TheDonMan

I really can't answer that question. A lot of the people that jump at suffolk are in the Navy and are relocated all the time. As for the one that i have signed off for their A license almost all of them still jump. I make it at point to jump with them once they have their license to continue their education plus personally I like to see how far they have progressed over time. At our DZ a lot of the instructors will put together 2 ways and 4 ways with people with low jumps and basically act as a coach for them. That really helps retention.

Maybe 10 - 20% finish the course and get an A license. Ususally if the student makes it thru Cat C (release) jump then they will most often finish the course. The world is full of willing people, some willing to work, the rest willing to let them.

I believe if you are less then a year of not being current then all you have to do is have you S&TA fill in the blanks on your instructor rating card. As to what you will have to do for that I'm not sure. I also think that if it has been over a year you must attend an AFF-I course. The world is full of willing people, some willing to work, the rest willing to let them.

I don't feel that i need to spend hours training for a PLF for new students. all I'm trying to do is get them to understand how its done and have them practice a few times. for the most part when a person does break an ankle, leg or arm, it's because of the lack of canopy skills. they pull down on one toggel further then the other then look in the direction of the turn. then freak out and try to stop the fall with either their hand or one leg even though they have been trained on the PLF. FLY the canopy to the ground.... Look forward and if you find that your canopy is starting to dip to one side correct it to keep your canopy over your head. Oh ya keep your legs together.. No matter how much you train someone on the ground about doing a PLF, everyone will react to a situation differently. for me with my canopy, if i find that i am not going to land very well i find doing a front tumble role works well as long as I'm not wearing a camera. Plus the everyone loves to see the staff at the DZ mess up some times. The world is full of willing people, some willing to work, the rest willing to let them.

ok guys, this is the relation to my Rigger. She is the only one that packs my rig. I am always first in line because 1. I drive her to the DZ. 2. I was the one to teach her how to pack. (I have packed in the past for the DZ) 3. I pay her well. and 4. My opening are very consistent. I have the kind of relationship with my packer that if something does open strange, I can let her know. Sometimes she blames it on me but most of the time she will investigate closer and make adjustments. Then let me know what she did so i can give her back input of wether is was positive or negative. For some people like myself, I have 2 rigs, one has a Xaos and the other a VX. Both are heavily loaded and my openings for the most part are on heading and smooth. I do alot of AFF and Tandem jumps and it pays to be abel to debrief or brief a student while your rig is being packed. I pay dearly for this service but in the long run I'm not rushed to pack in order to get on the plane and I can give more time to my students while still on the ground. In short what works for some people may not work for others. The world is full of willing people, some willing to work, the rest willing to let them.

Dito that!!!! they don't call me The "non packing" Don Man for nothing... have had very few cut aways since i gave up packing... The world is full of willing people, some willing to work, the rest willing to let them.

That's because the CASA need more AIR speed to stay in the air... When flying in formations the air speeds for all the planes need to be the same as the plane that needs the greatest amount of AIR speed to keep from falling out of the sky. Thus the Otter will actually fly faster to keep up with the CASA when in actuality is can fly a lot slower and still stay in the air. The world is full of willing people, some willing to work, the rest willing to let them.

Thats not true..... An otter going 80kts with 0kt head wind will have the same ground speed as a kingair flying at 100kts air speed with a 20kts head wind. When determining separation from groups you should be looking at ground speed and should have around 1000ft separation between groups based of the ground speed not the air speed. The air speed is a constant..... An Otter will always have the same air speed on jump run just to stay in the air. that does not mean that the ground speed will always be the same. I have been on some Jump runs that the uppers were so strong that we needed 20 seconds of separation because our ground speed was about 35 kts. The plains air speed was 80 kts. The world is full of willing people, some willing to work, the rest willing to let them.

Get a Sigma and you wont have to worry about floaty ripcords and out of sequence deployment. Also always let the student have the toggles. Save your arms for the landing... The world is full of willing people, some willing to work, the rest willing to let them.

has anyone Looked into motor cycle communicaitons. they have some units that can be attached to your belt and have a noise reduction mic. I'm planning on purchasing them to see if they actually work and the cost is only about $150. will let you all know when i get them sometime next week. The world is full of willing people, some willing to work, the rest willing to let them.