Certification course advice

[Spike 0]

I'm shortly taking AFFI and TI certification courses. I'd be interested to hear anyones experiences on these courses. What happened to you? Advice, tips, what you'd have done differently given the benifit of hindsight, all gratefully received.

I'm interested in both airside and classroom stuff, lesson plans, what the examiners are looking for. Basically any advice you can give.

[AggieDave 6]

AFFI I have no clue.

TI course, well, if you've got the ability to fly your body well enough to go up for AFF, then the TI course should be no problem. Get a packet from the manufacture you're getting rated in and get good and familar with the gear before the course. Besides that, don't die and don't do anything stupid with the drogue, I bet you'll be fine.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[riggerrob 558]

The tandem certification course is pretty straigh-forward.
The TI manual published by the Australian Parachute Federation gives a good over-view, before you focus on the details of gear from a specific manufacturer.

http://esvc001114.wic013u.server-web.com/apf_admin/downloads/tandem_manual/tandem_master_links.htm

As for the AFF Certification course ....
Have you already done hundreds of coach dives with flailing junior jumpers?
Is proximity second nature to you?
How good is your recall?
Have you memorized all of USPA's AFF manuals?
Have you written a stack of AFF lesson plans?
Have you practiced teaching AFF ground school?
.... all levels?
Can you teach all those lessons in your sleep?
etc. .....

[Spike 0]

Thanks Aggie, Rob,

I've already downloaded the TI and USPA manuals and the APF Ops Regs and Training Manuals. And I've trawled the net for any other AFF related stuff, I found the pre-course guide by Rick Horn, but there's not much else.

I've done not hundreds, but a lot of jumps with low timers. I've also done a lot of coached jumps and tunnel time with Sebastian XL to improve my own skills, so I'd say my proximity was Ok. Recall is Ok and learning the manuals is what I'm doing right now. As for lesson plans, thats the kind of thing I could do with advice on, or even better an example. And practice teaching those lessons, yeah I need to work on that.

Any chance of an example of a lesson plan?

[skybeergodd 0]

The tandem course shouldn't be too hard and as far as the AFF course one of the biggest helpful things is a Pro-track so you can set exact altitudes as reminders.
Good Luck and Blue Skies

[Spike 0]

Kelly thanks for the ProTrack tip.

[Spike 0]

I was also thinking along the lines of tricky "students" experiences. I was told by a recent AFFI candidate of a jump where right at the bottom end the "student" did a perfect 180, so now the mainside and reserve side JM's are switched. Wow, both JM's now had fractions of a second to reset and figure out the diveflow and there "new" responsibilities.

Is this normal for the kind of "unexpected" stuff I'll see an examiner throw into a certification dive?

[Foggy 0]

for AFFI it will depend upon which National organization (i.e. USPA or BPA). You already have Rick Horn's guide? I would suggest working with current evaluators as they are the most current and will take you through a progression of drill dives to work you up to the course.
For USPA you will need a current SIM and an Instructor Rating Manual (IRM) less than 2 years old for both AFFI and TI. There are requirements that need to completed on the IRM proficiency cards before you attend a course. You can get these at www.uspa.org
I recommend contacting Bram Clement www.skydiveratings.com. He does a lot of work with European jumpers visiting the US.

Foggy

[Spike 0]

Thanks Foggy, I hadn't come across the skydiveratings website before.

Cheers

[jimoke 0]

the bottom end sequence. practice it with another instructor or coach.
not being there, you will fail.
as far as role reversals, that is not that big of a deal with seasoned instructors.

The ground always, remembers where you are!

[djmarvin 2]

Quote

I was told by a recent AFFI candidate of a jump where right at the bottom end the "student" did a perfect 180, so now the mainside and reserve side JM's are switched. Wow, both JM's now had fractions of a second to reset and figure out the diveflow and there "new" responsibilities.

Is this normal for the kind of "unexpected" stuff I'll see an examiner throw into a certification dive?

Role reversals are normal during an eval dive. Yur CD will set the ground rules ahead of time, but PRECOURSE is really a huge help. Do not touch an evaluator past the knee/elbow, it is pretty much a guarantee roll over, unless of course he/she are already on their back :) Be aggressive. It is the most repeated statement in any course. During precourse, be over aggressive, find that point that the CD/Evaluator will give you an automatic unsat. Focus on your students hips to anticipate their movement. Act don't re-act. and of course ........Relax.........

I will quit rambling now and let others throw in their two cents. And For what its worth this is in my experience in the several courses I have participated in as camera guy and/or evalutator.

Peace, love, and potatoe chips

DJ Marvin
AFF I/E, Coach/E, USPA/UPT Tandem I/E
http://www.theratingscenter.com

[TandemIE 0]

check
www.tandeminstructors.com[url]

[Spike 0]

Hey thanks for the link, I picked up some good usefull info, cheers.

[divnswoop 0]

Quote

both JM's now had fractions of a second to reset and figure out the diveflow and there "new" responsibilities

Try not to think about it as reseting. JM's responsibilities are the same on every jump. You should prepare to end up on either side, right side up, or down! Mentally prepare yourself for all the possible outcomes on the bottom end. Don't just think reserve side because thats where you leave the airplane. I try visualize things from a cameramans point of view.(from above)

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

That's very good advice. I can't count how many times I have switched sides on real AFF dives.

[lug 4]

I have seen candidates screw them selves when they can’t separate between real world and course world; they are two different things, so show up to the AFF course with a clean slate. Simply leave the real world at home. If you don’t you will only draw attention to your self, and this will do more harm then good. Do the ground preps and debriefs like they want them done, so pay attention to the lecture. I went to the course with the mind set that I was already an instructor and I was going to working at Skydive Billy Roads and it was my job to teach his students like he wanted then taught. For me this helped me relax, a little.

I passed the course the first time and I know a number of people that had to take the course a couple of time to pass, and they were better prepared and their skills where sharper then mine. It was the stress that failed them. In conversations with those guys we agreed that part of the course is a head game. The course director and evaluators will spin you up, if you’re not doing it your self, to put under some pressure and see how you handle the stress. Don’t let the stress affect your ability.

After the ground preps skydive heads up. If there is a roll reversal then deal with it and fly the new slot. You should be confident in your ability to perform in either main or reserve positions, even if you are the only one in game.

I see a lot of good advice on this thread that I wish I had when I took the course. Enjoy.

Memento Mori

[chopchop 0]

It's interesting you bring up the pressure and stress.. In my case, it was mostly self-induced.. but things were going so well, I started relaxing.. a little too much.. almost failed my Level 4 eval as a result.. was quite relieved I passed it as I didn't want to use my last chance.. The pressure can be good.. keeping you on edge.. and as someone else on here said.. you almost can't be too agressive. Have fun!

chopchop
gotta go... Plaything needs a spanking..

Lotsa Pictures

[Spike 0]

Thanks to everyone for the advice.

I passed my AFFI rating,

[koz2000 1]

congrats

______________________________________________
- Does this small canopy make my balls look big? - J. Hayes -

[AFFI 0]

Go into your course prepared. Train train train!!! Go on jumps with current instructors that have been down that path and have them challenge you more than you will be at the AFFCC. If you go in prepared it will be easy…

Mykel AFF-I10
Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…