AndyMan

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But my concern is more about telling a beginner with a A license, 60-70 jumps, jumping a 150 sf canopy to stay on STUDENT mode.

I certainly would not be giving that advice.


Assuming the guy is competent, I guess. This could be some passive aggressive way that the old timers are trying to tell some kid he's not very good.

_Am

THe people that make the most money in skydiving without owning things do it by doing only one thing, and doing lots of it: Tandems.

Ignore the advice to get all your ratings, instead just go get both Sigma and Strong tandem, then go find a job at a busy tandem operation. One operation in Chicago, TMs do 15-20 jumps per day on weekends, 10-15 during the week (wx permitting), and most instructors work 5 days a week. Fulltime instructors are doing at least 1000 jumps a year and are making somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 -40K.

AFF instructors are basically breaking even while riggers are just trying to suplement their tandem income. People who are willing to throw a lot of drogues can eek out a pretty good living.

Finding a DZ that does a lot of tandems is key.

Otherwise, finding a way to own a business will let you earn more but that takes startup money and some good connections.

_Am

I saw one break this year too. Again not a tight close at all. Odd. The one that broke for me looked old, so I wonder if the age of some of these means we should just start replacing older ones.

_Am

When I learned, my FJC was 8 hours over two days.

When I teach, I have never taught one that took less than 5 hours. 6 hours is normal, and I have had some that take 8. It depends on the student. One of my biggest challenges was a student that was completely illiterate, but wouldn't admit it. It turned out he could not read a single word. It took me 7 hours to figure it out...

My fellow instructors tell me I teach a very good course. I usually start at 8am and finish around 2.

_Am

Thanks for posting this Douglas. Having some empathy for your students, remembering what it was like back when you were a student yourself is a big part of what makes a truly great instructor. Remembering where you came from is a great way to help come up with new ways to help others.

_Am

From their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=170279526330804

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Enjoy the day @ CSC Nov 13th for a day of skydiving with friends and perfect weather! Chicagoland Skydiving Center is moving locations in the Spring so come out and get your last skydives in over Hinckley. $20 jumps on Saturday followed by our Film Festival at sunset. We would love to see old & current footage. If anyone has really old footage please send it to us.

After the film festival stick around for our 7th Annual Chili Cook-off. If you cannot participate in the Chili Cook-off please bring a dish to pass for Pot Luck Dinner around the bonfire. If you haven't been out to Hinckley in awhile this would be a great weekend to do so. We would love to see everyone!

New Location for Chicagoland Skydiving Center to be announced Nov 13th. Don't miss the FUN!

_Am

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*whoosh*

Yup, guilty. I haven't understand a single thing you've said in a very long time.

Please, bless the masses. Inform of us your infinite wisdom, lead us to the rock and tell us - let us be as good as you.

We can only hope.

_Am

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uy the new display...but I'm not happy about it.......next time I,m going with CYPRES!

If you mistreat a Cypres, it will break in the exact same way.

These things are fragile, and do break if handled roughly.

_Am

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Funny that you said earlier, "...so any instruction would be better than what some skydivers are getting now. "

Well, AndyMan, in this last post...you seem to have missed the point entirely.
It's as much, or more, about knowledge as it is about flying skills.

As usual, you make absolutely no sense. Really, please - stop and think before posting. When you do post, try to be informative and helpful - you know, one of those "good" instructors I'm sure you think you are.


_Am

It seems unlikely that it would flip through the lines on opening, the drag from the pilot chute should keep stop that from happening.

However, I have flipped the dbag through the lines while packing. It's easy to do when you're putting the bag in the container if you're not paying attention.

If you had a step through malfunction and you're sure the packer did a 3-line check, that would be my bet.

_Am

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You obviously haven't seen some of the piss poor skydivers that have been pushed through the course in the past decade or more.

You're right, I haven't.

I have seen a lot of grumpy old instructor complaining about how the new guys suck, completely forgetting how badly they sucked when they were new.

_Am

The full requirements:

a. reached the age of 18 years
b. holds or has held any USPA instructional rating
c. must have held a USPA Coach or Instructor rating for at least 12 months, or have at least 500 jumps
d. holds a USPA C license or the FAI equivalent
e. logged six hours of freefall time
f. completed the USPA AFF Instructor Proficiency Card (applicable portions)
g. successfully proven ability by successfully completing the written and practical AFF evaluation process with a USPA AFF Instructor Examiner (AFF IE)

So yes, if someone got a coach rating when they had 100 jumps, then worked as a coach for 12 months, and somehow managed to get 6 hours of freefall, then yes - they could apply to pass the air skills test. I think their passing this test is unlikely unless they also had some mad-tunnel skills.

If they managed to pass all these items with 200 jumps, then yah - they'd have to be a exceptional skydivier and there's a good chance they'd be a pretty good AFF instructor.

It does not take a PD factory swooper to teach 'A' license canopy skills. Currently, some instructors skip this completely already, so any instruction would be better than what some skydivers are getting now. The TLO's are quite basic, and not difficult to teach.

_Am

This thread - http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=647846 indicates you might be better looking for a .5mm thread.

_Am

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ope, not me, but I saw it happen to some poor camera person this year at Nationals! I admit the thought crossed my mind when I got the Deland otter (a really narrow step!) for the first time in round 8 (and again in 9 and 10!!!)...

My step-of-doom was the high Spaceland step. Hated that damn thing. The only step in the world that's nearly 6 inches too high.

_Am

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Look around. 9 out of 10 you will see the Sigma 15 on a helmet mounted camera.

When the Sigmas first came out, they cost $300, and EVERYONE bought one. It quickly became the standard lens for tandem.

Now new Sigmas cost $600. I see a lot more people buying the Canon 15mm.

Both are fisheye, which on a 1.6 crop sensor means barrel distortion around the edges, which is fine as long as the camera flier isn't shooting straight down.

Given the small difference in price, I'd probably go with the Canon if I were buying right now, but I'm happy with my Sigma.

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it does have RSL, AAD ready and he clarified its a g2 not a g4. is the 160-200 usually exit weight? im 180-185 before gear so that might be an issue...im no set on this rig, its just the ones for sale at my dropzone all say student on em

When the ad says the rig is 'made for someone at a certain weight, they're referring to how the rig will fit. Was it custom designed for a big beefy guy? Or a small little girl. In this case, they're probably referring to normal naked weight, and not exit weight.

Exit weight is appropriate for the conversation around wingloading. This rig contains a 190 square foot canopy, and your exit weight is probably around 220. That means if you were flying this canopy, you'd have a wingloading of 1.15. That wingloading can be appropriate as you progress in your jumps - but if your profile is correct and you only have 9 jumps you should understand that your instructors will probably not let you jump this rig during your student jumps. It also might not be appropriate until you have 30ish jumps, and progress down to this 190 very slowly and carefully, moving no more than one canopy size at a time.

A 190 is a very popular first canopy for a lot of people, but since you're a beefier guy than some, a 210 may be a better choice.

But yeah, it does look like a nice rig!

_Am

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. Manned ground-to-air communications (e.g., radios, panels, smoke, lights) are to be present on the drop zone during skydiving operations.[NW]

That is referring to communication with the aircraft, not students.

The BSR's do not say anything about radios for students, which is what this thread is about.

_Am

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Don't BSR's still require radio for students using ram air canopies until cleared to be on their own?

No. There is not a BSR regarding radios on students.

http://www.uspa.org/SIM/Read/Section2/tabid/164/Default.aspx#710

_Am

It's standard practice on a tandem main, to the point that at my DZ if a cuttaway canopy is found with the toggles stowed, the TM will be thoroughly made fun of.

On a sport main, especially a highly loaded one, I would not be spending time trying to figure out toggles. Brian Germain's video is great evidence why, a spinning sport main burns through altitude quickly, and screwing with toggles can take a long time to figure out right. Great if you've got 13,000 feet, but if you're burning through 2000 then you need to act quicker.

I am curious about pinching risers together, and may try that on the next occasion.

_Am

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If you follow that same logic, round reserves should only be worn by jumpers who already have 50 or 100 successful landings under round mains.
By "successful" I mean: they walked away.

No, I'd be perfectly happy packing an airworthy round reserve for a first jump student.

The difference with a swift is that since it's square, there's an expectation that it will fly similar to other square reserves the jumper may be familiar with.

Like I said, yah - it's arbitrary, and I'm fine with that.

_Am

Maybe.

First, I'd check for AD compliance. I found one out of compliance, and grounded it this summer.

Second, I'd make sure it was appropriate for the jumper. Basically, my criteria would be that the jumper has been jumping long enough to understand what he was getting in to.

I would not pack it for someone who has been in the sport for less than 10 years or had less than 500 jumps. Yes, these numbers are arbitrary, and I'm fine with that.

_Am

Likelihood of injury when I found an original Swift Reserve that was subject to a mandatory recall because of very poor landings . This canopy has been actively repacked for 20 years without anyone noticing.

_Am

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Another question: What skydivers are going to step forward and testify against Cypres?

I imagine Mike Turroff would. He seems to be available for purchase.

_Am

I do it fairly regularly. I don't give much thought to it.

If you can throw fresh laundry in your car without it getting damaged, you can do the same with a rig. All in all, skydiving gear is relatively durable, even when unpacked.


_Am

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A vigil might fire if the door suddenly opens at low altitude. Why is ANYBODY comfortable with that?

Well, like I said - CSC has 20 of them in very active use. Collectively there's probably more than 10,000 jumps on them this year alone (and the DZ has had them for a while). We haven't seen any problem, except for one firing in a rapidly descending plane. A student Cypres would have fired then too.

I do know about the Cessna incident you're talking about. Back when Cypres's were firing from radio interfefence, we didn't black-list the product or stop buying them, we just became aware of its limitations and waited for the company to fix it.

From the experience at CSC that I've seen - they seem to work well. The cost savings in purchase price, maintenance, and longer lifespan is compelling.

_Am