Should the SIM be rewritten?

[JSE 1]

I recently got to spend some quality time with the SIM while participating in a AFF-I course. While preparing for our mock ground preps a fellow candidate and I both realized how painful it was to actually sit and try to read the SIM like a book. It’s written like a technical manual. Now that maybe ok for instructor candidates who are already very familiar with the material, but for real students it has got to be a nightmare. Why isn’t this thing written like a textbook? IMO it would make it much easier to find, digest, and remember the information.

[peek 20]

The SIM has been "scrubbed" so many times now, and by so many people, that it is in decent shape. Of course, most documents could be written better, but another pass at it would just generate another set of errors that would need to be scrubbed.

Skydiving is very technical, so I don't know how to make it less technical so that it would help. We all need to learn a lot of technical things to stay as safe as we can. And every time a new safety issue is realized, something gets added to the SIM, usually including some recommendations.

It's huge isn't it? I can really sympathize with a skydiving student needing to read so much of it though, and needing to find things in it. Sometimes it takes me a while to find what I need in it.

Personal note: SIM is not plural. Drives me crazy when people say "SIMs".

[GLIDEANGLE 1]

Hmmmm..... A technical manual which is written like a technical manual. How strange!

If the SIM were written the way that you propose, it would be far less easy to use as a reference and much harder to edit.

As a professional educator, my suspicion is that re-writing would NOT help. I suspect that the readers' literacy issues causing this "difficulty" would also impair their ability to read AND UNDERSTAND a narrative style manual.

The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

[tombuch 0]

It is a technical manual, and it shouldn't read like a book.

Some of our students may have difficulty with the format of a technical manual, and that's to be expected. It's your job as an instructor to help them understand skydiving, and understand all the resources available. Part of that is helping the student to understand how the information in the SIM is organized, and how to find the information they need. In some cases part of you job may be helping non-technical students learn to read a technical document.

A good instructor will encourage students (and non-students) to ask questions and seek help when needed. When jumpers comes to you with a question that is in the SIM, don't just answer the question, pull out the book and show them how to research the topic so they can find the answer themselves.

You can also conduct topic specific seminars, or write additional material for students that brings many information sources together. When I was S&TA at The Ranch I used the SIM as the basis for many of my web articles that were published on our web site. Then, those articles became the basis for impromptu clinics or discussion on rainy days. http://theblueskyranch.com/STA.php

Tom Buchanan
Instructor Emeritus
Comm Pilot MSEL,G
Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

[kallend 1,621]

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It is a technical manual, and it shouldn't read like a book.

The trouble is that text books have been so dumbed down in the past 50 years that they no longer read like text books, and most students graduate from high school (and college) without the ability to read technical stuff any more.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[CHRCNF 0]

As a new skydiver who has recently spent time with the SIM, I believe it's good the way it is.

It simply tells you what you need to know.

[NickDG 23]

>>but for real students it has got to be a nightmare
We called it the Big Blue Sleeping Pill.

NickD

[bluetwo 0]

I don't think it's all that bad. Compared to the Army's Technical Manuals and Field Manuals it's a breeze to read through.

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[JSE 1]

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And every time a new safety issue is realized, something gets added to the SIM, usually including some recommendations.

I can see how the current format makes it easier to update.

[jsreznor 0]

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I don't think it's all that bad. Compared to the Army's Technical Manuals and Field Manuals it's a breeze to read through.

But this isn't the army.
I don't think it needs to be re-written, but an addendum with examples to elucidate points would be helpful, instead of referencing the FARs.

[JSE 1]

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You can also conduct topic specific seminars, or write additional material for students that brings many information sources together. When I was S&TA at The Ranch I used the SIM as the basis for many of my web articles that were published on our web site. Then, those articles became the basis for impromptu clinics or discussion on rainy days. http://theblueskyranch.com/STA.php

Those articles are great. I read them myself in the past and found them helpful. Perhaps I can print them out and make them available to our students for those windy days they are stuck on the ground.

[airtwardo 6]

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I don't think it's all that bad. Compared to the Army's Technical Manuals and Field Manuals it's a breeze to read through.

But this isn't the army.
I don't think it needs to be re-written, but an addendum with examples to elucidate points would be helpful, instead of referencing the FARs.

But it IS aviation and that's how much of what's on that road goes...

If it seriously is a problem for you, then re-write it in a format you're more comfortable with and submit it to the USPA with your reasons...who know maybe they'll put a yellow cover on it instead of a blue one and call it 'Skydiving For Dummies' ~

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[SKIandSKY 0]

About the only crazy thing I've come across so far is about a water landing. I think the manual says to inflate your life preserver BEFORE attempting to swim deep to escape a canopy on your head. I wonder exactly, how one can easy swim down if a life preserver is already open.

I do have a 2008 manua; maybe that's since been corrected.

S&S

[Programmer 0]

You can download the current SIM from uspa.com or view it online if you want to check whether that part has been changed.

[DSE 3]

I *believe* this was corrected. I also believe the online version will include some video of water training.
The 2011 SIM should be coming sometime soon.

[jimjumper 25]

What the SIM needs is a workable index for the written version and a keyword search capability for the on-line version. It would make finding specific information so much easier.

[Hvance 0]

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What the SIM needs is a workable index for the written version and a keyword search capability for the on-line version. It would make finding specific information so much easier.

That I can agree with.

I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

[GLIDEANGLE 1]

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What the SIM needs is a workable index for the written version and a keyword search capability for the on-line version. It would make finding specific information so much easier.

Instead of using the online version, download the PDF version and use the Adobe Reader search function (Ctrl+F). Works like a champ!

The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

[Pulse 0]

I don't know what good re-writing it would do.

I miss the days of the 3-ring binder SIM and i'm sure those that came before me remember an even slimmer version. To me the SIM seems so overdone and complicated. All the while I have seen the same amount of skill coming out of newly A-licensed jumpers that I have been for the past 20 years. You know why? Because they're new.

But I have noticed a trend among newer experienced jumpers in that they are quite skilled as long as things are going according to plan. The instant something is different however, they're lost.

"Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman's apparel is clearly asking to be mangled."

[ridestrong 1]

The SIM, while it has all the necessary content, is one of the most poorly put together manuals I've ever read. Too bad it's not written even half as well as some of the manuals for the private pilots license. Just my opinion.

*I am not afraid of dying... I am afraid of missing life.*
----Disclaimer: I don't know shit about skydiving.----

[pirana 0]

No, just cleaned up a little. I tabbed mine. It made it much easier to use as a reference in preparing for my rating; and makes it a ton easier to use as a reference when instructing.

About a dozen tabs changes it from feeling like your flipping thru a bible to feeling like you are using a decently organized reference manual.

Also, just as a matter of good form, they should actually pay a professional proofreader to give the next version it's last looksee. It can't cost THAT much.

" . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley