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medusa

320 Pounds tandem?

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Hello.

This guy at work have been asking me to take him skydiving with me.
he wants to do a tandem and he is willing to pay, the only problem is that he is 320 pounds and 6'2;).

I have no idea on the tandem restrictions, but there is any place here in FLORIDA that will thake him on a tandem?
or any instructo willing to jump with him??
Medusa

Get Killed or Die Trying!
Patent pending ATFK15456

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Yes and the answer would be no unless the TI was 130 lbs or less.



That wouldn't be a TI, it would be a human AAD.
"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

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I am a tandem master, I would not take him for safety reasons. The max combined out the door weight is 500 lbs. Even if the main could handle a combined weight of more than that, my concern is what would happen if I had to cut away and use a reserve which is of a smaller size. It is possible that you friend may find a tandem master that would be willing to take him, but in the interest of safety, I would not recommend he go on a tandem until he has lost some weight.

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It hasn't been answered if he's fit/fat.

Out of 100% curiosity, would that make a difference in your decision - i.e. if he's 100% fit and all muscle vs. carrying a few pounds?





Disclaimer: Will never be a TI just curious.
Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly! Kiss slowly! Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably. And never regret anything that made you smile.

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Even if there was an 130lbs instructor (remember 50lbs gear weight for your typical Sigma/Strong), even if this guy is fit, he's going to be VERY uncomfy in the harness. To the point of possibly cutting off blood circulation and making him sick or making him pass out.

I'm not saying that big guys can't skydive or do a tandem, hell I'm a big guy and I skydive and do tandems (even on the front to help people get their ratings). Although tandem may not be his best choice. Perhaps he should find a DZ that will use a converted tandem rig for AFF and have him do an AFF jump. I think that would most likely be better answer.
--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

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It hasn't been answered if he's fit/fat.

Out of 100% curiosity, would that make a difference in your decision - i.e. if he's 100% fit and all muscle vs. carrying a few pounds?





Disclaimer: Will never be a TI just curious.



Regardless, if he is fit or obese, 320 lbs is 320lbs and anything that puts over 500 lbs combined weight under a canopy is too much

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The biggest tandem student I have ever taken was 6'2" and weighed 280 pounds. The only reason I took him was that he was a retired rugby player with massive muscular thighs. Any one else that heavy, I would be afraid of breaking.
Even though Strong recently re-certified their reserves to 600 pounds, I know that I was pushing the limits. I weight about 180 pounds before getting dressed. Any time you hang more than 400 pounds of meat under a tandem it becomes hard work.
The only way I would jump with your 300+ buddy was if I could borrow a military tandem rig with a 500 square foot main and 420 reserve and take him out of a tail gate airplane .... you know ... similar to the Special Forces types who jump with 1,000 pound bundles.
All the other variables would have to be perfect too: a cool day, at sea level with a steady 15 knot wind, etc.
And I really should spend another month in the gym before pushing that edge of the envelope.

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I'm not sure of the legalities, but didn’t I hear of a DZ some years ago that put people like this through static line courses using tandem rigs? Maybe I'm imagining that one. In any case my test was always if there was a chance the student could score a touchdown from the one yard line in a real NFL football game, I ain't taking them . . .

NickD :)BASE 194

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It hasn't been answered if he's fit/fat.



It doesn't matter if he's fit or fat.

I've never met a 130 pound tandem instructor. Tadem gear load limits are important. They need respect.

Tandem terminal reserve rides suck. I've had one friend get carted off to the hospita with a broken back because his tandem reserve blew up. I'd rather not hear of that happening again.

_Am
__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

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I've never met a 130 pound tandem instructor.



I'm a 190 lb TM. That means I am gear loaded: 3.8:1, hence my gear weighs just over %25 of my bodyweight.

A 130lb TM would we loaded 2.6:1 or almost 40% of his (or her) weight.

I can't think of a single dynamic that ratio might have an effect on.....:S, but I do think I just came up with a new "loading", we shall call it "Gear Loading", and there shall be much rejoicing........:P

--
My other ride is a RESERVE.

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Perhaps he should find a DZ that will use a converted tandem rig for AFF and have him do an AFF jump.



No need to go to the costly hassle of converting a tandem rig. There are mdoern student gear combiantions now that will legally, and safely, handle 300+ lbs students.

-Blind
"If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

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No need to go to the costly hassle of converting a tandem rig



With a Vector tandem it roughly comes down to removing the drogue release handles and unscrewing the link holding the drogue 3-rings. The only real cost is the rig being out of service for tandems.

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There are mdoern student gear combiantions now that will legally, and safely, handle 300+ lbs students.



How many DZs have that specialty gear? How many DZs have tandem rigs? You'll find many many many more DZs with tandem gear that don't have those specialty student rigs. You are definately right, though, there is gear out there, its just costly and pointless for most DZOs to buy.
--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

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There are mdoern student gear combiantions now that will legally, and safely, handle 300+ lbs students.



How many DZs have that specialty gear?


It's not specialty gear. All it takes is a TSO B container and a large(ie what you'd expect to find in a student rig ) TSO D reserve.

-Blind
"If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

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Brick....

I don't believe he's disputing that gear can be made for larger jumpers, but the utility of buying separate gear for what is probably a very small percentage of students.



The DZ's in my area each have at least a couple of rigs set up for big students. A DZ that's purchased a similar set up new, like an RTS or Vector Student sized to handle a 300+ main and carrying the larger Jump Shack, R-Max, or PDR(to a lesser extent) reserve, could handle the bigger students.

I wasn't advocating buying specialty gear, just trying to point out that I thought a DZ with newer gear might already have an adequate setup. I made the mistake of assuming that most DZ's would be setup like the ones around here, which I thought were pretty typical for 182 DZ's. I hsould have remembered that warning me about making assumptions from rigging school! ;)

-Blind
"If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

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I've never met a 130 pound tandem instructor.

_Am



I'm a 130 pound tandem instructor. :)But I don´t live in Florida and I wouldn't want to do the jump anyway. 250 would probably be my limit on a good day.



I don't think Kramer weighs much more than 130 and he did a lot of tandems with big guys when he was an active TI.

I weigh around 165 now, but am only around 150 when I actually care to stay fit. I have taken a 6'8", 275 pound guy with no problems (and two other guys equally heavy). To me, it comes down to whether or not I can properly adjust them in the harness or not. There is no way in the world that this guy would fit in my Racer harness and that is what would prevent me from taking him on a tandem. I know for sure that Ben at ASC has taken at least one person over 320 pounds on a tandem (with a Strong) and the landing was not that pretty.

Chuck

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