LukeOliver

Put your OLD Cypres in your NEW rig.

I'm going to clarify this, just in case anyone missed my point: Drogues. Three reasons to use one: 1) It will slow the freefall speed of a tandem pair to a speed much closer to that of a solo freefaller, with all the ensuing benefits. 2) It really, really helps to drag the main off your back and out of the bag. 3) It's much easier to maintain stability than it is without a drogue, and I have some personal experience which supports this claim. It's (3) that I was alluding too. L. PS At a later stage, I'll discuss the benefits of shaping a passenger in the door rather than thinking "I'll go now and maybe I can sort out those legs in freefall".

I believe ALL tandem instructors ALWAYS use the drogue to gain stability. Try flying tandem terminal without one*. It's always a good idea to pull something at some stage. And I reckon using the word "never" invites trouble. Deuce, thanks for being brave enough to post this one. Looking at the background, maybe someone was in a hurry with the drogue is all. As a camera person with this viewpoint, I'd rather be looking at that than a reserve in this situation How's this for advice then - "don't be in too much of a hurry to throw the drogue". Might as well try and fly the pair some first. And dress for success? Invest the time in training and in the door to get their body position where you want it to be. Our friend Lisa really hasn't understood the significance of what we've asked her to do here. L. *No, don't, scratch that, don't do that, that's not advice, you know what I mean.

If I'm missing a primary control input, I don't class a canopy as perfect! No idea of specifics here, but I've gotta say in this instance I'd be inclined to chop first and inspect later - who knows what else just broke, or might be about to... Landing on rears is cool - takes practice, but definitely worthwhile if you've got the kit for it. Our hero in this thread has done the right thing - read something, sought further confirming advice, practiced it, and taken the opportunity to demonstrate a skill in a pressure situation. I'd hate for anyone leaving this thread to think "Mmm... broken steering line... never mind, I'll land it on the rears like I read about" If ya know what I mean. L.

I'm spoiled/lucky/organised (delete as appropriate); two identical Talon rigs with two Cypres. The servicing is out of sequence, so worst case only one rig will be without. It's pretty simple for me; and no more complex than "helmet". I'd happily do four ways with my team, swoop, or film a tandem without an AAD. I wouldn't run base in a Starcrest without one. Or be a Tandem Master without one. And I'd think twice about running a Coach jump - Novices have loosened teeth, broken my ProTrack (external), broken my camera... something ironic is always possible. L.

This, to me, is a serious concern - probably the most problematic in the whole thread. Progressing in the sport includes prioritising. Example: 1) Skydive 2) Houseguests There are many other examples, but I hope you can draw from this one. L.

I'll second Squeak here - I have a Waycool glove. Simple. Solid. Easy. L.

Well, that's the rules by the look of things. So, you can apply to change the rules if you don't like 'em. I don't think you can just ignore a rule because you disagree with it. L.

Yeah, I flunked 3 as well, and others. I like to think it made me a better instructor eventually. Nice to have more jumps than the instructor who failed me now :-)

There's a transcript on the ABC website, check in at www.skysurfer.com.au up the top somewhere. L. (Disclaimer: plugs own website)

'k, Peek, I'll bite, without knowing whether my response is correct or not. A Poynter's Manual would help me here... ...the MS70101 adaptor is reversible, but abusive to webbing. Therefore, there should be a webbing buffer sewn on the side which is inside the loop and around the centre post. With the strap reversed, the buffer will not be doing its job, and the strap may succumb to wear and/or be severed doing opening shock. I have no idea whatsoever about the difference between the MS70101 and the -1 as labelled. But if the above point is correct for the -1, that chest strap - without a sewn webbing buffer - is unsafe whether it's buckled in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendation or not. My answer is "No. Take it to rigging". L.

Nah. Play the game, follow the rules, keep it simple. You rebook them for another day. They don't have to miss out altogether. As an aside: 1) Tandem customers are more likely to throw up than sports jumpers. 2) Humans in general are more likely to throw up after drinking. Those odds are now less in our favour. L.

Karen, I've voted, but I can't believe you asked that after those flagrant displays! And don't ask whether mine or yours!

Maybe. Depends on what you want to do. It's 200 jumps for a "D" license in the USA? In Australia at least, there's an "E" and "F" license, which come with additional privileges. For example, an Australian "D" license is not enough to get started on earning your Tandem ticket - must be an "E", which can be earnt at 500 jumps. So, the statements below reflect an Australian culture, maybe not yours. Not sure of the USPA regulations, but /everything/ here needs to be signed off by at least a "B" license holder. So... if you wanted to Freefly, had the funky suit and the camera etc, you'd be fine. You're just lazy and/or disorganised, but with 400 jumps logged and verified by a third party, away you go. Even if you're fabricating the entire logbook and have 21 jumps and a VX84 you bought on Ebay, I've had a look at your log and it shows your peers have apparently assessed you to some extent. Enough babysitting. You'll be wearing an AAD or at least an RSL tho. Not my rule, but I'd police it. With 1000 signed jumps, that particular concern evaporates - meantime, at least my paperwork looks nice if you screw up. Let's not forget I don't know you from a bar of soap. Can you see the distinction? If you wanted to do professional Camera, the absence of signed jumps would certainly grab my attention. You're supposedly a professional skydiver, but disorganised to the point where you're travelling the world with a log book that is incomplete and can't be verified. If you wanted to do Tandems, you wouldn't at my DZ. You don't have enough logged jumps to legally do so here, and your inattention to detail now bothers me. And if you wanted to do AFF, you can !@#$ off. AFF Instructors need to set a pretty good example across the board I reckon. The example here - 400 jumps with fifty unsigned - is not even a grey area IMHO. Away you go, fun jump your heart out. My advice to be more regular about collecting autographs when you're travelling will be ringing in your ears and now endorsed in you log as well. I've got one line per jump in my logbook these days too, and unsigned jumps as well. But all my accreditations can be easily validated, and I'm not so cavalier about the remainder. It's great to see the responses from so many levels on this thread. Appreciate it. L.

Wow, that's so profound in it's simplicity, and so true. Absolutely.

Curious, and would like to build some sort of profile. Please feel free to elaborate - ie, does someone with 400 jumps but the past fifty unsigned warrant special attention?

Have taken a few, one currently screening in England. I don't do anything differently - here's what's going through my head: 1) I'm a professional for all my customers 2) I'm an entertainer for all my customers 3) My best is good enough for all my customers 4) The Celebrity is the star here, not me But my heart rate is always up when landing. Don't want to break 'em! L.

Broadly: "E" License (500 jump minimum) Private Pilot's medical Instructor Rating Then: Written examinations Practical examinations Grilling from a panel of instructors Ten structured tandem jumps under VERY close supervision It's not an easy road. But you get customers who do make it all very worthwhile. L.

AFF - and tandem, for that matter - is a mental game. You have to find the buttons to push that generate the correct response in your students - keep them at the optimal arousal level. Here, we've got one quote in the plane, without context of the briefing or history of the student. Not enough to judge right or wrong in terms of intent. "Never spoke to..." implies a poor result (at least at a personal level). Maybe this approach worked before on a similar student at a similar level. Maybe instructors don't push the right button 100% of the time. Are we able to discuss it with the JM concerned? Yes. Particularly the odd ones that think AFF is just a roller coaster. Death DOES wait outside the plane. L.

Done a few, will probably do a few more. Who knows, might even learn something - about the candidate, sure, maybe not the process. I'd hope we don't invent anything too new along the way. L.

A long time ago, a thread long forgotten... I saw LilSal last year, we'd finished up a week with her doing pretty much whatever we wanted flat flying. All over it. 4s, 8s, whatever. She's all over it. Just took a little practice. Treasured in my camera and my head is some weeks later, a very smooth head up dock after a lovely head down exit. I don't think she understood how much I'm learning whilst we held hands briefly at 240kmh. It's all possible. Don't quit whilst you're down. L.

Spend my time setting up the customer's body position before I go. No video? Turn and present on exit. Drogue before they have any opportunity to influence a good exit. Video? Dive at cameraperson, delta or arch, drogue when good and ready. You've got time before you go terminal and rushing can be counterproductive, and I'm surrounded by excellent camerapeople. All my exits from 14 thou these days. L.

Rated on Vector/Sigma/Eclipse/Atom/Strong. Short'n'shiny: Vector: A nice baseline. Sigma: current king of the heap. Remove "out of sequence" and see how much simpler the decision tree looks. Enjoy - pull a golf ball and give both thumbs up to the camera. Does take a little longer to close. The best student harness in the business - if you're not using them, you're doing your customers a disservice. Eclipse: Very Vector. Unsure about additional drogue release on cutaway, avoiding having third parties in my drogue whilst I decide. Tuck tabs really give me the gripes - they can dislocate in freefall and beat the crap out of your ears. Have tried many things to stop it, but had me wishing for Vector velcro. Long lasting. Strong: Seemingly unsuited to small framed TIs (I'm 167cm) - big, I tend to float in the harness, and difficult to get any value out of the side attachments. Have survived an out of sequence, possibly two (the second one was at night and not videoed). Don't understand why the two pin mod isn't mandated. Two pin reserve prone to pin displacement in a way the others are not. Drogue mounting point makes for good heap up position in droguefall - useful for outside cam, pointless for handcam. [judge]Not for me any more.[/judge] L.

I'm Australian, around 900 tandems, about 350 with Handcam. Started handcam with about 300 tandems I think (the Australian rule hasn't always been like it is now). Maybe a late starter to Tandems at around 1500 jumps, about 500 of those camera. No doubt that having filmed a lot of outside camera already, the process was simpler: - Understood how to operate the camera - Had already seen a bunch of !@#$ go wrong on tandems, as well as a heap of good ones - Could interview customers, point them into the sun, etc Every time someones says to me that "Handcam isn't a distraction", I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Of course it is. Most of my results have been good. Have made at least one technical mistake whilst doing it (taking time out to film a collapsed drogue because it looked cool instead of just releasing it). You can't complete handle checks on the left hand side whilst you're filming unless you break the shot. I enjoy doing handcam, but prefer being filmed by an outside camera. There's also a pretty interesting discussion on whether it's hindering progression amongst DZ staff as well. There isn't an easy answer to the original question - of course there's a level of competence with tandems that needs to be achieved before adding a glove to your left hand. Quantifying that is difficult. Flying outside camera definitely helped me. And some sort of restriction will help prevent junior tandem masters being pushed into it... L. HandCam - filming wearing a glove HandyCam - Sony Trademark

Robin introduces that discussion with the commentary that a 270deg turn at 1.3 executed 50 feet too low is more dangerous than a 270 at 2.0 executed 300 feet too low. The rationale is simple - the more aggressive wing loadings require a much higher initiation point. An additional component worth considering in this discussion is time, in seconds, between initiation and touchdown - it makes for a very obvious comparison. "...rule of thumb... better and safer... Argue with it, add to it, make it happen where you jump." No preaching there. L.