coreyangel

AndyBoyd,
You are correct, some drop zones classify their employees as independent contractors to avoid having to withhold taxes, however, most instructors I know legally incorporate themselves. By legally incorporating themselves the instructors have many tax and legal benefits and the law is not being broken. However, if DZO's are calling instructors contractors just to avoid withholding payroll taxes then the law is already being broken. Either way, this article has noting to do with either fact.
I do appreciate your comments and you have given me an idea for my next article.
Blue Skies.

Thank you DeltaBravo. I appreciate the kind words.

Thank you ChrisD for the nice comments. You also bring up some great points. One in particular is about developing our instructors and keeping their skills up. In fact, that just happes to be the next article I want to write. It is taking me a while because skydiving, although a big international industry, is not made up of large franchises but mostly small independent dropzones. The key here is coming up with a suggested program that will increase safety and productivity while, at the same time, not impeding current operations (not to mention wording it in such a way that the message is recieved positively).
I welcome any suggestions or ideas you may have. Feel free to PM me if you like.
Blue Skies,
Corey

Thank you MrSnipes, and you are right on the money about the dangers of reducing accountability. If a groupthink mentality evolves everyone will think it is "everyones" idea however, no one will come forward ad say "I thought ti was a good idea at the time." Like you said, don't be afraid to speak up! If someone is afraid to speak up in the group, at least talk to someone who in respeted and trusted outside of the group and ask their opinion.
As I like to tell people; When it comes to skydiving safety, there is no such thing as a do over.
Blue Skies my friend.

Thank you DrDom, I appreciate your comment.
I notice in our sport that we talk a lot about people taking their time and learning correctly. I understand that once someone is out of the door there is nothing we can do to save them from themselves, but I have always wondered why some new jumpers feel like they are actually encouraged to do unsafe acts. I don't know if this is the reason why, but I have seen the groupthink mentality many of times and I have to wonder if it does play a role in the safety of our sport.
Does anyone have any comments? I would love to hear them.

Thank you Douglas.
When I say that newbies are "encouraged" to be unsafe I am not referring to people saying "come on and just do it" although that does happen from time to time.
I think that we encourage them (and yes, I am including myself in this) by what we say and imply. Comments like "I refuse to jump a canopy that big", I know that the BSR says to do that, but we are all big boys and girls" and the one that makes me cringe, "Belly fly? Yuck. Who does that any more?" The answer to the last one is newer skydivers that are not yet ready to free fly.
Of course, these phrases must be taken into context. We will always have fun with each other, kid each other, and of course, there is nothing wrong with letting someone know you don't want to jump a student rig. I just think (again, just my opinion) that we need to watch what we say and how we say it. The friendly ribbing can turn into a groupthink situation where newer skydivers could feel pressured to try something they are not ready for.

Dan,

I have to admit, over the years I have been a huge critic of Pegasus, but you are correct, he did have a good method for teaching the landing pattern. One thing he also did for the new students was to place signs on the ground with altitudes on them. On sign would read 1,000 another 700 etc. This method would allow a student to look down and see what altitude they should be at. This worked really well, along with the walk through drills he did, in part due to the size of his drop zone.

This is not a dig against his method, his drop zone met all USPA size regulations, but it was smaller with close obstacles. As the students are walking through the mock up, they can look up and see the obstacle that is being referenced. This allows them to create a mental image that will be close to what they see in the air. On the other hand, a larger drop zone could have a group of trees or a building that is a mile away. Now, it wouldn't be an obstacle but maybe it is a navigational aide that a student on the ground may not be able to make a mental image of. In that case it may be a good idea to use both a mock up and an aerial picture.

Thanks for mentioning Pegasus Dan. I do believe that this is one area where his training method was spot on.
Corey

Brian,
You bring up another good question, how do we (as instructors) have two way conversations with our students while they are under canopy with a one way radio?

Yes, there are two way radios that can be installed in full face helmets, but how many drop zones can afford to invest in the extra cost? As one of my mentors taught me, ask the student to flare.

I have found this to be very effective method while students are under canopy. For example, after an AFF student completes their SOPs, ask, "If you are over 4,000 feet give me a flare." and my next radio call would be "Now head to the playground and enjoy the view." Remember, we just need enough feedback from the student make sure they are safe and know what to do.

As we all can remember from our first few jumps, the view under canopy was a new and exciting experience and we had a flood of adrenaline going through our body. These two things combined made it easy to lose awareness, not just altitude, but positional awareness as well. By giving small reminders such as "go to the playground" helps keep their head in the game without giving them detailed instructions.

I would love to hear about other methods instructors employ to communicate with skydivers under canopy.

Bruce, it sounds like your DZ has a great program. Just to ask a question, have you had any feedback from jumpers that learned this way and visited another drop zone? The reason why I'm asking is because I'm curious if it was easier for them to make the transition to landing at an unfamiliar area.

When I was a newly licensed jumper I went to a boogie. It was my first time at a big drop zone and I was overwhelmed. One of the things that had me overwhelmed was the landing pattern. I was used to my home DZ and I knew what land marks to look for when I was in the landing pattern. Now I had to figure it out all on my own because I couldn't do what I had always done. I think that by having jumpers do exercises, like yours, helps newer jumpers make that transition easier, safer, and more enjoyable. What do you think?

Brian,

Thank you very much for your comments, they mean a lot to me.

I haven't been fortunate enough to visit a foreign drop zone and I was not aware that they did a lot less radio work than we do. I would like to ask you, do you think the reason is more philosophical or do you think it could be rooted in the way instructors are taught and certified? Like I said, I do not know first handed how other countries certify their instructors and I'm just asking this to create a discussion, but could the reason why we sometimes over do the radio is out of our own fears as an instructor? When the student is under canopy we, as instructors, are responsible for their safety. Could we be over thinking the situation and not letting the students learn because of our own fears? If this could be the case, could there be, or should there be, something added to the instructor certification course to address this? Is this a topic that is addressed in the certification courses conducted in other countries?

I would love to hear anyone’s views on this.
Corey

Thank you for the feed back Roger, I'm so happy to hear that your students are responding well to the changes you implimented. If you ever have any ideas for something that should be added, or changed, please feel free to let me know. I love hearing about different ways to improve training and safety.
Blue skies.