wsinsel

I seem to make around 1 reserve ride every 300 jumps or so. I'm not upset about it. I tell students, the first one is scary. After that you begin to think, " Oh no, not this shit again" I did pack every mal myself, mostly line twists, but I also packed one of the other tandem guys a step through. "It's very important at this point that you don't simply become a passenger." Flight instructor Dennis Anderson speaking about life and crosswind landings.

Actually the other thread with freefly guy and girlfriend was the actual scenario. I viewed it as completely wrong and as far as I can see in the SIM it should not be allowed. Tom is right though. It might be legal for the DZO to allow it to occur. Still it is a slap in the face to myself as S&TA and to the other coaches and instructors who worked very hard to achieve their ratings. Ultimately I resigned my S&TA position. The SIM clearly states that I am responsible for making certain that the guidelines are followed. I'm not willing to take the chance that nothing will ever happen. Also, it sets an important precedent at the DZ. Now everyone has seen my authority circumvented by the DZO and they all know my safety concerns mean little or nothing to them. If freefly guy can do it for his girlfriend, then why can't anyone else do as they wish? Next question is where do you draw the line? Not to be ridiculous but if a non-rated guy can put people out then is it ok for say an "A" licensed jumper to coach? Can we just put students on any load and expect the people on the load to oversee their jump? USPA provides guidelines so we have something to follow. Nothing is legal or not.........that is until a lawyer explains it to a jury. "It's very important at this point that you don't simply become a passenger." Flight instructor Dennis Anderson speaking about life and crosswind landings.

Now this is exactly as I see the regulations. Very good points Tom. The SIM is there to help us be absolutely sure that in the event of an incident that in court, we can show that we did follow the rules as published and did our utmost to maintain a reasonable level of safety. I can see that exact implementation of the rules for licensed skydivers can be and will be met with opposition. Students on the other hand don't know what's good or bad, right or wrong and in a court of law we need to show that we attemted to do the right thing. "It's very important at this point that you don't simply become a passenger." Flight instructor Dennis Anderson speaking about life and crosswind landings.

Ok, now lets put this scenario to the test, oh, and thanks for all your responses to my previous post. Lets say Freefly guy with 600-700 jumps shows up with girlfriend. He wants to help her learn but never taught any students before. To be fair, he has fair skills as a freeflyer and has done some video. Would it be right for the DZO to let him take your student(the girlfriend) and turn freefly guy loose with her at around 15 jumps (IAD) without your knowledge? You are S&TA and DZO holds S&TA as well and we now can see that the supervision is waiverable when filed or written. Is this the right thing to do? Again, I know what the SIM and the coach manual say. It makes instructors and coaches who work for the rating feel useless and they wonder why they even got the rating. Your opinions please. "It's very important at this point that you don't simply become a passenger." Flight instructor Dennis Anderson speaking about life and crosswind landings.

Should students always be supervised by a coach or instructor? Is there any "fudge factor" in your opinions, where students could be trained by non-rated individuals?(freefall) I just want to know your opinions. I know what the SIM says, I want opinions. "It's very important at this point that you don't simply become a passenger." Flight instructor Dennis Anderson speaking about life and crosswind landings.