ChangoLanzao

Does the USPA Group Member program actually work? As an advocate group for drop zones representing their interests in Washington? Absolutely! The paragraph that I quoted is from the USPA's "USPA at a glance" statement. It it the first paragraph. Group member drop zones are mentioned in the third paragraph, where the emphasis is on adherence to the BSR's, not "airworthines" of jump planes. I think if you read the BSRs you'll find a line about following FAA regulations. Yes there is one line about that. ETA: Actually two. The emphasis is on wearing seat belts.

Does the USPA Group Member program actually work? As an advocate group for drop zones representing their interests in Washington? Absolutely! The paragraph that I quoted is from the USPA's "USPA at a glance" statement. It is the first paragraph. Group member drop zones are mentioned in the third paragraph, where the emphasis is on adherence to the BSR's, not "airworthines" of jump planes.

That brings up an interesting question. What about skydiving at DZ's outside the U.S.? Would membership in USPA group member program mean that member DZ's outside the U.S. always operate aircraft that are "airworthy". Since FAA regulations don't apply there, should the USPA have their own definition of what is "airworthy" that applies anywhere around the world so that they can use the same criteria to revoke group membership in the name of safety?

Does the USPA Group Member program actually work?

If you were a truck driver and received a ticket and were fined by the state police, should you lose your job? Not the same situation. Now if you were part of a trucker's organization that represented trucking and helped reduce unneeded regulation, and to be a part of that organization you pledged to stick to all current regulations, then when you received that ticket, wouldn't it look like the organization was pretty ineffective at "self regulating" truckers if they didn't boot you out, or at the very least document a warning and expected time frame and proofs for corrective actions? Yes. I think it would be reasonable to document a warning, but there has to be some sort of allowance for severity of violations. My reading of the OP is that the USPA should revoke group membership based on some vague definition of "airworthy" based on mechanical problems. USPA has enough to do. I say leave it up to the FAA to determine whether planes and/or pilots are allowed to fly. The USPA has enough of a challenge determining which parachutists should be allowed to fly, not by imposing the heavy hand of government, but through education, certification, and and BSR's. It isn't a DZ operators organization, is it? Now, if you were part of a DZ Operator's organization that represented DZ's and helped reduce unneeded regulation of DZ's, and to be a part of that organization you pledged to stick to all current regulations, then the trucker's organization analogy would apply. "The United States Parachute Association (USPA) is a voluntary membership organization of individuals who enjoy and support the sport of skydiving. The association is incorporated in New York and follows the constitution and by-laws contained in the USPA Governance Manual. The purpose of USPA is three-fold: to promote safe skydiving through training, licensing, and instructor qualification programs; to ensure skydiving’s rightful place on airports and in the airspace system, and to promote competition and record-setting programs."

The first link at that site doesn't work : http://www.harkproductions.com/vzone/

I was thinking that the correct answer is "it depends..." Anyway, nevermind; I think this wasn't really a good analogy.

If you were a truck driver and received a ticket and were fined by the state police, should you lose your job?

Rule 97 (b): If you have an extra cutaway handle, take it with you the next time you get on a load where there's a serious big-way. On jumprun, wait until the light turns green and suddenly hold it up and shout, "WHO'S IS THIS!!???"

I have two. USA/MEX

I was at a boogie a couple of years ago when an FAA jerk held up the entire show on a Saturday morning for exactly this reason. I also agree with Paul. It's up to the FAA to determine airworthiness and having other entities getting involved would just add great confusion without really enhancing safety. There are just too many control freaks out there and enough of them already work for the FAA.

If there's pilot willing to fly it, then it's obviously "airworthy" to someone.

That right there proves you're smart

There's no reason. The 180-days is just a random number that sounds "reasonable" to a lot of bureaucrats and regulators. They had to pick a number, so they did.

I just wanted to share this link with you guys. Lot's of tech talk, but very interesting reading. Clicky I wish I could afford to even rent some of the equipment that's out there, but for now, I'll have to settle for the CX100 that I just ordered.

Ha! I think I purchased one of those a couple of years ago to practice seat packs. I love taking it to the DZ ... scares the hell out of people

I'd say it qualifies as a leather teddy. You are a sick man.

It's difficult to take this discussion seriously, I must admit It could be. That's up to the FAA. They haven't said one way or the other as far as I can tell. Your assumption, based on the fact that the regulation doesn't explicitly state that riggers are required to log the time of day is a reasonable one, but that doesn't mean the FAA agrees with you. It doesn't matter what you or I think. It's not a law. It's a regulation, silly! (Some might argue it's a silly regulation). Regulations are subject to interpretation at the whim of THE ADMINISTRATOR (or his/her representatives). If the FAA guy thinks it's implied, then you'll have to "consider it" along with him as you try to board the aircraft and hold up the boogie flight line.

The day the reserve was packed, the pack job is 0 days old. For the sake of illustration, say the law reads "must have been packed within 1 day of use". Surely you agree that a pack job done yesterday would be legal to jump? Does counting from zero now make sense to you? Yep ... as long as no more than 24 hours have elapsed since the time it was packed. Since it's a safety issue, some might even insist on recording the minute it was packed too. Just to be on the safe side

Here's a reasonable argument: I am 29 years old. This is the 30th year of my life. Ficus Congratulations! You're over the hill

I KNOW I am not the only one uploading my skydiving videos to Facebook. I had, at max, 5 skydiving videos on there. They deleted most of them and have removed my rights to upload video ever again... I feel a bit singled out. I want to email them back and defend myself with the link to the probably ~20 accounts that have double the videos i have with more than double the copyrighted material... I really wanna play he "I didn't do it first or worst" card Your best bet is to just start using legally licensed music in your videos from now on. It's not difficult to do and there are lots of ways you can get good music to sync with your video.

That doesn't surprise me. Just because facebook adds terms to its agreement saying they have rights your work doesn't give them a legal right. Contracts, especially clicky internet contracts, have been held unenforceable in courts across the country for various reasons. CR law gives authors many exclusive rights in their works, and, I suspect from a legal standpoint that more would be required to transfer those rights than simply changing the terms and agreements page. +1 -

That's what I started doing

Downtown Mexico City is where I learned about roundabouts (glorietas). You enter and accelerate and go around as many times as you can until the centrifugal force throws you out of the circle. The trick, of course is to time it so that you exit at the right spot. Don't let the sound of screaming tires intimidate you. The faster you go, the sooner you're on your way.