NWFlyer

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

How windy? Over a certain point and your instructors should have made that call for you. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Marketing gimmick. A less cynical way of expressing it would be "dropzone policy" (which they're within their rights to set, of course). However, to say it's a USPA rule isn't true. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Mine too ... and apparently my annual post rate has gone waaaaay down since then. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Damn straight it does. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

I think mid-month is the goal, but there was a post Friday on their Facebook page that April's issue was indeed running late and should be hitting mailboxes about now. I have an article in there so I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival, too! "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Because we're all human and sometimes human beings make mistakes. I'd much rather be out there scanning my friends' gear to make sure that I don't see anything on it that could potentially kill them ... or me. If I see toggles or risers hanging out of a pack job, or a pin flap or riser covers opening up, I'll ask if I can tuck them back in. A preemie sucks for the jumper who has it, but it could suck for me just as much if it happens on exit and I end up with their canopy in my face. And I want them scanning me, too. I try to be vigilant with my gear checks, but I'm also human, and I'd much rather address a problem on the ground than in the air. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Gutter gear, baby. Not only is Rich the cover boy of May's Parachutist, there's also a great article inside all about the boogie. I also did an article for April's Blue Skies (which is hitting mailboxes right about now, I hope!) all about the experience and details of the Blue Hole jump. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Actually, it blows. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Did you wear a bikini and hot pants, too? "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Bolas cannot be normal. Randy, however, has been known to show some flashes of normalcy. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Seems a little bit odd - especially if your DZO is planning to charge you for the course, but also knows that you aren't anywhere close to being eligible (just based on the 100 jump minimum alone - I know nothing about your skills or readiness.) Granted, you might be able to have all the requirements on the card signed off pending completion of the 100 jumps, but ... why not wait till you have 100? I'm not sure how I feel about his assertion that the coach course helps you improve your skydiving skills. If it's done right, it does help you improve your teaching and observation skills, but as for the course itself improving your skydiving ... no. Working with actual students can improve your skills for sure, but you really have to have the base of skills on your own - nothing in the course is going to teach you better in-air skills. Of course, it's always your choice to work with a student, but I wonder if your DZO isn't desperate for coaches, which is why he's pushing you through the course before you're even eligible. In that case, you might be pressured to work with students before you feel you're ready. My gut instinct on this one? Take the course when you want to, when you feel you're ready, not when someone else tells you to. Although the coach doesn't have the level of responsibility of the AFF or S/L or IAD instructor, he or she should still feel confident and comfortable in performing their job and adding value to the student experience. If you don't feel ready to do that ... don't. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

You might call Skydance and Byron (Bay Area Skydiving) to see if they're considering running courses (I believe both DZs have resident Coach Examiners). It may be that if enough people express an interest they'll add a course.

That's disappointing. That was one of the points covered in our class, and the "students" each offered up options for what they could wear for their eval jumps to give us practice in choosing an appropriate jumpsuit to best match fall rates. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Just did my coach rating last summer. Be prepared to spend a lot of time working on ground prep, and being evaluated on the quality of your ground prep. If you get the Instructional Rating Manual (IRM) ahead of time, the material on the coach course will give you a good idea of what to expect in the course. You can order them from USPA, borrow one from a friend (make sure it's a fairly recent version), or possibly buy one from a nearby DZ or gear store (which may be a better deal since it saves you shipping from USPA). It's a lot of fun and a lot of work. My class was Friday evening, all day Saturday, and much of the day on Sunday. How long it takes will depend partly on how many people are in the class and how many people are helping the IE do the class. In my course we did sections of the first jump course and ground prep for two different jumps (teaching other people in the class) and two in-air evaluations (teaching either the course director or another evaluator). It's a fun course, and I learned a lot about teaching and teaching methodology. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Nunya:5:0 Four sweet RW jumps on Saturday (8, 10, 11, and 12-way), and a super-fun coach jump on Sunday with one of those students who has an absolutely infectious attitude and is a joy to teach.

Original poster is from Australia. A license requirements are not identical worldwide. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Time to get a list going for the hottest (and yes, we mean that literally) boogie in the west, SkyDance Skydiving's American Boogie. Four days of fun in the sun with two PACs, a Skyvan, most likely a helicopter and balloon, and fantastic organizing for all skill levels. Belly organizers include Roger Ponce and Collin Bruce, as well as members of Team Kaliedoscope. Freefly organizing will be provided by Axis Flight Group. Sean "Monkeyboy" Horton will be out with demo wingsuits, First Flight Courses, and wingsuit organizing. Sunday is the traditional "inflatable day," so if you can blow it up, bring it out and take it out of the tailgate. Organizing starts Thursday, with a RW bigway on Friday. Night jumps Friday starting after sunset and going till midnight if there's interest. Registration includes organizing, t-shirt, raffle, boogie bag, beer, and a catered BBQ Saturday night. Thursday June 24-Sunday June 27 2010. C'mon out! For those coming in from out of town, Sacramento airport is less than 30 minutes from the dropzone. Oakland and San Francisco are a bit farther, but still an easy drive. There are showers on the dropzone and plenty of space to set up a tent or park an RV (no hookups, though). Hotels in Woodland or Davis would be closest. http://skydanceskydiving.com/ "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Although they sometimes had us stopped on the taxiway waiting for them to take off or land, it was fun watching a lot of those birds get in the air yesterday. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

If 90% can't be bothered to vote in elections, I wonder if 10+% can be bothered to vote by proxy for this motion. Sadly, I'm guessing not. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Exactly what I got this year... it wasn't thrilling, but it's better than last year's which was under half of a percent. These days ... it's not half bad. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

The second one you linked is very popular for water jumps. I have one myself and find it to be very comfortable and unobtrusive. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

4:0 Four hours in the Paraclete XP wind tunnel in Raeford. owed for my first time in that tunnel. Also visited the DZ but since I didn't jump there, I don't owe beer yet (though I did enjoy quite a bit of SkymonkeyONE's beer... thanks, Chuckie, and thanks for welcoming me into Team Teamroom!). Finally got to meet slotperfect in person - yet more data to prove out my theory that the greenies aren't actually bots created in Sangiro's lab, but might be real people after all. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWtUzdI5hlE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYrVwGxlcFA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MCHI23FTP8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JczEyQHBLEw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITsvPjbEPtc Old school, baby. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Okay, I'll bite. SkyDance skydiving awarded it to Grey Lake (greylake here on dropzone.com). Speaking as someone who has observed her FJC and packing classes, I think a big part of why she got it is her enthusiasm for teaching and the energy she puts into the very important ground school portions of skydiver education. She's an absolute taskmaster on PLFs, too - her students really have to practice them till they get 'em right. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke