Unusual Tandem Exit (Video Attached)

[skydiverek 56]

Check this movie:

http://www.tandemy.pl/filmy/tandem.mpg

Quite unusual exit. I have seen other movies with the same Tandem Master and he always exits like this from tailgate airplanes.

It looks like the momentum of rotation creates more controlled movement and prevents instability. At least that's how it looks to me... What do you think? Quite a quick (but stable) drogue toss, too!

More exits here:

http://www.tandemy.pl/filmy/mix3.mpg

[swarley 0]

Think that was a tame exit. We did flips for 9-10
seconds before P/C out.
Here

[payback462 0]

good god man, didnt they tell you you had to arch when you got out???

[swarley 0]

HeHeHe, Its hard to arch with a 200# marine
on your back I did get my arms out
but the centrifiugal force was pulling my legs down.
Think he does this for fun.

My Site

[skyboyblue 0]

heh, I doubt an uncontrolled exit is not that much fun for your tandem instructor. It certainly is not my cup of tea.
You should watch the side spin video from STRONG sometime. I noticed a few similarities there, and if not for your quick tandem master helping to get your legs from out front of him to back where they should be, you may have good reason to be on that video, too. Sorry to be overcritical.

[PhreeZone 15]

9-10 seconds at tandem terminal out of a 182 at 10k is putting you down in the basement to get stable, throw the drouge and still have time for the video guy to catch you and hope to get anything worth having on the tape.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[swarley 0]

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9-10 seconds at tandem terminal out of a 182 at 10k is putting you down in the basement

Actually we had about 35 sec total until pull. The Cameraflyer caught up at 9K and got some great
shots (to his credit) down to 5K when i pulled.
Have 24 still pictures from his camera.
I mentioned that i would like to do another Tandem
and they recommended AFF. Hehe

My Site

[fred 0]

My dad's tandem in Arizona started with a backflip out of the tailgate... I'm not sure this exit was so unusual. Most tandem instructor I've talked to like to do a few flips out of the plane if they think their student is up for it.

I really liked the 'swimming toward the camera' moves, though...

Couple things I noticed as a lowtimer... Was the tandem master flying mantis at the beginning? Second, did he deploy the main from the left? Are tandem rigs set up this way? Maybe I've never noticed this before.

[billdo 0]

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Couple things I noticed as a lowtimer... Was the tandem master flying mantis at the beginning?

He's sort of in a mantis looking position, but basically he's just using his arms to stablize the student's movements. Don't think of mantis as some radically different "technique" or something so special like that. It's just another way to fly our bodies - applicable in some situations, not so in others.

[riggerrob 558]

First of all, that is the exit that Strong Enterprises recommends for tail gate airplanes.
It has been years since I have done a tandem from a tail gate airplane, but that was never my favorite exit. I always prefer to be stable from the get-go because I figure that if you rarely get unstable, then you rarely have to deal with side spins.There are two exits that I like from tail gate airplanes. The first exit simply involved diving out in a Superman position - with legs tucked up. We usually go vertical for a few seconds, then flatten out.
My preferred exit is to walk to within a couple yards (meters) of the tail gate, tell the student to tuck their feet up behind us, then grab something on the right wall to steady me as I pivot to face the pilot, then I hop off the tail gate, head high looking at the airplane flying away.
As for the notion of deliberately doing flips to amuse first-timers "if they can handle it", that is clearly un-professional for two reasons. First, no matter what exit you do, the average first-timer is so severely disoriented that they perceive it as a flip. Secondly, any type of instability can quickly develop into a side spin.
Flips out the door are usually done to amuse bored tandem instructors. If they are bored, they are in the wrong business.
Thirdly, yes you probably saw the instructor using his left hand to release the drogue and deploy the main canopy, that is standard practice on Vector Tandems.

[slotperfect 7]

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First of all, that is the exit that Strong Enterprises recommends for tail gate airplanes

At Symposium 2001, I asked Bill Morrisey (Strong - at the time), TK Donle (Relative Workshop - at the time) and Bill Booth (nuff said) about that exit. Each of them said it was an easy way to exit a ramp aircraft, and it was recommended by all of them. One caveat thrown in by Bill Morrissey was " . . . if you have a rig that stays closed." Obviously a premature main container opening would be a disaster in the middle of this exit.

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It has been years since I have done a tandem from a tail gate airplane, but that was never my favorite exit.

This is not intended to be argumentative; everyone has their personal preferences for exits, etc. That exit, "370 backloop," cheetah flip," or "froot loop" is my favorite ramp exit. I have done it from Casa 212s, C-130s and C-23b Sherpas. I discontinued that exit from the Sherpa - because of my size and having to crouch on the edge of the ramp, I have difficulty getting out far enough to be comfortably clear of the trail edge of the floor.

Also important to note is that I had done a bazillion solo 370 backloop exits prior to trying it with a tandem, and the student I tried it with the first time had made two tandems with me earlier in the day.

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As for the notion of deliberately doing flips to amuse first-timers "if they can handle it", that is clearly un-professional . . .

For me, it's about control. I can do a controlled Superman, poised, or 370 backloop exit from a ramp. I don't do front loops out of anything, or 370 backloops out of side dorr aircraft, because (IMHO) they are too difficult to control. Back to Symposium 2001: Bill Morrisey commented that they discourage front loops because they are too difficult to recover.

Thanks for your great posts, Rob . . . I learn a lot from you.

Arrive Safely

John

[riggerrob 558]

slotperfect,
I agree with you about not doing backloops out of side doors. Many years ago I read a few BPA incident reports about premature deployments while backing out of Islanders.
Skydiving Magazine also published pictures with a badly bent King Air horizontal stabilizer that occurred a second after some one prematurely deployed while backing out the door.
Even if manufacturers have subsequently increased the tensile strength of main closing loops ....
'nuf said. I don't need to repeat their mistakes.

[ManBird 0]

That exit was smooth as sh*t. Hell, that whole tandem was.

"¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯"

Click

[tspillers 0]

As a Tandem Examiner, Relative Workshop recommended I train candidates to walk off a tailgate. It gives you a natural backflip into a great belly to earth position.
Todd

I am not totally useless, I can be used as a bad example.

[John4455 0]

I most always take tandems out of a tailgate that way. If you don't stay square to the wind, it will roll of to the side. The safest tailgate exit that I have found is just a poised exit, facing into the wind. Doesn't look as good on video though.

How do ya like it Johnny?

[skydiverek 56]

> How do ya like it Johnny????

That's from "Point Break", during the last speed star, right?

[John4455 0]

Amazing, @%$*&% amazing

How do ya like it Johnny?

[skyjunior 0]

I have done this exit before and it is so fun. However on close examination of the video that was one super quick handles check or was there a handles check ?

PLEASE REMEMB

[eames 0]

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That exit was smooth as sh*t.

I wouldn't say it was that smooth.... In fact, it looked like he threw the drogue to stop his rotation (look how he swings back after drogue inflation). It's not recommended (by RWS) to throw the drogue until stable. Oh well....

Jason