diablopilot

Yes. As was always intended. Then why since the beginning of the S&TA program have S&TA been granted the power to suspend instructional ratings for a period of up to 30 days pending the review of their RD? The S&TA is not only an advisor, but also a safety stop for ineffective instruction and unsafe behavior. They are the eyes, ears, and an important line of safety checks for the USPA. The program has been slack in the last decade. It's coming back. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

That's exactly what has happened. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Chuck, how many people are dying in freefall or from failure to get a parachute deployed these days? Nope, it's the canopy flight that is killing them off more often than not. AFF is simply too overwhelming for many to safely pick up the talents of canopy flight at the same time as freefall. Some programs are more capable of addressing this but SL programs on the whole do a much better job of teaching canopy flight from the get go. I think you confuse the USPA AFF program with the A license program. All the USPA programs have evolved that by the time AFF, TAF, SL or IAD students get to the A license park they should all be at very equivalent freefall skills but experience tells us the SL/IAD students will understand and be higher skilled canopy pilots. More than 5 years ago I drew up an outline for my "dream" program. It began with 2 to 3 tandems focused on deployment and canopy flight. Then followed by 3 to 4 SL or IAD jumps (prefer the IAD) to focus on canopy flight, finishing with 4 to 5 AFF style jumps and the subsequent coach type jumps to finish license requirements. One day..... ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

The S&TA isn't signing it for the DZ. The S&TA is signing it for the jumper, and the USPA. If a DZO doesn't want to use them that's fine, but then they won't be able to offer their jumpers the benefits of the USPA. No one says by this that the S&TA has to be the one to supervise the jumps, they can delegate that responsibility to the instructor/coaches. The S&TA's are simply ensuring that the education is happening. It's always been intended by the USPA that instructors work under the supervision of S&TA's much like coaches work under the supervision of Instructors. I understand that being a full timer on a DZ means that you have to jump for money and may not be in the landing area, or able to drop everything to watch an event. That's where an S&TA who knows their instructors well enough, delegates. If your S&TA's can't find the time when jumping is done to sign a card, or check some knowledge then you have the wrong people in the role. At your home DZ in particular you have a team that teaches this canopy stuff within the A license package, right? Then the S&TA can simply confirm that this team has done the job, or perhaps one of them needs to become an S&TA (Slipstream). The USPA seems to be getting the programs back on track to the way they were intended to work. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Well we've got to start fixing it sometime, right? ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Then why don't you guys offer it? Logistics and popularity. I would if I owned the company. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Instructors may still sign for licenses, S&TA's are the ones who must sign the CP card. I think the intent is to maintain some standards, and have a lower number of the card "whipped". ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Static line. You will become a much better pilot of the parachute through this process, and that is what will keep you alive in this sport. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Did you know the sky is falling? ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

They are on the right track on this one.... http://www.uspa.org/Portals/0/Downloads/Form_CPProficiencyCard.pdf ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Considering one of the requirements of the canopy progression card is that all the qualifying jumps be done as hop and pops with planning and focus on JUST canopy flight, I think the danger is pretty small. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

The wingsuit types you speak of are the reason I gave it up. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Too true! :-) ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

For AFF jumps I have had huge success jumping my GOPro on the "chesty" mount. Better view of the student's body, and not a snag issue. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

And right there is your argument made against these advanced systems. When you take the pilot out of the loop bad things happen. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

There's also Skydive Spaceland. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Single JM programs can function in that way because they utilize tandem training before the first AFF style jump. This allows the student to experience freefall a few times before having to cope with it on their own parachute, and it is a great method. I've been doing this for more than a decade now and it's my preferred method of training. Should you choose to join us here at Spaceland, we'll make sure to get you not only through the AFF levels, but we take special attention on teaching basic skydiving skill, and work towards making you a proficient skydiver by the time you leave our program with your A license. :-) See ya soon, the weather is great this week! ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Playing the blame game are we? No responsibility for the consumer's individual actions? Because someone is holding all their customers hands to the flame, right? I mean a little self control and people wouldn't buy half the useless shit they do, eh? ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Skydive Spaceland :-) "A in a Week" http://www.skydivespaceland.com/license-in-a-week.php ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

As you know it's always a chain of events. The low pull was one link however it doesn't discount in any way the link added by the MARD and associated systems. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Um.... it's a completely separate company? ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Please me more specific on that. Thanks. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=3331658;page=8;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25; http://www.uspa.org/USPAMembers/Safety/AccidentReports/tabid/81/ctl/Detail/mid/785/Default.aspx?xmdata=k2m5MCXrW8e/Oq/1eaYYusJaIdUJ2v9nn3SvbjJUQy1Hb4Faaij4QbSNNNDw1zR%2bzW0vIEPL6aA%3d ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

1) Yes. 2) Yes. 3) No. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Why would you defeat the safety aspect of the plastic 3M sticky mount's ability to break off when needed to save your life from a dangerous entanglement by replacing it with metal hardware bolted to the helmet? ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

It's major thread drift but the FAA only tests the riggers, it doesn't ensure their continued quality. I know A LOT of people with riggers tickets that I wouldn't let pack my MAIN.... ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.