200 USA/500 uk jumps to fly birdman ????

[Ron 7]

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Nothing. However, they can watch the practice touches and give hand signals to correct body position during those practice touches; that can help prevent the mals to begin with. The primary benefit of going through the course is definitely the ground instruction, but there is some benefit to actually jumping with a BM-I as well.

Enough benefit that you can do it with 300 less jumps?

I am asking since I don't know jack about BM flight...But it seems to me that while the ground class is a great idea (And I have been through one) that the actual BM flight with an instructor is not all that.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[LouDiamond 1]

I concur with Bill's statement and have zero doubt in my mind that a properly given ground course directly correlates to the students performance in the sky.

In response to:

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that the actual BM flight with an instructor is not all that.

Unfortunately not all people nail it perfect out of the door their first time and I would say a vast majority of FF students and even people already flying suits gain quite a bit from flying with an BMI. It's a given that people come into Birdman with an all ready established set of skydiving skills, BMI's are not there to pull for you or to save your life. The training you received on the ground provides you with the skills you need to save your own life. The BMI is there to ensure that you exit the A/C correctly, do your practice pulls and give you in air corrections if you need them and help you naviagate back to the DZ if you forget to. The information a BMI can provide to a FF student on the ground will go a long way to making their subsequent flights enjoyable, safe and increase their overall performance. Make no mistake, it is not AFF. Which is another reason why 500 jumps is the recommend number of jumps if your going to do it without proper instruction.

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