Tandem skydiving
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Tandem skydiving refers to a type of skydiving where a novice skydiver ("student" or "passenger") is connected via a harness to an experienced skydiver ("tandem master" or "tandem instructor"). The instructor controls the whole jump from exit through freefall, piloting the canopy, and landing. The student needs only minimal instruction before making a tandem jump.
Tandem skydiving is a popular training method for first time skydivers, but it is more expensive than a static line skydive. It exposes first-time jumpers to the skydiving routine with minimal expectations from the student. Some training programs instruct first-time jumpers on how and when to deploy the main canopy themselves. In these programs, about half of the first-jump students succeed. However, the tandem master remains primarily responsible for safe and timely parachute deployment.
[edit] Equipment
Tandem skydiving requires equipment with several differences from normal sport skydiving rigs. All modern tandem skydiving systems use a drogue parachute, which is deployed shortly after leaving the plane in order to slow the freefall speed of two people down to that of a single skydiver. This is necessary for proper parachute deployment, lengthening the duration of the skydive, and allowing the skydivers to fall at the same speed as videographers. Tandem skydiving systems also use larger main parachutes (400 square feet and larger) to support the extra weight of two passengers. The three most common tandem skydiving systems in use are the Strong Dual Hawk, the Relative Workshop Vector Tandem, and the Relative Workshop Sigma Tandem.
[edit] Instructor certification
Tandem instructors are required to pass an instructor certification course for the system they jump before skydiving with students. The FAA requires each potential instructor to have over five hundred individual skydives and three years of skydiving experience. Individual manufacturers' certification courses usually have additional requirements.
