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wasatchrider

How many dont bother to get a license?

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It's kinda hard to measure a negative.:D

In the US anyway, I don't know too many people (at least these days) who don't bother to get at least an A license, since it's required to jump at pretty much all USPA dropzones. Living in the vicinity of a non-USPA DZ, though, I do hear of folks that don't bother with the paperwork, at least not until they decide they want to visit other dropzones.

As for higher licenses, yeah, I know of people who never bothered with advanced licenses at all, or skipped over certain ones (I personally skipped B because I was near the C numbers by the time I got water training done, and it didn't seem worth it).

It depends on what your goals are, really, to decide whether higher licenses are worthwhile (either in and of themselves as a measure of achievement or because they allow you to do other things).

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

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got it but I know its pretty relaxed where I jump and it does not matter to much and I know a few people who jump all over without a license. I guess its who you know and who you are with probably. Im sure it would make it easier.
If I have c license numbers and requirements can I go straight to that without the other licenses if I wanted?
BASE 1519

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wasatchrider

got it but I know its pretty relaxed where I jump and it does not matter to much and I know a few people who jump all over without a license. I guess its who you know and who you are with probably. Im sure it would make it easier.
If I have c license numbers and requirements can I go straight to that without the other licenses if I wanted?



You can apply directly for the C license, but you will need to document that you've met all the requirements for the previous licenses as well if you've never applied for them. I did B and C at the same time so I documented it all on a single application, took both tests at the same time, and only applied/paid for the C.
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

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I've met a few super great flyers with thousands of jumps over the years who just stay local, don't compete, and just LO and run events around their area DZ(s), and only have an A license.

I haven't put in for my C yet, but unless I plan on doing beach jumps somewhere or doing anything else that requires you show a C, then I'm kind of going to be hard pressed to be motivated to send in for it since it just doesn't make a difference to me.
Apologies for the spelling (and grammar).... I got a B.S, not a B.A. :)

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when I feel "current" again, I'll send in for my D... I was lazy at logging too for a while so that didn't help

when I get to around 600 I'll make it official... I'd like to hit 1k before 10 years since my first jump too but I'd have to take a lot of time off work :S:D

never really needed anything more than a B so far... beach jumps require a C locally, but those are rare

NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

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It depends on your goals.

In the USA:

If all you want to do is jump at your home DZ... you may not even need an A-lic.

If you want to travel to other DZ, you will probably need at least an A-lic.

If you want to do night jumps you may need a B-lic (depending on where you are jumping).

If you want an instructional or PRO rating, you will need the relevant license. (Coach >= B-lic; AFFI/SLI/IADI >= C-lic, tandem or PRO = D-lic)

I cannot address the international travel issues.

All I know about domestic travel in the US is that with a D-license, an instructor rating, a current log book, and a modest & respectful attitude .... I haven't gotten any grief anywhere that I have travelled. Could I have gotten the same response with just a log book with several hundred jumps? Maybe, but I doubt it.
The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

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I did a recurrency jump with a guy the other day that had about 650-700 jumps and never got a licence. He said he just never got around to it and nobody ever made him. Iv seen a few guys just bring around the paper work for their "A" and never send it in. Wish I knew you could skip a licence. I sent in the paper work for my C about a week after I got my B licence, could have made another jump with that money :/

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In Canada a C CoP is good for all the instructor, demo, tandem ratings. Few people bother with D and the E is discontinued. It was only a vanity rating.
Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

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I did a recurrency jump with a guy the other day that had about 650-700 jumps and never got a licence



Hmm, so you are saying that you did your recurrency jump with a guy who had no license and it did not bother you. I am assuming that you probably know that the recurrency jump should be performed under the supervision of a USPA instructional rating holder :)
The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.

Stephen Hawking

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Hmm, so you are saying that you did your recurrency jump with a guy who had no license and it did not bother you. I am assuming that you probably know that the recurrency jump should be performed under the supervision of a USPA instructional rating holder :)



Only if he was at a USPA Group member dropzone though.
We're not fucking flying airplanes are we, no we're flying a glorified kite with no power and it should be flown like one! - Stratostar

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If I have c license numbers and requirements can I go straight to that without the other licenses if I wanted?



I believe it can be done for B, C and D licenses. However, the situation seems to be different for the A license application. One can get away with not sending the completed proficiency card. Only because once it is stamped and signed off by the AFFI, it can serve as a temporary USPA A license. However this temporary A license will expire 60 days from the date signed (see the enclosed part of the application/proficency card). So, it seems that procrastinating the A License application process is not accomplishing much.


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The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.

Stephen Hawking

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A lot of it comes down to if it is a USPA DZ or not. You show up at a non USPA one with a logbook and filled out A licence paper work and gear some (most? all?) will let you jump.

Even at USPA ones its all about what you want to do. If you never want to be an instructor, do demos or night jumps, or a few other things, there is not really a need to get a higher licence.

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I recently got my C-licence although I could have gotten it a loooooong time ago (I took a long break from jumping). I thought it was useful to review the PIM and do the exam. Having jumped at many different dropzones, I find a B-Licence is a useful thing to have... If nothing else, it gives people a reference about what your theoretical level/knowledge is. Getting the C-Licence?? Not necessary, in my opinion, but again it signals to people that you have a certain level. You may suck way more that the guy who never got any licence at all, but at least when you go somewhere new, people will pretty much trust that you are reasonably safe and leave you alone. If you keep fucking up, though, it doesn't matter what licence you have, people will notice.
"There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse."
- Chris Hadfield
« Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. »
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Even at USPA ones its all about what you want to do. If you never want to be an instructor, do demos or night jumps, or a few other things, there is not really a need to get a higher licence.



I can see your point. However I am struggling to see the advantage of having all of the required criteria met, paperwork completed, and not sending the application in. Like with anything in life things keeps changing and it almost certain that eventually this will apply to our skydiving goals. Also, regardless of what these goals are most of us sooner or later will end up jumping at different dropzones (a lot of them are USPA DZs). So, why not send the paperwork in and get the license that one has already earned.
Additionally, it is possible to lose the completed license application form(s) or the log book (unless someone goes electronic) and eventually face the pain of recovering all of that info.
It is much harder to lose an issued USPA license number and much easier to recover itB|.
The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.

Stephen Hawking

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FataMorgana

However I am struggling to see the advantage of having all of the required criteria met, paperwork completed, and not sending the application in.



Cost, for one. There is a fee to process the initial license application ($30 as of this writing). No, it's not much in the grand scheme of skydiving costs, but it'll cover a jump ticket and then some. But you do make a good point about loss of paperwork; once the license is issued, it's a lot easier to ask for a replacement card than it is to recreate a logbook or A license card.

Personally, I like having a D. It means that when I show up at a new DZ, there's a presumption that I know what the fuck I'm doing. If I showed up with just an A license (not that there's anything inherently wrong with that), even with 1200+ jumps, many DZs will want to know if I've jumped in the last 30 days. With a D, I'm generally given the benefit of the doubt on that six month currency requirement.

It also means that , I'm no longer going to be told that I can't do something because dropzone policy says I have to have X license to do Y. "Nope, sorry, that's a D license only landing area." "Nope, sorry, only D license holders can do this special jump." I can make my own decisions about whether I want to do that something, but the license isn't going to be the deciding factor.
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

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wasatchrider

I know most people fill out their cards do with minimum number of jumps to get the next license as soon as possible but how many of you just dont bother and never get them?



I didn't bother getting a license until I had well over 1000 jumps and was moving someplace people didn't know me with the DZO requiring at least a C license for people landing on the airport.

I didn't get an A-license because 50 jumps was quickly approaching, B because 100 was just around the corner (night jumps merely require skydivers to be B qualified including the live water training), C because 100 didn't take long and 200 was coming, and D (for a long time) because I did fine jumping for an increasing number of years (11 with three years at Quincy, a couple at Couch Freaks, periodic trips to Eloy, etc.) without one.

I would have gotten it sooner because I'd need a pro rating to jump into my wedding, but the city nixed that idea after a local jumper on a demo exercised poor judgement and hit a spectator.

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FataMorgana

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If I have c license numbers and requirements can I go straight to that without the other licenses if I wanted?



I believe it can be done for B, C and D licenses. However, the situation seems to be different for the A license application. One can get away with not sending the completed proficiency card. Only because once it is stamped and signed off by the AFFI, it can serve as a temporary USPA A license. However this temporary A license will expire 60 days from the date signed (see the enclosed part of the application/proficency
card). So, it seems that procrastinating the A License application process is not accomplishing much.
That's why I never dated mine


BASE 1519

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