Your favorite training aids/new ideas

[peek 20]

I should have brought this up long ago. I'm interested in any "special" training aids you might have developed and what advantages they have over the "normal" ones.

A number of years ago, a friend named Duane Daws came to our DZ when asked to do some Tandem instruction because we were going to be busy. He brought his own gear, everything, rig, jumpsuits, etc..

He carried it all in a large plastic box with lid and wheels. He put padding on the top so that it could be used as an "elevated creeper".

So I made one, and it has been the greatest time and energy saver, for _all_ training methods. You can have all your student practice their arch, and your Tandem and AFF students practice turns, and not have to lean over very far to turn the creeper in response to their body position.

"Economy of effort" is a phrase often used when refering to training aids, and Duane's idea certainly does this.

Does anyone else have any they have developed?

[bodypilot1 0]

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Does anyone else have any they have developed?

Yes, I carry around a LARGE fan around and blow it in the students face to simulate the wind in freefall.


Be safe
Ed

www.WestCoastWingsuits.com
www.PrecisionSkydiving.com

[Ron 7]

We use an old Cable reel as an elevated creeper. It is padde don top, and has wheels on the bottom. It comes to about waist height when standing.

Very nice.

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

[bch7773 0]

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We use an old Cable reel as an elevated creeper. It is padde don top, and has wheels on the bottom. It comes to about waist height when standing.

Very nice.

our DZ has exactly the same thing... well, it doesn't have wheels but we put on a creeper.

MB 3528, RB 1182

[iowa 0]

I usually cut out a "paper doll" and fold and bend it to show how the arch always brings you back belly to earth. Takes almost a minute.

Keith

''Always do sober what you said you would do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.'' - Ernest Hemingway

[efs4ever 3]

I use one of those wooden human figure dolls with joints. I used to have two of them hooked together in "tandem" to illustrate body position. Someone made off with them, though.

My little harness was made from plastic tie wraps.

Russell M. Webb D 7014
Attorney at Law
713 385 5676
https://www.tdcparole.com

[voodew1 0]

Our elevated creeper is the metal of a football blocking dummy (which is shaped in the arch already) mounted on a swivel at about 3.5 feet tall (horizontal), padded and with leg supports to show the proper 45 of the knees.

It works well for the instructors and the student as well to demonstrate turns and other manuevers.

I have not seen a better training aid for a horizontal trainer yet.

It was made by scavenging materials and a little time with a welder.

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

[riggerrob 561]

The Sky Knights, in East Troy, Wisconsin used to have a hammock that they used for teaching AFF. It had a cut-out by the student's face as well a dummy handles and a dummy altimeter.

[Gandhi 0]

at the dropzone in spain (Lillo) where i visit when i can, the AFF school has introduced pilot chute pouches on belts that students wear on the creeper..

the pilot chutes are sewn into a roll so not to open, thus checking the student can throw it a suitable distance..

i'd never thought of it... so simple... Genius!!

quote 'you are to go around... next time extend your landing gear'

[Shark 0]

I use a lot of different stuff, but one of my favorites is a simple piece of paper. It has the same function as a badminton birdie/shuttlecock. I drop the flat piece of paper from ~2m to illustrate being de-arched and lack of stability. I then put a deep depression in the center of the paper by molding it around my fist, then dropping it again, curved end down. Then I ask the class what they should do to gain stability if on their back or tumbling. I turn my paper curved end up and drop it. Now they see and believe what the arch may do for stability.

[kmfreefly 0]

We use an patio chair cushion and a smooth table. The student lays on the pad and it slides easily on the table to simulate turns, and keeps the student at waist height.
Also, a big DZ aerial photo in a frame with dry erase markers are invaluable for helping students learn and plan canopy flight. In FJC, we play "pick your pony" during one of the breaks. I bring the students out to watch a load land, and assign each student with a canopy to watch. They return to the classroom and try to draw out the exact canopy pattern of their jumper. It gives the students an opportunity to compare and discuss the differences and variances from traditional L-shaped patterns. Sometimes the jumpers show the students what not to do...

Team Flew-id
Making freefall pretty since 1998

[riggerrob 561]

I sewed up a few dummy pilot
chutes for our traditional progression students.
They are made of orange Cordura with a standard pilotchute handle on one end and 2 feet of bungee cord on the other end.
The Cordura is stuffed with enough foam rubber to make it about the same size and shape as a real throw-out pilot chute. Gone are the days a rolled newspaper blowing out pre-maturely because no-one can remember how many sheets to use.
I also chose the ugliest shade of orange Cordura. That shade of orange "flares" badly on our wing-mounted video, so it is glaringly obvious when the student tossed the dummy pilot chute.
I also sewed small loops onto the right lateral straps of all our student rigs, so you can attach a rubber band. When packed, the rubber band is wrapped tightly around the end of the bungee cord, so we can teach students to throw away the dummy pilot chute without loosing it.
Dummy pilot chutes also come in handy when teaching PFF students how to pull, as they halve the time to repack the pilot chute.

[Bergen 0]

I have the student walk down the hangar stairs several times to point out the "accuracy trick" so they can figure out where they are going to touch down.

I also use chalk and the tarmac to simulate the landing pattern and we walk around on the ramp holding our simulated toggles.

[HowardB 0]

try putting light bungie cord on the back of a creeper and hooking it to the wall. The student has to apply pressure to the wall evenly with his feet during dive flow practice to keep the creeper away from the wall. Students get used to applying pressure in the correct direction and build muscle memory of the right way to fly instead of fighting gravity on the ground and relative wind in the air. The wheels have to be well lubricated and the floor smooth. Later take thier hands and pushing/pulling themselves forward gives them a natural reference for forward motion.