DZ'Os and safety

[ChileRelleno 0]

In my travels I've seen numerous instances where a student or a very low-time jumper was put out in IMO unsafe, adverse or questionable enviroments.

I have everytime voiced my concerns to DZ staff and sometimes the student/lowtimers themselves. Some of these students/lowtimers were told told the weather/winds (for example) were marginal or whatever and elected to go ahead.

I've yet to have been sooooo concerned as to "drop a dime" to USPA or the FAA.

40 states -n- 80 DZ's.

ChileRelleno-Rodriguez Bro#414
Hellfish#511,MuffBro#3532,AnvilBro#9, D24868

[skydiverjerry 0]

well there you have it argument settled kind of. the conclusion is that some times things are pushed when its a 50 50 call, but thats natural, dzo,s are not mony grabers out for a fast buck they just want to provide a service and earn a living, and i think we have to respect that,

it seems the number one concern out there is aircraft maintenance,

followed by gear maintenance.
the to most expensive aspects of the sport.

blue skies and respect to all dzos who provide for us to skydive

life is a journey not to arrive at the grave in a pristine condition but to skid in sideways kicking and screaming, shouting "fuck me what a ride!.

[aironscott 3]

For the purpose of this discussion I think that we can agree that we are mostly talking about tandems.

First of all, anyone that voted that they don't think that DZO's put $$ ahead of safety is either not a Tandem Instructor, or one that has no experience outside his/her very small skydiving world. Or maybe they just didn't understand the question.
Not all DZOs are as greedy as we make them out to be but they all have a business to run. I respect and am friends with most of them that I have had dealings with.
I have worked full time at close to a dozen DZs. Every single DZO I've worked for has either insisted that I do someting that I know to be unsafe, encouraged me to do something unsafe, and/or looked the other way when I did indeed do something unsafe in the name of making money for myself and the DZ. I do not encourage this type of activity whatsoever. I've been doing this long enough to know the difference. So have a lot of you reading this.
We go through stages as tandem instructors. For the first 100 or so we're scared out of our minds. Sometimes in that period the student is more lucid than the instructor is. You already know that you can skydive (because you passed the TI cert course) but this tandem thing can be a motherfucker. But after 100 or so (in my experience that seems to be a "magic" number for most people) you've seen some shit, done some shit, been taken for a couple of rides and survived. Here is where (at around 100 tandems) weather you'll go back to doing video full time or not.
So you decide, without hesitation, that this tandem thing is for you. The chicks at the DZ start to really dig you - and your confidence is sky high. "Let's do some flips" says your passenger. "You bet honey" you reply. Its a little freaky for you, but hell, you're a tandem instructor now, you can handle it.
Next day there is a dude that is 250 lbs and really really wants to jump with his girlfriend. The experienced TIs at the DZ say no thanks to the DZO then he comes to you and you say why not?! These old timers are such pussies!
Fast forward 10 years. We're all at Lost Prairie having a beer around the bonfire. One of the old TIs says "You guys remember that kid who took the 250 pounder when he only had a couple hundred tandems?" You reply "that was the last time I did that" The old timer says "so that's why you're still alive............"
Hey we all do some stupid stuff when we are new at this tandem thing. Rest assured my friends, sooner or later you will get tandem skydiving(or die trying)(please seek remedial instruction before that though). When you get to 1000 tandems you are quite sure that you have it down. And yes, you probably got a large majority of it. So about that time you start to relax a bit. And that's ok you've earned it (no shit) but every so often you get fucked with and scared. If you don't you're either lucky or an idiot. Those people are equal in numbers(lucky and/or idiots) with the people that I've worked with over the years.
So let me sum this up. You are not the cooolest thing since sliced bread. If you think that you can do it better than anyone else before you, you are wrong. If you think that the rules that the more (significantly) experienced TIs set should not apply to you - you are wrong. And sooner or later experience will tell you that tandems, however much fun they are, and they are fun, you can not handle it all. Prepare and expect the worst every time. Take anything less as a blessing.

This is me getting off of my soap box.

Aaron

“God Damn Mountain Dew MotherFuckers!”