USPA Exceeds 35,000!

[3331 118]

USPA ended May with its highest membership total ever—35,014.

I Jumped with the guys who invented Skydiving.

[airtwardo 6]

Told ya this thing would catch on!

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

[Ron 7]

3331

USPA ended May with its highest membership total ever—35,014.

When they start to give a shit about not letting members get killed under canopy.... I'll give a shit they are 35k strong.

They have LONG since stopped caring about anything but the glamor. They will spend tons of time making a magazine no one reads, but will spend zero time creating a swoop syllabus. They will spend member money to make an official demo team, but not a dime on safety.

If I didn't have to be a USPA member to compete at nationals and do AFF... They would have 35,013 members in a second.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[GooniesKid 0]

Ron

***USPA ended May with its highest membership total ever—35,014.

When they start to give a shit about not letting members get killed under canopy.... I'll give a shit they are 35k strong.

They have LONG since stopped caring about anything but the glamor. They will spend tons of time making a magazine no one reads, but will spend zero time creating a swoop syllabus. They will spend member money to make an official demo team, but not a dime on safety.

If I didn't have to be a USPA member to compete at nationals and do AFF... They would have 35,013 members in a second.

Totally agree. All they feature are free flying techniques and sponsored jumpers and how great they are. if I can jump without paying annual fees I would.

[airtwardo 6]

GooniesKid

******USPA ended May with its highest membership total ever—35,014.

When they start to give a shit about not letting members get killed under canopy.... I'll give a shit they are 35k strong.

They have LONG since stopped caring about anything but the glamor. They will spend tons of time making a magazine no one reads, but will spend zero time creating a swoop syllabus. They will spend member money to make an official demo team, but not a dime on safety.

If I didn't have to be a USPA member to compete at nationals and do AFF... They would have 35,013 members in a second.

Totally agree. All they feature are free flying techniques and sponsored jumpers and how great they are. if I can jump without paying annual fees I would.


The work they regarding keeping the feds off our backs is to me, well worth the price of admission...ymmv

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

[Ron 7]

airtwardo

*********USPA ended May with its highest membership total ever—35,014.

When they start to give a shit about not letting members get killed under canopy.... I'll give a shit they are 35k strong.

They have LONG since stopped caring about anything but the glamor. They will spend tons of time making a magazine no one reads, but will spend zero time creating a swoop syllabus. They will spend member money to make an official demo team, but not a dime on safety.

If I didn't have to be a USPA member to compete at nationals and do AFF... They would have 35,013 members in a second.

Totally agree. All they feature are free flying techniques and sponsored jumpers and how great they are. if I can jump without paying annual fees I would.


The work they regarding keeping the feds off our backs is to me, well worth the price of admission...ymmv

I'd rather pay the AOPA. If the AOPA spent 1% of their time protecting skydiving they would do more than the USPA.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[NWFlyer 2]

Quote

All they feature are free flying techniques and sponsored jumpers and how great they are.

So you're saying they rejected your article(s) that you submitted?

Or you just never bothered... you do realize that the vast majority of what's in Parachutist is written by the members, right?

"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

[airtwardo 6]

Ron

************USPA ended May with its highest membership total ever—35,014.

When they start to give a shit about not letting members get killed under canopy.... I'll give a shit they are 35k strong.

They have LONG since stopped caring about anything but the glamor. They will spend tons of time making a magazine no one reads, but will spend zero time creating a swoop syllabus. They will spend member money to make an official demo team, but not a dime on safety.

If I didn't have to be a USPA member to compete at nationals and do AFF... They would have 35,013 members in a second.

Totally agree. All they feature are free flying techniques and sponsored jumpers and how great they are. if I can jump without paying annual fees I would.


The work they regarding keeping the feds off our backs is to me, well worth the price of admission...ymmv

I'd rather pay the AOPA. If the AOPA spent 1% of their time protecting skydiving they would do more than the USPA.

Same could be said of the NRA...but neither is chartered to do so.

We have what we deserve - as the saying goes.

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

[woppyvac 0]

How quickly we digress..

Cool to see that there are that many registered skydivers!

Woot Woot!

[ufk22 32]

My quess is most AOPA members would rather they spend 2% to get rid of skydiving at any and all GA airports.
When you say they spend "not a dime on safety" you're saying that you don't count what was spent on putting together the ISP (although not perfect, cause nothing is, this has totally changed the structure of the FJC and skydiving progression). What's been done to standardize canopy training for the B license also doesn't count?
USPA walks a fine line. For every member that wants USPA to toughen standards there is another member that doesn't want it.
I myself wasn't happy having to spend almost $1000 to take the IERC. I've been running coach and I courses for over 10 years. I generally run one of each a years, and sometimes don't make enough to break even. When I went I found out that I had been doing it right, but there seem to have been a lot of C-E's and I-E's that weren't. On the one hand I'm glad to weed out some, but on the other, every time USPA adds another layer of requirements they are pushing us towards the time when local C-E's and I-E's are a thing of the past.
Not saying that you're totally wrong, just that you're not totally right, same as USPA.

Ron

************USPA ended May with its highest membership total ever—35,014.

When they start to give a shit about not letting members get killed under canopy.... I'll give a shit they are 35k strong.

They have LONG since stopped caring about anything but the glamor. They will spend tons of time making a magazine no one reads, but will spend zero time creating a swoop syllabus. They will spend member money to make an official demo team, but not a dime on safety.

If I didn't have to be a USPA member to compete at nationals and do AFF... They would have 35,013 members in a second.

Totally agree. All they feature are free flying techniques and sponsored jumpers and how great they are. if I can jump without paying annual fees I would.


The work they regarding keeping the feds off our backs is to me, well worth the price of admission...ymmv

I'd rather pay the AOPA. If the AOPA spent 1% of their time protecting skydiving they would do more than the USPA.

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.

[Ron 7]

Canopy deaths have been an issue for over 15 years. The USPA made a b license card.... In 15 years.

ISP was not about safety, but about trying to get a standard in the training. It did not add safety, it just allowed crossover

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[erdnarob 1]

Canada has 3400 or so CSPA members which is about the same amount of jumpers per capita than USA knowing that USA has 320 millions of people while Canada has 10 times less.
It is amazing to find out that Canada and USA have about the same amount (per capita) of airplane pilots. USA has 770 000 pilots and Canada has 72 000 pilots out of a million of pilots for the world. Which means that USA and Canada have together 84% of the a/c pilots in the world.

Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

[JohnMitchell 14]

airtwardo

The work they regarding keeping the feds off our backs is to me, well worth the price of admission...ymmv

Same here. I've seen them C$%k block the FAA a number of times. Money well spent.

[DSE 3]

Ron

Canopy deaths have been an issue for over 15 years. The USPA made a b license card.... In 15 years.

ISP was not about safety, but about trying to get a standard in the training. It did not add safety, it just allowed crossover

Ron, it's not USPA that hasn't done anything. It's *us.*
USPA is an organization that follows the directive of the BOD.
We elect the BOD.
And unfortunately, we have had, and still have some BOD elects that are there to protect their DZ's interest, and nothing else. Safety isn't an issue for them, and they're afraid of not being re-elected for taking tough positions.
I respect the sh** out of people like Rich Winstock, Tony Thacker, Sherry Butcher, Ray Lallo, Jan Meyer, because they're willing to take unpopular positions and try to move them through S&T and then the full board, but there are at least 50% of the remaining board members that believe (some quite loudly) that "USPA isn't in the business of teaching or regulating experienced skydivers."