes more than 50% of every month!!! I laugh at some of my students who whine about having to wait an hour or two just because of the weather or a busy day. There are certainly a lot of jumpers out there who have been through a lot worse as well. Basically if you like it and sounds like you do , stick with it. Otherwise , take up lawn bowls or something!! When I moved interstate I did 40 jumps only for the whole year, after doing at least 100 each year since I started jumping. Ratings only make it easier to jump , they will not always make the sport better for you. I always said that when I was going to be a skydiver full time I would always (and have done) fun jumps and keep it both as a fun thing and something that pays the bills as well. Lately after a few really crappy days to say the least (not weather!) I have been thinking about giving up the sport as well. Not going to though. Remember the good times , the friends and the sport itself more than makes up for any hassles you have along the way if it is something you truly wish to do in the long term. Follow your heart! BSBD! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

This is just my own personal opinion and nothing else........When I am doing an AFF jump I treat the whole thing in the form that the student has paid for the jump from Brief to debrief and I usually land into wind and watch the whole thing even though we have as a rule someone else guiding the guys and girls in via radio. You can have fun every now and then but you are there for the students if they are paying for your jump as far as I am concerned. Keep in mind also that it is a lot easier being in the air (or under a canopy) to bring someone in rather than on the ground with a radio trying to direct them in. Not to mention the reaction time required or winds on the day affecting the flare height of the student/s under canopy being TA controlled. Hence the need for a large obstable free student landing area and good training to avoid problems wherever possible......... BSBD -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

DEFINITELY flat turns should be tought more in my opinion as well as good canopy skills such as PLANNING AHEAD. Much like during my Private Pilots Licence we were taught that some avoidable mistakes were made by not planning or thinking every now again about the what ifs as much as possible. A good example is Chuck Yeager ; he is still alive a great deal to the fact that he researched everything he possibly could about the aircraft he flew before "going out and fanging it." Sure he was lucky in some circumstances but he reduced the risks to the point that what he did not know was not known at the time or able to be researched beforehand. Much like people who drive for 50-60 years and have never had the car sideways (and consider themselves experienced!) so are some of the canopy pilots out there......dangerous. Hook turns are a canopy pilot choice. Personally I have been known to do them and have learnt a lot in only 11 years in the sport. I believe we should be allowed to jump within the abilities of the canopy that you fly with certain rules obviously for recklessness or inexperience. I have always said that skydiving is a sport in which you are constantly learning and can never know everything! -BSBD Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Yeah we get fun jumps at less than half price of a normal fun slot if you are staff. Had a few months last year also after a promo when the "boss" let us jump for free BSBD! -Mark. Good for morale for the working jumpers if nothing else! "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Have heard of a couple of funny shoe incidents. One was where we jump on the coast one of the fun jumpers that join us now and then somehow lost one. Knew roughly where it went but didn't even bother looking for it as it would have been the old needle in a haystack type search! A couple of other jumpers who were friends of hers were driving up this main road and SAW HER SHOE NEAR THE SIDE OF THE ROAD!!! They were re aquainted! Another was an opening hard enough to take the shoe from the foot even after it had been tucked into a booster! BSBD! -Mark. PS- No my student nor myself did not lose any item of clothing or footwear during our little incident! "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Jeez!! Thats a pea! Try being a Tandem master for the first 6 months to a year! Look on it like someone who is used to sitting in a chair all day and then suddenly gets a job where they have to stand all day long. Legs ache like hell for the first two weeks or so but then you get used to it. You legs also toughen up around the legstraps after a while as well. You also fine tune the position and tension of the straps to more suit what is comfortable for you. Don't expect to go from 180km/hr plus to almost nothing and not get the odd bruise though! BSBD! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

A) CATS DON'T SUCK B) IT WILL BE FINE INDOORS OR OUT , PREFERABLY IN OF A NIGHT WOULD MAKE SMALL WILDLIFE THANKFUL! C) NO SUCH THING RE DOGS. WE USED TO HAVE A 60KG ROTTIE THAT HAPPILY PLAYED (AND WAS GENTLE WITH) FOUR OTHER CATS WE HAD AT VARIOUS TIMES. A). Don't get a cat. Cats suck. B). If you do, why don't you just let it run around? C). My parent's cat actually lives in their bedroom, on account of our killer German Shepherd mutt that we have. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Ah Printing hassles , how I miss them. Being a Printer or a Skydiver full time.......hard decision......NOT!!! BSBD -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

I usually pack my own gear when "working" like doing Tandem Videos and stills because it really isn't that hard to dub the vid and pack at the same time. When doing Tandems we mostly have someone else pack them for us. I have no problems getting someone else to pack either way. BSBD -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"