Preparation for TI Rating?

[feuergnom 29]

irishrigger

and one more piece of advise, the easiest part of doing tandems is getting your rating!
you will know what to expect during that time, after you are left loose on the members of the public, you never know what can happen

some of what you will encounter can be found here

The universal aptitude for ineptitude makes any human accomplishment an incredible miracle

dudeist skydiver # 666

[gowlerk 2,249]

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On the first one he got me in a spin so bad that I lost time awareness/altitude awareness trying to fix the spin and end up opening at about 3.500 ft (from there I have been trying to be as aware as I can be in all my tandems (I have over 230 tandems now).

This would be exactly why 500 jumps may not be enough. If you had more experience you probably would have handled the situation better. I'm not saying the number should be raised, just that everyone considering taking up tandem should be aware of the challenges.

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[skydived19006 4]

linebckr83

You'll be surprised how many "small muscles" get worn out doing a day of tandems. Don't be surprised when you are alarmingly sore after a day of tandems despite your current fitness level.

Of course belly skills are necessary for good tandem flying, but honestly your HD time isn't useless. On some of the really difficult passengers I've had straight out of the door, relaxing and "going with the flow" has been more beneficial than just arching hard and hoping it'll settle down soon. That's where your HD exit and flying skill will help you. Best of luck.

I absolutely agree with Mike on this. Exiting a 182, it's never automatically stable. I've seen quite a few TIs who roll off and arch until something good happens. I do not have FF skills, pretty old school, but being able to fly in multiple orientations can only add to your tool box when working with a student right off the airplane. The ability to work with the student, relax and fly the thing as opposed to fighting it will go a long way!

Experience is what you get when you thought you were going to get something else.

AC DZ

[steveorino 7]

Rover

630 more jumps - 500 is not enough for a tandem rating

+1

Minimal requirements seldom make for the best Instructor. I wish guys would ask, "How many jumps does it take for me to be the best TI can be?", versus, "How fast can I be a TI?"

steveOrino

[GLIDEANGLE 1]

irishrigger

and one more piece of advise, the easiest part of doing tandems is getting your rating!
you will know what to expect during that time, after you are left loose on the members of the public, you never know what can happen

The same could be said for teaching AFF. During eval jumps you know that, if all else fails, the evaluator will save his own life... not true with real students.

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

[jonathan.newman 1]

First, take a canopy course. Every tandem you do will have a different wing loading and perhaps a different canopy. You need to be able to figure out how to flare and on every jump it could be different.

Second, take a canopy course. You probably forgot something from the first time you took it. Again, every jump will be different. But, all jumps end in a landing.

Getting stable out of the plane will require you to fly in ways you never considered before. I'm not sure how to practice flying stable with both legs, one arm, and your head on the left side of your body, with your right arm trying to throw the drogue. I think a good examiner is able to teach this, but it takes more than 5 jumps, perhaps.

Even when the drogue is out, you will still struggle to find stable freefall positions. If the student is stiff, you might have to get more (or less) of your limbs in the wind, and fly more (or less) relaxed than they are. Forget about a pretty box-man with you on the outside and the student on the inside. Arms and legs can go anywhere, and you need to prepare yourself to fly in different positions to compensate.

I disagree with previous posters who say you need more belly jumps. Belly jumps are not a good training tool for tandems. Unfortunately, it's expensive to do practice tandems.

Perhaps you can hang out with the video editors and watch as many tandem jumps as you can. Then talk to the TIs about the bad ones.

Good luck. And don't ever get complacent with gear checks. I've seen packers leave powertools in the rig, mis-rigged 3-rings, mis-routed RSLs, and AADs that turned off.

[gunpaq 1]

on the last one he said: "Ill be a normal; student on this one,

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also wave before pulling"... he wasn't a normal student he again was rocking and turning and shit, when I wave he grab both my arms and tries to lock them, I force the right arm so he focus on the right arm as I rapidly release the left arm and pull.

You had some good training and wished I had gotten the same years ago. Actually had a little lady grab both my arms and went clonic.......a few scary seconds for me and a wake up call.

www.geronimoskydiving.com