USPA Central Region Director Candidate....

[Stearny 1]

Well.....this thread is interesting. Taking a step out of the past for a second. I actually have a question.

What is your opinion regarding counting tunnel time towards ratings?
What is your stance on the current requirements for ratings? In particular Coach and AFF?

Sidenote: Jeremy was there on my AFF jump #1 and I have known him and jumped with him at Skydive Kansas ever since. Jen, Bill, and Jeremy have all been wonderful mentors that have made me the jumper I am today. Jeremy is an amazing mix of talent, humility, meticulousness, and just plain fun to be around. I traveled quite extensively for a previous employer and had the opportunity to visit quite a few dropzones around the country. I would say I have a relatively decent "feel" for dropzones. I'm very proud to call Skydive Kansas home.

-Andrew Stearns

Stearny

[ufk22 32]

When you combine dick measuring with a pissing contest everything gets real educational in a hurry.
Everyone also gets wet.

This is the paradox of skydiving. We do something very dangerous, expose ourselves to a totally unnecesary risk, and then spend our time trying to make it safer.

[flyboy6554 3]

Quote

Wasn't it you that bullied your way into opening for a single day and in that single day had a fatality due to your incompetence and lack of complete good and safe judgment?"

.......Just about as inappropriate a comment as I've ever seen, but not a surprise from an anonymous troll who registered a week ago...... Sad that someone has tried to link the tragic mishap that killed Brad Giffin, an experienced skydiver, with anything to do with the topic of this thread or anyone's competence or judgment.

You should be ashamed......and I bet you already regret posting this comment.

[AirBlade 0]

Jeremy Et Al,

You are correct! My comment was emotional and I should have put down the Jack D. bottle before posting. I will say it's been my experience that anything connected with Wes is usually a shit show but I'll reserve that for another time. You recall of the situation is "Right On" target. I have spoken with parties on both sides and the way you describe it is very accurate.

Flyboy, though my post was harsh it was very accurate with respect to safety and judgement.

I apologize to Wes and this thread for my delivery but not so much for the content. I will be more civil in my post in the future.

By the way I'm not hiding my name, I'm Military and the command frowns on the use of message boards. I would be glad to meet any of you in person.

[WatchYourStep 0]

Great questions Stearns....

Stearny

What is your opinion regarding counting tunnel time towards ratings?

The tunnel is an awesome tool for helping us train for a portion of skydiving, but it does miss out on lots of areas; exiting an airplane and flying a canopy are two big ones that come to mind. While someone with 1000 hours is probably pretty awesome in the air, it doesn't mean they are automatically suited to coach people in it.

For example lets say I have 300 skydives and 1000 hours in the tunnel, but 275 of those skydives and 999 of those hours are spent Freeflying, should I be able to test for an AFFI?

I'm guessing in the future there will end up being an adjustment allowing tunnel training, but I don't know if that is anytime soon. When/if that happens the candidate will still have to pass a class, which then begs the question....if they can pass the course does it really matter how many jumps or hours in the tunnel they have?

So in long I do think there is someplace in the requirements to recognize tunnel flying, however I'm not sure how that would be integrated yet. My opinion on this subject may change over time with more time in the tunnel.

Stearny

What is your stance on the current requirements for ratings? In particular Coach and AFF?

I don't see a real problem with the current requirements for ratings. I have heard sometimes people say "So and so shouldn't be a coach" or "That person has no business being a TI" Instead of looking at it like that, I'd be more concerned with who gave them the rating. If I take your class and I'm a hazard or deficient and you pass me, you as an IE have only continued the cycle. I'm not saying that everyone should fail or anything along those lines, but being a Coach, AFFI, TI etc should be something to be proud of. IEs should be extremely confident when they sign someone off and turn them loose to work with real students that they can keep that student safe and do their duties associated with the proper rating.

Hope you guys are getting some jumps in KS, only got one here in IL this morning and then some weather moved in :(

"You start off your skydiving career with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience up before your bag of luck runs out."

[WatchYourStep 0]

Air-

We all make mistakes, we learn and move on.

Thanks

"You start off your skydiving career with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience up before your bag of luck runs out."

[airtwardo 6]

ElJosh

This is one of the most ridiculous things that I have ever heard. I have know Jeremy for years and he doesn't have a clandestine bone in his body. He is selfless and only cares about spreading the love of his passions with others. I mean did everyone just miss the amazing Patrick Swayze meme he just graced us with? Since everyone here is being unappreciative, I will go ahead and say "thank you Jeremy for you magnanimous gift of Swayze."
Seriously Jeremy is one of the most talented and knowledgeable jumpers I know. On top of that he humble and has absolutely no ego. In fact I was with Jeremy when the incident happened at Wes' DZ. He had nothing but great things to say about you.
My personal opinion is that if you think that you could do better than Jeremy then get off your tail and put your name on a ballot.

That's a load of bullshit...

When 'your guy' alludes that a FATALITY was somehow caused by "safety practices" at a dropzone only open for one day - he showed his true colors.

The actual facts surrounding the incident have shown the entire thing was absolutely no fault of the DZ staff and was handled with professionalism not often seen by the first responders and investigators.

To pull the tragic death of a fellow skydiver out of the hat, make up a lie and throw it like I spear - is the ultimate in low class unprofessionalism and clearly speaks volumes in regard to the lack of fitness & actual qualifications for office to represent members that this airbozo truly has.

Being a great skydiver has nothing to do with being a fair and intelligent representative...with an outright lie - publicly throwing the blood of one skydiver at another in order to advance a campaign tells me and every other member in the organization what kind of character is truly behind this political ambition.

Not a very well thought out move on ANY level...it would appear that at the prospect of losing an argument in an open discussion this person will degrade publicly both the sport and a fellow jumper in a manner that goes beyond despicable.

Not how any of us should be represented...

I knew the deceased and I know the facts...a public apology needs to be made.

What a fucking embarrassment to play that card. UNfreakin believable!

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

[WatchYourStep 0]

airtwardo

***This is one of the most ridiculous things that I have ever heard. I have know Jeremy for years and he doesn't have a clandestine bone in his body. He is selfless and only cares about spreading the love of his passions with others. I mean did everyone just miss the amazing Patrick Swayze meme he just graced us with? Since everyone here is being unappreciative, I will go ahead and say "thank you Jeremy for you magnanimous gift of Swayze."
Seriously Jeremy is one of the most talented and knowledgeable jumpers I know. On top of that he humble and has absolutely no ego. In fact I was with Jeremy when the incident happened at Wes' DZ. He had nothing but great things to say about you.
My personal opinion is that if you think that you could do better than Jeremy then get off your tail and put your name on a ballot.

That's a load of bullshit...

When 'your guy' alludes that a FATALITY was somehow caused by "safety practices" at a dropzone only open for one day - he showed his true colors.

The actual facts surrounding the incident have shown the entire thing was absolutely no fault of the DZ staff and was handled with professionalism not often seen by the first responders and investigators.

To pull the tragic death of a fellow skydiver out of the hat, make up a lie and throw it like I spear - is the ultimate in low class unprofessionalism and clearly speaks volumes in regard to the lack of fitness & actual qualifications for office to represent members that this airbozo truly has.

Being a great skydiver has nothing to do with being a fair and intelligent representative...with an outright lie - publicly throwing the blood of one skydiver at another in order to advance a campaign tells me and every other member in the organization what kind of character is truly behind this political ambition.

Not a very well thought out move on ANY level...it would appear that at the prospect of losing an argument in an open discussion this person will degrade publicly both the sport and a fellow jumper in a manner that goes beyond despicable.

Not how any of us should be represented...

I knew the deceased and I know the facts...a public apology needs to be made.

What a fucking embarrassment to play that card. UNfreakin believable!

Just for clarification I have no idea who Air Blade is?

As stated above that was an uncalled for statement.

I don't think anybody in this thread disagrees about that.

"You start off your skydiving career with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience up before your bag of luck runs out."

[airtwardo 6]

WatchYourStep

******This is one of the most ridiculous things that I have ever heard. I have know Jeremy for years and he doesn't have a clandestine bone in his body. He is selfless and only cares about spreading the love of his passions with others. I mean did everyone just miss the amazing Patrick Swayze meme he just graced us with? Since everyone here is being unappreciative, I will go ahead and say "thank you Jeremy for you magnanimous gift of Swayze."
Seriously Jeremy is one of the most talented and knowledgeable jumpers I know. On top of that he humble and has absolutely no ego. In fact I was with Jeremy when the incident happened at Wes' DZ. He had nothing but great things to say about you.
My personal opinion is that if you think that you could do better than Jeremy then get off your tail and put your name on a ballot.

That's a load of bullshit...

When 'your guy' alludes that a FATALITY was somehow caused by "safety practices" at a dropzone only open for one day - he showed his true colors.

The actual facts surrounding the incident have shown the entire thing was absolutely no fault of the DZ staff and was handled with professionalism not often seen by the first responders and investigators.

To pull the tragic death of a fellow skydiver out of the hat, make up a lie and throw it like I spear - is the ultimate in low class unprofessionalism and clearly speaks volumes in regard to the lack of fitness & actual qualifications for office to represent members that this airbozo truly has.

Being a great skydiver has nothing to do with being a fair and intelligent representative...with an outright lie - publicly throwing the blood of one skydiver at another in order to advance a campaign tells me and every other member in the organization what kind of character is truly behind this political ambition.

Not a very well thought out move on ANY level...it would appear that at the prospect of losing an argument in an open discussion this person will degrade publicly both the sport and a fellow jumper in a manner that goes beyond despicable.

Not how any of us should be represented...

I knew the deceased and I know the facts...a public apology needs to be made.

What a fucking embarrassment to play that card. UNfreakin believable!

Just for clarification I have no idea who Air Blade is?

As stated above that was an uncalled for statement.

I don't think anybody in this thread disagrees about that.


Understand and apologies for my confusion on the posts author...

I'm working away from home and have only an old IPhone as net acces - makes following the thread a challenge to say the least.

Seeing that kind of over the line lack of simple ethics involving the death of a human being...strikes a nerve within.

"Back when it was a sport" air blade would have been properly educated in the concequences such thoughtless statements have in the real world.

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

[bill6870 3]

Hi Jeremy, what is your position on the requirement for a 3rd class FAA medical for tandem instructors? Specifically the common belief that it is used by USPA to disqualify tandem instructors with multiple DUI's.

You know me but for those who don't I'm S&TA at Skydive Kansas. In 2010 I made a huge error in judgement and got a DUI. I went without an FAA medical and by default a tandem instructor rating until I finished jumping through the FAA's hoops and got my medical back. I then retook the TI course again completing all of the ground work and making a few jumps with an examiner. I had around 900 tandems at the time. I'm personally for the requirement. If someone makes a mistake like I did I don't think jumping through the FAA's hoops and getting some additional training on tandems is to much to ask. After all our negative actions should have negative consequences. If someone has enough DUI's that they can't get a medical at all then they probably have a problem and shouldn't be responsible for tandem student's lives. This is just my opinion.

Gary Peek it might be helpful to people trying to decide who to vote for if you weighed in on these issues also.


Blue Skies,
Bill Hubbell

[rlallo 0]

Excellent Jeremy! As a sitting Board Member I fully support your run for the Central Region. After talking with you on current USPA positions, direction and issues I feel you have your finger on the pulse of the organization and the direction USPA needs to go. I was very glad to hear your thoughts on how to improve Safety and Training as well as other areas of the Association. The Central Region could benefit well from your leadership and guidance.

I will be glad to answer any questions from your Regions Membership on why I feel you'll make a GREAT Regional Director.

Ray Lallo
USPA Mountain Region Director & Secretary
[email protected]

visit my website: www.uspamountainregion.org and

Facebook Page: facebook.com/raylallo.mountainregion

[nolhtairt 0]

Hey mods,

You've set up specific forums just for USPA BOD Election threads in the past, and then archived them when elections were over. Maybe its time for a new forum for the current election cycle?

[WatchYourStep 0]

nolhtairt

Hey mods,

You've set up specific forums just for USPA BOD Election threads in the past, and then archived them when elections were over. Maybe its time for a new forum for the current election cycle?

Bill-
Working on a response to your question, but am in contact with the FAA trying to learn more about how DUIs impact your Med 3. I'll also be contacting USPA to get some more background.

Ray-
Thank you for the kind words.

nolhtairt-
I sent a message inquiring the same thing a few weeks back and I think they are working on it.

"You start off your skydiving career with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience up before your bag of luck runs out."

[WatchYourStep 0]

bill6870

Hi Jeremy, what is your position on the requirement for a 3rd class FAA medical for tandem instructors? Specifically the common belief that it is used by USPA to disqualify tandem instructors with multiple DUI's.

You know me but for those who don't I'm S&TA at Skydive Kansas. In 2010 I made a huge error in judgement and got a DUI. I went without an FAA medical and by default a tandem instructor rating until I finished jumping through the FAA's hoops and got my medical back. I then retook the TI course again completing all of the ground work and making a few jumps with an examiner. I had around 900 tandems at the time. I'm personally for the requirement. If someone makes a mistake like I did I don't think jumping through the FAA's hoops and getting some additional training on tandems is to much to ask. After all our negative actions should have negative consequences. If someone has enough DUI's that they can't get a medical at all then they probably have a problem and shouldn't be responsible for tandem student's lives. This is just my opinion.

Gary Peek it might be helpful to people trying to decide who to vote for if you weighed in on these issues also.


Blue Skies,
Bill Hubbell

Bill,

There have been some interesting threads on this topic over the past couple of years. I will weigh in with what I know and my thoughts on it.

First Mike Mullins gives a pretty good overview of the history of the Class 3 in tandem skydiving...

michaelmullins

A little history:
Many years ago when tandems were done under an exemption from the FAA, the FAA required that the "Tandem Master" hold at least a FAA Class 3 Medical Certificate. Whether this requirement was at the suggestion of the Relative Workshop (now UPT) or Strong Enterprises, or a combination of all parties involved, it was a part of the Exemption and was required by the FAA.

After FAR 105 was changed to allow tandem jumping without the exemption, UPT and Strong Enterprises both required that Tandem Masters certified by them would still need to hold at least a FAA Class 3 Medical even though not now required by the FAA. This was long before USPA ever became involved in giving Tandem Instructor Ratings.

UPT, which has about 80% of the Tandem business, at one time considered giving waivers to their requirement of a FAA Class 3 Medical but, due to problems associated with the lack of credibility of some that were asking for the waiver, will no longer consider giving a waiver to their requirement of holding at least an FAA Class 3 Medical. This has been re-confirmed with Tom Noonan, who is the UPT Tandem Program Director.

In summary:
The original FAA Medical requirement was generated by the FAA and the manufacturers, not USPA.

When the FAA dropped the requirement for the FAA Medical, the manufacturers retained the requirement. This was long before USPA became involved with tandem.

All TI ratings come originally from the manufacturers. To receive a USPA Tandem Instructor Rating you must also receive a manufacturers rating. You cannot receive a rating from the manufacturer unless you have the FAA Medical, they require it and have always required it.

So, to say that the medical requirement is "solely a requirement generated by USPA" is not correct and never has been correct.

Mike Mullins

So if a change were to take place it would need to be agreed on by the manufacturers and USPA. I spoke briefly with representatives from Strong and UPT, neither of them said that replacing the Class 3 with a DOT medical was impossible, but it seems like there would need to be a good reason to do so. Sammy got a DUI and doesn't want to jump through the hoops with the FAA doesn't seem like it will be a good enough reason for them to make that change.

From a brief conversation with USPA as well as my own research one of the big differences between the Class 3 and the DOT medical is that on the DOT medical you do not have to disclose past DUIs or drug incidents. With that being said if the USPA and manufacturers agreed to allowing a DOT medical to stand, there would have to be some way for them to know what's on your record. If you could not get a Class 3 medical would you be willing to pay for the DOT medical and submit arrest records if applicable?

Some could/will say that the USPA doesn't need to know if a person has/had a DUI or past drug offenses, I can get that from a privacy issue, however being a TI isn't a right, you don't have to do it, it's an honor. If you want to be using equipment produced by the major manufacturers and through USPA you have to play by those rules or show cause on why they should be changed, and again because you made multiple bad decisions or don't want to jump through the FAA hoops probably won't get you much traction.

I can also see some saying, the USPA should allow the DZO to vet potential instructors and their competence and again to an extent I can see that. However if the USPA is issuing the license, then they must do their homework on who they are handing them out to. There has to be some form of accountability. If TI Sam had 12 DUIs and USPA still gives him a license, and a few weeks later Sam goes in with a student and it's discovered that he may have been impaired do you think USPA will get sued? I do, and for that reason I'm ok with them wanting to know if their TIs have a problem. Now some could say the same could be true for AFFIs, but those rules don't exist....

While doing some more interneting I found this:

https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/avs/offices/aam/ame/guide/app_process/app_history/item18/v/

It seems that a DUI isn't an automatic unsat on your Class 3, but it may be deferred. The above link covers in more detail what they could potentially ask for.

One of my flying friends said a few guys received DUIs during his flight school, they didn't try to hide it, followed the regs for reporting it and were both first time offenders. They had no problem continuing on, maybe this is a case by case basis.

We all make mistakes, some of us get caught, some of us don't. Either way we hope that when those mistakes happen nobody is injured and that we can learn from them. For those that get caught they have nobody to blame but themselves. So in long I'm ok with the current Class 3 medical as is (which is as much about tracking decision making ability as it is general health), but I would happily listen to suggestions on why, but more importantly HOW to change it where all parties vested are still protected from the student to the manufacturer. We're all skydivers.... and in today's litigious society we need to watch out for each other.

Hope that gives you some insight to my thoughts on the subject....

"You start off your skydiving career with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience up before your bag of luck runs out."