wind limits for tandem skydiving

[kaiser 19]

Whats a suggested wind limit for tandem skydiving? Serious replies only please.
Thank you

[gowlerk 2,190]

kaiser

Whats a suggested wind limit for tandem skydiving? Serious replies only please.
Thank you

We shut it down if it gets over 20 mph. That's considered pretty conservative. A lot of places go much higher.

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

[sammielu 3]

Officially it's as high as the TI is comfortable.

I think it varies per landing area. At my home dz I'll jump in higher winds, as long as it's steady, not gusty, and from the direction where I know from experience it will stay steady. Wind from the south and I want to stop in any winds.

I fun jump in Eloy and they really get gusty winds and don't have a direction where it is usually steady, so my answer would be different.

It also varies per TI experience, physical strength, and their ability/prefrence for the gear they jump. Give me the big dudes when it's windy, for example. There's really a lot of factors.

[kaiser 19]

Thanks guys for reply.I jumped again in 16mph gusting to 29mph.And 20mph to 30mph was the wind forecast.Its been about the norm where I'm jumping right now and just needed some input and to get sensible when to stop jumping.
I usually only stop when the parachute stops having performance.
I just hit a gust the moment I was set up to touch down,it stop me like hitting a wall,lifted me up,pushed me side ways and slammed me to the ground,all good and no one injured.All happened in about 10 to 15ft hight.

[file 1]

As sammielu said it depends on many factors, but for me 25 kts would be borderline even in nice stable winds, in gusty conditions wouldn't even think about it...
Landing backwards is possible, but the risk is not worth those extra few bucks

[riggerrob 643]

My personal limit is 22 knots.
I also stand down when gusts reach a 5 knot difference.
Oh! The time we watched a solo jumper break his heel - when hit by a downdraft - both TIs refused to jump for the rest of the day.

[ChrisHoward 8]

sammielu

Officially it's as high as the TI is comfortable.

This is the sad reality of the Tandem industry. Customers are usually oblivious to the risks their instructors expose them to. And one of the biggest defining factors on whether an instructor will jump or not is as simple as how much he wants a pay check for the day.
We are all skydivers and have accepted the risks long ago, but don't fool yourself into thinking your customers would also accept that same level of risk. Next time the winds are marginal consider what your customer might think.

[gowlerk 2,190]

There are tandem mills catering to tourists operating near beaches that have near constant high winds. TIs in such places regularly operate in conditions that require hard turns onto final to have forward ground speed on landing. The customers have no idea the chances being taken.

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

[DJL 235]

Max of 25 mph or max gust 8 if wind is over 12-14 mph. In 17 years of Skydiving these are the points at which I've witnessed the ability of the TI to be nearing inconsequential. Remaining factors are the student's weight and wind direction vs obstacles creating turbulence.

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

[mx19 0]

I'm happy jumping in 25-26kts (28-30mph) as long as it's clean and no turbulence, but my issue is the gust difference. Nowadays if its more than 9kt (10mph) difference I'm probably staying on the ground.

The safety of my passenger and myself is more important than being that "hotshot" that'll jump in anything or getting paid for that jump.

[diablopilot 2]

DJL

Max of 25 mph or max gust 8 if wind is over 12-14 mph. In 17 years of Skydiving these are the points at which I've witnessed the ability of the TI to be nearing inconsequential. Remaining factors are the student's weight and wind direction vs obstacles creating turbulence.

Same as what he said.

13,000 jumps, 8,500 tandems, 18 years in.

----------------------------------------------
You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[kaiser 19]

Just got fired today for making a not to jump call.All took place in the plane.

[jumpsalot-2 3]

Making that decision is your job. Good job. You and your customer are both safe.

Life is short ... jump often.

[kaiser 19]

Thank you.
I'm also a S&TA.

[DJL 235]

kaiser

Just got fired today for making a not to jump call.All took place in the plane.

Send me a PM if you want to do tandems in Virginia.

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

[Beevo 0]

Great job for knowing your limits, but why did it happen on the plane? The only reason I ask, is I'm assuming the winds were bad before you got on the plane and I could see a situation where other tandem instructors that felt 100% comfortable having passengers feeling uncomfortable because of the refusal. No disrespect intended, getting your passenger safe on the ground is your number 1 priority. Just curious why they would fire you over not wanting to jump in conditions you weren't comfortable with.

[douwanto 22]

25kts winds. Gust more than 7kts period. I have jumped in conditions above both limits and seen the results. Gust above 8kts take skill out of the equation and leave nothing but pure luck on a tandem. Our DZ has limits and manifest adheres to them. DZO's and Instructors often say ooohhh its ok lets go....You cant rely on them to make the best decision when
$100s and even $1000s of dollars are on the line..( Setting the limits and sticking to them is what good S&TA's are for)..

If your DZO is your S&TA and pushes you to jump in these conditions I suggest you contact USPA.

10000+Tandems since Feb 2000

Uncle/GrandPapa Whit
Unico Rodriguez # 245
Muff Brother # 2421

[kaiser 19]

Beevo,
It's a beach resort location,and next to stiff winds you dealing with low cloud layers as well.
No visibility!!! no jumping out.

[raff 4]

kaiser

Whats a suggested wind limit for tandem skydiving? Serious replies only please.
Thank you

A load of tandems should be like a mountain climbing expedition, in that there should be an implied veto power of one, no questions asked. Imagine what might happen if a student got hurt on a load where one TM (with good judgement) had stood down. I hope to be reincarnated as a lawyer under those circumstances.

If you leave the plane without a parachute, you will be fine for the rest of your life.

[DJL 235]

raff

***Whats a suggested wind limit for tandem skydiving? Serious replies only please.
Thank you

A load of tandems should be like a mountain climbing expedition, in that there should be an implied veto power of one, no questions asked. Imagine what might happen if a student got hurt on a load where one TM (with good judgement) had stood down. I hope to be reincarnated as a lawyer under those circumstances.

Also, it's not that hard to get people to reschedule or give them the option of sitting around until the wind dies down. There's no single tandem for which I'm willing to break my ankle so I could give two fucks about getting someone in the air, it's not like we're invading Normandy and this is our only window.

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

[fcajump 164]

raff

***Whats a suggested wind limit for tandem skydiving? Serious replies only please.
Thank you

A load of tandems should be like a mountain climbing expedition, in that there should be an implied veto power of one, no questions asked. Imagine what might happen if a student got hurt on a load where one TM (with good judgement) had stood down. I hope to be reincarnated as a lawyer under those circumstances.

Years ago, I was on a load of 5 tandems where we got a report that it started raining on the ground. 4 of us quickly told our students that we'd be preparing to decend in the plane (doff helmets, put on seatbelts, etc...) but one TI became quite insistant that it was fine to jump with a little rain and we could do what we liked, but he and his student were going. Took pretty much all of us and the pilot to... um... "inform" this TI that it wasn't going to happen. (didn't help that he was sitting at the front of the plane and would have had to climb over everyone to get to the door... or maybe it did...) Turned out that it was a very heavy downpour by the time we landed.

In thinking about the day's students and the financials at the DZ at the time: for his student: he was the TI($), he was the rig owner($), and he was getting the student finder-fee($) for most of the students on the load. He saw the abort as costing him, but when we saw the rain from underneith, it could have cost him much more had he not been shouted down...

JW

Always remember that some clouds are harder than others...

[kaiser 19]

Thanks for sharing your story.
Awesome how a few of us are on the same page.

[kaiser 19]

Last season at skydive south Texas I made a safety call,a newly rated tandem master felt uncomfortable jumping in our weather conditions.And what I got in return was a ground crew that got mad not making $ that day,and a DZO that through chairs at me in the hangar and physically pushed be when I had my back turned to him.He was out to pick a fight, that's his reputation.

[gowlerk 2,190]

That's why I jump at a dropzone instead of a tandem mill. No one at my DZ is depending on tandem revenue to eat. Skydiving is supposed to be fun. Even when it's work it should be fun.

That DZ exists to cater to tourists. No other reason to be there. If you work at a place like that you will be under that kind of pressure constantly.

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

[kaiser 19]

BSR's and flight rules! that's the point here.