AFF Instructor Course

[milkybar 0]

Contemplating Billy Rhodes AFF course in June. Many thanks for all the related posts, got some good info. Would like some opinions on the following:
1. Pre-course: Are these "just" practice jumps with instructor acting as student?
2. Most beneficial freefall skills?
3. What was the most challenging part of the course for you?

Blue Skies
"......the plane moved" ze Beast.

[hookitt 0]

A pre-course is usually run by actual aff evaluators. They teach you how to fly the AFF course. You will get ground training and suggestions and some stories that are quite relevant to the real world. It helped me more in real life than at the course.

In air practice dives are the no shit real deal type eval dives. You will quickly learn what a real AFF evaluator will do in the air instead of your friend attempting to hose you.

The course has changed though. You used to have to go to the course with all your guns. The way it was run in Byron last year was was pretty cool. Jay stokes would do practice dives with you. When he felt you were ready, he would suggest doing the real thing. Keep in mind, when he gives the blessing, it means "Game on". I'm not familiar with the new points scheme.

The toughest part of the old course was the stupid head games some of the evaluators pulled. I felt the air games were fair though. Evaluators do what real students do.. except evaluators do like 20 different things and aren't trying to do well. A real student does one or two, and is trying.

Freefly skills help in real life on few occasions and only if you are proficient at it. They won't help you in the course. Nice fast 4 way RW, and some tracking help out with needed proximity flying skills.

Things to think about.

Evaluators are not real students. They will pull on their own. Don't crash into them trying to save their life before 3.5

They will not hose you completely on fallrate.If you're blowing a dive completely, you get a second chance at the end of the dive sequence. It's not over till it's over.

It's just an agressive skydive a lot of the time. You will be taught what you need to know. Your job is to react in time and give proper coaching and signals when needed.

If you're taking Billy Rhodes coures... believe him when he says he falls fast. Then again if you're practicing with him, you'll figure that out. I've never jumped with him but everyone I've talked to mentions it.

Fly in whatever jumpsuit you're most comfortable in. I didn't have a lot of time to practice in an RW suit and flailed miserably while practicing, so I borrowed a fairly baggy student jump suit and put weights on.

It's not so tough if you have good RW skills and tracking skills.


That's about all I can think of for now.

I've heard very good things about Billy Rhodes. Like Jay, and Rick Horn for that matter, they want you to succeed and will help you do just that. They are just skydivers like you and me.

Good luck.

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[bodypilot1 0]

What Tim said is about right.

Go into the pre course and pre eveluation jumps wanting to learn, then go into the AFF evalution jumps wanting to teach.

The evaluators want to see you are able to teach correctly on the ground, and then will sometimes pick your weakest area of ground prep to try and hose you on in the air.

Knowing good RW and staying in tight to the student is also good, but dont be over controling, let the student have room to fly and learn.
Meaning something like, if they spin, stop them, give them the correct hand signal, and let them go.

Also be tight on the bottom end of the skydives, because this is the area shit hits the fan and you are expected to BE THERE.

But most of all, become an AFF Instructor because you LOVE to TEACH.
Those that fly well, but can not teach, seldom see much joy in doing AFF.

Good luck

Ed

www.WestCoastWingsuits.com
www.PrecisionSkydiving.com

[slotperfect 7]

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1. Pre-course: Are these "just" practice jumps with instructor acting as student?
2. Most beneficial freefall skills?
3. What was the most challenging part of the course for you?

1. I didn't attend the official "Pre-Course;" we did our own train-up. The biggest benefit you will get from the practice dives is making them with the actual AFF Evaluators you will be doing your evaluation jumps with. Make as many as you can. You get to gauge their fall-rate, which for me was critical.

2. Keeping an exit from funneling, giving hand signals where the student can see them, stopping spins correctly, rolling over an inverted student correctly (both from the side, from the feet, and from the shoulders, recovering from going low (when the student floats), closing a considerable vertical distance quickly and docking, altitude awareness (it goes by fast on the bottom end), and the ability to mind-map the entire skydive and play it back during debrief (recall).

3. I am a big guy, so anything with a slow fall rate made it hard for me.

The best advice I can give you: be PROACTIVE, not REACTIVE, and don't over-suit Billy Rhodes thinking he's a big guy and falls like a rock. He has this floating helicopter turn thing that will absolutely amaze you!

Best of luck - let us know how it goes!

Arrive Safely

John

[Shark 0]

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Also be tight on the bottom end of the skydives, because this is the area shit hits the fan and you are expected to BE THERE.

I concur. The bottom end can make or break you. Fortunately an evaluator will be relatively and somewhat stable at pull time; real students won't.

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But most of all, become an AFF Instructor because you LOVE to TEACH.

Absolutely! Although rated both AFF & Tandem, I prefer teaching aspect of AFF including the FJCs. That's why I earned an AFFI prior to my TI rating. Jumps: AFF - 530, Tandem - 250.

[aironscott 3]

This is one of the best, most relevant posts I've seen on dz.com. I don't think I know you hookit, but you have given a response to a information request that is informative and inpartial. Well done.

“God Damn Mountain Dew MotherFuckers!”

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

I got my ticket from Billy Rhodes and, comically, he was the one that drove the last nail in the coffin the first time I took the course over a decade earlier (when I failed)! Billy runs a tight ship when it comes to eval dives. He is not about to "give you a ticket" and that's what I like about him. Likewise, we paid for him to arrive early and run a pre-course for us which I found to be very beneficial. There is simply no substitude for doing full-speed workup dives with the guy that is ultimately going to pass or fail you.

I passed the course (my second time around) "three up and three down" and I attribute that to many things. First, realizing that I had better really have the requisite mindset prior to spending that $800 (my total cost). Second, that I had never stopped doing SL instruction and had lots of practice chasing zooming students around the sky. Lastly, that I had spent well over 100 hours in the wind tunnel doing instructor drills.

I had about 600 jumps when I went the first time and failed. I "took the short course" because I was too locked into a four-way mindset and simply was not keeping my eyes on the hips and was not quick enough to react when the evaluator went to hose me vertically. My bad. I went the second time when I had just at 2000 skydives and had been primarilly instructing for the past several years. The course was incredibly simple for me the second time because I was completely turned on mentally. "Real" AFF can be tremendously challenging; much more so than what even the hardest evaluator/course director will throw at you. You really need to have your shit together if you intend to do AFF for real. Currency with real AFF students is of paramount importance and it is not something that a person ought to feel comfortable doing only a few times a year. I find it incredibly rewarding, but sometimes a total drain. We stay very busy with AFF students at Raeford.

Good luck in the course!

Chuck Blue, D-12501
AFF-I (among other things)

[milkybar 0]

Here, here! Many thanks for the info. Signing up for the Pre-course

[voodew1 0]

Before you go out and buy a bunch of training aids you might need let me know -- I was loaned a bunch when I attended the course from a DZ.com member who I had never met before - all that was asked was that I return them when done.

Since then I have acquired my own training aids and would be willing to do the same ---
These would be used during the ground section of the course.

Let me know via email
[email protected]

The pimp hand is powdered up ... say something stupid

[hookitt 0]

Do you have big orange paddles in your training aid kit?

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[voodew1 0]

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Do you have big orange paddles in your training aid kit

I don't get it -- I must be dense

explain - I am sure it is funny I just don't understand

The pimp hand is powdered up ... say something stupid

[Shark 0]

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Do you have big orange paddles in your training aid kit

I don't get it -- I must be dense

explain - I am sure it is funny I just don't understand

Ever see an LSO in action?

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

Orange ping pong paddles are used as a secondary (or tertiary) means of guiding students in if their radios fail. They have been in use since the 50's.

[voodew1 0]

I always taught the mirror image of what I do with my hands----It would really suck to have to stick ping-pong paddles in my jump suit.

I guess thats why they used the big balloon suits back in the 50's ---so they could stash ping pong paddles and stuff like that in there

The pimp hand is powdered up ... say something stupid

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

No, man, that's not what I meant! We always have a "ground instructor" here at Raeford (generally one of the two school owners, Tony Thacker or his wife Kate, both AFFI's) who guide "early" students in on radio. They have a set of paddles they keep with them out there in the student landing area that they use in the event of radio failure. If for some reason an "off field" landing is imminent, then the student is taught to instead take directions from the AFFI that has located and landed in a suitable "off" field. That AFFI will guide the student down on the radio he is carrying (at least one of our AFFI's carry a radio on two-JM jumps) and if that radio fails the student is taught the "mirror image" method you discussed. Same thing only no ping-pong paddles. It's incredibly rare that we have radio failures, but they do happen. In those events the student is taught a variety of backup plans, but are told that ultimately they are the pilot of that canopy and that they should rely on their good canopy control training to get them to a suitable landing site. Many, many dropzones get along fine without the aid of radios at all. Most of those, though, do use some semblance of "hand" guidance for final approach.

Chuck

[johnny555 0]

we train deaf AFF students at our DZ with big oarange paddles. They do very well.

[livenletfly 0]

i completed billy rhodes coarse last sat. it was an experience for sure!
for starters here's my thoughts, not advice nor warning, just my thoughts.
billy is one interesting fella. sharp as the day is long, doesnt miss a trick. trust me you are being observed constantly. the safe assunption in billyland is everything happens for a reason. be aware of your actions, attitude, and body language even on breaks or after hours.
if your ex military it is exactly like bootcamp. the head game is similar just a lesser degree. i.e. heres the stress tactics im pretty sure were intentional. massive amounts of info thrown at you in rapid succession, the damned if you do damned if you dont confitations. theres a alot of stress the coarse puts on itself with no help from directors or staff. just hold your composure. NEVER LET THEM SEE YOU SWEAT!!! there just going to lean harder!
o shit, i got a ton of advice i could ramble, if you want ti ask me, other wise bro, relax, its gonna suck but you'll get threw it. there were alot of good times too.
good luck

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