DanG

I get paid for coaching students at my DZ. I jump with new licensed jumpers for free. To me there is a big difference. There is also a big difference in what I bring to each jump. With licensed jumpers I'll maybe spend five minutes coming up with a dive plan, hit one or two points for the person to focus on, and then we jump. I try to come up with jumps that are fun for both of us. After the jump I'll have a quick chat and maybe mention a couple things they did well and things they could improve. That's it. If that's what you consider a coached jump, then I agree that people should do that for free, and pay their own slot. To me, that's not a coached jump, and certainly not a Coach jump. With students I spend a LOT more time before and after the jump. I go through the lesson plan in the SIM, cover canopy and gear topics, do physical practice drills, and walk through the dive plan multiple times until I'm sure the student gets it. I give very thorough gear checks, and have the student do the same on his gear and mine. I go over spotting and the landing pattern. I also generally do nothing on the jump itself but sit still, watch, give some hand signals as reminders, and act as an back-up altimeter. I don't get to fly myself at all. The debriefs are structured and detailed. I make sure the students knows what he did well, and give him three things to improve for the next jump. Then, if applicable, I'll do some retraining to work on those three things, and fill out his logbook and card. That's what a Coach jump entails if you are doing it properly. A single Coach jump with me will usually take a couple hours between when I first say, "Hi, I'm Dan," and finally say, "Thanks, see you later." I personally think I should get paid for that. I think a lot of people who disagree are talking about the first type of jump, not a Coach jump. - Dan G

By saying "newsbusters did it for me" are you admitting that you have no substantive critique of the NYT article? They surely didn't. - Dan G

I think I've only jumped 3 different 182's, but they've all only carried 4. I believe to get it to five you generally need a widebody. I can't imagine squeezing five people into a standard 182, with only four you feel like a sardine once you've been spoiled by a larger plane. - Dan G

"Original Poster" - Dan G

The OP seems to have one that fits 4, which I believe is more common. - Dan G

How does the video guy get to 10,500ft when there's only room for four in the plane? - Dan G

Then you shouldn't be a Coach. If you can't add value to a student's jump (whether or not you accept money from them) then you aren't ready. - Dan G

wildcard pretty much covered my response. Thanks bro. I bought a complete rig for $600 once (it was 1996). My very first rig. I loved that thing. Of course what's not to love about an '84 Racer, an 84' Fury, and a 26' LoPo? When it got grounded at the next repack for harness damage (that existed when I bought it but was not caught by the first rigger who inspected it) my response was not to contact the seller and complain, or go on the internet (did that exist in 1996?) and call the guy out for misleading me (which he didn't), it was to learn the lesson that you get what you pay for. I've bought a fair amount of used gear over the years, and always been smart enough to either inspect it first, or at least come to some agreement with the seller about condition. Your buddy, the OP, did neither of these. His complaints are unwarranted, and his subsequent comments ignorant. If he, or you, can't deal with reality, it's not my fault. - Dan G

Although I generally agree that reliance on foreign oil is bad, I'd like to point out that the most effective weapons ever used against the US by Middle Easterners were 19 box cutters available at Wal-Mart for $2 each. - Dan G

The blows aren't low. If you read everyone else's responses, they're pretty much right on. You screwed up and have a shitty attitude about it. Learn from it. - Dan G

Yeah, don't test your equipment because you might find out its bad. That's the lesson you should be taking away. Rigger's apprentice? Really? - Dan G

Update your profile or be prepared for the responses about how a Stiletto 150 is a lousy canopy for someone with 180 jumps over 4 years. (see above) Or, if your profile is accurate, a Stiletto 150 is a lousy canopy for someone with 180 jumps over 4 years. (see here) And I feel so sorry for you that I could cry. Not. The canopy was cheap because it was old. You paid more than asking price (why?), and when you confirmed it needed work you start bitching at the seller who had accurately related the condition of the canopy in the first place. Then you come bitching about it on dz.com and naming names before the situation is even resolved. I feel more sorry for the seller for having to deal with you. - Dan G

I'm not blind without my contacts, but with one in and one out I find my depth perception is really messed up. If I were you, I'd try to walk around the house with one contact in and then decide if you want to land your canopy like that. I wear goggles or a full face when I jump. I've always been afraid of just wearing sunglasses because if my eyes get dried out the contacts don't stay in very well. - Dan G

Don't listen to people who tell you it's fine to grip switch if you're having trouble flying. It won't help. Grip switching is a tool for exits or for fun zoo dives, but not a tool to learn how to fly your body. If you want to go climbing, get a rope. If you want to go flying, let go and fly. - Dan G

You are deluding yourself. What we do is exceptionally dangerous. Downplaying the inherent risk is much more dangerous than understanding the risk and working to minmize it. - Dan G

I don't like audible altimeters for students. They build bad habits. I'd also be a little scared of giving them to static line studens like you described. I've had audibles go off under a perfectly good canopy. I'd be worried that the student thought the audible knew something they didn't and at the best get freaked out, and at the worst start pulling handles. - Dan G

Glad to hear your friends reacted quickly and properly and saved themselves. I agree with everything in your post about high speed mals. I'd also like to point out, however, that both of these mals come down to preventable gear issues. A good gear check should have caught the monkey fist,and proper maintenance could have remedied the bad pilot chute before it created a mal. Your friends did a great job in not being complacent at pulltime and being spot on with their emergency procedures. Unfortunately, complacency starts in the hangar before the jump and its effects can sometimes only be felt when screaming through 2 grand with nothing out. I'm not posting to criticize them or you, I just want to make sure that people are learning all the good lessons from this. Being up on emergency procedures is great, but just as important is being up on gear maintenance and gear checks (so you might avoid times when you need the emergency procedures). - Dan G

Are you sure there's a 20ft wire only 100ft from the end of the runway? That would put it at an 11.3 degree glide angle. I believe 3 degrees is the FAA standard (20 foot wire almost 400 feet away). Maybe I'm nitpicking, but that just doesn't seem reasonable. - Dan G

So, you've been in the sport 19 years and jump a Stiletto 150. What are you talking about? - Dan G

Either way, teach them to peel before they pull. I think a lot of the hard pulls people describe are due to velcro and sandwiching between MLW webbing. We teach two hands on each. I think it makes an out-of-sequence pull highly unlikely, and is still fast enough to give the student time to deal with emergencies. - Dan G

I'm hoping my sarcasm meter is off today. Are you serious? - Dan G

I was talking about the safety part. I should have been more clear. - Dan G

The OP says he pulled around 4k. If his assigned altitude was 5.5k, 4k is pretty low. - Dan G

Don't tell the Army that. They might have to change what they've been doing for the last 50 years. - Dan G

Cool. It sounds like a great event. I've been half-heartedly been trying to do something similar with a tunnel trip, but admit I haven't put enough effort into it. I'm suprised this didn't get out to the amputee skydiving community (all like 25 of us). The article implies there will be amputee skydivers there. If I'd known about this ahead of time, I might have made the trip. - Dan G