jcrouch

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Posts posted by jcrouch

  4. September 5-7 join the Queen of skydiving-Carolyn Clay, to celebrate her birthday all weekend. Skyvan Saturday and Sunday, King Air all three days. Roger Ponce confirmed organizing and we will have others organizing freefliers and RW. $25 registration for all three days includes dinner Saturday night, or $10 per day if you attend just tone or two days. Camping available at Picture Lake Campground and the county fair and fireworks are the same weekend, right next to the campground. More details will be added soon at virginiaskydivingcenter.com

  6. http://www.virginiaskydivingcenter.com/memorial-day-boogie/

    Virginia Skydiving Center’s Memorial Day Weekend Boogie! Crouchfest starts the summer season!

    Planes: Sky Van, The Rocket King Air, and a Cessna 182

    We will start jumping Friday at 9 AM, so plan for an extra day to start the weekend early!

    Freefly Organizer: Matt Fry
    Belly RW Organizer: Roger Ponce, Christine Bruchac, Andrew Happick from Paraclete XP, and more!

    Pre-Register for the event will be available soon.

    Registration-$40 per person, includes the Saturday night dinner.

    Licensed Skydiver Jumps-$25 cash or $26 credit card

    Free Beer Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights for registered jumpers.

    Organizers, food, music, friends!!! Formation loads, raft jumps, tubes and all sorts of fun awaits you! We will have a food vendor at the drop zone for the event. There will be a dinner served in the campground Saturday night that is NOT included with the registration.

    Reserve your camping space at Picture Lake Campgrounds, right next to the drop zone! http://www.picturelakecampgrounds.com/reservations.html

    If camping is not for you, there are lots of hotels within 10 minutes of the drop zone.

    Event news also on Facebook

    https://www.facebook.com/events/645885775473730/

  8. We are celebrating the arrival of our new C90 King Air with something for everyone in the month of September! Starting with Labor Day weekend with reduced price slots for licensed jumpers, and continuing later in the month with Jim Smith organizing, a SiS Fiesta fall event, a Tic Tac Toe team accuracy event, and finally a Flight-1 canopy course. http://www.virginiaskydivingcenter.com/about-vsc/events/ for some details, and there is more info on our Facebook page in the events section at https://www.facebook.com/groups/VirginiaSkydivingCenter/ Come on out and check out our newly painted, freshly overhauled C90!

  10. USPA changed the licensing requirements at the last Board meeting and now does not allow for an FAI license to be used in lieu of the A license card. Also, FAI licenses are now not recognized for USPA rating applications Beginning January 1 of this year, any USPA rating applicant must hold an appropriate USPA license. I am trying to get the online SIM updated with the changes from the last board meeting.
    To the original poster, he will need to meet with a USPA rated instructor and complete a USPA A license application and be a current member of USPA in order to receive an A license number.
    Jim Crouch

  13. Save the dates! September 7-9, 2012 Virginia Skydiving Center will host a terrific event that has proven to be an awesome weekend of skydiving every year! We celebrate the birthday of the Queen of Skydiving, Carol Clay, in grand fashion. This year we will add a Super Otter to fly along with our own Grand Caravan for three days of great skydiving and night time celebrations!Jumping starts 9 AM Friday and runs through sunset Sunday!
    www.virginiaskydivingcenter.com
    Aircraft:
    Raeford Super Otter
    Grand Caravan
    Fireball 182



    Organizers:
    Roger Ponce
    (working on others)

    Slots are $25

    Registration Fee TBD

    Make sure to reserve your camping spot early at the Picture lake Campgrounds. The county fair is held at the Virginia Motorsports Park next door the same weekend and space in the campground will be limited! http://picturelakecampgrounds.com/

  18. I overhauled my '59 182 in 2010, replacing the engine and prop with a PPonk 520 and 3 bladed McCauley prop and I installed the wingX kit at the same time. The plane climbs fast and the gross weight increase is a huge benefit. It takes longer to descend with the longer wings, so you might want to think about adding speed brakes.

  20. Coaches are trained and evaluated to lead the training jumps in Category G and H. Those jumps have specific protocol for each jump. On many of those jumps, the coach should remain in place so a student can take grips with the coach for docking maneuvers. Although the BSRs do not prohibit a gripped exit by a coach, or prevent the coach from flying up to a student who has been cleared to solo freefall supervision and gripping the harness, it is not part of any of the coaching outlined in the Integrated Student Program. And, if it is a grip to stop a spin, assist with a deployment or perform a roll-over, those types of maneuvers must only be performed by a currently rated AFF Instructor.

    Jim Crouch
    Director of Safety and Training
    U.S. Parachute Association

  23. There seems to be some incorrect statements in this thread regarding tandem ratings. The USPA Basic Safety Requirements state the following:
    c. Tandem training jumps [E]

    (1) Any USPA member conducting a tandem jump must hold a current USPA Tandem Instructor rating and a manufacturer’s type rating.


    It does not matter where the USPA member is jumping. Group Member drop zone, non-GM drop zone, United States, Europe, Asia, etc. The BSR is clear that any USPA member who is conducting any tandem jump must hold a USPA tandem Instructor rating and be approved by the manufacturer of the type of gear they are using. This applies to all tandem jumps.
    USPA met with all of the tandem manufacturers in June, 2007 to standardize the way ratings were handled between each manufacturer and USPA. Because USPA has the only system in place to track rating renewals, it was agreed by all present at the meeting that it was in the best interest of everyone involved to make sure initial tandem instructor rating paperwork was received by both USPA and the manufacturer, and that USPA would keep track of rating renewals from that point forward.

    Regards,
    Jim Crouch
    Director of Safety and Training
    U.S. Parachute Association

  25. Josh's dad owns the maintenance shop at West Point, and has been there working on planes for more than 20 years. He brought Josh to Skydive West Point in 1993 when Josh was 11 or 12 and asked us to teach him to pack parachutes so he could make some money and stay busy on weekends.
    He was a good kid, and the Queen Air crash in 1995 really devastated him, losing so many friends at such a young age. We stole his youth, and he grew up fast hanging around a bunch of 20-40 year old skydivers. He traveled with us to boogies all over the U.S. and packed parachutes. He was probably the only 13 year old with an ATM card and making more cash in a weekend than most kids 5 years older were making in six months at the local McDonalds. He ended up getting his girlfriend pregnant at 15 and he worked hard to raise the baby and help his girlfriend wherever possible.
    He came home for leave from the Coast Guard a few years ago and we put him through his A license training (the little bugger never did pay me for it, but I did not really mind). A year later he hooked himself in down in Alabama or Mississippi and broke his pelvis. His dad came to the DZ hangar and told me when he injured himself, and it was sad to hear. But his dad, Curt, said that Josh was tough and stubborn and would be OK. He was real proud that Josh was making something of himself in the Coast Guard. Curt came to me in the same hangar last weekend while we were doing the 88 way jumps and told me about Josh. He looked pretty stunned, as were all of us there. Seeing his picture in the Honolulu newspaper made me realize how much he looks like his dad. 2008 has been a tough year for many of us at West Point Skydiving Adventures, losing friends to oddball accidents. Blue skies Josh, your troublesome pelvis won't bother you anymore.
    Jim Couch