Safety Line

Becoming an Instructor

Have you ever considered becoming an instructor? This is a fantastic way of maintaining an active involvement within the skydiving arena without having to take part in competitive sport skydiving.

What qualities are we looking for in an instructor?

Instructors should be approachable, firm and unbiased, a good example, systematic, alert and unhurried, observant, they should have an enquiring mind and be honest.

Think you make the grade?

Getting started…

Jumpmaster: Tell your CI that you are interested in becoming a Jumpmaster and let him or her get you involved in tasks around the drop zone. Make an effort to become aware of safety and training at your local drop zone. Sit in on briefings, spend time with instructors, other jumpmasters and riggers - learn from them. Once you have a B licence and a minimum of 150 freefall jumps, you become eligible for the jumpmasters course. Jumpmaster courses are run at drop zone level so speak to your chief instructor to find out more.

To prepare, you would need to familiarise yourself with the Manual of Procedures (MOPs), specifically Sections 2 and 3. Refer to Form 7 – Jumpmaster Certification Course Pre-Course requirement sheet for a complete list of requirements to be completed before attending the course.

Have a look at section 15 of the MOPs for detail pertaining to the jumpmaster course.

Static line instructor: Once you have been a Jumpmaster for at least a year and have a C licence, you can prepare for an Instructor course. Refer to Form 8 – Instructor Certification Course Pre-Course requirement sheet for a complete list of requirements to be completed. Once you have completed all the requirements, this form must be sent in to the NSTO together with a recommendation from your CI. Safety & training will organise a course once enough candidates are on file.

The Instructor Course is an excellent experience. You will be expected to arrive with your lessons plans well prepared. The course is designed to evaluate on your knowledge and your instructional ability, after working with your CI at your drop zone. Other candidates on the course will act as your first time students. The more preparation/ practical instruction you have done, the easier it will be. The evaluators will want to see a good attitude and willingness to take on board their experienced advice and or critique. This is a certification course and not a course that teaches you to be an instructor.

The course usually lasts 4 to 5 days and the days are long, starting early and going on late into the evening. Each day is filled with theory lectures and practical evaluations and these are interspersed with mini written tests. The final day ends with a written exam on the MOPs followed by a few drinks  ;-).

Costs: The costs are determined depending on the size of the available group but you can expect to pay between R5000 and R7000 to attend an instructor course.

Accelerated Free Fall Instructor: Once you have an Instructor rating, a minimum of 1000 logged freefall jumps, a minimum of 10 hours freefall time and a PASA D licence, you are ready to consider becoming an AFF Instructor. Refer to Form 9 – Instructor Certification Course Pre-Course requirement sheet for a complete list of requirements to be completed.

Once you have completed all the requirements, this form must be sent in to the NSTO together with a recommendation from your CI. Safety & training will organise a course once enough candidates are on file.

The AFF Instructor Course is also an exceptional experience, which challenges your in air observation and teaching skills. You will be expected to arrive with your lesson plans and lectures well prepared. The course is designed to evaluate you on your knowledge and methods of instruction. The evaluators on the course will act as your students and usually do exactly as briefed. The more instructional skydives you have done with ISP students the better and the more at home you will be with in air communications. The evaluators will want to see a good attitude, an ability to think on your feet, the ability to react to a fast changing situation while keeping safety of the student paramount.

The course usually lasts 5 days. As with the basic instructor course days are long, starting early and going on late into the evening. Each day is filled with theory lectures and practical evaluations. The final day ends with a written exam on the MOPs and a few stiff drinks.

Costs: The costs are determined depending on the size of the available group but you can expect to pay between R7000 and R8000 to attend an AFF instructor course.

Safety remains everybody's concern!

Mark Bellingan
National Safety & Training Officer
safety@para.co.za