pirana

The above questions and your original post tell me you have not looked at the SIM. You can read it free online, or spring for a hardcopy at about $25. Coach jumps are great, but there is plenty you can do alone in the air. You can begin working on fly-by-feel. By that I mean making small body position adjustments, feeling the air, and recognizing the results. You do not have to have someone in the air with you to do this. You can work on tuning your movements - stability, starting and stopping turns crisply and on heading, steering and controlling heading in a track, etc. Stick your hands out - see how it feels. Pull them in tight, dig in a knee, then the other knee. Can you do a short and stable intentional backslide? Can you maintain stability in asymetric positions? One of your goals as you progress is to move from flying your body by memorized concious mechanical instructions to flying-by-feel. Think of it as a child learning to walk. They eventually no longer have to conciously think about where to put each foot each step; and instead simply go forward. Don't underestimate the value of REALLY learning to feel the air; during the exit, on the hill, in manuevers, while tracking, etc. Soon you'll not have to think at all to manuever - you'll just do it. And don't forget all the stuff on your A license card. I see others have posted things to do, they are all in the SIM. Accomplish something under canopy every dive. There is lots you can do. Good luck and have fun. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Crash Riprock - one of my childhood heroes. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

I understand that as a strong coorelation; but that doesn't make lack of funds the cause. My family had almost no discretionary income - never a chance of summer camps or extraciricular activities. I think the coorelation is a good reason to dig deeper, and suspect (my opinion only) that people with less money are possibly less likely to place value on education; being more likely to think that having the kid sit in front of TV all day. Just guessing; but my point is that it is not how much money they have, or how it is spent - it is how the time is spent in general. You can veg out, or explore the world - and a lot can be explored for free. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Boot camp. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Got a link to this story? Understood that there are unscrupulous people in all businesses; but this sounds a bit over the top. Did they really prove (or have solid evidence) that a number of employees were in a conspiracy to fabricate denial reasons; or is that the accusation generated by you based on one anecdotal occurence? " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

My understanding, after asking the question to our HR reps, and our corporate insurance agent, is that group health policies cannot discriminate in any way like this, so, unless someone can educate me otherwise, cannot exclude any activities. Individual insurance plans are a whole other issue of course. Never seen a health plan that excluded care for skydiving related injuries - and if you have heard of one from a friend of a friend it is probably an insuraphobic hyperbolic whiner stirring the pot. And you have it backwards as far as the likelihood of restrictions on coverage. Large employers, self-insuring their employees, have far more latitude (nearly unlimited) to exclude for special situations, conditions, or just cuz they want to. Individual plans, which can not get around mandates, actually have far fewer restrictions. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

My suggestion for anyone getting ready for the coach course - make a couple practice training dives ahead of time to get used to the potentialy very different altitudes at which you will need to perform very important tasks. If you've been sport jumping, and tracking off at say 4K, W&P at 3K; a couple jumps with a veteran that can pretend to be a student will help. The hard decks representing the line between fail or pass on the eval jumps will come up very quickly if you are used to pulling at 3K or lower. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

I see a lot of good replies; but you kinda answered your own question. Since a contract with a minor can not be enforced, and a parent can not sign away their minor child's rights - doing a tandem with a minor is basically doing a tandem without a waiver. I am interested to know why this is not a problem in some countries. Can minors enter into and be held to a contract? Can parents sign away their child's rights? Are waivers not even used? Is there precedence in places where minors are allowed to skydive; such as a minor that has been killed or injured, and an attempt to collect damages via a suit has been dismissed? " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Good that you are training your eyes, but it sounds scary to me that you rarely look at your wrist mount below 6K. I could be wrong, but it sounds like you are using your audible to train your eyes (as in "If I get into the beeps, my eyes were wrong.") I would expect it to go the other way. As you develop your internal clock maybe you check it less frequently at the top end of the dive, but monitor with diligence at the bottom end. I like the idea posted by others that you set it a couple hundred feet below pull altitude, and know that if you hear it before deploying you need to pay better attention to altituide. Also agree that as soon as a new jumper is licensed and jumping with others, where they are not the central focus of the dive, an audible is a very good idea. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Of course I have to change "my four little children" to "we all" and "they" to "we" but I keep it accurate. I've been called a racist twice for saying that. Funny old world we live in. I take it you mean funny as in wierd. For me, all it takes is watching little kids play together in mixed racial groups. They do just fine until some racist adult "educates" them. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

I have such fond memories of summers off as a kid. Great fun, great friends, lazy days & days of hard play & days of hard work. Somehow I survived, despite the current studies being touted as proof that those summers off were secretly damaging my potential, and despite the fact our family was of meager means. Kids should be out of school from Memorial Day thru Labor Day. Problem kids are going to be problem kids anyway. Maybe the answer is to identify them and provide some structure if needed. The comment about them having nothing to do but watch TV - that is a problem with the parents - and one they most likely started creating even before the child reached school age. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

And make them all wear uniforms. I saw a tour here on campus today from a school in China with about 60 girls in tow. They reminded me of my parochial school days. Thye were all dressed in a simple blue blaser white blouse and a grey skirt. Focus on Academics not on the fashion show. Yes, make them all good little gobots. They all need to be alike. Individuality, creativity, freedom, etc are all highly overrated. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Agreed; but a lot of bleeding hearts will counter that it is a disease at work and that the offender should be treated instead of punished. My reply to that is that I am pretty darn lazy, and that my laziness is a disease with genetics either outright responsible, or at the least making me predisposed to laziness. I can not help it; so I need other people to coddle me - buy me a car, an education, health care, groceries, a place to live, satellite TV, beer, etc; all the things I do not take care of myself because I have a disease. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

It definitely is when you're denying science and reason to hold up your fortress of denial to protect your beliefs, but believe it or not there are actually people who believe in god who can transcend that. Transcedental obfuscation. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

In that video; what did they do before putting it on the floor? " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Before you shoot anybody, make sure you get the responsible parties. The bigger the company, the more likely it was the employer was calling the shots; to the nth detail. Almost every company of 500 or more employees is self-insured these days, and that number has been coming down steadily. By self-insuring they get around a lot of the rules, and can pretty much cover or not cover whatever they want. Large employers usually don't disclose that dirty little secret, it's better for them if the employees aim their angst at the plan administrator. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Well, since the world didn't end on schedule, I thought I'd put the brain back in gear for a while. At least until 2012. How about you? " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Anybody see the Are-We-Being-Governed-By-Assholes bit on The Daily Show a couple days ago? Truly sums up the current (and recent past) state of our leadership. Up and down the list - they are mostly assholes. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Actually, human biology (apologies if that is the wrong term) is most likely the number one topic of research in the world today. All those universities, and medical schools, and other places of research such as hospitals, etc. But yes, I'm sure that in your super-duper-hyperbolic deluded mind you are convinced that there is more research related to 9/11 than anything else in the world. Did it occur to you that there were more people asking questions then because so many questions had yet to be answered. In other words, there are less people asking the questions now because the questions have all been answered (to the satisfaction of all but a relatively small number of nutjobs). " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

I'm averaging about 70 per month, . . . but fall is here, with winter close behind. I did read somewhere a few years back, a reputable source if I remember correctly, that there were just under 3 million skydives made per year; but can't remember if that was worldwide or just the USA. I think it was worldwide, because that and the number of worldwide fatalities put the fatality rate right about 1 per 100,000 skydives. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

I'm nervous about your 2nd jump too. Just funning you - enjoy. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Reminds me of one of my favorite Demotivators: The common element on all of your dysfunctional relationships is you. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

You are so full of hyperbolic BS. What advance were you tryinbg to make that required an act of congress? My experience is no act of congress needed. Just accumulate the experience and get coaching/instruction from qualified people. Also, I've done a few recurrency jumps with people that hadn't jumped in a while, one of which got quite wild. It definitely convinced me of their value. Lastly; if it is likely that they could "usually" pull it off (I take that to mean complete the activity safely) is you criteria for moving them to the next level; I hope you are no longer training students. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Not my expereience at all. My observation is that it is pretty easy to make all kinds of skydives. Those that are restricted from certain things by a BSR have a clear path on how to correctly lift the restriction. It's called getting more expereince and/or training. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

So the BSRs are absurd, USPA is crazy, and it is OK to tell a new jumper to go to a DZ and lie about their experience so they can go wingsuiting? Probably good that you do not jump anymore. Take the logical next step and stop advising new jumpers. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley