diablopilot

One day 9 years ago or so, I did a tandem. in the next month I did 2 more, 4 AFF levels, and then got my A. A couple ratings later, tons of tunnel time, winning a couple medals, and a bunch o' students trained, I'm just now starting not to suck. My dream program for training students would be 2 tandems (first one is an "optional fun ride), 3 to 5 S/L or IAD jumps and then 4 or 5 AFF single jump master levels. If I had a wind tunnel I'd probably sneak in a 10 minute requirement just before the AFF part. Figure I'd have some pretty competent skydivers coming out of a program like that and could still get them to an "A" for under 2 grand. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/classifieds/detail_page.cgi?ID=47101&d=1 Be an interesting time trying to enforce it. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Sorry if my posts have come off sour. I have seen many more good and great AFF instructors around the country. Some are full time, some part, some long time in the sport and some relativly short. They all had one thing in common, they has a passion to teach, and learn, and that's why they got their ratings. IMO the system is letting through too many of the type that get the AFFI rating for money, and ego reasons. That might be ok for Tandem "Masters" or Meat Haulers provided they are safe, but the "Instructor" lable needs to be reserved for those who do just that. I do have a problem with the current course in that it focuses on freefall abilities only. And adding yet another rating like "canopy coach" is going to be a joke. It will cost the students more, and add nothing that they shouldn't already be getting from their AFF instructor. WHen S/L was the main form of training, students got lots of feedback on canopy control, gear checks, aircraft safely, etc. Now there is so much focus on freefall, that just landing safely is enough. My instructors were S/L instructors for YEARS before becoming AFF instructors. So when I FUBARed my patteren, I heard about it and how to fix it. To all the students, and instructors I'd like to point out, the freefall stuff is the easy part. It takes some time to get perfect, but we don't need "perfect" right away since freefall is rarely what kills jumpers. We need "good enough" there, and "perfect" in the important areas like A/C safety, emergency training, and canopy control. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Bingo. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

I'm saying things can fail to operate as predicted. I have no real beef with the SkyHook, just pointed out that there are some situations that have not been discussed. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

No they don't apply to the standard RSL. There is no direct connection between a standard RSL, and the canopy or deployment device. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

I said it adds danger to a canopy transfer, and I provided a reason why. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Nope. In a canopy transfer there is no connection between the main and reserve. An entanglement may occur if the main is not relaesed soon enough. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

My oppinion is that it could be so, since you're launching an entanglement and planing on it clearing. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

One point. A TI MUST have good canopy control. I know AFFI's that can't stand up 8 out of ten landings much less guide their students through a landing pattern. Wonder why there are so many pattern incidents these days? ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Yeah, those RW freaks are dangerous too. They don't even know how to do style. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Cool.

That ban ever get's lifted, they'll need more Air Marshals on flights. In air homicide might end up being "justifiable". ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

What's a "VIP" Tandem? ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Not by current testing standards. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

One thing to note, in the past (about birth of the wingsuit era circa 99' to 2000') it was very common for pullouts to have a shorter bridle than throw outs. Two reasons for this were that is was assumes not as much "snach" was needed as the container was already open, and it reduced the amount of bulk needed in the main container. I've seen pullout bridles from this era to be as shore as 6 or 7 feet. In most modern skydiving containers to my knowlage the pull out bridles are being constructed the same length as the throw out bridles, as they should be. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

I didn't know you were a NIN fan! How YOU doin'? ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

D000000D1111 U have that same dream 2? ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Eh, it's a'ight. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

It appears in that video that the tunnel staff was contributing to causing those "spots" more than they were preventing them. Wonder if they created their own training program. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Dan, I want to thank you for a clear, concise, and honest answer. I have not agreed with you much in the past, but your post in this thread is spot on and I appreciate that. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Those that desire to lead are usually least suited for it. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

You sure about that? I can think of 2 Perris jumpers alone that have gone in in less than the last 5 years trying to find a hackey for too long. In a review of fatalities since 1996 attributed to "No Pull" situation I could not locate a SINGLE incident involving a pull out. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

I'd be irritated if I had accepted an invitation to a 200 way and ended up on a 140 way. But I do give my hearty applause to the participants of the 2pt 140 way. Quite an accomplisment! ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Unfortunately the coach rating is self supervised. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.