Fast

I really enjoyed the condescending tone of your post. I feel like a few of the things you happened to mention are a bit different, but I guess that's just my opinion. I also already covered "just because it happens doesn't make it right" in a previous post. If someone is sexually harassing a customer (or anyone really) then that's a problem. If they are shackin up in the classroom between jumps where people could see, that's a problem too. If the instructor is giving piss poor instruction to other students because they are distracted, that's a problem too. No where do I think it matters who fucks who at any point. The boss is not in charge of people when they aren't working, even if they want to think so - like many do. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

People on here are going to be about as friendly to you as at your home DZ. Generally no one likes this kind of stuff called out in public and such. I mean, I get what you're doing but it's the wrong way to go about it. Most of the time someone has to do something soo beyond the line before the general skydiving public will turn on them, certainly before USPA does stuff about it. Honestly the person most at risk here is the pilot if the guy really is jumping drunk, I hope someone told him. (Outside of the student strapped to the front of the guy) So,... talk to people who can do something about it, not the internet. That's my advice. Baring that, move on, find a new dz before people just hate you. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

Just cause it happens doesn't make it right. Maybe I just want to look out for all those poor instructors who get boxed out by no-dating rules by the super suave freefly gods/goddesses who don't work for the DZ. I mean, maybe no one should be able to date any student on a dropzone, that seems more fair right? lol.

Why does everyone always find it important to police everyone elses morality. I'm married, my days of hitting on cute new skygals are over, but please. This world is full of people trying to run other peoples lives. If it affects the outcome of training then punish that, if it doesn't let people be who they are. "You can't do that cause you might be one of those people who can't keep things separately" is just being overbearing. Bottom line is that in most cases, it's none of anyone's business except the two involved. There would be a lot less drama on DZs if people remembered that. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

For sure. We have some of the Deepseed ones and some of the older style ones. Mostly use them when it's cooler. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

Don't have any kids yet, but my wife and her brother are both second generation skydivers. My Father in law still jumps, mother in law doesn't. She also has an Aunt that was a skydiver. My wife grew up on the DZ basically and I am sure it had an influence. She didn't start jumping till she was like 20 though. Over 2000 jumps, AFFI, Videographer. F-I-L owned a jump plane and they used to travel with it too. Her brother designs planes now apart from being a phenomenal skydiver. It worked out great for me cause skydiving is how I met her. The DZ doesn't feel as kid friendly as she describes it as having been, so I have no idea what will happen with our kids. Not that it was a place for kids, but people were just I dunno - more cool with it and the world was different then. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWc8dUl7Xfo Obviously an ad, but still amusing. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

Seriously? I know, it's asking a lot isn't it. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

Science or Spin?: Assessing the Accuracy of Cable News Coverage of Climate Science Thoughts? ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

Sky Knight's Annual Cheese Boogie has been scheduled for August 21st through the 24th! I don't personally CRW, but I am excited to watch it!

I used to drive faster than I do now. Primarily cause I had a car meant to go fast, which I don't anymore. I generally stay within the limit or mildly over it. I also used to get fairly angry and ragey at people who would hold up the left lane. My views have shifted a lot. If not on the freeway/highway I consider all the lanes fair game for everyone. There are too many left turns/right turns that screw everything up. On the freeway, if you're making progress in the left lane (or if I am) deal with it. I will make an effort to get out of people's way who choose to drive faster than I do but not at my own expense (i.e. I won't slow down 10mph to move right so you can go 5mph faster than what I am doing now). I have also been working myself out of the habit of slowing down (although never enough to no longer be making progress passing) when people aggressively tailgate. I used to be really bad about it when younger and it's a hard habit to break. Driving around is a task that requires everyone on the road to work together, I wish more people understood that. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

Yeah, you missed the problem wholeheartedly. It's infeasible to get out of jail (where you can't earn money) when you were put in jail because you didn't have enough money AND they charge you more money for being in jail. The whole thing is wildly outside basic human rights. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

Lots of stuff going wrong in this video. It looks like a freeflown "base" of a tracking jump was being funneled. The direction they were trying to go wasn't super clear either, I would guess not much of a plan as to flight path. The guy shooting video was NOT making a good effort to stay with the skydive and I would guess that has to do with a failure to plan the dive / flight path. The zoomy dude fucked up because he was flying faster than he could maintain his field of view. I mean, it can be hard when there is a person where you don't expect them sooooo. All of these people made mistakes. I have led plenty of tracking dives and even when some people get left behind we don't have these problems because we have an established idea of where everyone should go and the direction everyone should be flying at what point in the jump. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

Cookie G3 with the low profile mouth piece. I hate wind in my face and in the spring/fall it makes things a whole lot more comfortable when the weather is cold. I close it at exit and open it during opening. Have had no problems with such since. I started using a full face when I got bashed in the face by the back of the head of some bro trying to do some sweet backflips cause he saw it on tv. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

It's not though. The situation is already 100% addressed by the fact that a packer is NOT allowed to pack unless they are under the supervision of a rigger. That means a rigger has already chosen to take responsibility for the given packer. In the case of our DZ that includes things being written down that state as much. An individual dropzone can choose to not do that, but it seems silly to me. We have a standard in place, senior parachute rigger or under the direct supervision (whatever that exactly means) of a rigger. The USPA or PIA coming up with a packer rating of some sort, as is done in other countries, would just be a money grab and serve no practical purpose beyond the already existing requirements. If the FAA changed their rules to "Must be a rigger or have a packing license issued by an associated parachute organization" I would be wholeheartedly on board with what you're saying. It has nothing to do with the supply and demand of packers and everything to do with how the rules are currently written. I think it would be a great idea, if the FAA changed their rules and we all know that isn't going to happen anytime soon. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

However, the CSPA does and it seems to be working quite well for them. I propose that the PIA could do this, if they wanted to. Of course, therein lies the problem. Except for the part where the FAA has already set the regulations. Why on earth would any of our lesser non-enforcing organizations try and make something more strict. USPA/PIA rating: "Holder of this rating may pack a main parachute for another person, that is, if they have a supervising rigger who agrees that what they are doing is good enough". It's a dumb concept. Unless the FAA dropped their requirements in favor of a USPA/PIA stated regulation, it would be 100% pointless. That's what mark has been trying to say and someone (whose posts I have a hard time following) seems to be missing that too. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

These guys are all going to jail for years. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

If it were only that simple. Where I am at, half my packing staff last year wasn't even old enough to jump. We don't have enough skydivers interested in doing the job to keep the DZ running. I understand the practicality you refer to, but I only have limited sympathy for it. Economics, convenience, or even necessity doesn't make it right. Back in The Day, a lot of small DZs used to let 50-jump wonders who didn't have jumpmaster ratings put out S/L students under a similar rationale. It might have been seen as necessary, but that didn't make it right. More to the point (since analogies are always imperfect): somehow, the idea slightly bugs me of someone packing others' rigs who wouldn't be willing to stand by his pack jobs by jumping a couple randomly-selected ones himself. Dunno. I honestly don't care if the person packing my rig is a skydiver. It doesn't even partially correlate to how good of a packer they are or how much they care about the pack job. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

Hey look, about the worst advice you could ever give someone. I sure hope this was sarcasm - it didn't come through real clear on the internet especially for a newbie I bet! ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

As a tandem instructor I have never allowed anyone to come on jumps with me that I don't already know. People I have skydived with before and can vouch for their skills. As a videographer, I have been put in situations where a "qualified" (per the manufacturer) person was allowed to come on a jump. These are BY FAR the scariest work jumps. I have been ran into, flown under, and had someone not track away. I used to be ok with it if the TI was, now I refuse these jumps. If I don't know the person and their skills (just like when I am TI) I will not allow others on the jump. These are non-negotiable for me. I suspect they are for a lot of safety minded staff jumpers. There is plenty of time for shenanigans and the like on jumps that don't involve me producing work product or providing for the safety of another individual. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

Bullshit, and a reason I am particular about what packers I use (when I use them, and it's rare). I expect people to take pride in their job, and do the best they can. The expressed mindset is a pet peeve of mine, and totally unacceptable IMO. I absolutely will not use a packer that says the above, ever. If you aren't going to pack it like you're going to jump it - stay away from my rig. That said, JUMPING means that sometimes strange shit is gonna happen from time to time, and you just have to accept that - whether you use a packer or not. Imagine if your rigger said that line of bullshit to you regarding your reserve? Ian Absolutely. This is not something I tolerate. If you can't consistently pack nice openings, you're not getting my money. I am paying a fair price for work that I expect to be as good as my own. Period. No. You're thinking too narrowly, this isn't how liability works and there is more that can go wrong other than malfunctions. I am feeling some deja vu here, I think I have had to point this out before. If as a packer you pack a hard opening and the TI goes unconscious, you may be on the hook for that. It becomes a question of: is what you did putting the nylon in the bag what cause the hard opening and who can prove that or not. If the canopy malfunctions and then the reserve malfunctions, everyone up the chain has a level of exposure. If it were only that simple. Where I am at, half my packing staff last year wasn't even old enough to jump. We don't have enough skydivers interested in doing the job to keep the DZ running. Short of the FAA changing the rules, as a formality it won't happen. In practice though, if your DZ isn't qualifying it's staff/sport packers that seems pretty odd/bad. Some of the biggest DZs require a riggers ticket to pack at all. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

No DZs carry insurance for any kind of liability related to skydiving. It doesn't exist. There is absolutely liability from one end to another as ANY person on a dropzone. Just being a sport jumper on the same load as a tandem could get you named in a lawsuit (although not with much possibility of having to actually pay out). The american legal system certainly has its issues. The more or less that you are involved in the activity where someone gets hurt changes your exposure. It also depends how willing the DZ is to protect its people when things go sour. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

In what world should the Instructional Rating Manual of our national organization be designed as a money maker? I mean sure if USPA was a for profit business, it isn't right? Get the book set up with an on-demand print house for direct order (for printed copies), distribute the PDF for free for the average skydiver who can print the parts they need at home and roll the cost of managing the content into the relevant rating applications. Huge cost savings, less burden on membership dues, more people able to see the info. I said all this a page back, so silly. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

I was treated for it as a kid. Too much camera helmet/chincupage in one day makes my face hurt quite a bit. Other than that I don't really notice any effects from it. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka