Choosing an instructor for AFF

[deviate 0]

Hi all.

So i'm hell-bent on doing my AFF and I have exchanged a few emails with a potential instructor. He's very qualified (Instructor Examiner) and keeps in contact with past students and helps select equipment, but he's on the other side of the country.

"Will you teach me how to pack?"
"Do we do debriefs after every jump?"

Are there any other questions should I ask? Perhaps "What's your safety record?" (Does that even make sense and is it taboo to ask?)
Should I even ask these questions? Does it matter that I wont see much of my instructor after I finish the course because he's so far away?

I'm just trying to get 'all' of the facts before I start.

~Blue skies

[DARK 0]

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Hi all.

So i'm hell-bent on doing my AFF and I have exchanged a few emails with a potential instructor. He's very qualified (Instructor Examiner) and keeps in contact with past students and helps select equipment, but he's on the other side of the country.

"Will you teach me how to pack?"
"Do we do debriefs after every jump?"

Are there any other questions should I ask? Perhaps "What's your safety record?" (Does that even make sense and is it taboo to ask?)
Should I even ask these questions? Does it matter that I wont see much of my instructor after I finish the course because he's so far away?

I'm just trying to get 'all' of the facts before I start.

~Blue skies

imho, you should choose a dropzone you trust not a particular instructor. also as an instructor examiner should be able to recomend a perfectly acceptable and safe instructor nearer you

[GLIDEANGLE 1]

If you have the time, money, and interest to travel cross-country for AFF, I would suggest that you find an instructor who offers TUNNEL AFF. By that I mean taking you into the vertical wind tunnel to develop basic skills before your first AFF jump. If this is done right, your first jump can be an advanced level AFF jump (such as a modified L5). 

I suspect that many DZs with a tunnel on-site or nearby offer this.  I know that Skydive University @ Deland uses the Orlando tunnel for Tunnel AFF. See video of their Tunnel AFF students in freefall here: 

http://www.skydiveu.com/tunnel.php 

Good luck, 

Blue Skies! 

The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

[rmarshall234 14]

As they say...there are no stupid questions. I would put whatever is on your mind out there to be dealt with. The instructor will give you feed back if he/she feels something is inappropriate.

It sounds like frequency of jumps / currency might become an issue with the distance between the two of you. The sooner you can get through the student program (within reason) the better the learning curve will be.

Good luck and have fun!

[brucet7 0]

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but he's on the other side of the country.

If this was the US, the other side of the country would be a big deal. The OP is from England, so it is not that far to the other side. People travel those distances here all the time, but it is just across the state.

No disrespect intended, just saying.

POPS #10623; SOS #1672

[deviate 0]

My bad, I forgot to mention that it will be abroad (somewhere sunny with less wind) for about a week. So I'll get the training done in one push over there so the learning curve shouldn't be a problem and because it's a pair of instructors going abroad, there's no DZ to select and they are licensed in the UK.

@GLIDEANGLE: There might be a tunnel near me so if possible, I'll have a play before I go to jump properly

I'll ask about the cost of rejumps and how frequent rejumps have been with past students, if video is taken on jumps, what the cost of the course doesn't include, packing, safety.

@brucet7: A point well made but I'm actually talking about going from South UK to North UK (but still less than half of the E-W distance across Ontario, Canada). So after my AFF I probably will only see the instructor on trips/events.

I'm slowly using up of my reserve of whuffo/newbie questions

thank you, all!

[CornishChris 5]

Any qualified instructor should be good enough?

Are you going to get your preferred pilot too? How about the best engineers and DZ control

This isn't Formula 1...

CJP

Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

[turtlespeed 220]

Quote

Hi all.

So i'm hell-bent on doing my AFF and I have exchanged a few emails with a potential instructor. He's very qualified (Instructor Examiner) and keeps in contact with past students and helps select equipment, but he's on the other side of the country.

"Will you teach me how to pack?"
"Do we do debriefs after every jump?"

Are there any other questions should I ask? Perhaps "What's your safety record?" (Does that even make sense and is it taboo to ask?)
Should I even ask these questions? Does it matter that I wont see much of my instructor after I finish the course because he's so far away?

I'm just trying to get 'all' of the facts before I start.

~Blue skies

Dude - this is skydiving - Choose one with nice boobies.

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

[tdog 0]

Every DZ has great instructors. Most are great. The worst I have seen still are not "dangerous", but instead just teach poorly and frustrate students. "Dangerous" instructors get weeded out pretty quickly.

Honestly, the level of risk is 100% determined by you. You will be the skydiver in command of your body and your parachute. If you are not 100% ready in your own mind, then don't jump. When you are 100% ready, the instructor will be there just to watch. You can always "fire" the instructor before you jump if you are not 100% ready.

I say, go to the closest DZ. Say hi to people. Get to know them. Then go to another DZ. See if it is any different.

Once you meet the staff, you likely will find tons that you will learn to trust.

[drewcarp 0]

Dude I was just like you, looking for the "safest" way to learn and the "best" instructor. My advice is don't bother. Put 20 or 50 jumps under your belt at wherever is closest and you will realize your "safety" is a matter of blind luck and simply not being a dumbass.
Great instructors can help you learn faster but really aren't going to make you much safer. Besides, highly experienced instructors are very complacent because of their experience. Only the brand new inexperienced ones really pay attention. I know because I have 50 jumps and you will know everything too when you have 50 jumps, its awesome! I will tell you what everyone told me when I asked your question, shut up and jump wherever its convenient as long as its not a Fandego DZ (see the FAA fines Lodi 600K thread for where not to go) and you will figure it out just fine and still have an ok chance of surviving it even with a idiot instructor, which there aren't hardly any of (see darwin). Believe it or not you will see lots of experienced people "try" and kill themselves skydiving and fail at it, its really cool, (usually, to know when it's not cool see incidents). And btw, have a shitload of fun while you are at it and packing sucks, just have someone sign it off for you. But don't forget...this shit is really dangerous...read up here and you will be bowling in no time!!

Godspeed!!

[deviate 0]

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Any qualified instructor should be good enough?

True

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Are you going to get your preferred pilot too? How about the best engineers and DZ control

Well a very good friend is a pilot and I'd love to have him do the ride up for me one day and I was the best engineer when I graduated university.

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This isn't Formula 1...

True, skydivers dont leave rubber marks when they turn at 120mph.


Well how about a theoretical qualified instructor who charges an extra €50 if I want to rent goggles for a jump and and extra €200 for a level 6(?) rejump? My quest for the right instructor is not for finding the one that looks coolest and knows more than anyone else, I want to know the total cost and I didn't know to ask about the cost of rejumps when I posted this.
I'm not made of money, so I need to budget for this course and knowing the likelihood and cost of rejumps certainly helps.


Thanks for all the advice everyone. blue skies

[rmarshall234 14]

There is not substitute for a good foundation. What you learn in these first 20 or so jumps will set the stage for the kind of skydiver you will become.

Follow your instincts. Congrat's on doing your homework/research instead of just "showing up" at the local DZ and stepping into the tide.

[CornishChris 5]

There is always going to be a cost to rejumps and it should be publicly available from the DZ.

Where are you going to end up jumping in the UK? I would suggest you do AFF at the DZ that will become your home as then the instructors will get to know you and can be around for advice later in your career.

Never heard of anyone asking for additional money for goggles - the cost of AFF should include all equipment required.

CJP

Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

[deviate 0]

I'll be jumping in Spain, which will increase the chances of blue skies and low wind. The instructor won't be near my local DZ (I'm in London), but hopefully the distance between us wont be a huge issue? (there's always phone and email and boogies).
Edit: Just re-read your post CornishChris, I'll be jumping near London and Southampton mostly, I guess Lewknor, Salisbury and Swansea would be the closest DZs to where I go.

Update: The cost of equipment rent is covered and rejumps are at cost rather than with profit. The Skydiver's Handbook arrived today - never before have I looked forward to reading on a Friday night!

Peace

[jonathan.newman 1]

There is a great BPA dropzone at Skydive Spain, which has warm weather when everyone in middle and northern Spain and UK is freezing.

I took an AFF Instructor course there, and there were several AFF students with their instructors from UK DZs doing AFF.

I've heard good things about other Spanish DZs, like Lillo and Empuria, but never jumped there. Except for the weather (occasionally bad), you'll have no problem doing an entire AFF course in a week.

Good luck, and welcome to the sky.

[SpinxB 0]

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As they say...there are no stupid questions. I would put whatever is on your mind out there to be dealt with. The instructor will give you feed back if he/she feels something is inappropriate.

It sounds like frequency of jumps / currency might become an issue with the distance between the two of you. The sooner you can get through the student program (within reason) the better the learning curve will be.

Good luck and have fun!

I agree. As far as the questions go, ask about anything you think is relevant. There are no stupid questions, just stupid answers :)

[cpoxon 0]

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There is a great BPA dropzone at Skydive Spain, which has warm weather when everyone in middle and northern Spain and UK is freezing.

Skydive Spain is not a BPA dropzone. It has BPA instructors (including an Advanced instructor) and is owned and operated by people who own and run a BPA dropzone in the UK. But it is not a BPA dropzone.

Skydiving Fatalities - Cease not to learn 'til thou cease to live

[sebcat 0]

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Put 20 or 50 jumps under your belt at wherever is closest and you will realize your "safety" is a matter of blind luck and simply not being a dumbass. Great instructors can help you learn faster but really aren't going to make you much safer.

I don't think that's true. Of course, how safe of a jumper you will become depends a lot on the environment you're in (the whole DZ atmosphere) and not only your instructors, but they are (/should be) a big part of it.

Compare an instructor that takes his time to explain what he's doing during a gear check with an instructor who just gives you a quick look over, a pat on the rig and a "You're good". The first instructor will instill a sense of the importance of gear checks in the student, as well as an understanding of what to check. The second one will just send a message along the lines of "hey, what can go wrong?" and make the student adhere to that philosophy as well. The first instructor is also more likely (IMHO) to give a proper debriefing.

The foundation of the safety awareness in a skydiver is created when he's a student. It's important to have a good instructor. Now, people can define good in many ways:
"Oh yeah, he's good. He's got 2K jumps, man!"
"Oh yeah, he's good. He was on the 4-way team that won the [random comp]"
"Dude, I thought for sure you'd die when you pulled that low turn. You're good!"
etc, etc. My point is, if you (OP) don't think the instructor pays attention to you and your training, politely explain this and request another instructor at the DZ or ask for your money back if you feel that they don't take you seriously. Instructors are teachers, but some times they're more worried about making the next load than giving a thorough debriefing and that's not acceptable IMHO.

Also, safety in this sport is not a matter of blind luck and not being a dumbass.