TimD

We used to have a suspended harness that you could put students in to practise the landing. It was a good training aid most of the time if you were unsure of your student ability to get there feet up. However we did discover a pit fall.... If you have a large student with fatty thighs arse etc.. they can often get there legs up when you have gently lifted them of the ground in the harness. You then take them on the tandem and during the opening shock they slump a lot further into the harness than they did on the ground. The old classic 'fat chick slump' Suddenly they find it a lot harder to get there legs up, as the harness has sunk deeper into there thighs etc.. making it impossible to adjust. We experienced this with both Atom and Sigma and strong harnesses. I still think it can be a useful aid, especially for the unusual jumps (disabled jumps etc) but it can lull you into a false sense of security about your customers ability to perform at the critical time.

Depends on the DZ (location). At my home DZ we have a 25knt limit. If it is blowing a westerly then it tends to be fairly solid and most are happy with a 10 knot gust. If it is an easterly, then most of us have chickened out at 20knts and are not happy with any large gust ranges. It is very turbulent when it is blowing and easterly. We are also lucky that we have awesome DZ safety Officers who stop play before it gets silly and there is never any problem if you want to stand down. Its nice to know that the owners respect our decisions if we feel uncomfortable with the conditions. Customer and staff safety is the number one priority. At my old DZ we would jump 25knts in any direction. However I would stop at 18knts when it was blowing from 170'. We had some trees that provided nasty roll over turbulence in the landing area at much over 15knts from that direction. Again it depends on the DZ location. I used to jump onto a flat island in the north sea. There was nearly always high winds but they tended to be constant with little gust and zero turbulence. Just get out deep!!! I have noticed that as I get older (wiser???) I have become more conservative with my personal wind limits.

I have jumped a few different 182 and 172's. They have all had slightly different boxes/platforms over the wheel, so they are all slightly different for the exit. However what works well for me is: Sitting on the floor facing the tail. Hook up student on my lap. Put left foot out onto the wheel / box. Left hand onto the strut (gives a nice stable platform for the handy cam to film the climb out). Have the student get booth feet outside the aircraft and hanging aft of the wheel. Now i tuck my right foot under my arse and get up onto my right knee. This puts me and the student further out of the door and allows the student to get into a nice exit position (arch). Then just bring your left arm forward for a nice hanycam shot and role forward into the dive. I found that by being up on my knee it keeps all my handles and drogue further away from any snag points. The only thing that you must be wary of is the rig brushing on the to of the door. I found it better to keep the students feet off the wheel as i noticed that they were more likely to end up in a foetal position as there knees are forced up on the exit when their feet are on the wheel. Hope this helps!

A great DZ with excellent facilities. The staff are really friendly and helpful. This has got to be one of the most beautiful DZ's in the world. The DZ has large plasma TV's for editing and debriefs, big indoor packing area. professional rigging services, toilets showers and a kitchen. It also has a large landing area to suit all levels of experience. The views from the aircraft and in freefall are awesome. Hundreds of islands and beaches in beautiful blue water you can even see the Dolphins on some days! The aircraft is nice and fast being a turbo 206 and hopefully a turbine will be available soon. Well worth a visit.