tombuch

My hard deck is 2,000 feet. Period. If you can really chase to 1,000 feet, recognize that you are at 1,000 feet, quite chasing, reach for and deploy your reserve, and then get a canopy above you before impact, I'd be impressed. There are a few glitches in your program. First, your fall rate between 2,000 and 1,000 will be faster than terminal so you will have less time than you imagine. Your body position will be somewhat contorted as you struggle to grab and pull for your friend, and you will probably have at least a slight bit of trouble getting back to your own pull position. Your sense of time and altitude will be distorted. Your altimeter generally lags a bit, so even if you really plan to break off at 1,000, you will be breaking off lower, and with that, it will take you at least a fraction of a second to recognize that your altimeter even says 1,000 feet. Your natural tendency is to pull your main, so it will cost you a second of "reprogramming" to actually select your reserve. On the off chance that you actually dump your friend at 1,000, you still need to pull for yourself and NOT entangle with the other parachute. So, after dumping your friend at 1,000 you need at least a second or two of separation, and that drives you even lower. Now, with all those issues understood let's step back to the world of routine skydives. Do you really believe you have the mental ability to recognize and evaluate all those issues when a dive goes bad without warning? Do you think you could control all those variables and your emotions when facing the contrasting threats of ground rush and a potentially dead friend, and actually make well reasoned decisions in the heat of the moment? Remember, these issues don't generally happen when we expect them, and we can rarely focus on building and executing a plan, but rather they spring up when least expected. I'm a strong believer in sticking with 2,000 feet as the hard deck. My friends are in command of their own destiny below that. They either stacked the deck in their favor with a Cypres, or they elected to take the added risk of jumping without one. Instead of building a plan that puts us both at risk, I'd rather encourage my friends to get AAD's, then let their futures be based on today's decisions. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Don't worry about making another tandem, you should be fine continuing with AFF. However, if it has been more than 30 days since your ground course, you may be required to repeat it, and should at the very least have an extra ground review. You won't be able to progress through AFF if you leave long periods between AFF jumps, so try to cut down on the traveling, or find some way to stack the jumps together. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Point very well taken, and exactly why I noted in my post "I've never jumped a rig with an out-of-date reserve". That's no BS. I have certificates too, and no intentions of surrendering them for a skydive. Bob Keep in mind the jumpers can also face fines, as can the drop zone, the owners of the airplanes, and anybody else involded in the operation. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Call the boogie host in advance an let them know your specific (and exact) situation. The only way to know if the organizer of the event will allow you to jump is to ask the organizer. Dropzone.com can offer answers from various riggers, but they can't grant you permission to jump at any specific event. Only the organizer can do that. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

First, when interpreting FAR's, keep in mind that the inspector can find a violation, and the burden of proof with regard to defense is on the jumper. There is no presumption of innocence. There are several regulations that apply to this case. 91.307(a) says "No pilot of a civil aircraft may allow a parachute that is available for emergency use to be carried in that aircraft unless it is an approved type and..." the regulation then lists the repack requirement. Part 105.43 begins by stating "No person may conduct a parachute operation using a single-harness, dual-parachute system, and no pilot in command of an aircraft may allow any person to conduct a parachute operation..." and then lists the repack requirements. Part 105.3 says that "Parachute Operation means the performance of all activity for the purpose of, or in support of, a parachute jump or parachute drop...Parachutist means a person who intends to exit an aircraft while in flight..." If you are walking to the airplane with the apparent intent to jump, are in the airplane, or appear to have just landed, you must be able to show your rig is in date. If you are not jumping, you may of course possess a rig that is not in date, but you may not carry it in an airplane such that it would be available for use. If a group of jumpers are packing their mains and you are one of them, it may well be presumed that you just landed, and it would be your duty to prove otherwise. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

It's a simple concept. Think of a badminton shuttlecock/birdie. The red end is the heavy center of gravity, and it always turns the birdie toward the ground, with the plastic "feathers" facing up. Your body will respond the same way. If you arch, your pelvis will be the CG and it should roll to your front side in a nice belly to earth position. If you de-arch (bend at the waist) your butt is the CG, and you will fall backward. As you arch, think about relaxing just a tad. A stiff arch can cause "potato chipping," while a slightly relaxed arch generates stability and causes a sweeeeeeet smile. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

That sounds like a great plan to me. The AFF program is designed as a standard, but it can (should) be modified to serve the needs of each student. If your idividual problem is a fear of instability, then work on that when you know you have tons of altitude and a great instructor waiting to help out. You might even decide to spend the whole skydive flipping on your back, then recovering to your belly, check altitude, then flip on your back, then belly. Talk with your instructor in advance, establish key altitudes and ask him to stick with you in case you have trouble. If he needs to help out at some point, let him, and then check altitude, take a deep breath, and then try again. If you don't do any of the other targeted learning objectives for that level it's fine, as long as you gain your confidence back and have fun! Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Weird. It had been listed in the 4,000's, but everything after the 4 was dropped. I wonder when that happened? Thanks for the point out, and hopefully it will stay fixed. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Have you tried contacting Network Solutions, the hosting service that is allowing the site to operate with photos that violate copyright law? From a cehck of the whyois server it looks like 1800skyride may be having trouble with their host too. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

First tip: Wait until you have a lot more jumps. When you are ready, hang as far out on the strut as you can get. Have the pilot quickly drop the nose as you lift your knees and legs up to the wing. As your feet connect the pilot can level the nose/wings. Once everything is stable put some tension in your ankles and let go of the strut. Keep your left hand near the step to push off if you slip. It's fun and easy, and in time you won't need the added help from the pilot. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Be careful using the current versions of digital flight planners. They do NOT depict drop zones, gliders, or hang gliders. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

I'm going to go out on a limb for a quick moment with something that isn't really skydiving related, but that we should all pay attention to. Last week NBC-TV sent a couple of undercover reporters to try and rent a helicopter as a means of showing how easy it is to smuggle weapons on board a GA aircraft. An alert FBO staff recognized something was fishy and called the police, foiling the efforts of NBC-TV to discredit general aviation. As skydivers, we spend a good deal of time hanging out at airports, and we all have direct access to airplanes, sometimes big ones that could be used in terrorist activities. Let's be especially alert to people hanging around the airport who might be terrorists, or perhaps even journalists trying to get a local angle on a national story. Airport safety is the responsibility of each of us, and is especially important near urban areas. See the attached report from AvWeb.com about the NBC attempt. From: http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/avflash/277-full.html Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

http://www2.ntsb.gov/ntsb/month.asp This is a listing of every accident being investigated by the NTSB. It sometimes takes a few days for an event to get on the list, and it can take years for a final report. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Nope. Millions of tandem jumps have been made and no harness has failed to the point of releasing a student. There have been some distortions of hardware that have not caused any significant problems, but no complete harness failures. The harness is rated to hold far more than the weight of the two jumpers, and each of the four attachment points is rated to carry the full load alone. So, even if an instructor only hooked up a single shoulder connection, the pair should remain together. In fact, instructors are trained that if an aircraft emergency makes it necessary to exit mid-climb, they are to slap on one shoulder attachment and jump. The tandem harness and rig are very robust. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

>>but I like to think our tandem instructors are among the best of the best

I quickly tackle that issue in my book, "JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy," in a chapter called All About Drop Zones. Most instructors around the USA are part timers who do the job for fun, rather than money. They manage to pick up pocket change, but not much more than that. The folks at your DZ in the Poconos are probably pretty typical of the bulk of our instructional workforce. While writing the book I surveyed full time professional instructors. Some of the pros report they are able to make between USD 25,000 and USD 40,000 per year, but that requires full-full time work all year long. Most people who are able to earn that kind of income need to travel between seasonal DZ's, or work at one of the major drop zones in the South. Few drop zones provide any kind of medical insurance or vacation time, and the career path is very limited. Most instructors are paid for "piece work," so you need to hustle, and won't make any money if the weather is bad. You will find the bulk of the money is in doing tandems, a very physical task that generally results in at least minor injuries, and those injuries can quickly disrupt a seasonal plan and limit your income opportunities. The work is hard and requires skill in all the major training disciplines, as well as rigging, and it helps if you are also an examiner in a few areas. You must really enjoy dealing with people, and need to smoothly handle the "politics" of local drop zones. Very few jumpers last for more than a couple of years of work at the full time instructor level. With all that said, there are career opportunities if it is your interest. Some instructors move on to own a DZ, while others move into more stable rigging, equipment manufacturing, or sales. Some move into piloting. There are opportunities if you want them, but it is a tough road, although jumpers who succeed are happy and generally say it is the best option for them. Certainly teaching skydiving is a better option for some people than pounding a desk in a cube farm. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

I expect students to have problems. I even expect some of our "experts" to have problems, but I like to think our tandem instructors are among the best of the best, and are not going to need a Cypres. Some of the reports are just nuts...there were at least three saves when tandem instructors started the skydive with intentional backloops, and then forgot to even throw the drogue. HELLO! I guess I think 20 tandem Cypres fires is wack because I was jumping tandems back in the day when we didn't have AAD's. When they were first introduced very few drop zones bothered to install them, and even after RWS required them, I had to fight like heck to get AAD's on our Strong rigs. Obviously they are necessary, but I really wish we were good enough not to need them on the tandem side. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

I counted 20 tandem saves out of 293 total saves. THAT'S CRAZY! Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Difficulty breathing is a relatively common problem with tandem students. Full-on panic attacks do happen, but they are very rare. Most students are frightened but remain capable of handling the basic tasks, and they remain alert enough to communicate throughout the jump. Those that have a panic attack may be unable to talk, irrational, combative, or may drop to the floor in a shivering panic. I don't know what the paper you are reviewing uses as a definition of 'panic.' If it is simple fear, then yes, it is common. If it is defined as a disabling event, then I would not call it common. Disabling is itself a tricky term, especially on a tandem jump when the training and expectations are so limited. My suggestion is to provide feedback to the author/journal suggesting that the reference to skydiving either be removed, or expanded with a better definition of panic, and statistics or specific anecdotal evidence of the problem. I cover a bit of the fear response on pages 16-20 of my consumer book, JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy, related specifically to "gaspipng For Breath" and "Sensory Overload.' Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

It's hard to know exactly what happened from your post, but let me offer some very quick thoughts. First, on the break-off: Track in a straight line away from the formation. People above you should be able to see the direction you are going, and should be able to pick a different vector. Fly straight, fly fast, fly far. Let the folks overhead figure out their own departure plan. On the canopy issue: It really doesn't matter who has the technical right of way. Two canopies were trying to occupy the same airspace and landing point, and we all know that can't work. Both pilots should be willing to figure out a solution and yield. Side by side landings aren't a terrible thing, and it's rare that a landing area is too congested for a small RW group. If you find somebody to close to your right side, slide a bit to your left and smile! Develop creative solutions in flight. You will find a few graphics that show how to yield in a feature I wrote on The Ranch web site at: http://ranchskydive.com/safety/tb_article12.htm Blue Skies, Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Highest- 30,000' Lowest from aircraft- 1,200' Lowest BASE- 279' Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

It sounds like you are shopping for a cheap tandem rig. There are many rigs on the market manufactured and approved for use in different countries. While a tandem rig may look like just a really big regular parachute rig, it is really a very different kind of technology. I'm really encouraging you to shop well and buy the best, not the cheapest. Your students (and instructors) deserve that. I'm a US jumper and began my tandem jumps with the Strong Dual Hawk system, then added a Relative Workshop Vector rating. Later, I added a Jump Shack Racer, and finally a Relative Workshop Sigma rating. I am convinced that the Sigma is by far the safest rig on the market. It offers an outstanding student/instructor harness combo, and the support of the Relative Workshop, an industry pioneer that remains among the most respected companies today. Not only is Relative Workshop on top of the civilian market, but they serve demanding military users around the world, and their products have been tested to the highest standards. The Sigma has several unique advantages including the Skyhook (a means of accelerated reserve deployment following a cutaway), a riser lanyard that releases the second riser if the RSL riser fails thus preventing the RSL from deploying the reserve into a streamering single riser main, a unique main closing system that prevents premature openings, an integrated drogue release/cutaway system that initiates the drogue release if you cutaway from an out of sequence opening without having first released the drogue, retractable drogue handles, and a completely covered drogue bridle that reduces snags. I really don't think you will find a better rig on the market from any source. For more detail see the Relative Workshop site at: http://relativeworkshop.com/general/home.html. As you shop, remember that two lives are on the line every time you make a tandem jump. There is a difference between rigs, and you should be equipping your staff with the best gear available. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

The reason for the 90 degree turns is to start and stop small turns. The reason for the 360's is to show you can control the turn with more speed, and a greater radius. The backloop is designed to get you slightly unstable, or at least get you off your belly. The barrel roll is sometimes included in AFF programs for the same reason. Talk with your instructor. He/she will want to see a more complete demonstration of turns with stopping at the designated heading. The choice of backloop or barrel roll shouldn't make that much difference, but some instructors get picky about their standards. I've always liked it when my students get involved in their training, as long as they aren't trying to avoid a necessary skill. It sounds like you have a reasonable plan, and a reasonable approach, but again, it is always up to your instructor. Oh, and don't skip the backloops altogether...they can be fun! Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Transfer. I've watched too many people die cutting away at 500 feet or less. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Somebody else already posted the NTSB reporting requirements. Many minor accidents don't need to be reported to the NTSB or FAA, but we as jumpers can express our concerns directly to the FAA. If you are aware of a serious safety problem (crazy pilot, poor maintenance, etc.) you can contact your local FAA Flight Standards District Office (FSDO). The FAA FSDO covering your DZ can be found at: http://www.faa.gov/avr/afs/fsdo/index.cfm. For anonymous complaints you can call an 800 number as follows: In general, it is best to talk with the DZO first. If the problem is serious and you get no resolution, contacting your local FSDO may be a good idea. You can discuss the issue initially without giving your name or the name of the business, and often an inspector will take your concern as advisory, rather than as a complaint. The FAA will generally discuss potential actions with you, and you can offer your thoughts about the best way to generate compliance. For example, the FAA may do nothing at all, they may make a casual phone call to the DZ to let them know they received a call, or they may do their own field inspection. If there have been other complaints about the pilot or business they may recognize a trend and take enforcement action on their own. You may also call the FSDO to inquire about a specific business. You can say, for example, that you are a jumper and are wondering if the FAA has had any dealings with a specific DZ, and if the DZ has had any recent ramp checks. The inspector will find somebody in the office that deals with that business, and will generally be willing to discuss their perceptions of businesses they have checked. It can be a casual kind of conversation, and you may then choose to offer your own impressions to bolster the FAA understanding of the DZ. You could say that you normally jump at XYZ drop zone, but you were just at the ABC drop zone and you saw problems, or heard about problems second hand from a friend. The focus of your conversation could be directed at the problem DZ, but at the same time the FAA will listen to the impressions you have of your own DZ. Those impressions of both good and bad drop zones will give the FAA inspector a bit more perspective that he can use when deciding how to deal with a drop zone when he receives a formal complaint. Again, however, I'd like to emphasize that we should talk about problems with the DZO first, whenever possible, and we should be willing to contact the FAA when a problem or perceived problem is being ignored. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy