tombuch

Gosh, do I disagree. The exit is often the hardest part of a non-release AFF skydive, and requires the most flying skill. Further, the expense of the AFF jump (one-to-one instructor/student relationship) remains even if a lower rated instructor does the work, so there isn't much savings for the student or DZ, unless the SL instructor is paid substantially less than a current AFF instructor. Why reduce the skill of the instructor, and provide less freefall training when the savings are so limited? I like your idea of more canopy control training far better, and think that can be accomplished with improved tandem instruction. Unfortunately, many drop zones skimp on the training part of tandem, and the big looser is the student. Sadly, at many DZ's student training is about fast turn-arounds and volume, so actual teaching (especially canopy control) is left behind. Another way to improve canopy control training is to use the most experienced staff for the radio work, and then provide solid debriefs with training as the goal. Unfortunately, radio people are often the least experienced jumpers, and sometimes don't even have any instructional training or experience. Again, it's the student training that suffers. I'll also use this opportunity to make another pitch for the Sport ParaSim computer based trainer. This device was originally introduced for malfunction training, but it offers great potential as a navigation trainer. It allows the student to practice flying a pattern under different wind conditions and from different opening points. It allows practice in object avoidance, and it offers a play-back feature that is great for debriefs. It's expensive (20,000 - 25,000 dollars), but a big drop zone should be able to afford it. My DZ, for example, does a gross in excess of a million dollars, and we already own more than 250,000 dollars in student gear. A canopy simulator will cost about as much as two tandem rigs. A DZ that is focused on training can make the economics work. The device has been quickly adopted by government and military because it is so effective at canopy control training, and reduces injuries on the actual jumps. Overall, I think the solutions already exist in the programs as they are currently structured. We just need to focus on the basics and make teaching the priority. Easier said than done. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

My non-medical hunch is that it is NOT a problem. Generally, ear problems associated with skydiving are related to pressure build up inside the ear. If your friend has holes in her ear drums, that will probably prevent the pressure build up. Children often have ear tube implants that serve as holes in the ear drum to allow drainage, and I don't think that's a big deal for flying. I'm not a doctor, so please don't suggest your friend make a jump on my say-so. But tell her that it probably isn't a big deal, and she should check with her doctor. I'll bet questions about flying with her condition are pretty common. Information for her doctor: The skydive will be made from between about 8,000 and 13,000 feet (check with the drop zone for specifics), with free fall descent rates of about 10,000 feet per minute. 13,000 feet is about .65 atmospheres. The descent is significantly faster than in a standard airplane, but the pressure change is equivalent to a SCUBA diving descent to less than 30 feet. Pressure build-ups while skydiving are common, and jumpers should be able to use the Valsalva technique to equalize. Her doctor should consider both the pressure change and the rate of change. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Well, your rate of descent decreases, so yeah, you will be in the cloud longer, but you will be remaining in relatively the same airspace. I'd rather stay where I'm alone and pretty safe, than move aggressively to a possible collision. You explained it better, but I think the risk of two turning parachutes colliding is still very small, as long as they have adequate separation when they start. The risk of two parachutes colliding when traveling in a straight line is also very small. The risk of one parachute colliding with any of many, if all are traveling in their own straight lines is much greater. Take your two pencils, then add 18 more. As long as the circles are small, and the pencils begin far enough apart, they will not collide. If 20 pencils vector toward each other, the risk of collision is much greater. So perhaps when jumping a Cessna a straight line works, but when jumping in larger groups, starting with separation and then holding position works better. I'd rather not do either. We often think of landing off as not being a big deal, but it is. At my drop zone we recently tracked injuries and found that while less than 2 percent of our landings were off field, roughly 25 percent of our serious injuries were off the field. I wrote about the issue here: http://ranchskydive.com/safety/tb_article16.htm. Exiting the clouds over unfamiliar ground can be a serious problem, especially for inexperienced jumpers. And I'd rather have my own airspace and let everybody else have their own airspace. I'd rather we hold relative positions at slow speed until visibility improves. Yup. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Interesting thoughts. I'm both an instrument pilot and a glider pilot, and have spent far too much time under canopy in dense clouds. Your comment that the jumper might turn too fast, or might be disoriented like a pilot, is a potential problem with turns in clouds, but i don't think it is a serious concern. The key is to turn using toggle position. For example, a break turn, with one toggle at 1/4 breaks, and one at 1/2 breaks will deliver a specific level of performance and will not allow for a dive or stall. The turn is slow and shallow. When a pilot turns he has control over pitch, bank, and yaw, all at the same time, and unless trained with instruments is likely to loose control. Often what happens to a pilot when turning is that he pulls or pushes on the control device, causing a steep climb or dive. Likewise, a steepening bank will increase descent rate, and needs to be matched with back pressure. It's all a complicated dance in an airplane. A jumper has only one means of control, and can't change pitch or accidently force a stall. The key is for the jumper to fly with specific control inputs. A glider pilot does makes turns to maintain altitude by remaining in a small column of rising air. It is possible, but very unlikely, that a jumper will climb while turning in a cloud. Lift is generated below a cloud, but lift is limited in a cloud, unless the cloud has has an unusually high level of energy (like a dense and towering storm cloud), and that will generally mean there is too much turbulence for us to be jumping. Conventional parachutes do NOT generate much lift, gliders do. While it's pretty easy for many parachute pilots to catch enough lift to remain over a runway on a hot sunny day, the same isn't true about riding lift in a cloud. It takes a huge amount of thermal activity to remain in a cloud, and sport parachutes can't really generate that level of lift. The threat of a climb while turning in a cloud is a theoretical concept that doesn't really apply to most skydiving situations. Your suggestion that a continuous turn might drive a jumper toward another jumper is true if there is significant wind, and the second jumper is flying straight against the wind line. If both jumpers are turning they will shift downwind at the same rate, and shouldn't collide. Flying straight would be a serious problem if two jumpers are flying at each other in full glide. Flying straight will also take a jumper far away from the spot, and will increase the likelihood of an off field landing. A slow break/flat turn will keep speeds low, keep everybody in the same relative airspace, and keep everybody close to their opening point, and within a reasonable distance of the drop zone. Making noise while under canopy will allow nearby jumpers to avoid collisions, and if a collision happens, the slower contact speeds should make the impact less severe. We have certainly covered some of the hazards of jumping in clouds! Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Is this the standard advice to give if someone finds themselves in a cloud? It is contrary to my views and practice. Contrary to my practice too. I like the concept of a sloooooooow spiral in breaks. The gental turn keeps each jumper in one small piece of airspace, and will hopefully prevent collisions. Going sloooow helps minimize the adverse effect of a collision, if one happens. The other nice piece of advice is to make noise by yelling or singing, so anybody nearby can hear and avoid you. Pick a song and sing it at the top of your lungs ("...Madmen, drummers, bummers, and indians in the summer with a teenage diplomat...") And the really best advice is to avoid clouds. That is especially true for instructors who are jumpmastering students. With all that said, please follow the advice of your own instructor. If you think slooooow turns make more sense, then discuss it with your instructor, but if you are a student please do not follow random advice from the web. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Please forgive me as I ramble a bit about some important teaching topics related to low turns. There was a fatality at The Ranch involving an IAF student who made a low turn, possibly to avoid landing on a runway. (See: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1316358;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread ) I have no direct knowledge of the accident mentioned in this thread, and these suggestions are NOT specific to the training the student received, but are a general package of training topics useful to all instructors in every skydiving program. It would be super cool if every drop zone took a brief time-out on Saturday morning to discuss these topics, or selected topics of your own related to landing training. Point1 Research regarding emergency response suggests that humans facing stress frequently experience a period of “psychological block” or “freight paralysis” in which they are unable to access conventionally learned responses. Our brain has an important means of storing and retrieving stress responses that places these behaviors in a rapid recall area. A student who learns a specific response while stressed, will first draw on that knowledge when facing a similar stress experience. Thus, when we are under stress, knowledge learned or practiced while actually under stress will be more accessible than knowledge learned in a classroom environment. If we think of a students first few tandem jumps, the student will generally be significantly stressed, and steep turns near the ground will be placed in the stress-accessible part of the brain. When a jumper is facing a landing stress point later in his jumping career, “psychological block” may prevent access to his ground training about not making low turns, but if he made low turns on a prior tandem jump, his stress response will recall that experience. Suggestion: If you are training students with tandem jumps, avoid low turns and spirals near the ground. Point 2 Students learn a great deal by “doing,” but they also learn through “observation.” Consider that a student who has made 15 jumps will have actually performed a landing 15 times, but will probably have observed (and learned from) hundreds of other jumps. When students watch us land, they absorb our behavior. If we make low spirals or fail to fly a pattern, our students will observe and learn that behavior. Of course experienced jumpers apart from the school program will sometimes make low “performance” turns, and students should know the difference between these “hook” turns and conventional landing techniques as soon as they begin observations near the landing area. Suggestion: All instructors (especially tandems) should model consistent landing patterns and avoid low turns or spirals near the ground. We should try to make observed training consistent with classroom and practical training. Point 3 Students need critical information available to them in their short term memory. We are generally very good about quickly briefing emergency procedures and handle touches prior to boarding the airplane and prior to exit, but many instructors fail to brief low turn and flat turn issues prior to each jump. Most of our injuries and fatalities are the result of low turns, so this information should be stressed. Suggestion: Every instructor should make it a point to discuss low turns and flat turns with every student, prior to every jump. Placing this knowledge in short term memory will aid recall, and repeating the information on every jump will assure the students understand it is important Point 4 Students learn best through repetition. The BIC and Coach material suggests a student should practice a skill a minimum of 25 times in order to make it permanent. Flat turns are a critical life skill that should be practiced on just about every jump. The more exposure to the skill, the better the recall and application of the skill will be. Suggestion: Students should practice flat turns at some point on every jump, and should do flat turns with an instructor on every tandem, including first tandem jumps. Make flat turns part of your training package on every skydive. Point 5 Canopy control has become one of the most important skills we teach. Students should be trained and debriefed in depth on their canopy control following every jump. It is far too easy for us to focus on the fun parts of freefall, but the canopy skills are the real life saving training. Radio people need to be good observers and great teachers, rather than simply directors. Instructors should carefully observe a students canopy flight and provide a complete debrief following every jump. Suggestion: Instructors should renew their focus on canopy control training. Make it a top priority on every jump. I hope the above ideas help instructors to rethink their emphasis on canopy control, and prevention of low turns. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Are you thinking what I'm thinking Pinky?! Hey, that's pretty fun, and it only takes a few minutes each day! -tb

The proficiency card can be completed at any drop zone, but must be under the direct supervision of a USPA rated instructor. The elements you teach must be done according to the USPA outline. A USPA instructor in the UK will be able to guide you in that direction, and should be able to arrange an opportunity to teach part of a BPA program that also qualifies under the USPA BSR's and ISP. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Thanks for your reply. The depictions of specific Canadian drop zones sounds like a mess, probably because there is not a consistent means of updating the information at the database level, a serious problem here in the USA as well. I checked my US issued Montreal sectional, and altitudes for Canadian drop zones are included on the back of the cover page in a tab section that lists all the special use airspace. That's the way all US charts list effective altitudes. My Canadian issued Enroute Low Altitude (LO6/LO5) shows the active altitudes on the chart view at each piece of special use airspace, a much more logical presentation. I think US charts switched from blue to magenta ink for drop zones, gliders, and hang gliders, following a collision between a jumper and aircraft many years ago. It was a well intentioned, but ineffective improvement. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Check out Article #1 (Looking For Traffic) at: http://ranchskydive.com/safety/index.htm Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Correct. There used to be a great site called Wallmartsucks.com. It wasn't working today, but while searching I did find a good news article about protest sites in the archives of The Christian Science Monitor. Since it is an archive article it is sometimes tough to get to, so I've attached it as a Rich Text File. (If you are sweating the source, chill. The Christian Science Monitor is a solid national newspaper that limits their preaching to a single opinion piece each day.) Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Now there is a great suggestion. Contact the folks in life support. You may find a military rigger who also has his FAA rigging certificate. -tb

Understood and I do. Just thinking about a more efficient process than an additional three manufacturer waivers for the students to sign. Yup. Your post was clear on that point. TK suggested blowing off the manufacturer waivers, so I was replying to his suggestion. It might be possible for all the manufacturers to get together and design a single waiver with a 'fill in the blank' for the name of the equipment manufacturer/supplier, but I suspect they would not take kindly to that idea. Imagine for a moment that you are the Uninsured Relative Workshop Inc., and Skydive Podunk used a generic waiver, but listed your corporate name as "RWS" without clarification. That might expose the company to litigation because the correct corporate identity wasn't listed. It would be tough for each manufacturer to police that level of waiver application at every drop zone. Also consider that at least the Relative Workshop video waiver makes it clear that the jumper has other options that do not include signing the waiver (going to a different DZ, not making a tandem first jump). If all manufacturers were party to the same waiver, a student could claim he had no other options and was compelled to sign it. There are other problems too. I'm not a lawyer, but my hunch is that we are stuck with the current system. Back in the day my DZ used Strong and Vector rigs (about 7 Vectors and 3 Strong, as I recall). Some of us were trained on each, and a few of us were trained on both. Most of the rigs were Vectors, so the default waiver for everybody was the Vector form. As students were being registered we were able to identify at least a few that would be jumping with Strong instructors, and they were given the Strong waiver. When the students met their instructors they handed the instructor the signed waiver, and the instructor was responsible for confirming it was correctly filled out, and for the correct rig. That system requires that instructors actually meet with and teach their own students to at least some degree, and it makes it tough for back-to-backs. Umm, maybe that's not a downside. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

The law may be related to an import duty on nylon, and the two years allows visitors and temporary residents to avoid the charge. My hunch is this fee is a tax with a very unusual name/collection method. If you are in the country and intend to remain in country, I would go ahead and pay the tax. A nice alternative would be to check with the national skydiving group, or the importer of parachute equipment. It may be that the tax is unlawful under current trade agreements, and nobody has looked at it from this perspective. Or, it may be a means of raising funds for a targeted purpose that is legal and appropriate. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Note that the Relative Workshop has a new waiver that eliminates the mention of "experimental status." Also note that the end user agreement every RWS tandem owner has signed, requires that the owner use the provided waiver for every tandem (see section 8). For a copy of the user agreement or waiver, see http://relativeworkshop.com/tan_waivereua.html Each manufacturer has different waiver requirements. If you or the rig owner have a contract with the manufacturer, you must honor that contract. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

It’s a tough barnacle to scrape off. The first objective should be to attack them legally for copyright and trademark violations, as well as fraudulent marketing claims. It sounds like we don’t have a critical mass of operators willing or financially capable of doing that. As an alternative, if each person or business that has been harmed documents the harm, and then contacts the Better Business Bureau in your area, as well as your state Attorney General, we may find a point of advocacy. I think the best option is to generate complaints to the Attorney General and define the business as a fraud operating across state lines. That might generate a formal action by the national organization of State Attorneys General. I don’t have a whole lot of experience with this approach, but there might be some opportunity there as a consumer protection, racketeering, or fraud prosecution. The second option is to target their marketing partners. The web site for the National Skydiving Association, a fictional industry group listed here: http://skydivinginformation.com/ appears to include a list of all the participating drop zones. PilotDave has a post on this thread linking the NSA with 1800SKYRIDE. Check the list for your home DZ, and talk with the DZO about pulling out of the deal. Unfortunately, students looking for skydiving training tend to select a business based on “the three P’s,” specifically Price Proximity, and Promotion. They generally do not do much research or evaluate claims beyond price. My book JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy was originally designed to provide information so prospective students could make reasoned purchasing decisions, but there seems to be little interest at the consumer level. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

That's a different product. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

You are probably correct in that simulators don't do a great job of teaching the final flair, but their real strength is in navigational instruction, and emergency response training. Parachute simulators can be very effective in improving situational awareness. When I have analyzed injury/accident statistics at my drop zone, I've found that most were in some way connected to poor planning. In some cases the spot was bad and the jumper failed to make appropriate decisions about selecting an alternate, or failed to safely reach the alternate. In many other cases the jumper landed on the DZ, but made a final turn too low, or slammed into a fixed object. Simulators can be very effective in reducing off field landings, and can improve decision making in all phases of canopy flight. Simulators can also be effective in training for malfunction response. Visual depiction of specific malfunctions and context specific scenario development can significantly improve response performance. Simulators are also very good at delivering consistent training, and documenting results. Sims can be used to train and test a student, then log the results as pass/fail or by numerical score, offering a drop zone demonstration of competency that is available as a legal defense following an accident. The downside to simulator training is that it takes time, and requires an instructor. Likewise the cost can be significant. As I recall, a basic system for the civilian market will cost 20,000 - 25,000 dollars. That's a bunch of money for a small Cessna DZ, but a larger drop zone should be able to justify it as the cost of just two tandem rigs. Of course the potential for better trained students can help reduce injury and litigation. For a bit more, check out the FXC page mentioned by MOJOSPARKY at: http://www.pia.com/fxc/vrweb1.htm. Skip the first part of the sales pitch and move about half way down the page to Simulator Training Features That Improve Performance Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Some are safe, some aren't. Ask your pilot about the operation, and get his sense about the safety of your C-182. With that said, the best way to understand flight safety is to take a few flying lessons and immerse yourself in airplanes. The second best way is to read a short article I wrote on The Ranch web site at http://ranchskydive.com/safety/index.htm called Piston or Turbine? (Article 14). Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Are their any Canadian jump pilots (or jumpers in the know) who can answer a few questions about Alert areas in Canada, specifically how it is determined if a DZ will be covered by an alert area and depicted on the sectional in a hashed circle, or just marked with a magenta parachute symbol. Also, what are the CYA designations (T) and (F) for? Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

CAUTION! The source you are using is rec.skydiving, a newsgroup of very little repute. In fact, here in the United States we had 44 fatalities in 1998, and 27 in 1999. The best source of "participants" is USPA membership numbers. In 1998 we had 33,526 members, in 1999 we had 33,458. If we divide the average membership by the number of fatalities it is 1 fatality for every 943 participants (members). Some of those fatalities are students (generally about 12-16 percent) so we could filter and generate a fatality rate of roughly 1 fatality for every 1,098 experienced participants. That's a far cry from 1:100,000 participants reported by your source. I should also mention that the numbers your source used were from 1998...that was the worst year on record, according to USPA statistics. We can also look at fatality rates per jump using estimated jump numbers provided by USPA. A quick snapshot in the year 2000 showed one fatality for every 70,130 jumps made, and that includes all skydivers (students and experienced). In 2003 our single-year numbers improved to one fatality for every 83,468 jumps made, and one fatality for every 1,305 USPA members. That's better, but still not great. Another poster here made the point that statistics can be used to tell a variety of stories and should always be taken with a grain of salt. That is especially true when comparing different sports with very different statistical collection methods. I did a large amount of original research on the safety of skydiving when I wrote my book JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy, including a look at the specific numbers mentioned by your source on rec.skydiving, so this argument isn't a new one. You can read a short feature about safety statistics that I wrote on The Ranch web site at http://ranchskydive.com/safety/index.htm. That feature is derived from the "Risk" chapter in my book. Statistics can help us to understand the general risks of skydiving, but we should always be careful not to let isolated and messaged numbers lull us into complacency. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Visit their web site at http://www.skydiveperris.com/tunnel/tunnel.asp, or call them directly at 909-940-4290. That will give you a chance to discuss your specific student, and together you and the tunnel coaches can develop a training plan. Plus, when your student shows up he will be expected and welcomed. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Interesting point. Skydiving IS dangerous, and BASE is even more so. We should all understand that even if we choose to remain in denial about the actual or relative risk or our sport, we should recognize that skydiving absolutely increases our risk of death or injury by at least a little bit. Talking to our loved ones about the risk and how we would like to have an accident handled is important, but few of us do that. In the event of a serious accident things get crazy for the survivors. There are a few basic documents that everybody should have prepared that will make things easier for your family. This is true for everybody, not just skydivers. If you have a hard time talking about these issues with your family in terms of skydiving, let them know you want to be protected in the event of an auto accident, and suggest that your loved ones will also benefit if they prepare critical documents in advance. This is especially important if you or your family members have children. Consider the following: Durable Power of Attorney, a document that appoints somebody else, usually a family member, to act in your interest in legal matters (all, or selected specific matters) in the event that you are unable to do so. Living Will/Appointment of Health Care Agent, a document that defines your wishes regarding advanced life support and what levels of care you want to receive if there is little or no chance of recovery. This document may be split into two documents. Conventional Will, a document that defines how your property will be distributed in the event of your death. This document may not seem important to young single people with little property, but your family will need to deal with whatever you do own (even just your car, or savings account, or whatever), and a formal will makes it easier to probate, thus reducing the burden on your survivors. Organ Donor Card, a simple document that defines what organs (if any) you would like to donate to others. Many states incorporate this into a drivers license. All the above are basic documents. Most require the help of an attorney, although in some states they can be prepared without legal help and then simply notarized. Check with an attorney in your home state for the specifics…in fact, there is probably an attorney jumping at your drop zone who can help answer these questions. If you work for a large company, check with your Human Resources department… Many big companies offer their staff a legal services plan that includes free help with basic documents such as a will. It’s a good idea to chat with your loved ones about the preparation of these documents so you can appoint the best possible agents to act on your behalf, and so that those you are asking to help out will agree in advance. Once the documents have been prepared keep them in a safe place, and make sure your survivors know where to find them in a hurry. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Close. Targeted Learning Objective. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Cross posted here: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1291734;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread Let's keep the discussion going on the other thread in the Safety and Training Forum. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy