Andrewwhyte

Theory: They wanted footage of her sitting near the open door by herself, before she was hooked up to the tandem master. So she needed her own rig for safety in case she fell out. And then once that task was done and the door closed, they removed the student rig and hooked her up to the tandem master for her jump. That is not a student rig. There are no 3 rings. It is a pilot rig.

What the fuck you talkin' 'bout Willis? Black people don't get house arrest.

AND HERE WE GO!

Then he just tells the DZO that he can only work on Sat and needs Sun off. It can easily work. It can work but in some cases other plans can work better. Some part timers may not want to be there first thing in the morning as it is their day off from their real job. Others only want a few work jumps per day. An example of a system that works is the FTs go hard all day, while the PTs go hard from 11:00-4:00 when they are really needed. They can do rec jumps in the morning and evening, or acquire spouse points at home as needed. The "system" does not have to be symmetrical across all part timers; it needs to satisfy both the employee and the DZO.

Ron your plan works well with an infinite supply of instructors. Many DZs do not have that during peak season. I know at least 2 and maybe three DZs in Alberta turned work away last year due to staff shortages. A couple of years ago our TI list and vidiot list were identical with one extra TI. If our DZ put part timers on an equal footing with full timers during shoulder season there would be no full timers; they simply would not be able to earn enough to make it. Also some part timers do not want to do nothing but work. I can think of one guy whose idea of a good day is 3 AFFs, 2 tandems, 2 coach jumps and a 10 way. Each dz needs to balance their needs with the needs of their staff.

Try not to be too cynical John. Lots of failed ideas catch on later when other technologies allows them to work.

It's already underway. http://wildrosealliance.ca/earlier-press-releases/our-vision-for-alberta/ Pay particular attention to the third item under Economic Opportunity and incentives. This party became a force when the Premier of the party that has been in power since 1972 went off the reservation and raised royalties.

Yes, trivial matter. It is spin and nothing else. I was exposed to the Exxon cool-aid all winter. There was even a cool-aid channel on the TV in camp, lol. The pay is good, but you have to take the spin with a grain of salt. The real problem here is instead of discussing the issue (the fact that despite its environmental failings, when it comes to "ethical oil" Canadian oil wins) you have started a discussion about a lable.

I vote for post- independence 18th century.

While your god's promise of eternal life is persausive, the Papua New Guinean mud god, Pikkiwoki, is promising a pig and as many coconuts you can carry.

Let France lead. It's their part of Africa. They have the contacts on the ground.

A pro-tec helmet will give better protection than any skydiving specific product I have ever seen. I have used audible altimeters in pro-tecs many times. If yours has ear protection the altimeter will fit nicely with no modifications. I know Riggerrob was glad he had one on a couple of years ago in the Pitt Meadows crash.

Accepting that the risk will remain non-zero is not the same thing as accepting the risk level as given. While risk is always present we still must continue to strive to manage the risk.

As these were "on the job" fatalities I presume Occupational Health and Safety (or some analogous California body) will be involved. Does anyone have any idea what their general posture has been toward skydiving fatalities in the past?

Hear! Hear! Back years ago, in the 70's Florida changed the drinking age to 18. The bar we were going to at the time was a peaceful place...live bands, good drinks, good people. Then the age changed. That very first night...fights all over the place...all youngsters who couldn't handle their booze. Killed the entire atmosphere of every joint in town. Happily, they changed the law back shortly thereafter. Imagine what would have happened if you had included legal drugs. I don't agree with making drugs legal for kids. And yes, 18 is still a kid in my book regardless of the "military service" argument. The drinking age here in Alberta is 18. Yes there are bars where 18 year olds hang out. There are also bars where older people hang out. As for high school kids in the bars, when I first moved to Alberta I was sitting in the village lounge chatting up the pretty barmaid. She told me she was late for work because of basketball practice. "Oh, local team?" I asked. "High school." she replied. Don't know about letting the girls close on a school night.

Well I use the canopy that I find gives me the best chance at a stand up without approaching the corner to closely. If I could find a canopy that I could stand up consistently with straight in approaches I would use that. I did start refusing to use F-111 tandem canopies for, among other reasons, their poor landing characteristics.

You should be sceptical of these claims. I know you indicated you are in canada but the labeling here in the U.S. can be extremely misleading. Free-range chickens, for instance, have very, very likely never been outside of the chicken house. To qualify for that label they have to have had "access" to a small plot of grass outside the chicken house for a limited portion of their life. The only way to really know the cconditions of a particular farm is to buy local and see the conditions for youself. Unfortunately that is not very practical for many people. Same thing here. It is best to know the farmer. Generally the farmers here will call the birds "free run" which means they have access to the out doors. The truth is they are unlikely to willingly go outside during the winter. The keys are whether they have nests or live in boxes, and whether there are anti-biotics in their feed. I shop a lot at farmers' markets and get a good idea from talking to the farmers. The fellow who told me he puts a couple of eggs back into the feed to brighten up the yolks is not my first choice.

It doesn't surprise me at all. Discrimination against Wiccans, Santaria practitioners and atheists is commonplace in North American society. It is condoned in almost all areas. About twenty years ago the supposedly progressive NDP (socialist) party in BC removed a candidate after it was learned he was a Wiccan.

Dropzones are cults. There is no other way to explain the time and money we spend there (ask any family member or whuffo friend). Inter-DZ politics starts at the top with natural business rivalry, but then the cult members get ahold of it and it gets crazy. Skydivers the world over are cool and wherever you go you will meet great people, except those bastards just down the road. They suck!

Paul, I apologise. It was indeed mpohl who made the intemperate remarks about people entering the sport. I should read more carefully. To mpohl, You should apologise to the OP. Your remarks were out of line.

HORSESHIT! The "kid" you mentioned put out a not inconsiderable amount of dough and effort getting his rating. If he, like he claims, has had numorous promises out of SE to solve the problem and it remains unsolved as the season approaches, then he is right to be worried. Airing it here seems to have done the trick. Did you see that the addressing problem was on the recipient's end? He moved and didn't tell Strong. (See post #7, where Marty Jones says, "It seems the young man in question moved and did not update his address." Seems to me the OP dropped the ball, not Strong. Regardless who "dropped the ball," Riggerpaul's comments were out of line suggesting that any up and coming jumper/instructor who dares speak out against the venerable oldsters should not even have taken the sport up. I don't know Marty Jones and I barely know Ted Strong, but that makes no difference. It seems Marty is taking a similar approach to things as his predecessor did; that's great. We all know it hasn't been a great year at the SE office but that doesn't change the fact that when people put money out for a course they are owed something. This guy was right to speak out.

I cannot afford to eat a completely organic diet. I am also sceptical of many of the claims. I do however pay more for chemical and anti-biotic free food in some cases. I will generally pay more for organic berries (about 25%) but not avocados (~300%). Poultry is, in my opinion one of the least healthily farmed products so I am fairly fastidious about eating free range, anti-biotic free eggs. I prefer free range poultry but find it hard to find here in Alberta. There is a group called "free from" who are committed to raising their birds without anti-biotics. I do not eat farmed fish. Organic beef or pork is just too expensive.

HORSESHIT! The "kid" you mentioned put out a not inconsiderable amount of dough and effort getting his rating. If he, like he claims, has had numorous promises out of SE to solve the problem and it remains unsolved as the season approaches, then he is right to be worried. Airing it here seems to have done the trick.

Well ya, there's that. But other than interfering with their domestic affairs, subverting democracy, undeclared acts of war, and shooting down civilian aircraft, what has the US ever done to them? NOTHING, that's what!

What do you tell people with better canopies and hundreds of jumps who can't stand up 90% of their landings? 1) Get more coaching 2) upper body strength training 3) lose weight 4) different canopy There is no excuse for regularly falling down (competition canopy fliers excepted) any more than there is for an aircraft to regularly blow tires.