The International Bodyflight Association Instructor Ratings Program allows Tunnel staff members to document their experience so that they can more easily develop their abilities and safely fulfill their responsibilities. Instructors are staff members that work in the tunnel and are hands–on with the flyers. They also coordinate all activities associated with the actual flight operations of the tunnel.

The Instructor Program is a step-by-step progression:

• Trainee
• Instructor Level I
• Instructor Level II
• Instructor Level III
• Instructor Level IV

Management and an Examiner may invite some instructors to follow the trainer path. This path involves additional training and skills that qualify an instructor to train other instructors. The Trainer levels are:

• Trainer Level II
• Trainer Level III
• Trainer Level IV
• Examiner

In addition to continuously monitoring and assisting the development of the instructors and other trainers at their facility, trainers conduct safety meetings. Safety meetings gather all of the instructional staff on a regular basis in a team environment to challenge each other and develop their skills.

Because of the challenges involved in being a good instructor, all applicants are screened before they become Trainees to ensure that they have the potential to reach their goal.

Instructor Level I is an instructor allowed to assist the flight of members of the general public and is achieved by the successful completion of this Flight Instructor Training Program. Only a Trainer Level IV or an Examiner can sign off the FITP.

Instructor Levels II - IV are obtained by ongoing training with an appropriately rated Trainer and the accumulation of experience as an employee and instructor.

Examiner is the highest rating for a trainer; it allows them to not only create new instructors, but also create new trainers that can in turn create new instructors. In addition to requiring experience and skill, the opportunity to be Examiner is at the invitation of the majority of existing examiners and is also subject to the veto of the most senior examiner.

The accompanying “IBA Instructor Ratings Chart” and “Transitions” pages provide an outline of all of the instructor ratings and the skills that must be mastered for each level. To properly utilize the ratings program you must follow these instructions:

All instructors progress will be tracked and documented on the IBA website. This site provides a place to record results and document successful completion of particular skills with the signature of an appropriately rated trainer. The name of the trainer and the date the box was checked appear in a small pop-up window when you hover the cursor over a checked box. These records are available to the public for review by tunnel owners, managers and clients.

The checkboxes that make up this chart are itemized below and give you some idea of what skills you must demonstrate in order to be signed off for a particular checkbox. These definitions also appear as pop-up information boxes on an instructor rating chart when you hover the cursor over a particular item.