Tandem tips??

[swoopfly 5]

hey


i was wanting any tips for flying tandem vids. i am new at this and my main concern was my fall rate to tandems. I am medium build 5'11 and 180 pounds, I was wondering will i most likely need wings with most all my tandems? Do tandems tend to be floaty with the drogue or do they average a regular persons fall rate?

[vdschoor 0]

Get a camera suit
Learn how to fly it, film solo's, 2 ways, 4 ways..
Learn to fly it some more..

Good.. now you have about 100 jumps on your camera suit... and you know how to fly it.
Talk to the instructors and then start working on filming tandems..

I always film with a camera suit, it allows me to get angles that are very hard to get without one, and without putting yourself underneath a tandem (BAD NEWS)
The "average" tandem falls about the "average" fallrate.. but imagine having turbo boosters on when you fly with those tandems..
With a camera suit, you're ready for all fallrates..

Iwan

[Rover 9]

Aren't 500 jumps required before you can jump with a tandem?

2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

[skron 0]

I believe you are correct Rover.

I began jumping a camera around 250 jumps while freeflying. Then I went to tagging along on RW jumps and videoing for free to learn. I just recently jumped with my first tandem (BEER!). I have been going out with the tandems without a camera to concentrate on learning how they fly. Soon I will go along and video the video guy on tandems. I have found it to be a good (and safe)progression.

Well behaved women don't often make history.

[dragon2 0]

Yes you want wings, and you may need to wear wings + (lots of) lead for the heavier tandems, or arch like hell. The wings aren't so much for fallrate as for getting the face shot, without wings on your belly you get video of the TM not the pax, and never mind about trying to freefly the vids. You want wings with 8yr old kids (Well WE get those sometimes, YOU'll likely only see 110 lbs girls at the lightest) + 150 lbs TM, you want wings + lead with 220 lbs TM + 220 lbs pax. Tandems with drogue I find can go ~100mph to ~145mph, WITHOUT drogue (ie, malfunction or unstable exit) they'll accelerate FAST. Be ready for that, and able.

You definitely want a LOT of videojumps before going anywhere near a tandem, with or without a videocamera. Go buy a suit with wings and go film newbie FS2, FS4 and stuff for a few hundred jumps, you'll learn a lot. Better FS4 teams are easier to film but won't teach you as much as newbies though still better than nothing. DO NOT practice video jumping on a tandem, you should be good enough to not need any or much practicing on tandems themselves to get a safe and decent (selleable) video from the start IMO, do your practicing on other skydivers not students in any shape or form definitely not tandems. Make sure you can match any fallrate, be anywhere relative to your subject you want to be, get all the shots you want and be safe the entire jump, ask for the specifics about jumping with tandems - where to be and where NOT EVER to be, also have a good customer attitude and get the editing stuff down before you need it would be my tip, plus learn to use that camera ie read the manual and experiment with it, after all that you're ready to start shooting tandems and you'll likely do quite good right from the start. It's fun, but it'll take a lot of investing time (jumps) and money (jumps and equipment) wise, but it's worth it Oh yeah, be sure to read the entire "little things" thread click

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[YahooLV 0]

To shoot tandems, you need at LEAST 500 jumps. Next, you need to be VERY competent in shooting and framing. The last thing you want to do is tell your client that you missed the skydive, forgot to turn on camera, switches broke, lost the tandem, or anything else you can think of.

You will need wings. We're about the same size and I'll tell ya, the little tandems will work you as much or more than the big ones! You will need wings.

Learn your equipment inside and out, learn how to fly the suit, then cameras. Being a professional photographer puts a lot of pressure on you. You only get "one chance" for a first skydive photo.

Have fun. Lewmonst has posted many articles, thoughts and ideas concerning camera flying. Read them and the other valid responses.

http://www.curtisglennphotography.com

[Laszloimage 0]

The clarification is 500 jumps (RW jumps actually...) and 100 camera jumps top of that prior to video tandems. That's the minimum requirement by UPT (used to be Relative Workshop)

[stratostar 5]

Always wear your parachute!

you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

[davelepka 4]

I know everyone is quoting the 'rule' which is 500 jumps to jump with tandems, but very few DZOs or TIs follow that to the letter. If the DZO needs a video guy, they'll take whoever they can get, and alot of TIs will give anyone with 200-ish jumps a shot.

That said, even if you have a slot on a tandem rotation, ask yourself if you're really ready to perform. Remember that EVERY customer deserves a well put together video that tells the story of their jump, and includes tight, well framed freefall camera work. EVERY customer deserves quality, properly lit still photos that make them look as good as possible.

Be honest with yourself, and figure out if you've done enough jumps with a full camera set-up where you were able to shoot quality video from exit to opening, and capture the highlights with the still camera with no trouble. Are you ready to produce 100% quality, 100% of the time?

Put yourself in the position of a first time jumper who laid out $100 extra for the video, and does not recieve their full product due to a technical issue, or has to watch a video of inferior quality next to the video their friend got on the same load.

The point is that unless you have at least 20 or 30 successful jumps shooting video and stills from exit to opening, then you're really not ready. You need that time to work the bugs out of your helmet, and just barely get youself a procedure together for camera and gear checks in the plane.

That's just for the helmet, the camera suit is a another story. You'll need a dozen jumps just to get it set up, and for you to have any sense of control.

You've got at least 50 jumps to go, and even them, be honest with yourself about being ready (or not) to put yourself out there as a 'professional'.

[swoopfly 5]

hey


hey all sorry my profile is not up to date, i should have realized i was going to get the third degree with my current profile status. I am very close ot the 500 mark. i realize i need to be good before i ever do my first paid jump. That is why i am just getting tips now, to work and perfect on this. I already have done a few tandems for practice. On my very first one i got a great exit got them coming off the hill, then them pitching the drogue. When i tracked to them i slowed down and just kept sinking out on them. It was a very small girl with a jump suit on. That was why i am asking about the wings, i figured they help you slow down which is the hard part its always easy to get down to someone but not back up to them. So yeah i know i have to be good at this to get paid, But you have to start somewhere. and i believe you will never learn to fly with the tandem until you actually do it, just as you will never learn to fly that HP canopy until you actually jump it. i was just wanting tips on what has helped poeple from the there beggining in this discipline.

[PharmerPhil 0]

Quote

...i realize i need to be good before i ever do my first paid jump...

It's not just that. You first have to be safe before flying anywhere near a tandem student. I don't believe you can get this level of safety without doing a lot of non-student video jumps first.

[dragon2 0]

Quote

i believe you will never learn to fly with the tandem until you actually do it

Not really. My first ever jump with a tandem was with a friend as pax, no camera, after that I did 2 jumps with one of our TM/cameraflyers in a camera suit playing "tandem" for me, I then got asked to film as 2nd camera for a TM's nephew and then for a couple dozen freebees (jumping with visually impaired people, and for kids with cancer), every one of those videos (+ stills) was safe and selleable for sure. Next videos were "real" videos I'm not the fastest learner in the sky and I never had to practice on tandems, so if i can do it...

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[swoopfly 5]

i have about 70 camera jumps, with non tandems. I think i am at a point where i have enough skills to take it to the next level and apparently my DZO thinks so aswell. i just like to study things fully when i go into it. i didnt mean for this to turn into why i shouldent fly with tandems, As the headline says, tips on tandems, is what i was searching for. i realize my outta date profile kinda set me up for this speech but i have had many camera jumps with jumpers and a few tandems. i am trying to work on getting better thanks for your concerns but i was asking for tips

[Icon134 0]

Unfortunately an online forum isn't a great place to give pointers to improve your technique... (other then what some have already said...)

As others have said... Wear wings... they allow you to be in a position to have your head higher and still have more range... (learning how to fly on wings is not something that can be explained easily and is more effective demonstrated by someone who knows how to do it...)

Pay attention to the passenger and instructor... if their heavy wear weights... if they are very light don't... I know some of the camera flyers at our dz will only wear an rw suit (which can work) instead of wearing weight but I'd much rather throw on 12-15 lbs and have the versitality of still wearing my wings...

as for what type of camera jacket to get... I have a bevsuit that I've had for some time and it is a great suit... but in the last year I started using a two piece wing jacket and freefly pants which I like better now because I can remove the jacket while packing and it's easier to put back on then a full suit.

some other things to think about... 1. Tandems start out moving very fast before the Drogue is thrown out... then they slow down to more typical formation skydiving speeds... 2. Don't be above or below the tandem at any point during the skydive... in these places you can injure or kill yourself or the tandem student... 3. For paid videos, the student is the focus not the instructor or other jumpers...

Finally, talk to your local camera fliers they are excellent resources... if the location in your profile is correct... Mike G is a great resource... and I know Pyke (Blaine) was there for a while, and if Edvaldo (sp) is still there he might be able to give you some pointers... and I think Hans even has some camera flying experience...

they can best explain where you need to be and what you need to do to get the shot you want... Perhaps go up with Mike G as the TI and have him give you hand signals to get you in the right place to frame the shot well.

Livin' on the Edge... sleeping with my rigger's wife...