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QuoteEvery time a DZO removes the seats from airplanes so more jumpers can be stuffed in, s/he puts lives in jeopardy to save a buck.
Every time a DZO lets someone jump from a plane, s/he puts lives in jeopardy to make a buck.
What we do is really dangerous, our delusions and illusions thereabout notwithstanding, so it's pretty funny to hear all this whining about whether it's this dangeorus or that dangerous.
When a DZO takes the seats out of a plane in order to carry more jumpers, this is clear to every jumper boarding the plane, and they can make an informed desicion to accept the risk of flying in an airplane without a seat.
When a DZO allows you to exit their aircraft, it is clear to every jumper that they are exiting the aircraft, and they can make an informed decision to accept the rick of making a skydive.
When a DZO operates an aircraft in the US, it is implied that the aircraft has been maintained according the standard set by the FAA. If they choose to ignore that standard, and operate an aircraft maintained below the standard set by the FAA, this is not readily apparent to any jumpers outside of the DZ staff and maintenance personel. Jumpers jumping from such an aircraft are subjected to increased risk without their knowledge or consent.
BillyVance 34
QuoteQuoteEvery time a DZO removes the seats from airplanes so more jumpers can be stuffed in, s/he puts lives in jeopardy to save a buck.
Every time a DZO lets someone jump from a plane, s/he puts lives in jeopardy to make a buck.
What we do is really dangerous, our delusions and illusions thereabout notwithstanding, so it's pretty funny to hear all this whining about whether it's this dangeorus or that dangerous.
When a DZO takes the seats out of a plane in order to carry more jumpers, this is clear to every jumper boarding the plane, and they can make an informed desicion to accept the risk of flying in an airplane without a seat.
When a DZO allows you to exit their aircraft, it is clear to every jumper that they are exiting the aircraft, and they can make an informed decision to accept the rick of making a skydive.
When a DZO operates an aircraft in the US, it is implied that the aircraft has been maintained according the standard set by the FAA. If they choose to ignore that standard, and operate an aircraft maintained below the standard set by the FAA, this is not readily apparent to any jumpers outside of the DZ staff and maintenance personel. Jumpers jumping from such an aircraft are subjected to increased risk without their knowledge or consent.
I wonder if the Martin 404 that flew at the WFFC back in the 90's is still flying? It had all the seats inside that we sat on before jumping out of the tiny poop chute.
"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban
djvelour 0
You mean, other than providing, for about 40 years, places to jump that drew and draw thousands of people from all over the world to take advantage of airplanes that go up and down all day every day it's even marginally jumpable, at prices that can't be beat, and a real safety record (not FAA compliance record) per million jumps made that is equal to or better than any of the very few DZOs in the world whose operations can match his cumulative DZ jump totals? 
Actually he has one of if not THE worst safety records in the business.
He has had 10 fatalities in the past 10 years...in the 10 years prior to that...10 fatalities! (and yes I can provide the proof for that if needed)
He has averaged a death a year at his drop zone for the past 20 years. I can't think of another drop zone that comes anywhere close (note that I am NOT counting aircraft crashes where multiple skydivers die at once).
That's not even including all the people he has had slam into electrical wires, the people who have had their legs amputated because they had less than 25 jumps and Bill allowed them to be jumping with another sub-25 jumper (USPA chastised Bill for that one), nor all the other "incidents" that seem to plague his center.
To the best of my knowledge Bill Dause has done nothing for the sport but provide CHEAP tickets, which is why people love him (that and he doesn't require re-currency jumps, or waivers, current reserves or really make any safety mandates whatsoever).
Please don't make him out to be Bill Booth or Lew Sanborn...true pioneers who have worked diligently to contribute to the safety and beauty of our sport.
Oh I forgot, Bill invented the skyhook or was it the three-ring release system, oh no my bad....it was the pilot chute that Bill invented. Didn't you know Bill invented tracking too. We are all too blessed! Where would we be without his amazing contributions!
If he had done SOOO much for our sport he would have awards and been recognized as a "pioneer" and a "contributor" but those articles and awards don't exist because all that he has supposedly "done" to help the sport is as ficticious as his MX records.
So far numerous people have asked "What has Bill done for the sport of skydiving?" and what was your response....
QuoteYou mean, other than setting one of the most hard-core personal examples of jumping the world has every seen, provable through actual manifests and logbook entries and not just "guesstimated" by skygods who are too cool to log their jumps but who do not hestitate to claim tens of thousands of jumps?
I'm sorry Bill's 30,000+ jumps (if in fact he did that many) did not CONTRIBUTE to the sport. All he did was perform a bunch of skydives.
I generally don't give a damn if my DZO has or hasn't logged 30,000 jumps (by the way, to my knowledge Bill does NOT have his jumps counter-sogned and if so his logs are every bit as BS as your skygod's books). I am much more interested in the DZO's commitment to provide a safe environment then how many skydives he has made.
Just because the man has done a ton of jumps (and nobody disputes that) does not mean he automatically deserves our respect in all things skydiving.
Other than cheap tickets and providing an (unsafe) place to skydive for several decades, he has done nothing for this sport as far as I can tell.
If I am selling the man short, correct me...explain to me how he has actually IMPROVED our sport in any meaningful way.
*** Edit **********
Bill was only a regional director...and only that for about two or three years back in the mid-70's. As to the R&D board he was on, yes the board may have done something what did Bill do during that time period?
It was my understanding that during that period of time, Bill wasn't very involved with the USPA even though he was a director (in fact I know he used to never even bother to send in his photo or bio for voting) which is why he only was a director for a couple years.
By your definition anyone who has ever been a director has given a tremendous amount back to the sport.
If you look back at that period, I remember Bill writing several letters complaining about the USPA, the insurance program, the group member program (a bit later), and basically attempting to be an obstructionist.
-Sammy
brucet7 0
Quote
Maybe. And maybe you ought to re-read what you think you read until you get it instead of jumping to conclusions based not on actual content but on bias, prejudice and pre-conceived notions.
Until now I have not contributed, but as someone who has never been to Lodi, knows nothing about Bill and his history (other than what I have read here), who doesn't know you, or anyone else in this discussion and as someone who served as an aircraft mechanic who has changed hundreds of perfectly good parts because they have timed out, I have to say that when I first read your 'skydiving is dangerous' comment I came to the same conclusion about what you wrote. I was not biased, prejudiced, nor had any preconceptions as I read it.
POPS #10623; SOS #1672
Ron 7
Quote"imagine."
Not hard to imagine that a DZ that skips MX could have more MX issues than a DZ that does the proper MX.
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334
FYI:
Bill Dause was on the USPA Board of Directors and served on the R&D Comm.
That comm routinely studied new and existing equipment that came out.
Results were published in Parachutist.
I'd have to go pull mags to get the exacts dates, which I don't feel like doing right now.
To say that Bill Dause has not contributed anything the the sum total of skydiving/parachuting knowledge would be incorrect.
.
+1
LOL
I was being sarcastic, of course, because the two things I listed are by themselves significant contributions; I just couldn't think of any more at that moment -- including his service on the BOD.
"The beginning of wisdom is to first call things by their right names."
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