DSE

were it a true story, I wouldn't find myself terribly surprised.

I should clarify one thing; when I was told to not remove my tshirt (and I wasn't going to anyway), I wasn't told I "would" be fined, I was told I "could" be fined. Here's one to ponder... Can the guy that shot the cell phone video of the little boy in SLC be charged with invasion of privacy? Does the need for informational sharing with the masses outweigh the privacy of the little boy and his father/family that were shot in the video? I mean...TSA is acting big-brotherish just like Orwell predicted. Orwell didn't realize that the masses of asses would have cell phone video for tattling on Big Brother. It's a question worth pondering. On a more humorous note...we could probably save money if the TSA could also check for prostate and bowel cancer problems while they're in there....

SLC-IAD IAD-DFW DFW-SNA Next week, ONT-BHM. I don't know what constitutes "showing skin." Do they judge by the age and sex of the person showing skin? In my case, my mid section was all that was exposed. Coupled with my chuckle, maybe the guy thought I was taking it all off. I also suspect he was making rules up on the spot. Not like they'd do that or nuthin...

Yeah, I have fun with it, because the other option is to be really angry about it. I'd rather laugh at the guy who has my nutsack in his hands cuz he's the one who has truly lost his dignity. He fondles nutsacks for a living, and I pay him to do it. I do find that pretty damn funny. due to the amount of metal I've accumulated over 3 decades, I'll always be one of the "special" security (SSSS) guys. I might as well have fun with it. Morons playing with my "resistance?"

Laugh all you want... I just ordered a set of these underwear I'm not kidding. But I ordered them mostly because I want to have fun when I travel.

I boycotted today. I was asked if I was sure I wanted to avoid the body scanner. I explained I did not trust that my naked body wouldn't find its way to the internet. The pat down was made to sound like a punitive action for refusing the body scanner. They asked me to remove a bulky sweatshirt and when I pulled off the sweatshirt, rmy tshirt partially with the sweatshirt, I was told that I'd be fined if I exposed skin. I wasn't removing my Tshirt, but they were expecting it, or so it seems. As I was being felt up, I asked the TSA agent if he enjoyed being paid for groping people. He replied that I wasn't being groped, and that any further comments could result in "a bad day for me." TSA could stand for Tolerated Sexual Assault. I'm convinced it's a place pedophiles and perverts can find jobs and be exceptionally happy. Erstwhile, the terrorists already have won, and will win again. It must suck to be a rent-a-moron right now, and that's only going to serve to make them more defensive and likely to make more errors.

Speaking of necromancing... This image makes me wonder if the TSA isn't just a new dog doing an old trick... A Swiss army knife passed through fine today, even though they questioned a packing tool. I opted for pat-down.

the photos Scotty posted show you guys did some great stuff there. Wish I'd have been able to attend.

Learning to teach is a big part of the IERC program (shuffled over from Skydive U and significantly remodeled by USPA). All coach and instructor rating holders are required to participate in the IERC now. Teach enough FJC's and FFC's and you begin to understand that some individuals need a different method or management. Some instructors don't vary their message, and valuable information gets lost in the mostly one-way dialog. It's also why the PFC course works the way it does. There is tremendous value gained during instruction on instruction. Sit through as many FJC's from very experienced instructors as you can; what you'll take away is golden.

He also didn't have three deployments, and we didn't dock twice on the first jump. And the jump didn't last 3 mins, either. Dunno if I could hang with a student doing 3 mins on his first jump. It's an edit to showcase a few points of the first, second, and fourth jumps before taking off the Intro and putting on the P2 wingsuit.

North Shore. Awesomeness, lots for the woman to do too.

You more or less have it spot on. It's not about making money, which is why it's not being sold. It's not possible to put the FFC information up there without spending a tremendous amount of time developing context. I'm not interested in investing that kind of time to create situations I cannot control but can be blamed for. Some coaches/instructors actually believe they're responsible for what people do with their words. Taken out of context, there would likely be a lot of self-taught FFC's or FFC's taught by people that have no instructional background. There is a reason the USPA Instructor's Rating Manual isn't online... money has nothing to do with it. The 2011/12 USPA SIM has a very similar syllabus to what Skwrl posted, with some updates and cleaned-up information. It is free. No one paid anyone to create and write down the information, a fair amount of personal funds and a tremendous amount of time (on the part of several people) went into creating it. No one was paid for their time/travel/lodging presenting it to the board at three different USPA meetings, no one receives financial benefit at any level from those efforts. No names are in the SIM, no one (excepting one person who wasn't involved) is claiming credit for writing it, it was done for the benefit of the general wingsuiting community. USPA isn't crediting anyone for having done the work (nor should they). There are also some updates to water training that USPA paid nothing for, but weren't cheap to produce.

Actually, most of the vids on YouTube don't infringe because YouTube has distribution/use agreements with the publishers of a huge bulk of the music used. it is aimed at torrent sites, but also heavily weighted to music and video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBL3ux1o0tM&feature=player_embedded#! Foreign cartoon on the TSA process.... frighteningly funny

haven't seen it, just seen this same sell-sheet. If it's everything the sell sheet says, it'll be like the GoPro and Contour. But.... The sell sheet is filled with misnomers and makes very confusing comments such as "the sensor features glass..." that make no sense... I'll look for it at Govt Expo next week. I'm sure it'll be in the LEVA displays.

Very scary. Hence the threepeat of the deployment in the video. Had he been wearing a foot cam, it would likely have snagged. This is an FFC and the guy waited way too long between wave off and pulling. You saw the subsequent near flip-through too, which could also have caught a camera. This student was as stiff as a board on this jump, having held his breath through most of the flight (see the silly thread in Instructors forum). If you look at the vid from yesterday, you'll see an even scarier student deployment (or almost not-deployment). Kids do the darndest things. more like 10 viewers

http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/uploads/a4/6b/a46b6a0592feafbf4a97e11248d6867a/3804.pdf Passed the Senate Judiciary. Now it goes before the Senate, and will more than likely pass. What it means in part is that if you are using copyrighted content, your website can be siezed, shut down by the DOJ. This bill may impact you; contact your legislator if you feel it's not what you want. Bear in mind it's a minor amendment to existing laws and a new point of enforcement for existing law.

You're right. Ill have to do this a bunch more times then I can formulate a decision on if it's a better way to do it or not. If you can get a few mins with him in Utah, Ron M seems to land this way all the time. He's also on a much more highly loaded canopy than you are, maybe he can explain why he does it and how it works.

Every discipline in this sport (and in other sports) go through evolutional shifts. Reducing poor instruction is one part of the evolution. Furthering and safely accelerating the growth of the sport is another component. This is nothing new. You hated it in the early days, you hate it now. That's not new either. When someone does a coaching package they learn several exits, navigation, flying techniques, and they’re advancing faster than many of us did. True, there are those in this discipline naturally gifted but that doesn’t mean that those less skilled should be discounted because they seek training that goes beyond the FFC or even an in-depth FFC. I wish I’d had someone with a structured, measurable program when I first started out.There may have been one, but it surely wasn’t evident in Utah, Eloy, Pepperell, or Elsinore when I first began wingsuiting. The PF course is very much like the AFFI program, and like the AFF program, it has standards for PFC’s. These standards don’t affect anyone except those that elect to learn standardized teaching methods. In principle, you’re pissing on people that want more knowledge. I’m sure the average experienced skydiver can teach an FJC, but there are a few that chase the AFFI rating even though they may never use it. It teaches them to be “better” and it’s a standard from which everyone can have a foundation in discussion. If you want to become more adept at any task, teach it. Most intelligent people want to make their world better. No one is forcing you to be a PFC. No one is telling you that you can’t teach. I’m sure you (like Glenn) are quite capable of teaching. But from a manufacturer’s liability and safety standpoint, a standardized program is what seems to work best. Its available to those who want it. It can be ignored by those who dont like it. It defines a certain standard for the people listed on the PF website. And assures the same course any other person on that list would teach. Not forgetting parts. Not making things up. A standard program. What we are saying is that “Based on what has been developed in the past, we’ve built a new program, call it ‘wingsuit coaching 2.0’” and saying that at the moment it’s one standard, a standard from which the next incarnation will potentially build upon. A lot of experienced minds have come together to build this thing. You’ve focused on Jarno and myself becaus we’re the only ones dumb enough to get suckered into responding to these anti-program rants. Yes, we’re both close to it because we both (as all that contributed) feel that safety, standards, and fun should be the focus of these FFC’s and subsequent training. When S/L started seeing competition from AFF, when AFF turned into the ISP, when groups attempted to develop USPA-based canopy training, even in the world of CRW when there was push to develop CRW instruction and safety standards, there was pushback. No matter how good something may be, there will always be some push back simply because some need to piss on something. After a few beers, they don’t argue rationally but instead resort to calling people “faggot” and “dickwad.” None of the arguments have gone beyond “I’ve been jumping longer than you,” “I remember when,” or “I don’t believe in your program.” I hope to heaven I’m never an old guy sitting in my chair bitching about the “new kids who don’t know anything” because in fact...the new kids have built upon the experiences of the “old guy” and will continue to do so. Moreover, they’re learning at an exponential rate. Is that truly your best argument against a manufacturer having an organized, standardized recommended method of teaching? That you’ve been jumping for a few years more than I have been? Yet you argue that the reason we want to improve and standardize is ego? “Check yourselves” indeed. Dissatisfaction is a catalyst for change, but you’re not advocating change. You say “better training is needed” out of one side of your mouth and spit insults out of the other. With your superior jump numbers and time-in-sport, constructive criticism would be appreciated and potentially accepted. I probably don’t fly nearly as well as you or Glenn, and that’s OK by me. I do teach wingsuiting and AFF 7 days a week. I also conduct 3-4 USPA Coach courses per year. Somewhere in all that, I desire to improve on what I’ve learned and will continue to do so. I pray the day never arrives where I become complacent or argumentative because I think I know, have seen, or done it all.

you can decide for yourself whether the student was stressin'. He's pretty stable, enough so that a brief dock could be taken higher up. However, most wingsuiters will recognize that he's not breathing shortly before pull time, and he gets very close to being unstable. He also took too long to fold in his arms (causing line twists) and the stiffness from not breathing caused him to swing around. Once we got the breathing/relaxation issue sorted out, his improvement was immediate, and when he left here, he was comfortable with advanced techniques. No, he did not believe that the Listerine strip was "magic" nor a "placebo" nor anything but a mint. It reminded him to breathe. Little changeups can have a big impact. It's now a running joke between myself and other instructors here, and him as a student. FWIW, one AFFI/E sent me a PM saying he's been using this trick for years, and another DZO in the Midwest sent a PM saying they've been doing this with students for years. It's nothing new, just new to me. It's great this thread sparked some good conversation.

This is what I've done for demos (American Legion cert). Learned about it here on DZ.com. With the weight on a a suspended flag, it's simply too dangerous (IMO) to ask anyone to attempt to catch it. The larger flag in this image has 18 lbs of shot sewn into the leading edge, and the lower flag has an 8lb weight hanging from it. This could seriously hurt someone. Matt, isn't the weight on the large Fastrax flag around 80lbs? In my limited number of flag-bearing demo jumps, an explanation goes a long way to demonstrating that you're respecting the flag as much as possible in the given circumstances, IMO. At the end of this video you get an idea of how fast the flag might be moving.

please stick with the other thread by the same title (that you've already commented in).