Spotting is apparently on a death dive to hell at the hands of larger aircraft, the ram-air canopy, complacency of jumpers, dependency on GPS, the skills and generosity of other skydivers and a reluctance to take responsibility for one's own actions. Back in the time of round parachutes and four & six place Cessnas it was incumbent on everyone to know how to spot. To paraphrase Bob Dylan, people used to care. Things have changed. If you really want to get out of the plane blindly, please, don't ever once complain about a bad spot or having to walk. No one wants to hear it and there will be no sympathy serenade for you as you make it back to the packing area. And that's on a good day.
Spotting can be learned. You can insist the Instructors at the school do their job and actually teach you. You can seek out a structured non-school course in spotting, and you can even make the effort to teach yourself through the observation and questioning of experienced spotters. At the very least look out the window on jump run and out the door prior to your set-up there. Ask the pilot where the spot is and see if you can recognize it from altitude. Become acquainted with the aerial photo and the real estate that surrounds the drop zone so you can make the connection between what people say is the spot and what you see when you look out the door.
So what does it take to spot? Regardless of how you go about learning, you'll have to accomplish certain things in order to spot. First is to have information. Where are the winds coming from and at what speeds at which altitudes? What does the area look like; what are recognizable landmarks? What would be too long and what would be too short? How have previous loads fared? Next is to know what to do with the information you gather. We spot for our opening point and not our exit point. So how will your canopy fly back from where you plan to open? How much ground can a parachute cover and at what speeds? What's the difference whether you open upwind or downwind of the drop zone? There are formulas for figuring it out. Numbers and calculations. There's also straight paying attention and showing some initiative.
This article is not designed to teach spotting. That's a course in itself and is far beyond the scope of any article. All that is intended here is the encouragement to take it upon ourselves to simply not accept the talents of others as the sole method by which to get us through the skydiving day. It's just too irresponsible. Irresponsible to others but also irresponsible to ourselves. There will come a time when you are the most experienced person on the plane and everyone else is looking to you to spot , to take responsibility, to lead, to not disappoint them. Today's trends tell us that you'll all be walking - if you're lucky.
Why anyone would limit themselves by avoiding what they can not only learn but can control in their whole skydiving experience remains a mystery. The complacent mind is more than enigmatic. It's the birthplace of danger sired by idiocy.
And as always,
Thanks for listening and please, come back in one piece!
Kim Emerson, S&TA