Night jump questions......

[airtwardo 6]

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>Can you recall how many friends we've lost in, say, the past 10 years for
>lack of night jump skills.

None that I can think of, due in part to the night jump training that almost all skydivers get.

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Now compare with the number we've lost in canopy accidents.

I agree...KEEP the night jump requirements and add canopy control requirements as well.

We shouldn't be looking for ways to make getting a Masters license easier, but instead raise the bar to a point high enough that the license begins to represent what it says on the front of it.

To be a 'Master' also means the ability to be a mentor, how can one expect to be that without having done at least the basic things involved with a rounded experience in most if not all aspects.

The small Midwest dropzone where I learned, the requirements 'in house' to get your D were even greater than what the USPA required...looking back I realize those guys were dedicated to making someone a safe well prepared skydiver. Accuracy requirements, jump-mastering proficiency (including spotting), gear inspection and recognition of problems, rigging, heck we even had to take a basic first aid class and have a CPR card.

Now days there are people just trying to bang out the required number of jumps as quickly as possible, believing THAT is the main prerequisite to holding the highest license.

Reduce the requirements?
We should be raising them to enhance the quality of knowledge and experience the holder possesses. MORE night jumps, REAL water training, canopy fight proficiency card, basic CReW, on & on.

When I see people that have thousands of jump who can't pack their own parachutes or recognise a bad spot from the door, I have to wonder what OTHER areas they are lacking in.

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[firemedic 7]

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We have lost too many people both experienced and inexperienced. One thing is certain. We will continue to bury our friends if all we do is debate, disagree, and do nothing else.

I agree 100%

The debate makes me think about all the conversation that's been had about exit order and exit separation. I think most people now agree that it would be a seriously bad idea for a 6 way RW group to exit 2 seconds after a 6 way freefly group....

And yet we keep mixing approach speeds and angles in the pattern. It's a dilemma, isn't it? We've accepted that mixing fall rates and wind drifts is bad in freefall, but we're at a loss to deal with the same physics under canopy.

It really does suck. It's a level of fragmentation that approaches unmanageable... maybe.

It might be more productive to require that DZs establish a standard set of pattern rules and that anyone who wants to fly anything other than a standard set of pattern rules make sure they're segregated.

That's pretty easy to do at a small DZ like the one I jump at. Most of our HP pilots open high, hang in brakes, and land in a segregated space. The majority of these accidents happen at the large, vacation / team training / bigway camp types of DZs.

With both kinds of DZs, the key to me seems to be that censorship and enforcement of the rules will help prevent collisions.

As jumpers and canopy pilots, we can debate and disagree and vote with our wallets all we want, but until the folks running the DZs and bigway camps and boogies and vacation resorts get on board, nothing useful will happen because too many fun jumpers think nothing bad could ever happen to "them"

I agree. There is an underlying resistance to change that we are facing. Until we can break through that barrier it will be very difficult to make the changes that will bring appreciable results.