Tandem Master Appreciation

[weegegirl 2]

Many of us got started in this sport with a tandem jump. Whether you knew it at the time or not, that tandem master introduced you to your new life and passion.

Personally, I've never met my tandem master, accept for the day of the jump. I'm sure he has no clue (obviously) who I am, or the influence he had on my life. But I sure as hell remember him.

Here is your chance to say thank you to that unsuspecting tandem master.

For me...

The Ranch, Gardiner, NY, about 5 years ago. Thanks Robyn. This guy was the best. Cool as hell, calming, very funny, and gave a great ride. Hope I get to meet him and make a jump with him someday.

[Flyer2Diver 0]

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For me...

The Ranch, Gardiner, NY, about 5 years ago. Thanks Robyn. This guy was the best. Cool as hell, calming, very funny, and gave a great ride. Hope I get to meet him and make a jump with him someday.

Robyn is awesome - he's still at the Ranch doing tandems, I saw him there on Saturday.

For me, my first TM was Chance McGuire in 'Vegas. He gave me a great first jump.

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30005KT 10SM SKC 23/05 A3006

[sunshine 2]

I'm glad i got hooked on skydiving, but my TM almost killed me twice so i won't be posting his name. In fact after my 2nd tandem, he got fired...

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meow

I get a Mike hug! I get a Mike hug!

[pilotdave 0]

My first tandem was the instructor's 7th. I dunno which of us was more nervous.
Dave

[cliffharris 0]

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my TM almost killed me twice...

HOw so?

[mcrocker 0]

My first 5 tandems (no idea why I did 5 but that is another story) were with Schlefee (sp?) I funny german with different hair every day. He was cool, made me feel nervous and spun the crap out of me under canopy. I loved it.

Sad to say, he died a couple years back in a BASE accident . He was an influence on me, as was everyone at my home DZ.

[douwanto 22]

The heading says(Tandem Master Appreciation)

Not how bad was yours.


Thanks for all the awsome TI's out there.

Chris

Uncle/GrandPapa Whit
Unico Rodriguez # 245
Muff Brother # 2421

[billymotox 0]

Good idea, Liz. Roscoe and Enzo at SDC, two great instructors, and great people as well. Thanx guys!

billy d------------------------- "Escape may be checked by water and land, but the air and the sky are free." (from the story of Daedalus and Icarus)

[crwmike 0]

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My first tandem was the instructor's 7th. I dunno which of us was more nervous.
Dave

Agreed ...and hat's off to the good ones.

The thing is, the dive is so fucking incredible, that even the most indifferent, freight hauling TM will be viewed as having done an incredible job.

This is why most of us who have spent years instructing students (or even just hauling the meat), developed greatly exaggerated opinions of our efforts. WTF, it got us laid ...a lot

Michael

[sunshine 2]

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The thing is, the dive is so fucking incredible, that even the most indifferent, freight hauling TM will be viewed as having done an incredible job.

Thats exactly how it happened in my case. At the time the tandem jumps were awesome. I didn't find out about my TM being fired after my 2 jumps, til a few years later and after i'd made a couple hundred jumps. I was clueless that anything was wrong. I just remeber having the time of my life and falling in love with the sport.

___________________________________________
meow

I get a Mike hug! I get a Mike hug!

[Lainey 0]

My poor tandem master deserves a big pat on the back, his name is Sass, jumped at Barwon Heads in Malbourne Australia, not sure if he is still there, i've never seen him again. I spent the time on the ground shaking saying i wasn't going up, i spent the time in the plane with a death grip on his legs shaking my head but he got me out the door eventually and thank goodness for that because i absolutley loved it
.

And you shed not a single tear for the things that you didn't need
'Cause you knew you were finally free - Death Cab For Cutie

[cocheese 0]

Good post Liz. Yes i was hooked on skydiving after my first freefall (tandem). I had 12 staic lines in 9 years and just didn't get it. Freefall was like : In zombie/robot voice..... Must drop everything and become skydiver !
Thanks to : Todd Ames= TandemMaster.
Beth Lumen= tandem video
Aff instructor= Big Jason... Clewiston Fla

[Dougiefresh 0]

Props to Donovan Bartlett at SDC... introduced me to the sport and all the skygods I have had the privilege and joy to jump with since.

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams

[dragon2 0]

I did my first 3 jumps solo, static-line. In one day. That evening the plane was to fly to one of our islands for a jump-in on the beach, followed by a party. I was asked to go along, because they needed to fill up the plane. So I'd be paying the same as everybody else but no jumps... No thanx. As a joke, I asked my I if he couldn't take me as a tandem passenger. He couldn't because he had the 2nd pilot as a passenger already. But he asked another jumper to take me, which he did! Luckily my TM is kinda heavy because we landed backwards

After those 4 first jumps I was kinda beat up so I was one of the first to go to bed. Still, the party was nice too

Next morning the 2 TM's went at me: C'mon, you had fun with me yesterday, why not jump with me again?! vs You haven't jumped with me before, so c'mon! (The pilot that was the other passenger is kinda heavy ). I chose the other TM, in the plane he kept asking me 'Aren't you nervous?!' Nope... Why should I be? No tandem briefing, but complete faith in my TM's. But we ended up between cows. My first out landing

Whew what a day, the smile was stuck on my face for a couple days!!!!!
Not an introduction to the sport, but an introduction to freefall. And those jumps helped me get rid of the sensory overload I had: I can't remember my first 3 SL exits and I remember 'waking up' high above the North Sea too. The 2nd tandem and every jump since are all much clearer So thanx to Erik Peters for giving up his solo jumps, and thanx to Peter Smit for arranging it and taking me on my 2nd tandem

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[Lucie813 0]

My tandem master was Mark (never got his last name) at Skydive Space Center in Titusville. He was great - calm, laidback manner that helped me feel more at ease. It also helped reassure me that he'd done over 1,200 tandems!

[Emel 0]

My first TM was Sandor from the Georgia Skydiving Center in Rome, GA. He is amazing. I am completely confident in him and his ability.

My TM through my tandem progression was/is Kevin from Rome, GA as well. He's awesome. I am sure he has permanent marks in his leg from my first solo. I kind of got a little nervous on the plane. Oh and he put with up my endless questions and repeating everything he said to make sure that I understood. He's so patient. And it's a good thing cause I am still his student.

Life is best lived one jump at a time.

[mofo554 0]

My tandem master appreciation goes out to Rod at Skydive Tecumseh. In 2001, we jumped from a 182 with the former owner, Mark, flying. One of the things that stuck with me was the smile on his face as he watched us leave off the strut. Anyway, Rod was incredibly nice to both my friend and I. We were there to write an article for our high school newspaper, and Rod patiently smoked and answered our lame questions.

[packerboy 3]

My first tandem... albeit an amazing experience.. left me with a sour taste in my mouth for the instructor. I knew right away what hauling cargo was, you could see it on the video, not one smile from the instructor.

My next 3 tandems are the ones I want to put a shout out to. I was talking to a friend one day about how I needed to find a job (just returned from a sabbatical out west). She asked me what I liked to do. I told her that I went skydiving once and I envy the people that work there. She told me to call them up.

So I e-mailed Skydive Gananoque and told them that I didn't have a job, didn't have any money, and really wanted to skydive and asked if they could give me a job doing something. I didn't expect to hear back. Not an hour later I got an e-mail from Tom McCarthy telling me to come on out on Saturday morning and he will teach me how to pack parachutes and I can learn to jump.

So the shout goes out to Tom and Will McCarthy, Will being the TI that took me up for free while I was learning to pack just to keep the skydiving juice flowing enough to motivate me to keep packing untill I had enough to pay for the course. Tom being the DZO of Skydive Gan.

Thanks Guys!!!

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In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

[windcatcher 0]

I appreciate Bigun from Skydive Tulsa, he took me to freefall the first time. I had done a few static lines before, but after waiting about 2 yrs. I just wanted to experience freefall, knowing it would be a while before I got to do it on my own.
Thanks Bigun!!!

Mother to the cutest little thing in the world...

[Sheenster303 0]

My first tandem was with Jack from Skydive Atlanta. I totally appreciate him giving me an incredible jump for my first time. I ended up going to ASC for the rest of my tandem progression because it was closer. I saw Jack at the Halloween Boogie at Skydive Atlanta and I thanked him for helping me fall in love with the sport by giving me my first jump.

I'm so funny I crack my head open!

P.M.S. #102

[weegegirl 2]

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My tandem master appreciation goes out to Rod at Skydive Tecumseh. In 2001, we jumped from a 182 with the former owner, Mark, flying. One of the things that stuck with me was the smile on his face as he watched us leave off the strut. Anyway, Rod was incredibly nice to both my friend and I. We were there to write an article for our high school newspaper, and Rod patiently smoked and answered our lame questions.

Wow!! Cool!! Rod and Mark rock! Two very cool people. Both are still fairly active jumpers at Tecumseh. I'll tell them you said so.

[AndyMan 7]

For me it was Peter Legere, at Frontier Skydivers near Buffalo NY.

I'd worked with Peter at Molson (accross the lake in Toronto), and he and another guy Jim organized a trip.

Well, of the 15 Molson folk who signed up, only two of us ended up making the trip. I'm hooked... but the other guy didn't make it back.

That was Aug 31, 1999.

Thanks Peter!

_Am

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

[Croc 0]

Kip Lohmiller (sp?) rocks! I was so scared he had to drag me to the door, but I'm glad he did! I love this sport! Thanks to Kip and all the great instructors I've met since.

"Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so."

Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

[popsjumper 2]

Blue Skies and Props to John King at Skydive Monroe.

He and I both will always remember "bug f**ker".

I was one of John's rides right afrter he got started and we potato chipped all the way down to opening. Watching the video, someone commented "It looks like two bugs f**king!"

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[crotalus01 0]

good topic weege...i have to give props to Wyatt from Skydive Hawaii on Mauis North Shore. i did a tandem with him from the KingAir, landed, manifested again and then....well he got confused because he didnt expect me to be jumping again on the next load. he hooked up some hot chick in the harness, then figured out i was the one jumping (the hottie was on the load after me). as a result of it all he almost got into a fistfight with another tandem instructor for holding up the load...we made it a working tandem and did turns and canopy control. i got to wear an altimeter and pulled the ripcord at 5500. hey Wyatt if you read this PM me, i still have some questions about exactly what happened when i pulled...it was july 01 2004 i was the one with the tats on the shins....(no more elaboration)

As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD...