DSE

I'll answer this since the "request/directive" I received was to "make it fit within the existing structure." Firstly, THANK YOU for taking the time to actually read it. Rather than the words "existing structure" the words "formatting and language" are probably a better description. The SIM is already a little difficult to read, and woefully inadequate in some places as is the IRM when you jump from section to section, because the various sections are by different authors. Recently some mistakes were found in the newest bylaws and SIM as well, simply because of things being changed around. With this in mind, language and paragraphical formatting plus paragraphical and linguistic referencing was matched to the IRM and SIM as much as possible. Yet the teaching methods are quite a bit different than the IRM methods used for say, AFF, S/L, IAD. Because the wingsuit skydive is an entirely different type of skydive, there are some components that treat experienced skydivers as though they have no jumps, because in fact, they have no WS jumps. Then there was the challenge of creating a rating that would fit within the ORGANIZATIONAL structure. That too, brought some challenges and a _tremendous_ amount of discussion between all of the team members working on the project. This group was by no means a "happy feely, we all agree on everything" effort, which is why I personally feel we met the goal asked for. We wanted a rating that wasn't a cakewalk to achieve that would assure quality instructors, but that wasn't so difficult to achieve that it was like gaining an AFFI rating, either. To answer your next question, experienced jumpers aren't treated any differently than 200 jump jumpers. Keep in mind that the USPA essentially just rubber-stamped the original Birdman recommendations from years back, and this doesn't necessarily mean it's a good thing, just because it's been the accepted norm. As mentioned up-thread, John Mitchell and Jay Stokes are both EXCEPTIONALLY experienced skydivers, and both very much appreciated "new" things learned in their FFC's. We did talk a lot about the small Cessna DZ's, and that was one of the determining factors when creating recommendations for the minimum WSI requirements as well. We see people from small Cessna DZ's at the large flocking events and bigway camps, and so it shouldn't be too much of a hardship for these folks to become WSI's, and/or there are of course, always boogies where there will continue to be free or low-cost FFC's just like there are now. Keeping the rating current is very easy, IMO. If you're not doing a couple FFC's a year...you probably don't want/need the rating anyway. Bear in mind, coached WS jumps have merit to currency. As far as what the S&T committee has, the document you're seeing here online is the same one as was handed over to them earlier, excepting one small deletion. One other clarification I'd like to make about the people involved, the post above this one mentions Chris Warnock, but not his AFFI, TI, Senior Rigger, and World Record CRW status/ratings, nor does it mention Taya Weiss holds a USPA Coach rating, as does Jeff Nebelkopf. FWIW, I hold Coach, PRO, and AFFI ratings. If this current proposal passes, all wingsuit Instructors will be required to pass. That said, there is at least one other proposal that was submitted to USPA that is much less complete than ours is, submitted by another person/team. I'd hate for ours to be mixed up with theirs. Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions.

Truth is, I didn't have audio on; you're right. Pretty dramatic. Me....I woulda rolled over and shot the blimp at least once. Looks like it was put together by the blimp company.

Beautiful stuff to see. Very inspiring

I kinda thought I recalled something about that. He's wearing a GoProHero on his helmet, not bad vid at all.

Did anyone else catch this skydive, alleging first skydive from a Zepplin? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VbtcC9k2ao

Looks exactly like what Norman has in his trailer. Nice work.

it may be that your microphone requires a preamp. could be that your microphone and your soundcard have an impedance mismatch, could be that your "what you hear" isn't enabled in your audiocard setup, lotsa possiblities. post more detail?

nice catch. I'll have to brush up on my Photoshop skills while I'm laid up on my back.

I had/still have a KISS lunchbox from the "Love Gun" album era. The thermos is broken, but the box is in pristine condition. After that...I brownbagged it.

The doctor hasn't made any recommendations or commentary about my ACL/MCL/miniscus, probably because it's so far away out there for me. I'm doing the pain meds as scripted, and cheating a little at night with the Demerol, although it doesn't help much. PT is now getting boring, because my PT guy (comes in three times a week) isn't really pushing me. Been getting some excellent online advice for personal PT, and have been following that routinely. When you're chained to the bed...not much else to do. The support from this thread has helped tremendously in keeping spirits up; it's inspiring and motivating to know that people care. Trying to keep a positive attitude, but it's damne`d hard at times. I'm fairly convinced I'll want a cadaver graft vs my own. I'm told they heal faster and usually are much stronger. Since I have no MCL...seems like that will be important, no?

They're neither beautiful nor an eyesore. They're noisy, however. But a great source of alternative energy. They're putting in a 50 unit wind farm approximately 3 miles from my home, where the wind from the canyons constantly blow at least 5kts all the time. The experimental unit they put in drove me insane at night, so now have to close the windows.

True, however OP specified Premiere Pro CS4 which'll run faster on quadcore/i7 as it makes use of all 4 cores. Very good point, Saskia. Additionally, I wouldn't recommend bothering with a high end video card at all. At some point (been being promised for nearly a decade now) NLE's will start to make serious use of OGL and other accelerated technologies. It hasn't really happened, and when it does, the likelihood of a card being compatible is somewhat slim. Get a cheap card and use it until technology/updates for CS4 or whatever software is released; see what the manufacturer recommends.

Whoa! What exactly caused Price to go in? Do you know? Are you sure? There were a few people who chimed in to posts after Dan went in with statements like " this couldn't happen under our instructional program its the most stringent"----- borderline marketing. They both died wearing wingsuits, Glen, and for the purpose of any FACTUAL discussion, that's all that matters. I know the "altitude awareness" argument is bullshit; Race jumped at that altitude all the time. I agree, the Birdman newsletter posts written by BMI/E's claiming "this never could have happened under our program" in fact, already had. Race was trained by a BMI. It was cheap marketing at best. Either way, the only *facts* in evidence of any authority, is they both died wearing wingsuits and were taught to wingsuit far earlier than recommended numbers. Every other aspect of any other argument is subjective and you damn well know it. As far as proving the growth of wingsuiting vs other discipines, it's already been proven. You should have been at PIA where the evidence was shown. It's on the web as well, but frankly, I don't feel like doing your research for you. Spend a bit of time researching, maybe even a phone call to the USPA might help you find your answer. Even a simple Googlefight would give you a pretty good clue. No one is claiming a USPA-sponsored program would eliminate fatalities and it's strawman for you to imply that anyone is saying so. What it does do is provide a cogent, consistent program that carries accountability and responsibility on the part of instructors, something that doesn't exist today. Like I said earlier, no one wants to take responsibility for their fuckups, they'd just rather sweep em' under the rug and move on. I was raised to try to make a difference. I knew Race, I knew Dan. Maybe my passion is a misguided attempt to make a difference in the world, but at least I'm doing something rather than making excuses or ignoring it. Even pussies can put their balls on the line for something they believe in. Meow.

The Century Optics Baby Death cap fits, albeit slightly tight. They do sell them separately; I think it's around 10.00 You could easily make one from a PVC pipefitting.

As it should be. Always.

Could you please elaborate? (I.e., provide evidence for this assertion) Race Price-Dead at 118 jumps. Dan Kulpa-Dead at 110 jumps. They "didn't know what they didn't know" apparently. There are more, but there's the most recent. Couple these with the unexpected, exponential growth in the WS discipline, how many fatalities are acceptable before such a program is put into place? Other than "fear of regulation," I haven't seen an intelligent comment that demonstrates why a single, cohesive and consistent methodology of teaching based on decades of proven methods is an undesirable progression in wingsuiting. The AFF program has been wonderful for skydiving, and this program isn't terribly different. It seems the main argument is "the big bad USPA wants to regulate us" when in truth (assuming one of the multiple proposals from different sources goes through) the only thing that happens is that instructors have to prove their claimed skills. Whether you're a Peewee baseball coach, a forklift operator, or a Xerox machine repairman, you have to prove your mettle and demonstrate you know your stuff. And you're accountable for your fuckups. No one wants accountability for their fuckups, so I understand the reluctance to accept such a program. 3 years ago, a 9 way diamond was considered a major feat in the WS world. 3 years later, a 71 way accomplished and a 100 way in the planning. No other skydiving discipline has moved at the pace of wingsuiting. People weren't showing up on DZ's 10 years ago saying "I wanna learn to skydive so I can freefly." Now, there isn't a weekend goes by without having someone come to our DZ wanting to do a tandem "because he/she wants to fly a wingsuit." Anyway, I've said enough on the subject, you can read the proposal the team I was on has submitted, it would be interesting to hear commentary on the proposal itself rather than bitching that a proposal has been made.

I think it's even more simple than you're making it sound, Jarno. Can you imagine the audacity of the USPA requiring someone demonstrate they can actually fly AND intelligently teach the subject which they claim to be able to teach and fly? My god! The nerve?! Holy shit, to demand a higher level of competency from those that teach than merely 100 wingsuit skydives and a beer? How dare they? Some may not recognize it, but the face of the USPA is changing. The president's editorial is merely one small piece of evidence that this is so. Glenn Bangs never would have had the balls to ask the question, let alone suggest an opinion. For those thinking this all came about due to the Sebastian incident, you're wrong. The project began exactly one year ago, on July 10, 2008. When I presented it to the team that eventually came together in February 2009, a _lot_ of this was already put together, as any one of them will support. In fact, Monkey can attest to the fact that I showed small pieces of it to him during the Lodi event last year. The program I put together changed a lot, due to the thousands of jump experiences that other members of the team brought to the table, and it improved dramatically over what I'd written initially. If wanting to get some of the shitty instructors out of the wingsuit instructing game makes me a pussy, Glen then all I can say to that is "meow." I have a huge respect for instructors that can actually do what they claim to do, and know what they claim to know, and know how to teach in blocks and methods that stick with the student. Look at guys like Chuck Blue, Ed Pawlowski, etc, and there is great respect because not only can they fly well, but they've developed a solid teaching methodology based on their other instructional rating experiences. Look at most of the BMI/E guys, and you'll find mostly jokes being told (in the USA). Self regulation hasn't worked. At all. As the discipline grows, DZO's find themselves less comfortable with what they see happening with wingsuiting. Some DZ's don't allow it. With a USPA-endorsed instructional rating (not regulation), it offers a greater level of credibility. For those that don't hang a shingle as a wingsuit instructor, nothing at all will change. To suggest it's anything else is just FUD. For those that do hang a shingle, what do you have to fear if you can actually demonstrate the skills you purport you possess? Is the 20.00 rating fee really that extreme?

Pork shoulder or beef rib.I actually prefer 100% beer for the soak, but it seems like such a sin to pour that much beer down the drain after the pre-soak. One of my friends likes to drink the beer after the meat has been in it overnight, but I don't find the taste appealing at all.

beautiful job, Matt.

molasses based indeed. None of that vinegar crap. pre-soak the meat overnight in a mix of 50% beer and 50% water before cooking. Dark ales are best, IMO. Sauce brushed on during cooking. Never pierce the meat except to check if it's cooked thru enough.

People pay money to earn a coach rating too. Spend a few search key moments in the Instructor forums and see how many Coaches are making money for their coached jumps, or are passing along the cost for earning that rating. Damn few. If you're a wingsuit instructor because you want to make big $$, then you must know something I don't. It'll be a long while til I've earned enough from FFC's to pay for my Intro's in various sizes. I do it for the love of teaching, and the $20.00 a year to renew my rating isn't enough for me to be concerned about. Tell you what, Scott....become a USPA Wingsuit Instructor and *I'll* pay your yearly WSI renewal for as long as you're instructing, because I think you're that valuable to the wingsuiting community. At this point, it's all FUD. Gee, damn, whiz, wow. Butters is worried that as an instructor, his "freedom" will be restricted. Yeah, it would *really* suck to have to be able to demonstrate you can: -actually teach so that the student comprehends what you have to share -actually fly _with_ the student so they can see you during the jump and potentially receive hand signals -pass a written test of common sense questions that every wingsuit instructor should know. Damn, that means you'll actually have to prove competency. I can see how that would limit the "freedom" of an incompetent. Which is exactly what a coach rating, AFF rating, TI rating, SL rating, and IAD rating test program actually does. It weeds out those that aren't ready or able. I can see how those that got their rating over a beer or a lunch are worried about this program going through. I know of several guys that never once saw their instructor during their FFC (including me) or had their instructor flying straight towards them. Those guys can't pass the USPA rating program and therefore won't be able to teach anymore. Good riddance, AFAIC.

I hope not. I prefer freedom and am willing to accept that with great freedom comes great responsibility ... Please define specifically how the implementation of a USPA Wingsuit Instructor Rating would restrict your freedom as a skydiver/wingsuiter? Otherwise, it's just FUD, and about as valuable and condescending as saying "you don't know what you don't know." I'm impressed as hell that the team FlyLikeBrick are endorsing this sort of program, that tells me it's got some significant merit.

Wow.... toilets are dangerous! BEWARE TOILETS! Wait.... I thought guys didn't actually use toilets... just kinda pee'd in the direction of the toilets Sometimes, we actually have to *sit* on the toilet, if you can imagine that!! My new raised toilet has handles on the sides that are close together, and certain appendages of my body prevent my legs from fitting between the handles. This makes it sorta difficult to smoothly get off the toilet seat using crutches (new rule; no crutches in the restroom). Add a very narrow "closet/alcove" where the commode resides....it was more stupid. Mr. Wrong, the bad stuff will quit coming my way as soon as I quit being stupid. I've relived my accident so many times, in hindsight it's easy to see how I could have avoided the damage I suffered regardless of losing the toggle. Losing the toggle scared me. That fear caused me to become a deer in the headlights and rather than immediately reacting (as I thought I did at the time), I hesitated when I was thinking about how badly one of the swoop noodle mounts was going to shred me when I hit it. I froze up. I easily had 1-2 seconds that I lost/blew when the fear hit me. I guess that's the real lesson to be learneed; don't become the deer in the headlights. Just do what you gotta do. It's odd that in my two cutaways, I felt totaly calm and prepared. I go through my cutaway/emergency procedures on every load, so that would explain that. I've never trained for what to do after dropping a toggle. BTW, I take no responsibility for whatever I've typed here, Demerol and Hydrocodone have kicked in.

just as an update, I took a nasty spill climbing off the toilet yesterday and did further damage that included breaking a toe. Crutches, raised toilets, and narrow toilet alcoves just don't go together well. My humongous ball wason the mend, but I think it's on the grow again after this one. Are there any pain meds better than Demerol and Hydrocodone? Cuz these so far, are pussy meds that do nothing of consequence. Yeah, I'm whining....stupid hurts, but it shouldn't have to continue to hurt like this.

Hell, you even got a picture. I'm not sending an "after" picture.