Every now and then...

[Tonto 1]

You get an AFF student who makes you think... "Wow."

With 1700 AFF dives, you tend to think you've pretty much seen it all.
I've had students fly through the whole program in a weekend, I've had the vast majority pass without a repeat, one that has taken nearly 30 jumps to get through the program but is still jumping, some national champions, both South African and one from another country.

Going through the door with "real" AFF, when it's the student's 1st ever jump, can be both rewarding, and sometimes unpredictable.

I had a humdinger yesterday.

The student performed well on the ground, and was relaxed and calm on the ride to altitude. When we went through the dive on the way to altitude, his knowlege of the dive, handsignals, in air emergencies, etc, was top class. The door opened, and his positioning and pre exit checks, as well as the timing of his exit was perfect.

From then on, with an exit at 11 000ft AGL, to his pull altitude at 5500ft, both me and the other AFF instructor worked very hard to simply prevent him from funneling us. Although he responded to body position signals, he did so only when they were visible, and returned to his interesting but erratic "natural" position as a default. Altitude awareness was minimal and he was pulled out at 4500 by one of his instructors. He's quite big and quite tall. 1.85m, 95 kg (6'2ish, 210lbs)

Dispite all this, he had a safe and enjoyable skydive. For me and the AFF I on the other side... it was very rewarding. We were high fiveing in the landing area like it was the last round of the world meet and we'd won.

Often we see posts of dives that go wrong. It's nice to see posts of dives that have the potential for great mayhem, but are kept under control, and kept safe.

It's really rewarding to have an AFF I on the other side that you've worked with a lot, and who you know is covering his side of the dive.
No confusion, no assumption, no misunderstanding.

AFF is hugely rewarding, but there are times that you realise that regardless of your level of experience, there are always students who's natural abilities can overshadow that in an instant.

All fellow AFF I's out there, stay sharp.

To those of you who are busy with AFF...

1. Think fast, but move slow. There is really no need to move fast just because you're falling fast.

2. When things seem "busy" take a glance at your instructor. They probably have a solution to your problem.

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[pincheck 0]

I think it can be more rewarding sometimes to overcome a problem you have had to work really hard to achieve than something you have succeeded in first time
Like you said "think fast but move slow " unlike my AFF1 which after a prompt punch in the ribs to make me start dummy pulls completed them so fast all i did for about 5000ft was circle off awareness. On the ground instructor said relax go slower you have loads off time. Me i thought he was taking the piss. New students take time to tune into the time and spacial awareness, that you develop the more you jump. The best advice i kept getting is relax and bugger me it works.

I thought that once i had my "A" license that was me but no its back to school for my Rw license. O well back to messing my instructors up

Billy-Sonic Haggis Flickr-Fun

[Jeth 0]

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To those of you who are busy with AFF...

1. Think fast, but move slow. There is really no need to move fast just because you're falling fast.

2. When things seem "busy" take a glance at your instructor. They probably have a solution to your problem.

t

Right on with #1! I had that problem last weekend. My instructor kept telling me to slow down, think about what I was going to do, then do it. But I was feeling rushed cuz I had to do 4 turns, a dock and a track all in 50 seconds! But this weekend I am going to try to take that advice and get it right.
I also appreciate your observations as an instructor. I think it would be fabulous to teach others and spread the love, but I don't know if I could handle the huge unknowns you get with AFF. My instructor had a smiliar experience last weekend. It was a first jump, and the guy looked good on the ground. But when they got up there he was stiff as a board and totally unaware. In our program there is just 1 instructor and apparently she had to really fight to keep them stable, and she ended up pulling for him high cuz it was not going well. (He's a very tall guy, and was apparently not arched a bit.) I think most students have no idea how stable you guys are actually keeping us (till you let go, of course. )

Congrats on keeping your student and yourself safe and thanks for being an instructor.

"At 13,000 feet nothing else matters."
PFRX!!!!!
Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109
My Jump Site

[Peej 0]

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The best advice i kept getting is relax and bugger me it works.

You'll find that advice rings true right through your skydiving career.
Echoing what Tonto said wrt "think fast but move slow" another very good piece of advice that an LO friend gave me was: "slow is fast and fast is smooth"

Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky

[Tonto 1]

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another very good piece of advice that an LO friend gave me was: "slow is fast and fast is smooth"

[whisper]Psst... I think that was "Slow is smooth and smooth is fast."[/whisper]

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[mjosparky 3]

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another very good piece of advice that an LO friend gave me was: "slow is fast and fast is smooth"

[whisper]Psst... I think that was "Slow is smooth and smooth is fast."[/whisper]

t

And all this time I thought "slow was slow and fast was fast". Must be a carry over from 10 way speed star days.

Good post Tonto.

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[airtwardo 6]

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And all this time I thought "slow was slow and fast was fast". Must be a carry over from 10 way speed star days.

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No...Fast is SLOW...when ya screw up an gotta do it AGAIN!

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

[rehmwa 2]

slow = slow, fast = fast, no kidding

it's just that most people think fast = "rushed", or fast = 'frenzied' and they are nuts. Calm = fast is what we're trying to get across. So instead of telling them they are wrong, they just changed the definition. Don't want anyone to cry or anything

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[Peej 0]

Ok, to steer this thread back on track...

t, i'd be interested to hear what your views are on the "in-air communication systems" that are now making an appearance on the market. (Rand/$ exchange rate and price aside of course)

You said your student: "responded to body position signals...only when they were visible, and returned to his interesting but erratic position as a default. Altitude awareness was minimal and he was pulled out at 4500 by one of his instructors."

Do you think being able to speak to him would have helped the situation, or are students experiencing sensory overload going to completely miss the talking the same way they miss can miss hand signals?

Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky

[Tonto 1]

Mmm.

I may be a little conservative here.

Have you listened to the radio transmissions fron the Formula 1 drivers to their pit crews? It's only Shumi who can talk all the way through the lap. EVERY other driver stops talking while braking, passing etc. It's a head space thing.

Do you think if I put a comms system on you I could talk you through a fight? I know how to fight. Could I help you?

I think the comms would work really well in the tunnel. There were times I was bouncing around on the floor thinking "WTF does he want me to do?"

On an AFF level 1, I'm not sure. I don't want to use the term "worst" but this student presented challenges I had not seen in several years and 1000's of skydives. I don't think the dive was a failure at all. The student has been exposed to an environment they had never been exposed to before. Their toes have been dipped in the stream of knowledge. The next dive will be better because experience is what we get when we don't get what we want. Really, this is what I long for as an AFF instructor. Somewhere, there's a key to the section of this man's mind that is blocking the path to learning. I want to find that key and see him fly, and I'll do the dives for free if nessesary in exchange for the knowledge I'll gain.

Of course, I'm not sure if I would have the headspace to even operate an in flight system with any positive result. For me, freefall is a silent environment. I've learned to block the sound of moving air on all but the 1st few seconds of a night jump. I like the silence, but for the ticking of the clock.

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[Peej 0]

Interesting response, thanks. But let's face it, Shumi is a freak - in fact i'd go as far as to say that dude isn't human!

I can see where the communication systems would come in handy in the tunnel, in fact i was watching some tunnel footage of mine the other night and a few times i thought "oh, so THAT'S what he wanted me to do there!"

I have experienced the system in freefall though, on some jumps with Swanson. And i have to say i feel it helped immensely - of course there's a large difference in communicating with and coaching a student with 200 jumps than someone on their first jump...

Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky

[kallend 1,679]

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Have you listened to the radio transmissions fron the Formula 1 drivers to their pit crews? It's only Shumi who can talk all the way through the lap. EVERY other driver stops talking while braking, passing etc. It's a head space thing.

Now the sad thing is that people talking on cell phones while driving do the exact opposite. They continue talking and lose focus on their driving. It's a head space thing too.

...

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

[Smeger 0]

Very helpful advice, thanks bud. It's also great to read an AFF story that has a happy ending, helps build the old confidence a little .

[Tonto 1]

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It's a head space thing too.

Absolutely. It's illegal to use a cell phone here while driving without a hands free kit.... but when I see people alone in the car waving their hands about trying to explain something to someone on the other side - I wonder what they're thinking...

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[Joellercoaster 6]

In the opinion of some reasearchers, it should be illegal to drive while talking on the phone, period.

There are (apparently) numbers suggesting that even talking to your passenger can be a fairly risky thing to do, and that hands-free or otherwise isn't the problem with cell phone use while driving - it's the headspace you enter while talking to someone, particularly someone remote from you, that causes the accident increase.

--
"I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan

"You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

[Tonto 1]

With you 100%.

But we're OKing it for skydiving, right?
t

It's the year of the Pig.

[velvetjo 0]

Like anything else, communicating & doing simultaneously is a learned skill that requires practice. Listen to your jump pilot's radio chatter during takeoff if you want a good example. Instrument approaches in an airplane are an even more demanding example.

To support your point though, you'll find very few flight instructors asking brand-new pilots to handle communications during landings.

Lance