toolbox

Correct response. I bet this guys last words will be "watch this". I just hope it's not while he is doing a tandem.

Would you happen to know where someone could find the song "Blood on the risers"? I've heard it once on CD and it was great. Songs like that remind me of the Blue skies Black death mentality I remember from my student days. It seems many of the new skydivers approach the sport like it's all butterflies,unicorns,and daisies. So the old school stuff is refreshing to me.

You are a chip off the old block. A racer man just like your dad. Long live Toledo!

You do not need alot of strength to be a great swooper. Swooping is all about skill. You could smoke 2 packs a day,be fat and lazy,and be a great swooper.

I do not think the adrenaline rush stops with more experience,rather our brains adapt to the increased adrenaline with repeated exposure. Even though I'm usualy thinking about what I'm gonna have for lunch when I leave the plane with a tandem,I still feel pretty relaxed and happy after the skydive. And as we all know tandems can get pretty busy. But our brains become acustomed to repetative exposure to situations. I think the rush is still there,its the way we react to it that is different as we experience more of it.

I agree on your opinion of the exit and the skydiving philosophy.

You hit it right on the nose dude. Unstable exit,long delay to build alot of speed,dearched student with hard arch of instructor. It could be the angle of the video but it almost looks like they were dropping off on their side when he flicked the drogue out. What do you think? Seems like they may have had a bit of airflow from the side as the student was wish washing around. The RSL ball seems to be kinda unsecured and flopping around over the three ring. Seems there should be a velcro tab holding it in place.

I'm both an S/L and AFF instructor and I would say AFF is the best way to learn how to fly.

Those pic's are unbelievable. The belly band is up where the chest strap should be,the leg straps are what really freak me out though,and where is the backstrap. I wonder how the chest strap feels up in the students throats?

A gear check before opening the door is standard procedure for any student skydive(AFF,S/L,Tandem,Coaching). It's not a bad idea for everyone to get a check since even experienced skydivers have fallen out of the harness because they missed the friction adapter on the chest strap.

The harness is only as good as the instructor using it. I wonder how long before a tandem falls out the front because the instructor missed the friction adapter while rushing to the plane, then forgets a gear check before exit(which should be part of the procedures for any skydive).

I was told years ago that a tandem was 10x safer for a first timer than to go by themselves,but 10x more dangerous for the instructor taking them than to go by themslves. After 8000+ tandems I would say that is about right on the nose. As far as coaching skydives,I feel if you want good quality help that you should pay for it. The skydivers who spend the time and money in persuit of a coaches ticket,and who take the job seriously,should get paid for a professional job. I also agree that there are greater risk skydiving with coaching customers than if skydiving with a acomplished skydiver. I have taken young jumpers out on coaching dives and had them take off tracking,wobble and whip a 180 right back at me just as one example of what can happen. I think there was an incident not long ago involving a freefly coach and his customer colliding around breakoff. You do not have to use coaches to continue your skydiving career,but in most cases using a good coach will cost less money and less dives to reach the level of proficiency needed to participate in more challenging and rewarding skydives.

Lolipop flip flop green jelly twist. It's all fun and games until the pilot chute hits ya in the eye. I guess alot of these people have never seen a scary preme yet. Ha Ha you Rat Fink. How was canukian ville,I meen Canada.

The chances of the vid having a preme would seem to be much greater with a brand new student face to face with them on exit. We are talking about tandem students here. They do not get a whole lot of training in most cases,and are more likely to grab onto shit (handles and what not) without even realizing what they are doing. So I must agree 100% with you.

Excellent advice on staying off your tailbone on landing. I have seen dozens of Tandem progression people drive the tailbone into the ground and waddle away looking for a donut to sit on. Blue Eyes, unless you feel you are not yet ready to go AFF,do not waste your money on another tandem. I am not saying tandem progression is bad,but if you plan on doing AFF level 1,save the cash for level 2.

Word! Toolbox again. Ryan I have recently talked with one of the owners of Skydive New england and he tells me there is now a wind tunnel near your neck of the woods. If you start AFF and winter hits,you can go to the tunnel and work on your flying.

I was working at Skydive New england last fall and there were some pretty nice days in october. The AFF level 1 is a day long gig. After level 1, if you have the cash you could do multiple levels of AFF in a day. It all depends on you,the weather,and how many other students are there. I know most of the staff at Skydive New england and they are very motivated to teach. They love making new skydivers. If the weather stays nice,it is possible to finnish all levels of AFF in one weekend,I have seen this done a couple of times in the last 14 years. What ever you decide,have fun!

Be carefull! You may jinx yourself into a nasty trend of cutaways. I made a preplanned chop for my first cutaway almost 12 years ago and since have had 59 more. Except for the 1st one,I have always tried to fix any problems that could be fixed altitude permitting. I have cleared dozens of tension knots and line overs and have landed a few step throughs and broken steering lines without incident. Less than one week after my preplanned chop I had two unplanned chops. I have averaged 5 chops per year since my 1st. I've just had my 5th for this year on friday the 29th. I hope this will be the last. Maybe you can take my place on the cutaway highway. By the way,I have only packed one mal and it was busted lines on a high jump# canopy. I hope you always have a nice reserve when you really need it. Blue Skies!

I just spoke with a good friend and excellent instuctor today who has thrown in the towel. He said he is tired of always being broke. He has already found a mainstream job and will never work with another student again. Just three years ago he loved working with students. The low pay per skydive and potential bad weather can ruin the bank account real fast. Just as you said riggerrob,it's the long days for small pay that has led to the loss of staff. I know people who park cars that make more in tips in a year than I make with my paychecks.

I always use the word ARCH! in place of go when dealing with students. I also try to refrain from using the word jump. Instead,I like to use words like skydive or fly with students. Good skydivers do not jump out the door,they fly their bodies against the wind as they come off the aircraft. There is alot of psychology in teaching and learning,especially in skydiving. I hope you can make more money to spend on flying,I mean skydiving. Blue skies!

Try to turn or pivot your hips into the relative wind as you punch out your arch. You should not thrust yourself out the door but instead smoothly fly your body off the aircraft riding the relative wind from the direction of flight. Just relax and fly against the wind. You should already be flying the part of your body exposed to the wind before you drop off the plane. Watch the plane fly away as you drop off of it and smile at your jumpmaster. They will love to see you smile back up at them,I know I always felt great when my students smiled up at me after they left. I hope you stick it on your next try. Blue Skies!

I wish they could get a tandem rig built that would handle more poundage. I think it would be alot more fair to the smaller instructors and I'm sure much easier for the larger instructors to take all the heavy passengers. I would gladly take a 300 pounder if the rig could take it,especialy if you could get more $ for doing it.

I've done 6'8" 230lbs out of a C-206P(I could have used a can opener and a shoe horn). I also pulled a 7'1" 225lb guy out of a C-208(this one was easy) doing the sit and pivot. Both guys did great in free fall. The landings looked hilarious(I'm 5'11") with me standing straight up behind them squating down. The 206 exit was a work out for both of us I'm sure. I had the guy put both feet over the trailing edge of the step(at least I told him to do so,I couldnt see) and then rocked out toward the tail. When we landed he did not have any skinned up shins and both cows,I mean shoes were still on his feet. I took a 18 year old kid 6'7"190lbs out of a DC3 that was a nightmare. Such a huge plane with such a small door(I love DC3's) and this guy was trying to hang on to everything. I would say "are you ready to skydive or not" and he would say "hell ya". I would peel his hands off the door jam and he would try to stand straight up. I would get him sqauted down and he would grab the door jam again. Meanwhile the planes flying along at about 110MPH or better and Oh yeah! my video guys hangin outside in the propblast. I finally get him out the door and he pulls a jack knive. I pull a barrel roll off and get the drogue out nice and clean,look down,look at my video and wave off and pull at 10K. The DZ is along ways away. It's a long canopy ride and the kid starts getting sick at about 4K. WE all make it back to the DZ OK,but I'm covered with taco time chunks(this kid was like a rainbird sprinkler) and he's passed out. I hook his legs from behind with my feet and swing his legs out and sit down. As I am unhooking him he regains consciousness and pukes on my left foot. I look back on that one as one of my favorite tandems, for pure comic relief. I'm covered in puke,his whole family is watching him puke on my foot,his dad is howling with laughter and his mom is crying. It was awesome.

Incompetance and some very bad luck. I would like to think all tandem instructors are very well qualified and extremely heads up, but it seems not everyone is. Every human can and will make mistakes,but if we always follow the correct procedures everytime,we can greatly reduce the odds of mistakes. Even doing everything right though, bad luck can and will get you. It's just a numbers game. So keep everything simple,follow procedures,do not make the ride too crazy( like doing intentional flips and CRW with passengers) it is dangerous enough by the book. I hope to see you guys in october bro. Blue skies!

Right on bro! Many of the new generation of skydivers have the idea that skydiving is all unicorns, butterflies and daisies nowday's. The sport has become much safer over the decades with better gear and structured training. But the human factor and the unpredictability of changing weather conditions combined with the fact that bad shit just happens sometimes is still with us. Remember "Blue skies, black death" always be prepared for the worst even when things are going great. As far as the # of fatalities this year, it's not how many that are really disturbing, it's the way they occured. The tandem students falling out of the harness is very disturbing since these incidents were the first of this type in all the decades of tandem skydiving to occur. The gear is only as good as the human using it. Have fun out there,but remember the reaper is always out there watching and waiting.