One of the greatest things that can happen to an Instructor is to put a student through a training program (AFF, S/L, IAD) make every jump with him or her and then conduct there A license check dive, well as a Examiner it goes one step further, in the first part of Sept 09 I had the privilege to conduct an AFF Instructor Certification course for a friend of mine, John Harth (A.K.A. Rudder.) When Rudder showed up at Skydive Sebastian I had a flash back of doing his A license check dive and the fun we had after the landing, duck taping him to a post, taking everything in the drop zone refrigerator and pieing him. We then left him there for a good our in the Aug sun in IN. After the baking we took a hose and cleaned him up and continued to congradulate him on his A license, I did not see him again after that summer for about 2 years. He came to the drop zone I was working at and started jumping his ass off, it was a busy summer for him, chasing girls, drinking like a Viking, and jumping, that summer he showed some interest in becoming a coach, we talked on several occasion about it. The next summer he took the coach course with me, again all I could think about was man were was time going, it seems like he just got his license, in fact it had been 3 or 4 years and he had well over 4oo jumps. When the coach course was over I had this over whelming feel of accomplishment, I put him his A license, he just completed the Coach course, how cool. Last winter we ran into each other down on FL, and he asked me to do some tunnel training with him and his lovely girl friend, and while they were there she completed the coach course, while we were hanging out he had shown interest in becoming an AFF I, he had stated that he had been a coach for more then a two years and had work extensively with students in the coaching program and in the FJC and feels that the time was coming. So three weeks ago the begining of Sept he came to Skydive Sebastian to under go the AFF I course through AirRage Skydiving Standards. When he showed up again I was a little over whelmed with where he was in his skydiving progression, almost 6 years sense his A license check dive. I woundered did he have it in him, the week was long. We did and hour in the tunnel, we made about 20 practice jumps in the pre-course. When the time came, eval time, first ground prep, guess what? Not to standard, right out the gate, two more chances to pass two, the next one was right on par, congrates Rudder, the first eval came rudder and marcus were spectacular, I could not believe it. Rudder was one ground prep and two jumps away from being an AFF I, the second or Cat D, ground prep was near perfect, you could see the relief in his eyes, but he was not out of the dark yet, next day came and him and his partner missed a major rigging defiencey and now again were under the gun not to miss anything else on the ground. The second dive came and once again Rudder and Markus were all over it, I was getting frustrated, not really, but maybe a little. Sunday the day of pass or fail, the supervision was was perfect no rigging errors missed thank god for them. The skydive came and I though everything to include the sink at them, on their cat D's, and both of them were all over it, that night at the Zoo Bar we had our little AFF grad party and I gave a little speech on how Rudder began, and tears were almost coming out while I was taking ( I SAID ALMOST), everyone at the Zoo bar watched the eval vids and were very proud of the new AFF I's and while the vids were playing I just sat back and thought back to Rudders A license check dive 6 years ago, and thought of his progression, our conversations about being an AFF I, I then smiled and relalized the best thing in the world just happen, I took someone from AFF student, to coach, to now an AFF I, what a feeling, Rudder again congrats, and I can't wait for the day that I get to be your partner on an AFF dive, I would do AFF with you any time, peace and be safe and remember students are the future of our great sport.
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