Skydiving with 14 ?

[J0nathan 0]

hi
i recently found out that in germany you can do your aff with 14 years (source:http://www.fallschirmsportverband.de/index.php/unser+sport/Ausbildung )!

i was surprised because 14 seems very young. in spain i did my aff with 16 which is also quite young but still there is a big difference between 16 and 14.

what i ask myself is will a 14 year old kid be able to react quickly and make the right decisions in an emergency ? i am sure some 14 year old kids are probably ready for it, but i know i wouldnt have been at 14.

i heard that when you have a malfunction and the canopy starts spinning very fast it requires a lot of force to cutaway (even with 3 ring system). will a 14 year old kid be able to cutaway and make that decision fast enough ?

what do you think ?

[piisfish 135]

in France it is 15 years old.
Switzerland 16

rather young indeed in my opinion, and not for every 14-16 year old... but not for every 30-40 years old either

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[wolfriverjoe 1,340]

Different countries have different ideas on the "age of maturity,"
In the US, it's 18 from a legal standpoint, which means, for the most part, 18 is going to be the minimum for any risky activity (yes, there are exceptions, and they've been discussed to death).

I know (and know of) a few jumpers who started at a very young age (Mullins and Nelson are the two names that come to mind first). They did very well.

It depends a lot on the individual and their capabilities.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[Hellis 0]

It's time to open the big can of worms.

If a 14 year old does not have the strenght to cut away there is something really wrong.
And the same with reaction time, younger usually have quicker reaction time, but because they lack the expirience they usually loose anyway against oldies.

But, what is YOUR thought about having oldies in the sport, when talking strenght and reaction time, etc?


If I wouldn't be at work I would get popcorn now

[jonstark 8]

Not the OP's question but important...

Here in the USA it is OK to jump if you're 18. Some DZs even allowed 16 yr olds in the past but I can't imagine that happening any more.

The problem with allowing a minor to jump is that when you have them and their parents sign a waiver it is NO GOOD. A parent cannot give away the minor's right to sue. A parent cannot indemnify the DZ for their kid. The minor is also too young to enter into a legal contract so cannot sign away his right to sue.

If a DZ were willing to take the risk of being sued by the student they could allow a minor to jump. I know of few DZs that are willing to take that risk on a regular basis.

jon

[riggerrob 558]

"

Quote

... what is YOUR thought about having oldies in the sport, when talking strenght and reaction time, etc? ...

"

........................................................................

A fiftyish year-old, retired heart surgeon - turned skydiver - once told me to hire a surgeon 45 years old, because he said that 45 year-olds were still on the upward learning curve AND they still have good eye-sight.
After age 50, eye-sight starts to decline.

I know, because I bought my first pair of bifocals (eye-glasses) at age 50.

[JerryBaumchen 1,048]

Hi Rob,

Quote

I bought my first pair of bifocals (eye-glasses) at age 50.

I did the same but at age 48.

As a young swain in the USAF I had 20/15 eyesight; those days are gone forever.

JerryBaumchen

[VideoFly 0]

My son started packing at 8 years old, but was not ready to jump until he was 16. Important legal issues aside, I think some young people may be prepared to jump at an early age.

[sacex250 0]

8 y/o

It's all been said before, no sense repeating it here.

[Skydivesg 6]

Mine started packing at 9 and jumping at 17.

He was ready to jump much earlier (maybe 14-15) but he had a hard time convincing my wife.

He's done pretty well for himself so far.

Be the canopy pilot you want that other guy to be.

[Para5-0 0]

I hate to even jump in on this one but worthy of mention. Age of Legal Majority across the country is defined differently. Some states are 19 or even 21. One state is having a high school diploma.

This has been discussed at naseum with the BOD and recently (as in last meeting) they agreed to go with the manufacturers on their age requirement. So if the rig manufacturer says 18 then it shall be 18. If you find a rig that doesnt specify, and the DZ is okay with it you can do AFF, Static Line, IAD, at age 16 in the U.S.

[J0nathan 0]

Quote

My son started packing at 8 years old, but was not ready to jump until he was 16. Important legal issues aside, I think some young people may be prepared to jump at an early age.

nice so he could pack your rig and earn a bit of extra pocket money XD

[Skydivesg 6]

nice so he could pack your rig and earn a bit of extra pocket money XD

Mine actually had close to $6,000 saved for gear, training and tunnel befroe he went through AFF, and then he paid for all his jumping by packing.

He held a part time job for the regular stuff a high school kid needs.

Be the canopy pilot you want that other guy to be.

[VideoFly 0]

My son had 14 grand in his bank account when he started jumping at 16. He has saved wisely. Also, he has packed for almost all of my jumps.

[Skydivesg 6]

Quote

My son had 14 grand in his bank account when he started jumping at 16. He has saved wisely. Also, he has packed for almost all of my jumps.

Awesome! Is he still jumping?

Be the canopy pilot you want that other guy to be.

[VideoFly 0]

Yes he still jumps and he took my video job when I retired from jumping with cameras.

[Skydivesg 6]

That's great. Glad to hear it.

Mine is still active as well.

Be the canopy pilot you want that other guy to be.

[Linas120 0]

Hmmm, I did my first jump with military static line round canopy when I was 13. Now I'm 28 and after 15 years of weekend jumping in not-so-nice weather in Eastern Europe and half a season being grounded by broken femur, I have 2000 jumps now. Looking back, probably it is the better idea to start jumping from 18

[captain1976 0]

You can solo a glider in the US at 14. This means you have covered the emergency procedures and are capable of landing the glider (aircraft).

You live more in the few minutes of skydiving than many people live in their lifetime

[sacex250 0]

Quote

You can solo a glider in the US at 14. This means you have covered the emergency procedures and are capable of landing the glider (aircraft).

And there's no minimum age to solo any Part 103 aircraft (ok..air vehicle), powered or unpowered. Part 103 aircraft can be helicopters, gyrocopters, fixed-wing ultralights, trikes, hang-gliders, sailplanes/gliders, powered-parachutes, and paragliders. Just as skydiving has the USPA, there are several organizations that "regulate" these sports to a voluntary standard.

United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association (Unpowered hang-gliders and paragliders)

United States Ultralight Association (Fixed-wing ultralights, trikes, and powered-parachutes)

Experimental Aircraft Association (Has it's own full-ultralight licensing and aircraft registration system.)

It's completely legal to fly an ultralight without belonging to any of these organizations, just as it's completely legal to skydive without belonging to USPA. Only the USUA prescribes a minimum age for issuance of either a student pilot's license (12 y/o) or a pilot's license (16 y/o). EAA once had a minimum age of 16 y/o, but have since eliminated the age requirement.

The question is: why is it the USPA that caves in to the demands of the manufacturers and DZOs regarding civil liability when the USPA has no say in it, anyway? The USPA has it backwards. Civil law is there to protect the participants and end-users of the equipment, not the businesses that are profiting from the sport. By basically limiting the sport's participants to a waivered class for the benefit of those making the money from the sport, the USPA has basically sold-out. It's a chicken---- move.

For all the anti-"lawsuit" rhetoric among skydivers there's one immutable fact, it's the skydiving community that's doing the damage to itself, not the lawyers. Are manufacturers currently going out of business from currently pending litigation from non-waivered jumpers? Are the USPA age-restrictions a direct result of specific actual cases that warranted the age restrictions? The age-restrictions, especially the new BSR that allows the manufacturers to set their own age-limits are nothing more than a self-serving safety net that doesn't benefit anyone except catering to the manufacturers' fear and insecurities.

By listening to the bravado fueled dogma that's used to "nanny" the sport, you'd think that it's the waiver that's keeping the world from ending. It's a good thing that USPA doesn't have any influence over bicycle riding, horseback riding, skateboarding, karting, motorcycles, ATVs, gymnastics, football, soccer, baseball, softball, or swimming.

By contrast, look at the organizations that license Scuba Diving, a sport that is at least as inherently dangerous as skydiving, although it takes more brains and studying to understand why. PADI, for example, has a minimum age limit for Open Water certification of ten years-old which then allows a supervised-child using his own Self-Contained-Underwater-Breating-Apparatus and other skill dependent equipment to descend in the Open Ocean to a depth of 30 feet, and to do it while using a hand-held camera, even a GoPro for that matter! And it's encouraged by just about everyone in the sport, and there's even a specific non-mandatory underwater photography class and certification available for it.

A twelve year-old who completes the Advanced Open Water certification is even allowed to go as deep as 70 feet, by comparison, the typical backyard pool is 6 feet deep and doesn't have carnivorous wild life, poisonous animals, stinging plants, and powerful currents. Not to mention the risk factors that the biology, chemistry, and physics of such a hostile environment place on the human body.

Putting aside the bravado of the sport for a moment, is skydiving really that complicated? Ever seen a kid in a wind-tunnel or pack a parachute for someone?

Of course that would mean that popsjumper's use of the word "youngster" wouldn't have the same condescending meaning that it does now.

It's all been said before, no sense repeating it here.