JACKO

N/A

From what I understand after looking it up at faa.gov . You need 20/40 vision or better, without correction, to pass a class one medical. In my friends case, the eyesight requirment but him at 20/30. So he was still technically eligible to fly with corrective lenses. When he started wearing contacts to work and people noticed this, his supervisors were none too happy. If given the choice, airlines like South Worst would rather have the pilot with no blemishes on the medical report. In case they should ever be sued, it would hurt their case. Jack

His reasons for starting flying 6 years ago were mostly to make money and avoid working in the "real world", not necessarily a love of flying, though initially he claimed it was the greatest job in the world. He wasn't making that much at the commuter airline. Maybe 40k, but maybe not even that. He was not a captain, I think he was First Officer (3rd seat?), whatever that is. IMHO any job gets boring if you do it forever. That's why you have to find ways to make your job fun by modifying it a little, or just switch jobs. I don't have the cash right now to start flying, plus I wear glasses, so I could never get a job with the big airlines. I hear they need 20/20 vision and I don't have that. My friend who is quitting flying also is being semi encouraged to leave since his recent medical revealed his eye sight to be 20/30 or something very minor off of 20/20. It sucks for him too, because he just got out of the debt from his flight training (35,000 for his CFI). Oh well, different strokes for different folks and such is life and all that stuff. Jack

Any people out there who are pilots and skydivers? Out of curiousity, which is more fun? meaningful? I was going to get my pilots license to try and build hours and fly commercially, but one of my buddies (non-skydiver) just quit a job for a commuter airline. He said he felt like a bus driver of the sky. Two take offs and landings a day and the rest of the day watching the instruments go by. He also said it was highly boring and highly stressful. Any mistake will cost you your job. He said he had lost all interest in flying and is going in to business (ironically enough for Boeing). Before this I always figured pilots had fun jobs. Just wondering whether flying planes or skydiving is more fun in the eyes of those who have been both pilots and skydivers. Jack

Asking the real veterans around the DZ about what it is like to be a full time skydiving instructor (TM and AFF) and video person, I was really surprised to hear how many people discouraged this because of the "burn out" factor. To me, it seems that skydiving full time would be the opposite of burn out. Those guys have the greatest lives. Many have travelled all over the country and all over the world skydiving. They've been places and seen things I only dream about; and wake up everyday a get paid to do something they love. I have a longer term goal to do AFF, Tandem and Video, once I hit the 600 jump mark. I'd like to do it full time for 5 years and travel around the country and the world a bit. I think ANY job gets old if you do it too long. My question is- Does skydiving full time burn people out?? Jack

Thanks for all the supportive comments I've recieved. I'm glad to see there are skydivers out there who understand the difficulties of being a sober skydiver. I'll stay skydiving and try and seek out you individuals who will limit your judgements to how I skydive and not to the fact that I don't drink anymore. Jack

Heya, Earlier, a discussion was brought up about addictions and skydiving. I was keenly interested in the subject being that I am a recovered alcoholic. For me, skydiving has been a lifesaver. It does all the positives without the negatives (except that you still could die, but not guaranteed of it, unlike booze which guarantee's death to most folks who use a lot everyday). My serious question is: How do you all feel about the sober guy at the DZ? The reason I ask, is that sometimes at the few DZ gatherings I've been to there is heavy drinking. Now, I don't blame this on the fact that its skydivers. I used to play softball before I was a skydiver and half the team was drunk the entire game (and it was VERY boring). At least in skydiving we HAVE to be sober while we jump, or risk being grounded or worse. But sometimes, after the day of jumping, the people who I feel "tight" with and I sort of go our own way. They go off to drink and I might stay for an hour or so, but when their buzz hits, I roll out of there to avoid any temptation. Many people say, "Just have ONE beer man, I mean ONE beer isn't going to hurt". This is true, but I am in a risk group (alcoholics) that shouldn't risk one or two beers. Some skydivers look at me like I'm not really part of "the crowd" because I wont get tanked with them. But though I only started jumping 8 months ago, I try and make 20 jumps a month and I know that some of these lushes aren't doing half that. So who is the "true" skydiver? I think that the alienation that non-drinkers feel, by the very nature of their not drinking, is what tends to drive alcoholics back to the sauce. I have enough perspective and life experience to realize that getting hammered with people isn't going to give me any more of a bond with anyone. I had friends I thought were blood brothers I used to party with and most vanished when they heard I caught the sober train. Being new to the skydiving world, I wonder, is alcohol an integral and necessary part of it? I know that the ladies at the DZ are cool with me not drinking. Women just seem to understand that more. But my new guy skydiver buddies are always weirded out when I say I don't want to go hit the bars with them. I don't like the bar scene at all anymore. And no, I don't want to go have a coke and be the designated driver for a bunch of drunks. I used to be in that bunch and it almost killed me. Then I tried to be the sober guy at the bar and it almost killed me. So now I just skydive and socialize in environments that don't provide high levels of temptation. I can socialize just fine nearly anywhere, but not around a hundred drunks and not at a bar. But, before I get anymore deeper into this sport, and before I put anymore money into it, I need to know--- Is this drinking thing a necessary part of being a real part of the skydiving community? Jack

I'm a recovered alcoholic. Without skydiving it would be very hard to not drink. But who the hell needs drinking when you can get a rush like skydiving?? Skydivers rock. Skydiving saved my life. It brought me meaning and value and inspired in me a freedom of spirit. It is the cure for all that ailed me. I guess there is a chance that skydiving could kill me someday. I will do my best to prevent that from happening. But according to my doctor, alcohol would have for sure taken me out within a few years of when I quit. I had only been a heavy drinker for 7 years and I already had the beginnings of catastrophic illness. I quit just in time. I'll take the risks of skydiving over the risks of alcohol any day of the week. Jack

HELLO I'm about ready to buy a rig, but stalling because I can not figure out whether to install a BOC throw out or Pull out system for PC deployment. I am soliciting advice from any who have a good opinion on this subject. I'm not worried about resale value (an argument to get BOC), I just want the safest possible rig all around. The more opinions I can get on this the better. Straight statistics are nice too. Whatever you can do to help me I would appreciate. JACK

HELLO I'm about ready to buy a rig, but stalling because I can not figure out whether to install a BOC throw out or Pull out system for PC deployment. I am soliciting advice from any who have a good opinion on this subject. I'm not worried about resale value (an argument to get BOC), I just want the safest possible rig all around. The more opinions I can get on this the better. Straight statistics are nice too. Whatever you can do to help me I would appreciate. JACK