NEW tandem masters

[FlyingBlueJay 0]

Re: [milehighpres] NEW tandem masters [In reply to] Quote | Reply
All good advice no dought but I am going to give you the best advice here: Buy your T I/E a bottle of Kettle 1 and a extra large jar of Olives. From there everything else will fall into place. Oh yeah, that is after the case of beer for 1st student, and the two other cases for, well You Know.....Enjoy see you when the sun decides to shine again.

There is an art, or rather a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, and try it. - Douglas Adams

[riggerrob 558]

About a minute after opening, I tell students "Now we are going to practice the landing. Hands up! Knees up! Feet up! Wait! Wait! Pull, pull pull!"

If they do not listen to "Wait!" on the second practice, I allow them to continue steering the canopy.
But 30 seconds before landing, I tell "problem" students to release the toggles and grab their knees.

Rob Warner
Strong Tandem Examiner

[steveorino 7]

Quote

About a minute after opening, I tell students "Now we are going to practice the landing. Hands up! Knees up! Feet up! Wait! Wait! Pull, pull pull!"

If they do not listen to "Wait!" on the second practice, I allow them to continue steering the canopy.
But 30 seconds before landing, I tell "problem" students to release the toggles and grab their knees.

Rob Warner
Strong Tandem Examiner

Rob, I bow to your experience, but waiting until 30 seconds before flare to ask them to release toggles sounds like a recipe for disaster.

Case in point, the student I took up who released one toggle 100 feet off the ground to wave at friends. It took me until almost flare time to get his other hand OUT of the toggle.

steveOrino

[Millstone 4]

Steve, I am a little confused. When allowing a student to assist in landing I always have my hands in or above the toggles. I assume you do too. If the student drops one at 100 feet you are still in control. Likewise, if they stop flaring halfway I continue the flare without them. Neither situation would cause a problem. I am sure I am missing something. I always listen to you guys with more experience. I have about 300 tandems and always allow students to assist. Thanks, Mike

[JohnMitchell 14]

I do it that way too. It's easy to work around the occasional problem passenger.

[steveorino 7]

My hands are in the toggles, but if he drops one and tries to flare with one ... that is what I'm talking about. He will most likely create a turn.

steveOrino

[normiss 622]

I'm with you Steve...ever since the student who simply confused "feet up!" with "flare!"
it's hard to fight against some of their moves and in my mind, simply not worth the risk. even on the big kids I wish could help flare!

[bclark 0]

Once again it is all about practice and training. Not just the student, but practice on the instructors part also. But like most things, with a little effort, you can learn to do it safely.

The controversy in this thread started with discussion over joyride tandems vs. instructional tandems. Letting your student land with you is just one part of this discussion. No one is telling you that you suck or lack ability because you don't let your student have toggles for landing. If you are uncomfortable with it than it shows good judgement. But I will maintain that with proper emphasis on training and practice up high students can be taught to assist on landing no problemo. And part of learning to do it safely is knowing when to tell that student to let go. ( If I do make that decision it will be at 1000' not 100. ) Sometimes the students performance is lacking, sometimes the conditions are sketchy.

[Para5-0 0]

Quote

just one of my questions is..

what are some tips of tricks that seasoned tandem masters use/do to help them along the jump.
like tips they dont cover in the class that help you on your jump

Okay back to the original question.
My suggestion to you is to speak to as many Tandem Instructors as you can and ask them how they prefer to do specific tasks that occur during a tandem. You are going to get a sleuth of different answers. Try the ones that appeal to you and disregard the ones that do not. As you get more tandem jumps under your belt you will develop a system that you feel comfortable with. Some examples that come to mind are:
1. How TI's stow the excess webbing on lower connectors.
2. Preferred Exits out of specific airplanes.
3. and Yes wether or not to let the student assist with landing.
(Note: some DZ require you to involve the student with the landing, and some do not.) Your DZ leaves it up to you.

Lastly, Try your hardest not to let complacency become part of your system. I have been known to say every Tandem has three passengers on it. You the Tandem Instructor, your passenger, and my friend and yours Mr. Murphy. He is there at all times waiting for an opportunity to interject his thoughts, always be ready.

As a new TI:
-Start with passengers approximately your weight.
-Wear big baggy jumpsuit.
-take enough time to prepare for each jump thoroughly.
-Have Fun
-encourgage students to come back for another jump and/or First Jump Class.
-Give each passenger the same experience and education that you would expect on your first tandem.

[JohnMitchell 14]

I show them the AFF sign for legs up. I then give it to them if they drop their knees too much on the jump.

[riggerrob 558]

Pre-flight your first rig before students arrive.
Remember to eat snacks throughout the day.
Keep a water bottle and snacks in the dressing area.
Eventually, the greatest challenge to your professionalism will be eating granola bars without getting crumbs down your student's collar.

[steveorino 7]

eat breath mints. When I was vidiot, the previous TM had breath that would stop a water buffalo. I pitied his students.

steveOrino

[bclark 0]

We like the Listerine pocket mist here. They are reasonably cheap and last for a long time.

[Para5-0 0]

Now we are helping him out those are all great little tips I think he is looking for, keepem coming.
How about breath mints for students with Buffalo breath or body odor.
Last summer some guys were playing touch football waiting to jump. When one of these guys came to me he was dripping with sweat and his shirt was soaked. Talk about disgusting.

[milehighpres 0]

thanks guys. yes breathe mints and energy drinks are great. Im not going to be in rotation for a little bit, but im sure PARA5-0 would love to give up his spot for me....that way he can let the new tandem masters grow with more experience.

thanks again and keep them comming.

"the sky is not the limit....the ground is"

[cpoxon 0]

Keep a sick bag with you. Pick them up when you fly with airlines. Of course it's no subsitute for harnessing a student correctly or making them as comfortable as possible (or rather not making them uncomfortable by spiralling if they can not deal with it) or making them feel in control, but still you can get students who are prone to motion sickness or who haven't eaten/hydrated properly during the day. Students who are going to be sick are fairly easy to read; they go quiet and usually dry heave first so you have time to get a bag out for them. I would estimate that about 1 in 100 of my students have been sick but I've managed to get a bag to every one and not got any vomit on myself!

Skydiving Fatalities - Cease not to learn 'til thou cease to live

[normiss 622]

I was told to simply tell them "if you MUST throw up, do it inside your jumpsuit"
I was told this would prevent them from puking...it's working so far.

[slotperfect 7]

I normally carry a small plastic bag (previously opened) in my jumpsuit for just such an occasion. It only took getting thrown up on once for me to add that to my tandem tool box.

Arrive Safely

John

[matthewcline 0]

Some of the SIGMA student harness I use have them placed in the hook knife pocket with just enough exposed to grab with a pair of Nuemanns on.

To the OP KNOW YOUR LIMITS and build on them slowly, no need to rush and maybe hurt your self or your student.

Matt

An Instructors first concern is student safety.
So, start being safe, first!!!

[ast4711 0]

When i orderd my Tandem-Jumpsuites from Rainbow the passenger suites came with a pocket on the left arm an guess what was already inside?? :-)

alex

--
www.tandemmaster.net
www.skydivegear.de

[toronto_bill 0]

My two cents worth....

1. 'Warn' the student of events BEFORE they happen. They will be less shit baked and begin to trust you, and be more relaxed.

2. Make sure the laterals are EVEN...not just snug.

3. I have let students help flare, but have started to move away from that. The potential damage to you from early flares is significant. The students that do seem heads up, I let steer and help flare....

My last tandem last weekend, was the second in a row for that passenger (came down said lets go again.)
The jump went quite well, so I thought there wasnt going to be any problems.
In air he tried to teach himself turns. looked like a Hoola dancer moving his hands. On landing he did the early flare thingy. I was able to salvage it. but not without a good thump on landing...

4. Don't trust your passenger/student whatsoever. Be ready for everything at anytime.

Besides that...have fun.

T. Bill

[JohnMitchell 14]

Quote

I normally carry a small plastic bag (previously opened) in my jumpsuit for just such an occasion. It only took getting thrown up on once for me to add that to my tandem tool box.

I find that letting the students help steer and asking how they are feeling has kept the last 800+ from getting sick on me. If they say "not too good", I get really mellow under canopy. I've only had one puker so far.