pilotdave

I know a little airport on your way home where you can stop for cheap fuel... Dave

If there wasn't anything wrong with that DZ's practices, wouldn't we see similar complaints with the BBB for every DZ? I just checked mine... 0 complaints. Oh, maybe that has something to do with the fact that our DZ gives refunds... Dave

I think the men like it that way so they can still medal.

Because a week long course isn't enough preparation. There's no JM rating anymore. You don't go back to your home DZ after the course and become an Instructor Jr. You're the real deal from day 1. Hopefully most DZs work new instructors in slowly. For me it was a bunch of Cat As and Bs before I was allowed to start going on release dives. But it still boggles my mind that someone can show up to the course with zero preparation, even quite uncurrent, teach poorly or even give incorrect information during ground evals, and walk away with an AFFI rating in a week. Don't get me wrong... I've heard horror stories about the way AFF courses used to be. I'm glad things have changed. I'm glad the course is a course, not just an evaluation. I'm glad evaluators are fair and don't try to mess with candidates (as much!). But that's separate from pass/fail standards being reduced. Dave

I have none. After the lawsuit was filed, I think a lot of us figured it was going to get thrown out in a hurry. It seemed ridiculous that a fraudulent company could sue the USPA for kicking them out. Obviously USPA felt justified or they wouldn't have done it. But back then, a USPA official mentioned, in person to a group of skydivers (including myself), that USPA was in big trouble. This lawsuit was no joke. Of course I have no documentation to prove anything. I'm not involved in any way, except for what I heard (first hand) from a USPA official. USPA got real quiet about skyride for a while (during the lawsuit), then suddenly announced that they had settled, would reinstate group memberships for skyride-owned DZs, reinstate individual memberships for those peope affiliated with skyride, and that they would stay out of dropzone business practices. Now it's entirely possible that there was a small conspiracy. Maybe someone got paid off by skyride. Or maybe USPA got their asses handed to them by a bunch of lawyers. Which makes more sense? Trust me, I would have loved to see USPA take down skyride. But it was clear from the day after USPA got involved with skyride that an organization such as USPA can't legally do that. It sucks, because we consider USPA an organization for skydivers. Destroying skyride would benefit skydivers. Unfortunately, USPA represents more than "us." I think USPA should drop the entire group member program and focus on skydivers. But that's not the way things are. I have no special insider information. I am just looking at the facts that we know and making sense of them. As I said, you could be right... but to me, it's not the simple answer and doesn't make the most sense. The idea that USPA is scared to death to mention skyride anymore makes a whole lot more sense to me. I bet skyride's lawyers are ready and waiting to go after USPA again if they slip up at all. Dave

How do you know? You've only been around since the 80s! How's it going? Where ya headed for the winter? Dave

Not playing devil's advocate. I don't think there's a big conspiracy. USPA's lawyers informed them that they were wrong to kick skyride out as soon as the lawsuit was filed. USPA did the smart thing and settled. Would you have preferred that they lost a $10 million case in court? I realize we don't know how much they did lose... but it was a lot less than that. You can ask all you want. Someone like Jan may have more information that she will share. But I doubt anyone that wants to be affiliated with USPA next week is going to tell you anything today. Or maybe it's a huge conspiracy and USPA is out to get you. Yeah, that's the simple answer that makes the most sense. Dave

All of my answers depend on one question... Is it free?

The reason for what? For settling the lawsuit with skyride? It was because they were going to lose. USPA knew they had fucked up right after skyride filed the lawsuit. I heard a USPA official say that USPA was most likely going to lose very soon after the lawsuit was filed. LONG before the settlement. I'm sure the settlement was decided by USPAs lawyers and insurance company. I'm sure secrecy is one of the terms of the settlement. Another term of the settlement, I assume, is to stay out of skyride's business practices. If USPA starts badmouthing skyride publicly, they'll probably get sued again, and they'll probably lose. They made it very clear they were going to stay out of this sort of thing from now on. I am still glad USPA at least tried to stop skyride. Too bad they didn't find a more effective way to do it. But it became real clear, real quick, that they messed up bigtime. Dave

What exactly are you looking for USPA to comment on? They are obviously not going to talk about skyride... Just because skyride lost the SDAZ case doesn't change their position with regard to USPA. I'm sure USPA will be staying out of these types of matters for a loooong time. If you want a comment, talk to a USPA official in person... they have opinions, they just can't share them publicly, for good reason. Dave

Doubt anyone's complaining about those people. But you CAN show up at an AFF course today having done ZERO practice ahead of time. Having done NO coach jumps. Not even having your entire card filled out. Having no experience teaching. And not even having made a freefall skydive within 6 months... and pass. I saw it with my own eyes. No offense to any of these candidates... they took the course and met the criteria to pass according to the I/E. IMO, it should take one freaking amazing skydiver to pass the course with no preparation ahead of time. I do NOT think it's possible to do that with every I/E, but it is possible with some. I don't know if the AFF rating is too easy, but I do know that some courses are easier than others and there is a serious lack of consistency between the pass/fail criteria of different I/Es. I did quite a lot of practice before taking the course. I had 1700+ jumps, coaching experience, practice for months in the air, tunnel time devoted to rollovers, spin stops, and staying with a student, etc. I like to think I could have passed any course. But I do believe I took an easier than average course, so I have no idea how I would have done in any other course. Dave

I wonder if it attaches to a power tool so it can be worn around the neck while jumping. Holes in the canopy won't sound like such a big problem then... Dave

http://stowlikeapro.com/Home_Page.html Any thoughts? Looks unbelievably pointless and overpriced to me. I can't believe that wouldnt double the time it would take me to stow my lines... which doesn't hurt my hands. I mean, I'm not a rigger or packer so I'm not doing tons of packjobs a day. One a day seems like too many to me. But does this look like a good idea to you? Dave

Yes, you get what you pay for. If you want an RW suit I recommend paying for an RW suit. If you want a freefly suit, pay for a freefly suit. Do you have any RW suits you'd recommend for a woman over the Bev Hot Bod? Dave

I don't know the full circumstances, but I still don't see any issue with what you did. Maybe that DZ has different rules, but I haven't been to any DZ where I needed to clear my plans with the DZO or S&TA ahead of time, except when it comes to the things you ran by them. I'd ask them what BSRs or USPA recommendations you violated. Don't get me wrong, you don't have to violate a BSR or USPA recommendation to do something wrong. I just don't see it here. Dave

I assume the guy with 75 jumps was licensed? With only your side of the story, I don't think you did anything wrong. But there's always another side to every story. What issues did the DZO/S&TA/whatever bring up, specifically? How many jumps do they think are required for a jump like that? Dave

All depends on what you mean by an experienced jumper. 200 jumps and never tried it before? Probably not a good idea. Someone with lots of CRW experience? Sure... why wait till 75 jumps? Dave

I didn't find it particularly interesting at all. It was just a long way of saying what we already knew. I still don't think there was a problem to solve by doing this. Just a way of attempting to force company's within our little industry to spend more money. If this becomes a norm for skydiving events, I think it is bad for the industry. One event isn't such a big deal... heck, only 4 companies went for it. But lets hope this isnt the start of a trend. I also liked the way he threw "icons" in bold since aerodyne is a sponsor. I guess it's harder to work "vigils" into a conversation, huh?

Not sure what any of this has to do with my question. The ISP applies to both AFF and SL. Coach jumps are the same for both. They are not optional. They teach group freefall skills, something that will likely be more lacking in a SL student than an AFF student that has already done some group freefall. Do you teach under the ISP, or do the DZs you work at still use the old AFF/SL program? Not trying to say you're wrong about SL/AFF. Again, I am asking because you teach both and have a strong opinion toward SL. But if you're not teaching both under the ISP, your opinion about the student programs may not match reality at other DZs. If you use the ISP and you still have that opinion about AFF, I'm still trying to figure it out. Dave

She said "So what you want are reviews from skydivers, not just dpreview etc." That's what he came here for. It really was a pointless response. No offense to dragon2. Dave

Got it last April, so I haven't had to keep it current. But I'll put out some experienced jumpers this winter to keep it current. I think AFF is the only rating that requires real students to keep current. Dave

I learned under the old system and now teach under the ISP. I totally agree with you. I have an IAD rating, but I've never put out a real student and our DZ doesn't normally offer IAD anymore. Never even seen a SL jump in person. So I can see the difference between old school AFF and ISP AFF, but I have no background when it comes to SL/IAD vs AFF. Dave

Ok, how do you think AFF compares with SL when they are taught under the ISP? I totally see where you're coming from if we're talking about 1998 (or dropzones that haven't progressed their student programs since 1998). What about today? AFF isn't 7 levels anymore (under the ISP). AFF students get WAY more attention than they used to in the good old days (when it was hard to become an AFFI ). SL students pretty much do the same thing as AFF students from Category D on, except SL instructors are only encouraged to exit with their freefall students to observe them in freefall. A perfect SL student will have a few more canopy flights by Category D than a perfect AFF student. But I'm still not seeing how the SL student is going to have so much more instructor attention than the AFF student under the ISP. In fact, the SL instructor may very well never even see the student land. Dave

Finally found a pretty decent landing position. Legs are up a bit, but not too bad... Edit: Added same student a few seconds earlier and another student coming in for an ok PLF. Dave

Anyone recommending a 28mm lens is probably using either a film camera or a full frame (big and/or expensive) digital camera. The FOV of the 28 on a film camera is about the same as the 18mm on your XSi. Might look into the canon 10-22 or the sigma 15. Dave