MakeItHappen

I agree that the graph shows a large increase in A licenses relative to the other three licenses. I'm relatively new and I'm not really sure why that is. The ideas below are more along the lines of evaluating some of the reasons that have been suggested. The suggestion was made to compare this to population, and I think this meant the population of the United States (which is relatively easy to find) and not just the total count of USPA members. For the "better economy = more jumpers" idea, you could compare this against something like the Dow Jones industrials, or average salary (possibly in real dollars), or something like that. Another idea might be to put the Y axis (license numbers) on a log scale. This lets you compare the percentage change rather than the absolute change. The X gridlines (month/year) looks like they're using default intervals calculated by Excel. It might help readability to adjust this so that they each correspond to January of some year. Five years between gridlines might be a good spacing - currently it's about seven. If you'd be willing to share the spreadsheet with the raw data in it, I'd be happy to create some of these graphs. Eule Well Eule, I certainly appreciate your enthusiasm, but making graphs prettier is not the mission here. There is something that you might be able to help in. It's basically a conversion of prices from earlier years into today's dollars. For instance, I paid $35 per jump after my first jump until I was cleared off student status back in 1981. It took me 25 jumps to get off student status. Now according to this reference my $35 jumps back then would equal $78 jumps today. I paid $95 for my first jump, via SL, tandem and AFF were not around then. That's $210 2006 dollars. There are many people that propose the argument that jumping is MUCH MORE expensive today than yesterday. I don't think that is true. I think it is about the same or even a bit less expensive now as compared to years ago. Would you be willing to convert prices from days ago into today's dollar equivalents? . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Normalizing the data would be the next step. But, getting good USPA population numbers is another problem too. I have some of that data and it varies widely form issue to issue, so I'm not so sure that I could give you 'good' normalized data. The skipped #, in publishing, and clerical errors, I hope have been accounted for. I don't want to burden you with the details. Let's just say I have a double entry, double check on the numbers. The years that the jump number requirement changes happened: I could go get the specifics, but it would not change the overall picture. The big hop in C&D licenses shows up on the graph, the little hops in the A license do not appear. You can find some of them in the BOD minutes mtgs. I tend to agree that 'student programs' may 'bunch up' numbers, but I listed the yearly changes, not the month to month changes. Rate of change, ie the slope of the line is almost constant for all licenses from 1991 to today. There is the blip for the change in C/D # jumps. The question to answer is why the A license slope is so much steeper than all the other licenses. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Back on track: I'm just going to drone on about some issues that have been brought up, but not address people specifically because I'm still trying to understand this. Yes, it's true that higher license levels can have more licenses than lower license levels. I never got my A or B license. Years ago, the A license was a mere 10 jumps, then it bumped up to 15, then 20, then 25 then down to 20 then back up to 25 where it is today. When I was a student an A license was nothing to go yell and scream about what I did. It was something your JMs told you to skip paying USPA for and just wait until your D license. Today, instructors encourage you to apply for the license. There are several reasons for this. One is that today's jumpers travel a bit more than they did 20-30 years ago. Two is that you need to have that license card (with or without the official USPA license number) to jump at a new DZ. That situation did not happen that often 20 years ago. Today it does. The ramp up of mainstreaming AFF and/or Tandem: Both were introduced in 1981. Both had a small and slow entrainment. Tandem saw a burst growth when the drogue was added, but I do not know the exact year for that. Neither of these training methods showed or influenced a trend in licenses from 1981 to 1991. What strikes me as a significant event in the early 1990's is the introduction of the CYPRES. CYPRES took off slowly too, but within a few years it was bragging about how widespread its use was. In 1996 there was an ad about the Russian 300-way attempts that had something like 80% usage (That's of experienced jumpers, not students) I was one of the ones without a CYPRES then. If I were to 'explain' the meaning of that graph today, with the data I have on hand, I'd say that people enter the sport assuming that it is almost infallible, but then realize by the time they get their B license or equivalent that the sport can kill you and beg off it, whereas in the early years you knew that from the begining. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

And that is the conundrum, why is USPA membership decreasing? (at more than the attrition rate because of age?) N_total = N_renew + N_new Renewals are down, not the number of new jumpers. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Perhaps, some leading questions may help you in looking at this in the long term. Something happened in the early 90's to augment the entrainment of A licenses. So what was that? - the introduction of the CYPRES? - the 3-3 system of training? - something else? There is a 'blip' when the D licencse was changed from 200 to 500 jumps. You can clearly see that in the data for C and D licenses. There is no blip for BIC or Coach or USPA TI ratings. So why does the A license take off in the early 90's and continue to today, but there is no corresponding increase for other licences? So why do jumpers go get their A license and boast about it, but yet we do not see them get their B or higher license? Are we losing (non-renewal) our jumpers between A and B? And also consider that all of the license curves are under-estimates of the people actually qualified for that license. Many people skip the intermediate licenses. What is the reason for the high growth rate of A licenses since the early 90s? Maybe we can use that reason to augment the higher level licences. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Attached is a diagram of license numbers over the years. Each data point is the maximum license number published in Parachutist in the January issue of a given year. Missing data points are either because no licenses were published or I did not have the magazine. So what do you think about this data and what conclusions would you draw? I have my theories, but I want to hear your theories. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

you need to add inside the object tag and wmode="transparent" to the attributes of the embed tag. There is a page on Adobe someplace that explains this. See this page for it in practice. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

I don't follow the part where he has a short life expectancy in 1971, yet lives to 1995? Did he really have kidney disease? Did dialysis work better than you say? Did he get a transplant? I have copies of old Parachutist magazines and can see if his name or aliases are listed in the Wings-n-Things section. It also lists the state the jumper was from at the time. I do know that USPA did go through their records at the time to look for this person. They did not find anything. Personally, I think DB Cooper went in on that jump and no one has been able to find his remains. Several years ago there was a BASE jumper that made a successful jump, but his canopy landed in a swiftly flowing river. He was swept away. S&R could not find his body - and they knew where to look. Something similar probably happened to DB Cooper. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Your reading comprehension needs improvement. I too think SDA should have awarded medals as soon as possible. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

This was posted a long time ago. see Nats Schedule . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

The excerpt from Larry Hill that Betsy posted did mention that he had tried giving out awards as soon as possible and also tried awards at the end of the meet. He has run a lot of Nationals and World Meets. For reasons that you and I do not understand, Larry says awards at the end of the meet work better. I don't agree with that, but I would not say Larry is blowing you off. It could be that at World Meets it makes more sense to give the awards out at the end and for Nationals the awards should be given out asap, but maybe Larry does not see that difference. Part of this controversy is self-inflicted too. SDA has excellent weather in October. SDA has a gazillion planes to put up jumpers at rates that saturate the airspace. Now suppose Nationals was at a place with a marginal forecast of good jumpable weather (think Muskogee). The Meet Director would run a few rounds of 4-way, then switch to 8-way, then 10-way, then 16-way. Then go back to 4-way. IOW, they'd have to string out the 4-way event over many more days. I think most competitors would like their event to be completed in a few days, as opposed to being strung out over a week. So if you have a meet at a place that can get an event wrapped up in two days vs a place that needs to string events out over a week, you have in the first case having to deal with people complaining about the awards not being timely and in the second case you have people complaining that the event took a whole week's worth of vacation time. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Thanks for the update. Some of us were in the Cameraflyer briefing where another bone of contention was being presented. ALL images (video and stills) were to be the property of USPA... ltdiver From the SCM Section 10-4: 5. HOST agrees and acknowledges that, except as otherwise mutually agreed upon in writing, USPA owns all rights to the EVENT including the commercial exploitation of sound and visual images of the EVENT. 6. HOST shall ensure that USPA has, free of charge, full access to all sound and/or visual images of the EVENT for its own archival and promotional purposes and shall have the right to make its own recordings of the EVENT. 7. HOST must require videographers to sign an agreement that USPA can use all video material recorded at the EVENT for the promotional use by USPA. I don't know the history of these clauses in the agreement (Larry Bagley would), but I do know that Perris did have a release form on this at it's Nationals, so it really should not have been news to you. A FF photographer at Eloy told me he did not sign a release, so I don't know what SDA did. If you don't like the rules, talk to the Comp. Comm. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

You can agree or disagree - that is not important. I think if you talk to the winners (and losers) over the years they will say the journey is a much more valued life experience than the destination. This is not something restricted to skydiving, every life endeavor has the same qualities. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

It pays off to read the manuals. ;) I'll just add another comment. Lori, you knew where I was working and could find me very easily. If the bad spot issue was THAT important, I'd think you'd find me in a heartbeat and get it resolved. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Well, I have a question for the current competitors of today. Many years ago we used to change the exit order within a plane from round to round. Eg Teams exited as 1-2-3-4 on round 1 Teams exited as 2-3-4-1 on round 2 Teams exited as 3-4-1-2 on round 3 Teams exited as 4-1-2-3 on round 4 Repeat I know the rules do not address this either way, but is this practice still common or unheard of by the new teams? A follow up on the bad spots, even after talking to the Meet Management, you can then go see the USPA Controller, aka Larry Bagley, he will help resolve your issues. For nothingbutyou: Can you explain this to me: I read it and say 'well, yeah, you need to know the events you are entered in.' Most of the teams training all season long know what event they will enter and what events might be pickup teams. So, is there a time or condition that you need the meet management to tell you what event you are entered in? Don't you know that when you sign up? . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

My first Nationals also had me accepting the first place Championship award in the 4-way and 8-way Intermediate classes. Of course, that was many moons ago and the podium thing wasn't around then. Our 4-way team was presented the award as soon as possible, in the darkness of a dz, standing at the same level as everyone else, but that didn't bother us at all. The crowd cheered. That was what we wanted to hear. I think the 8-way award was during the day, but I can't really remember. I agree with that the awards should be awarded as soon as possible. Expecting teams to hang around for 4 more days was a bit unrealistic. As far as I know, that schedule of awarding medals is up to the host, not USPA. Also I have to call you to the carpet about your complaint. You are basically whining about being deprived of your personal moment of glory. IOW, because you did not have your 'moment on the podium with adoring fans cheering you on' you say the Nationals were run poorly. I can actually identify with that at this year's nationals. For the past two years at Perris, the BOD was introduced on stage and we had that moment of glory of people clapping for us. This year, no such thing happened. The present BOD members were also not called upon to hang awards. I don't know why, don't really care now either. But I will tell you that, that night I was wondering about it. Then after a day or so of thinking about it, I realized I was just disappointed that I didn't have my moment of glory. But then I am not on the BOD for my moment of glory. I'm on it because I can help USPA members. You know, teams are not really at Nationals for that moment of glory-up on some podium - accepting an award, they are there for the excellence they can achieve as competitors. So I call you to the carpet and say that competitors are not in it for the *glory*, but are in it for the personal satisfaction they get from competing. Sure the *glory* makes it extra nice, but if it wasn't there, Nationals would still go on. If it really was that much of a problem, then you need to bring it up to the Meet Director in real time. Don't bitch about it after the fact. I've jumped at SDA enough to know they (Bryan, Pat, Shawn, Larry, etc) will adjust to conditions. Betsy already answered this. Thank you on behalf of the judges, BTW, I was NOT a judge at Nats. The judges are the most under-appreciated group of people at Nationals. Good thing that all those OmniSkore systems worked like clockwork! You remind me of that guy that hired the reigning hot shot jumpers in FL to take him to a Medal at Nats about 15 years ago. Maybe if you greased the pot with a few thousand dollars you can have everything your way. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

So for me the people to vote against (or should I say not vote for) are the entire executive committee, namely: Chair: Glenn Bangs Members: Marylou Laughlin (regional NE), Madolyn Murdock, Mike Perry (regional Eastern), Lee Schlichtemeier (regional SW), B.J. Worth (As well as Jan Meyer for her action in stirring the pot) Thanks for the information. Dude, get your facts straight. Madolyn Murdock is not running again. so it makes no difference that way. Jan Meyer DID NOT ask for Mr. Jackson's membership and AFF ratings to be pulled. In fact, Jan Meyer sent and email to the FB asking why two TI's that lost their passengers did not have any disciplinary actions taken against them and a TI that did not kill anyone, but may have engaged in some *questionable* activities has had his TI rating pulled AND his membership AND his AFF rating for SEVEN years! If you ask me the USPA EC, is totally f**ked on the Jackson case. How that happened is a case of emails going this way and that way among the EC and no one on the EC saying 'Gee, i think this penalty is a bit out of whack.' The EC was essentially *told* what to do by the Chair and they did it. BTW, Jan Meyer twice asked for the TI rating to be suspended for Mr. Jackson and was twice denied. So if you knew the facts of this case, you would know that Jan Meyer did not precipatate any of the disciplinary actions taken by the EC as an interim motion. The EC Chair repeatedly dismissed any requests from Jan Meyer. And then on his own accord, based upon different information, told the EC how to vote on such-n-such IM. The USPA system of checks and balances is out of whack. It is time for a change. Our leadership is not serving the membership well. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Thanks for reading my mind. I would like to make my voice heard on this with my USPA BOD vote. The problem is I do not know who on the board was responsible for the ridiculous punishment. As far as I can tell, the only USPA director with dirt on their hands on this is Jan Meyer for her Jerry Springer investigation on DZ.COM. Does anyone know the actual board members that decided on the ban for Jacko? I do know who on the BOD voted for the outrageous punishment. It was everyone on the Executive Committee. It was a unanimous vote. The good news is that their actions are reviewed at the next regularly scheduled BOD mtg. As I've already said, I think taking away Mr. Jackson's membership and AFF rating was too much. I am positive that the penalty will be reduced at the next BOD mtg. In the meantime, Mr. Jackson will have to jump at a non-GM DZ. Get your facts straight next time you post. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

as noted - Vixen asked the teams on the plane if they minded before they doffed their tops - just in case any team in the load would be distracted from the competition in round 10. If a team were to do anything like this, they did it as right as could be done. I have serious doubts that their actions were in any way intended as disrepect for nats. BTW - thanks for you hard work at this nats - I read yours and mr wagner's updates every day also Perhaps, there may be some merit to the teams present approving or disapproving, but maybe not. The video was judged live for 4-way. It was sent to the judges and to the hanger and to DZTV monitors in real time. It was a PUBLIC event. The video reflects upon the host, Skydive Arizona, and the National Organization, USPA, that conduct the event. The Vixen team may not have intended to malign Nationals, but I think they did create an 'issue' that may see some future rules of conduct or responsibility from the teams. If Vixen was good enough to be in medal contention, their actions could be construed as interference. Even the request, could be interference. If you want to go down the street of women jumpers being taken seriously, and respected for their abilities, then Vixen shot that all to hell. I have been privy to many aspects and daily discriminations based upon gender. I do know that most people will not say anything. That is a travesty. I do know that some of the judges were offended and that they will not make any type of formal complaint. They expect USPA to take over. I have seen women's teams progress and gain stature within the skydiving community over the past 10-15 years. This is a big plus. I think I was one of the first women to earn a 1st place at Nationals in 1992. When I see other women shoot that down and go for the 'tits' routine, I am aghast. I want to see the best jumpers at Nationals. I do not care if they are men or women. I do care when a team deliberately undercuts the gains than have been hard sought by a minority. Updates to Omniskore were a multitude of updates. Tim and I did many updates and I also produced the TV scoreboard, a new feature for OmniSkore. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Perris Sweet Spot - looks like you guys had a great meet. And to also have the most covetted video of the comp (though there was some sweet VRW too)..... Hope to jump with you all again someday. 4 teams and 1 pilot - 21 people. 4 naked torsos. 19% I can understand the fun aspect of the topless dive that could possibly be appropriate at a local meet, but at the same time also see the disrepect to the USPA Nationals. I certainly do not condone this behavior. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Last night I awoke and realized that the 'grommets lining up thing is a historical legacy' thing. When cones and pins were used, the grommets did line up over atop of each other. This was ok because a spring loaded PC pushed the flaps off the cone. The flaps had angular motion that prevented (or reduced to near nil) chances of flaps hanging on each other. BTW cones are still used in limited military applications. With the introduction of soft loops and hand deploys (c. 1970's), the overlapping grommets produced the unintended consequences of flaps hanging on each other. There was no spring loaded PC pushing the grommets off a cone to separate them. Instead, a PC or pud pulled a pin out of a soft loop and the flaps laid there until the tension from the bridle line pulled the bag out. The bag was saying 'Get out of my way' to the flaps. In the earlier designs, the flaps said 'ok', but then appeared to be bumbling idiots of getting out of the way. But that was because the flaps were placed in each other's way. The soft loop was a major improvement over cones, but it had the problem of not always working when the grommets were overlaid atop of each other with a hand deploy. So it was found thru incidents and problems that if you offset the grommets, then the grommets would not hang up on each other. This was more important for hand deploys than spring loaded PCs. On today's reserves, the grommets do tend to 'almost' line up. That is because they have the spring loaded PC pushing apart the flaps. On today's mains with hand deploy systems, there is no spring loaded PC, so it is better to have the grommets offset. I guess the ROT (rule of thumb) that you can take is that the grommets on hand deploy systems with soft loops should not overlap very much. And spring loaded/ripcord systems with soft loops can have a bit more overlap. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Click on the MakeItHappen link in my sig block. My comments are my comments - take them as you see fit. 25 years of skydiving, reading lots of stuff, paying attention, yadda, yadda, yadda...... But I am not a rigger-----------yet. but you don't believe me hardly anyone does.... go look at page58 . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Some really unusual replies to this....? Re: grommets lining up: Most rigs do NOT want you to have the grommets stacked on top of each other. The reason for this is that the edge or lip of a grommet may catch the lip or edge of the next grommet down or even the binding tape along the flap edge. This scenario could result in pack closure at deployment time. It was a common problem many years ago. RWS, aka their new name, manuals specifically mention this. IOW, the ideal placement of the outside edge of a grommet is to the outside of the previous flap binding tape. If your rig mfg says to line up all the grommets atop of each other, well, go look for a new rig. If you can line up the grommets atop of each other then the pack tray is too large for the canopy. Re: pressure on packed rig in various positions. The best way to store a rig between jumps is to lay it on it's back. Rig hangers are ok, too. The worst way is to store it standing on it's end (bottom of main pack tray against a firm surface). That tends to put pressure on a loose loop and give you the impression that the loop is tight enough. Then while leaning back in an AC on the way to altitude, the pin pops. Re: loop length: I always go from the previous loop length. Sometimes I have to shorten it, when I jump in FL and then later lengthen it when back in the desert. I usually have to re-shorten a new loop after a few pack jobs because it has been stretched. I have even adjusted the loop length at the same DZ during the course of a year because of humidity effects. Opening knots on the closing loop: Use pliers to squish the knot in several directions. It will loosen up. Use pliers that do not have burrs to catch threads or some protective material. Too long of a loop: This is also an age-old malfunction. The loop should only be about 1/2 inch. Longer than that will tend to trap bridle lines. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

AND Melissa Nelson will be here to add to the dailys

Try WhereToJump.com zip code search. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker