Para5-0

I'll take a red skittle, please.

I think you can absolutely do a PLF with swooping it is just a bit modified, more of a very fast tuck and roll. How many times have we seen a new swooper get a bit scared of the speed and spike the risers and/or toggles and up they go. Well at the end of that rainbow is hopefully some sort of PLF. Definately a good thing to keep in your bag of tricks regardless.

Unfortunately easier said than done. Deploy Bag lock release RSL Cut Away Manually clear risers Stability? Reserve. Whew!

Another point is that a good number of Tandem Instructor candidates take the coach course just to get the tandem rating and for no other reason. It is very common to have aperson get the coach rating and go right into the tandem I course, without one real coach jump or without jumping with one student. So, they will become TI's with virtually no teaching experience. Hence, in theorythey will be supervising coaches without having made one jump. Big Problem here.

It is not a matter of if, it a matter of when the next mid air will happen. In Long Island, it has become second nature to BOLO (Be On Look Out) for aircraft at and below. Each season it is without failure that small aircraft as well as large migrate across the dropping location. Although I have personally deployed above traffic, and also aborted exits due to traffic none were as close as the following incident that occurred mid season 08 in Long Island. While on a tandem in freefall, I did a 360 turn. I noticed a dual prop, I beleive a King Air literally same altitude within 500 feet, it scarred the hell out of me to the point I waved off and deployed. The aircraft actually vered hard left and continued. It was the closest I have ever personally come to aircraft while in freefall. I did not notice the traffic prior to exit. After landing the pilot advised he was notified about the traffic after we exited the plane.

I agree 100% with you. I have advocated for raising standards for a while now. For example I think the coach rating should be a min. of 200 jumps C license, and TI should be 1000 jumps and D. I understand the OP. The IE rating should remain the most difficult rating to acheive. You should in fact be able to supervise and mentor instructors, coaches. I think the Coach, TI path to Instructor is considerablly less stringent than the coach, AFF route. Therefore if you are going to pursue the IE rating you should be brought up to speed so to speak. As an IE you will be looked to by instructors from all disciplines. Remember you will have privledges beyond tandem Instructor oversight. My two cents, good luck to OP

I just wasted the better part of 45 minutes reading this thread because it was more interesting then the inaguaration. That being said, have we not been here before on numerous occasions? All he has to do is search downsizing and read for the next week, or better yet ask his own mentors, Instructors, or the S & TA. Let me know who is going to give his blessing to bust BSR's. "Any parachute 150 square feet or smaller is considered a high-performance parachute and falls into the D license guideline regardless of the wing loading." "D license 1.4 psf maximum until demonstrated proficiency under canopy." Nuf Said.

Depending on how the demo is rated, the FAA waiver will specify what license is needed. More than likely if it is a stadium of some sort a pro rating might be requirred. HOPEFULLY, the S & TA that oversees the Demo will grab anyone by the collar who is not qualified.

I think one way to sell it and maybe save any extra costs would be to offer to carry a school flag, American flag, or something they would say wow to. The bottom line is as far as the demo goes you only need the permission of the property owner to land. Of course you will also have to deal with the FAA, DOT, and possibly local Police and EMS. Good Luck

Outstanding pictures and I am sure the video was invaluable for debrief. Good job, keep it up..

I agree, but is it a new concept that DZ's out there have full time staff that view students as their next car payment walking through the door. IMO these guys/girls are the lowest form of the sport. It gives every instructor a bad name because once a student settles in to the sport and starts to educate himself, he/she learns what these people are all about. The rest of us have to work extra hard to show students we care about what happens to them and the sport. Again, this is not all DZ's but I bet everyone of you know someone who could give a shit less about anything but how many work jumps they get in in one day.

I know many instructors that do the same as you and I think it falls into the to each his own category. I have a ring sight and a metal L bracket so it is more of a personal thing not to. I did not mean to say it shouldnt be done. Your setup is definately more safe to do it than mine for sure.

I hope you coach better then your spelling or grammar...

Personally I do not wear a camera on my head for AFF jumps. If I have to interviene, the last thing I want on my head is a camera. In the case of a spinning student it could injure the student (most importantly), you, or on a lesser scale wreck the camera.. If I need video I use a video guy so I can concentrate on the students safety first. If you as a AFF instructor for one sec. think about getting "video" instead of being where you are supposed to, it may be too late. My two cents. As for coaching and debriefing I am all for it....

My first post in 09', Ozzy just got another year of experience under his belt..Good job OZZY

How about simlifying it: a. Hold a D License or Equiv. b. 1000 jumps c. 3 Years from the date that you earned your A License. d. Hold a Instructional Rating End of Controversy..Meet the above and the T I/E MAY allow you to take his course.. Remember maturity can not be measured and unfortunately some do not have enough to be trusted with someone elses life, regardless of the above criteria.

POP!!! There goes the top off the can of worms...

I think Ozzy is trying to get a definition of in sport...

My understanding of three years in sport is three continuos years starting from your first tandem and hopefully going through a particular training method while joining USPA in the same time period. No that does not cover all senarios. In your case assuming you did the above, it would be the anniversary of your tandem jump. What the question here is, "When does time in sport start?" a. After landing safely from your first tandem. b. After making your first AFF/AFP/IAD/SL...etc c. After joining USPA d. After graduating to solo status e. After receiving your A license. It needs to be clarified...by someone with way more intelect than I...(Safety & Training Comittee have at it) I would suggest time in sport starts after completing your first tandem, as long as the progression towards getting certified is continuous. That being said what the hell is continuous? Well that is the problem we have to define every last word to determine what would work for everyone. How about a 90 day grace period to initiate the process. Then you must remain current. What if you have a lay off? WTF I have no idea, someone else chime in. As for you OZZY Work on your Pro rating it is less ambiguous...

Just another requirement that is open to interpretation. I am definately going to get some slack for this one but I feel that there should be a jump requirement/Freefall requirement, which is a bit more concrete....IE 1000 jumps and 10-12 Hours of freefall. My personal thought, based on the responsibility of the rating....(Someone elses life) That being said the reason for the three year requirement is to stop the guy who does 500 jumps in year 1 and becomes eligible for the tandem rating. Maybe it should be 3 continuous years with no recurrency or lapse for more than an amount of time.

Not a goode idea! The tandem pair is falling at a reduced terminal 120-130 or so...If you manage to cut the drogue which would not be very easy I might add, once you get to the kill line the drougue will collapse increasing the pairs speed to tandem terminal.....so before you get through the drogue it will collapse, now they are doing 180 or so with a deflated drogue whipping around becasue it is cut in half.....not a good reserve deployment picture... Much better odds of the reserve deploying past the INFLATED drougue...at a lower speed.

I think you will have a variety of thoughts on this one but to break it into two: Prevent the problem from the start. Exit and gain stability via flying your body, Tandem 101. I agree the backloop is a very easy stable exit. This was not accomplished for a variety of reasons. and two Should a video guy try to assist a in air emergency? My thoughts are completely different given the situation, yes it is easy to monday quarterback these things. I think as long as there was some sort of communication the video guy acted on what he felt to be a moral obligation to assist rather than sit back and watch. Problem: a)He prevented a reserve deployment, B) if the TI did deploy the reserve it would or could have been a triple funeral. The communication seemed to be good and once the video guy backed up the TI initiated reserve. i think the video guy did a very nice job attempting to help but with a little knowledge about drouges he would have known they are like lead pipes once out. I am glad this worked out but it emphasises good pre jump ground preps with the video guy....What to do if I have a problem? best answer is get out of my way so I do not have to worry about you and can deal with the issue at hand. my thoughts anyway.

20.00/US over 225lbs. goes directly to TI. Freight Charge or Fat Fee.

IMO: It depends on the aircraft and its configuration. One note and a absolute pet peeve of mine is in a aircraft where male and female belts are on the side of the plane next to benches, I teach to ALWAYS put the male end from rear to front through the leg strap and then buckle. In an aircraft emergency when you release the buckle the male end should slide out while you move forward towards exit. I have seen so many experienced skydivers route the fat female end through the leg strap, thus creating a fast exit almost impossible. I teach this in FJC and put emphasis on it throughout AFF. I have had to get out in an emergency and this was one thing that was learned after we debriefed the incident. For what it is worth.

I hate to write this without checking but in the FAA Waiver for jumps over congested areas, wind limits have been listed for Demos I have done in the past. I am going to grab a few and look to see the wording.