Students jumping at different DZ's (Semi long post)

[DocPop 1]

Your profile says you jump at Sky Knights.

If you're not happy, try Skydive Midwest. The Otter always has space on it!

"The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls."

~ CanuckInUSA

[wicodefly 0]

DocPop

Your profile says you jump at Sky Knights.

If you're not happy, try Skydive Midwest. The Otter always has space on it!

To be clear, I am happy there and everyone is great. I just wish I could get on more often since I am on vacation and summer is ending soon.

I am going to try SDMW though just to broaden my horizons if you will and see what's up there.

Thanks!!

Chance favors the prepared mind.

[davelepka 4]

Quote

To be clear, I am happy there and everyone is great. I just wish I could get on more often since I am on vacation and summer is ending soon.

It's not a slight on the people or their attitudes, but if a DZ does not have the instructional staff, aircraft capacity or student gear to support the students jumping as much as they want, then that's just not a good DZ for student training.

We have a local DZ that is primarily a 182 DZ that has very few AFF instructors (all are also tandem I) and maybe one student rig. Many times tandems have taken up AFF there, only to get discouraged when they get one (maybe no) jumps in on a given day because of the tandems taking up the space in the plane the instructors time.

Many of those students have transitioned to our DZ to complete their training. We have a dozen+ instructors/coaches, 20 student/rental rigs, and fly 15-20 Caravan loads every Sat and Sun. As a student, you can make as many jumps as time and money allows. Once licensed, many of these jumpers will return to the other DZ to fun jump from time to time, but in terms of student training, that's just not what they do best over there.

I'm willing to bet the people you jump with now will just be glad to see you get your training completed and get your license. If they really are 'great' people, they see you sitting there all day waiting to jump and probably feel bad that they can't do more for you.

[travisprill 0]

In my opinion, this thread is pointing out an issue in this industry related to standardized training. I was a ski instructor for a number of years in Tahoe. Quite some time ago, the governing body for Ski Instruction (PSIA) standardized the teaching methods so a person who has taken a first timer lesson on the East Coast should be able to do fine in a second time lesson on the West Coast, provided they did decent in the first lesson. Albeit, there is no logbook for skiing and the instructors can more easily determine the skill level of a skier than a skydiver by talking to them and observing, however the differences in equipment, terrain, chairlift operation, weather etc. is very similar to the O.P.'s situation.

I recently got my A-license and had my own struggles with re-currency issues due to a crappy "travel-for-work-schedule". I didn't have the same struggle of changing DZ's, but I did have the issue of different coaches. My DZ was very accommodating in both looking out for my wallet as well as my safety. Neither was compromised for the other. There was reasonable compromise due to excellent documentation and a standardized program. In the middle of my AFF program I had a long stretch of being away from the program due to traveling for work. Upon my return, my original instructors were not available to verbally vouch for my skill level, but my logbook and proficiency card was. The DZ management requested that due to my absence that I observe the first jump-course at a discounted rate, and do a checkout dive for my last achieved level. Deep down, I know I probably would have been fine continuing on to the next level, but I know safety is paramount in this sport and I was happy to oblige, and didn't feel like I was being gouged. I felt, that in my situation, I was treated fairly, but it doesn't seem as an industry everyone is on the same page.

I really feel that new students of this sport are excellent advertisers. I get the fact that the money is made in tandems and first time jump classes. The fact of the matter is, a tandem might rave about their skydiving experience and attract business to the sport for a couple of weeks after their jump. A skydiving student will continue to spout the coolness of this sport until they stop skydiving. Students of this sport are the future, and they should be handled by the industry a little better. The old adage of 'I put in my time in the dung pile, now you have to' is stupid.

I'm not asking the industry put aside the money makers to suit the up-and-comers, but there needs to be a balance. Continuing to standardize the teaching programs will only make this sport safer and that much easier to get involved in. Adding more certified skydivers will only improve this sport. Those that try to hold on to the exclusivity of this sport by requiring newbies to crawl up through a 'dung pile' need a reality check.

Just my two cents as a recent student coming from an instructor background myself.

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

davelepka

I would see if you could get the DZO or head instructor from your local DZ to call on your behalf and explain your skills/experience/training. That's not to say that you won't have to do some sort of training at the new DZ, but what you are describing sounds like the same thing a guy with zero jumps would have to do, and that doesn't seem right.

+1

I'm gonna go ahead and state the obvious here: EVERY dropzone ought to be working off of the four-page ISP card and EVERY student should be issued one and taught what it is in their FJC. Also, every first jump student ought to be issued a real logbook and it ought to be properly filled out by their instructor during debrief after every jump. If everyone were doing it correctly, then it would not be such an issue for a "travelling" student. Personally, I'm totally cool with travelling/ visiting students and so long as their paperwork is in order I'm all about letting them continue with their progression from their last successful jump.

Here's the caveat: Most travelling students don't show up with correctly documented proof of their progression or are uncurrent (more than 30 days since last jump and not in possession of an A-license) and that raises a lot of problems.

If you fall into this category then do yourself the HUGE favor of making sure your ducks are in a row:

-Make sure your logbook is properly filled out with the particulars of your jumps, whether or not you passed the TLO's, and what your next category jump should be.

-Make sure you have a properly filled-out A License proficiency card indicating where you are at in your student progression.

-Make sure you are current!


Hope that helps,

Chuck Blue, D-12501
AFF/SL/TM-I, PRO