Not Sounding good for New Zealand

[Squeak 17]

http://www.newswire.co.nz/main/viewstory.aspx?storyid=356422&catid=0

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[bodypilot1 0]

Quote

The association's chief executive, Keith Gallahar, says in other countries where such a system has been put in place people have died as a result and it is better to have standards set by people who work in the industry.

Can anyone elaborate more on this?


Be safe
Ed

www.WestCoastWingsuits.com
www.PrecisionSkydiving.com

[teason 0]

Sound like the recommendation of every Canadian inquiry I've ever read.

Still no regs.....

I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

[wmw999 2,149]

This month's Skydiving has an article about a new parachute association that has been formed, and now recognized by the CAA. It's to serve the sport jumper; the feeling is that the current NZ parachute assn. is too tandem-oriented.

Gareth Jackson is the person who sent the information to Skydiving.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[Jumpah 0]

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The Civil Aviation Authority says the skydiving industry has become too large and must be regulated.

Is that really their only reason for wanting to regulate it? No identified problems or issues?

[mccurley 0]

The NZPF was formed out of the original orginization which is now the NZPIA.
One is for sport, competitions fun jumping ect. and the other regulates the commercial side of the sport, IE Tandems.
Each does a good job in thier own right, and keep in mind that for the size of the jumping population in NZ, approx 400, the Tandem industry is very large.
The NZPF came in existance about 4 years ago.
I can't really comment on the measures proposed other then to say sounds like typical BS.

Watch my video Fat Women
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRWkEky8GoI

[bigway 4]

Do you not mean the NZPIA started around 4 years ago?
I remember being a member of the NZPF about 6 years ago at least.

The NZPIA is for the industry while the NZPF is for the sport.

I may be wrong though but i was sure the NZPIA was started around 4 years ago. Though i guess MCcurley is a NZPF judge so he would know, just sounds like you have it the wrong way around.

I think the NZPF is an excellent federation with Tim as the President, I love how they subsidise coaching weekends and having the people that run the federation were doing an amazing job in my opinion when i was in NZ last. The sort of sports federation that can make one proud to be a member of.

.Karnage Krew Gear Store
.

[mccurley 0]

Basiccaly right.
Kieth Gallagher was running the association which was running the show.They then decided that it would be best to have two different orginizations for various reasons.
So the NZPIA with kieth at the helm
And the NZPF with tim at the helm

Watch my video Fat Women
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRWkEky8GoI

[bigway 4]

....And what an excellent job Tim and Pete do for sports skydiving of NZ.

.Karnage Krew Gear Store
.

[rhys 0]

A few years ago the NZPF was so swamped with the rapidly growing tandem industry that the NZPIA(New Zealand Parachute Industry Association) was formed to control the commercial side of things and The NZPF would be able to concentrate on sport skydiving.

The NZPF in the last couple of years have obviously had more time and money for sport skydivers. The NZPF is a non profit organisation and senior members such as Tim Fastnedge and Peter Maher (among others) offer their own time to meet the demands of running such an organisation.
As Gary said, they do a wonderful job and in the last couple of years we have seen the addition of; a Magazine, a canopy piloting National championships, coaches bought in from Australia and the United states etc, Jump start is a new thing staring very soon or actually presently in association with the NZ air force. 50 cancer patients get a skydive and sky divers raise, money and get to jump out of the C-130 Hercules, the NZPF also sponsor the National skydiving teams the entry fee to major events such as the World meet etc. I thought this would be standard throughout the world but when I was in Gera at the last world meet I discovered most teams have to pay for their own entry. The US teams were given a track suit and a patch that they had to sew on themselves from the USPA and the British teams got a T-shirt from the BPA. That is it nothing else. We had our entire package paid for and a persnalised uniform. We could spend our entire budget on training and getting there. Without the NZPF I/we wouldn’t have been able to compete. The NZPF are wonderful.

There are very few fun jumpers in New Zealand but Many, many Tandems. Those that don’t know about the industry in NZ have to understand that it has only been the last 15 or so years that the Tandem industry has grown to its current state. On a daily basis in New Zealand well over 1000 people do a tandem jump at the 20 or so drop zones in the country(over 200 at a single dropzone in some cases) and less than 100 would do a sport skydive, not including tandem videos. The majority of the sport skydives performed in New Zealand are in fact Tandem videos and photos probably at about a 50% strike rate. A few are moving to Hand Cam but outside camera is still more prevalent because of the pristine surroundings. The Industry is huge. Small towns like Taupo and Queenstown with populations of only a few thousand people attract over 1.2 million visitors per year.

The NZPIA was a good idea in theory but in reality it is much less than adequate!
The NZPIA is a company! 50% owned by the NZPF and the rest is divided amongst the ‘Old Boys’ of the industry. The main members/owners of the NZPIA are the owners of the Major Drop zones in the country in the major centers. There is conflict between the NZPF and the NZPIA. One of the senior members of the NZPIA instructed his entire staff that they do not need to be registered with the NZPF because of a loophole!?!?!?! This guy used to be my boss. That is hardly promoting the sport or industry now is it?

I look forward to a positive change in the regulation to enable the successful growth of the sport and the industry together as one rather than separated. I don't think it was supposed to be like this when the idea was presented the the NZPF members for voting when they created the NZPIA only a few years ago.

The NZPIA informs any dropzone well in advance when they are going to conduct an Audit. This gives time for packing logs and other required paperwork etc to be updated or forged; this also allows the instructors to amend their usual sometimes unsafe practice for that particular day. The Audits are not satisfactory and do indeed compromise the safety and reputation of the industry. I have seen equipment in states that should most definitely not be jumped eg. no drogue handle, well over 1000jumps on the lines(probably more like 2000 but who’s keeping count?), out of date cypress etc., Jumped. These are simply not used on the day of the audit.

This sort of behavior is almost expected when a commercial establishment is allowed to govern itself.

I welcome a comprehensive review of how the industry is run in New Zealand.

The CAA should regulate how things are done, The NZPF should be in control and the NZPIA should be under the NZPF as a separate division to the sport jumpers. The whole entity should be a non profit organisation, though ‘employing’ staff with all profits going into promoting the sport and industry as a whole.

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

[bigway 4]

Well said!


funny thing the conflict with th 'old boys' and other dropzone owners though... my old boss said that the NZPIA was not something you had to be a member of by law


Politics in NZ are a huge part of dropzones amongst the management. There seem to be a few people involved in the politics for control while the other side is about the sport and the passion of evolving sport skydiving in nz.
NZPF is a federation to be proud of... With Tim Fastnedge, Pete Maher and even Jyro putting so much into the sport for kiwi skydivers it has got to be the best Skydiving federation this world has seen.

I have been at a dz in nz where the NZPF payed $30 out of the $45 dollar coaching fee and paid for the coaches from Australia to make the trip over.
There are some big hearts in the NZPF and the amongst the sport jumpers.... and then there are some very deep pockets in the commercial side.. Funny how the big commercial dropzones that do 100-200 tandems a day put nothing back into the skydiving sport community.

.Karnage Krew Gear Store
.

[NickDG 23]

I was touring NZed in 1991 and visited most DZs including one in Queenstown. It was the first Tandem only DZ I'd seen anywhere in the world.

Tandem riders were shuttled out from a storefront in town by van, made their jumps, and then were shuttled back to town where they'd pick up their photographs.

And I hated it . . .

As an Instructor I saw these "riders" getting a taste of skydiving, but they were missing out on the meal.

Back in the States, and not long after, a similar operation opened in Las Vegas, Nevada.

And I hated it . . .

The very idea of tandems, and especially "tandem only" DZs is anti-skydiving. But, while a few people railed about it, it was mostly just experienced fun jumpers who weren't being allowed to jump there. What tandem and "tandem only" meant for the sport overall was being ignored.

Well, our chickens are now coming home to roost . . .

When Ted Strong sent us our first Tandem rig at Elsinore in the early 80s I thought, wow, this is great. Now the old, the blind, and the infirm could safely experience the thrill of skydiving. I never thought, in my wildest imagination, tandems would become the de-facto way everyone would make their first jump. If I had known it, I would have thrown that fucking rig into that night's bonfire.

It's all too late now. The generation now inhabiting DZs across the world see tandem as normal and look elsewhere for the reasons the sport is going down the tubes. The economy, they'll cite, and all kinds of other reasons. But the answer is staring them right in the face and they don’t see it. Tandem has been the ruination of skydiving.

It's sapped our AFF/SL student starts to a pathetic level as the whole wham bam see you later experience of tandem misses the most important aspects of the sport. And it's not the economy as anyone who started before tandem will tell you it still took every dime they owned to get through student status.

Want to save skydiving? Then burn a tandem rig.

After every tandem rig in the world has "spontaneously" combusted the sport will eventually re-just back to normal. AFF and S/L instructors will be able to make a living again, and the quality of that instruction will return. First jump students will again "invest" themselves in the sport and we will all get a return on that investment. Tandem students leave the DZ thinking they've skydived, traditional students leave knowing they've just scratched the surface and they want more.

We had a beautiful thing going, and we sold it out to make a buck. And the fault lies in all of us that sat around and let it happen . . .

NickD BASE 194

[Trae 1]

in reply to "Tandem has been the ruination of skydiving. "

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


That and Point Break

[mccurley 0]

Very well put by both Rhys and Nick.
Fact is though the tandems are here to stay.
Sad fact, here in NZ is the tandems don't seem to contribute much to the sport as a whole.

In the 80s when I was instructing at Toogoolawa it was pracyticaly manditory to try and get the first timers to stay the whole weekend and party with the old timers, and to encourage them to do a second jump right away. I can asure you two things
1 this was not just to get the money out of them for the second jump.
2 the ones who stayed had the best possible experience and introduction to our sport.

Watch my video Fat Women
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRWkEky8GoI

[bigway 4]

Quote

Very well put by both Rhys and Nick.
Fact is though the tandems are here to stay.
Sad fact, here in NZ is the tandems don't seem to contribute much to the sport as a whole.

In the 80s when I was instructing at Toogoolawa it was pracyticaly manditory to try and get the first timers to stay the whole weekend and party with the old timers, and to encourage them to do a second jump right away. I can asure you two things
1 this was not just to get the money out of them for the second jump.
2 the ones who stayed had the best possible experience and introduction to our sport.

One can only imagine what that weekend must have been like for them

.Karnage Krew Gear Store
.