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I hope there are some, and I hope they respond to you here, but I think that switching between instructional methods is difficult and that most places prefer to not do that. Even with the guidance provided by the ISP, there are decisions that need to be made about where to fit a particular student into the progression of a different instructional method, and what training or refresher training needs to occur, and some of these decision are subjective. Good for you! Thinking that way means you care about the sport and how to help students achieve their goals.

I'm hoping you are not serious. Someone that uses a drug without their knowledge is going to think they are getting sick. That would be scary. And what if their job required drug testing and they failed a test because of an accident like that? That would be awful too. My point in making the original post was that I would hope that people would be very careful with their drugs when in that form. (BTW, I am not anti-drug. That would make me a bit of a hypocrite considering my earlier years.)

(Disclaimer: If you are not a USPA member you may disregard. I'm not talking to you.) Well, shame on them and shame on the instructors. What is a shame is that it is such an easy BSR to comply with. How much work does it take to put an altimeter on a student? I know, I know, I've heard it all before. "Tandems are passengers and are not students, blah, blah." (But if you think that, you are in denial. Read the BSRs, read the Glossary. It is very unambiguous. Having an altimeter on your tandem student is your backup. What if you find that your altimeter does not work on the climb to altitude? (Yeah, right, you'll borrow someone elses. What if you are your student are the only skydivers in the C182?) So much additional safety for so little work, but so many excuses as to why not do it. Sometimes I think people work harder trying to make excuses than just doing the work.

I understand why you think it is crazy to get all excited about a (relatively) snag-free camera helmet when radios are put on student helmets like in picture #2. (There are other issues with actual cameras that you will learn about, but that's OK. You are asking good questions.) Quite a while, but usually I see them on top of the helmet where it would be much less likely to snag. I think that setup must have been designed by someone who had some student canopy control issues and had some students say they couldn't hear the radio (which may or may not be true.) The designer said to themselves, "I'm gonna fix that, I'm gonna put the radio in his ear!" That's got to be loud enough to hurt! (I wouldn't do it that way.) Radios on the chest strap seem to be a good place to put them with the exception of: When a student doesn't get their leg straps tight, or a small student has been put in a student rig with non-adjustable main lift webs. They are likely to get hit in the face with the radio on opening. (This is the same with chest-mount altimeters too.)

Does anyone know anything about the letter in the June 2011 Parachutist, titled "Drugs and alcohol"? A woman writes "... I had an unfortunate and involuntary taste of DZ drug use when I are a laced cookie off a community table." Is this (hopefully) a mistake, a misunderstanding, or what? People making food items like that would surely be careful enough not to leave them lying around wouldn't they?

Coming up on 30 years. Have never gone more than 6 weeks between jumps and it was 5-6 weeks only twice. Sore knee one time, bad weather and other activities the other.

Another example we have beaten to death... From the 70's I think. I forgot to note the issue.

This same question is asked of the USPA Safety and Training committee nearly every time (that I can remember) that there has been a well known or much discussed tandem landing incident when the winds were high or turbulent. The opinion and answer to that question has always been that the tandem instructor is a very experienced skydiver that can make their own decisions about the wind they (and their student) are comfortable jumping in. And indeed, with the wide variety of wingloadings and other variations in the amount of drive and manuverability of a particular tandem jump, it would be nearly impossible to state a limit that would not be too restrictive for some situations. If tandem instructors would be conservative in their decision making process, then all would be well. As to whether that is happening, and whether that is good or bad, well, the debate begins (again).

Bill and John, I think you are both on the same page, more or less, but it sounds like a "disagreement" when people read it. You might want to PM each other and come up with a statement or two that expresses the thoughts of both of you. This bigway/fall rate thing is an important concept, but easy for less experienced people to misunderstand.

Why do you suppose that is? Are people not wanting to hang out before the load fully geared up because of discomfort or some reason like that? I haven't been exposed to lots of wingsuiting, but every wingsuiter I have seen gear up puts their legstraps on at the same time as the wingsuit.

From my experience, the more that you train them, the more they will "surprise" you. It's neat isn't it?

Mike Truffer of the Skydiving Book Service may have heard of it, but I don't know if that helps you. http://www.skydivingmagazine.com/storeintro.htm http://www.skydivingmagazine.com/contact.htm

I understand your point, but "little shit hole" is a bit harsh on small dropzones isn't it?

I can't find any of the original posts, but here is some supporting info: http://www.aopa.org/advocacy/articles/2011/110505internet_scam_targets_flight_instructors.html

No. Being a professional in a "real job" and being a skydiving instructor do not have to be mutually exclusive. You will need to "fight" a little bit more to get some of those students to teach, but it will be worth it. (And you might need to teach at a DZ that is a bit less "commercial".) Peter, if you are a really good instructor, it is my opinion that you should not even want to work for a DZO that would favor a 500 jump wonder over you. It will take a bit more work, but I think you can find a balance, enjoy yourself, and keep all of your ratings current too.

The tandem manufacturers, when they requested the original exemption to allow tandem jumping to take place. (Blame Bill and Ted.) Anyone (including any FAA guy) that compares the requirements for a class 3 medical to class 2 medical will easily understand why, by thinking about how being a tandem parachutist-in-command differs from a (aircraft) pilot-in-command.

Dropzone.com's very own AggieDave has an article in the May Parachutist on page 44, "Protecting Yourself From Gear Theft". It's always nice to see skydivers write articles related to their areas of professional expertise. I have always appreciated Dave's willingness to provide advice as a law enforcement officer here on dropzone.com. (Like when people start talking about slashing the tires of the guy down the street for driving too fast in the neighborhood, Dave has always suggested a more prudent course of action!) So, Dave, is that your first article in Parachutist?

N/A

Apologies if I have asked this before in a posting here, I couldn't find it with a search. (I asked about it somewhere...) Does anyone have a copy or info about the tandem training video done some years ago by a guy named John "Bonnan"? Is that his name? I don't remember.

Aargh! Thank you. Noted and corrected. Just goes to show you....

Ten? Look how big my list is, and I have seen most of these right here on dropzone.com forums. http://www.skydivestlouisarea.com/misused.htm

Aha! Well, that explains it. This is typical when a bunch of people with low jump numbers start making larger formations. (Well, actually I have seen a lot of very experienced people do this too, and swear they don't.) When it is only a 3 or 4 way, people notice when someone is missing from the formation and start looking around and maybe make the formation fall faster to help their buddy. But once is gets much bigger than that, people just dock on the formation, stop paying attention to their fall rate, start getting stiff trying to hold on, create a lot of tension which increases the drag, and make the formation fall _really_ slow. If the faster fallers don't get there quick enough, they are going to go low. And those that go low are always blamed, seldom do the people making the formation go so slow get blamed. Your choices are probably obvious enough. You can be the base, you can stick to smaller formations, you can get a big enough jumpsuit to compensate, or you can jump with people who know not to do this. I use number 1 and 3 because I am not that fond of 2 and I usually can't find enough 4.

I disagree that it is an inevitability. If you use careless packers, well, maybe. But if you have enough loop to cover the hook part and you stow the excess line well why should it? I have used this method for a long time, and there are other configurations that are equally effective. http://www.pcprg.com/slstow.htm

Aaah, if only my memory was that good... Not a bad idea, but since most DZs I have been to don't even have their student canopy colors identified on the rig, it would seem to be difficult to get everyone to do it. Until a number of years ago I knew the colors of everyone, but then a whole bunch of people started downsizing, and other people on the same DZ wound up with their canopies.

Oh, it gets crazier than that! I have heard of people thinking that a person unrated for AFF can go along (have harness holds) on a single instructor AFF jump because, after all, the second instructor is not really needed.