DanG

I'll take a stab, but some of my answers probably aren't what you are looking for. Does the USPA "monitor its own adherence to legal, ethical, or safety standards" and "directly monitor(s) and punishe(s) its own members"? Yes, although maybe the punishments aren't always what some people think they should be. There are always cases where people "get away with" something, but that doesn't mean enforcement is non-existant. Is it a coincidence that Don Yarling had a presentation at PIA 2001 about the Instructor shortage and shortly thereafter the course standards for AFFI's were lowered? Were they really lowered, or is that just the perception by old schoolers who walked uphill five miles in the snow each way to get the the DZ? I really don't know the history to which you are referring, so I ask you, how were the standards lowered? Why does USPA not protect Instructors that they certify when a DZO demands they violate a BSR? Examples, please. How do you know they don't? Why did the DZ inspection program fail? No clue what you are talking about, please educate. Why doesn't the USPA maintain a manufacturer Service Bulletin database similar to the APF? Good question. I think they should. Has this been formally requested? Does PIA maintain one? Why doesn't USPA require minimum performance requirements for Instructors renewing their rating(s)? I agree they have very minimum renewal standards. On the oher hand, I can guarantee there would be a shit storm of complaints if Instructors had to go through evaluation jumps every year. First of all it would cost money, which is evil in many people's eyes, and secondly there would be all kinds of ego bruising. The resistance to this idea would be huge. Not that it's not a good idea. Why does the USPA require GM DZ's to require skydivers to me USPA members in order to skydive at that DZ? I don't know, but I think a good explanation is that it would be impossible for USPA to enforce any BSR if a viable excuse would be, "Oh the jumper in question is not a USPA member, so the BSR's don't apply to him/her." Also requiring membership is USPA's way of staying alive. Without it people would still expect USPA to do all of its lobbying efforts, but without any income. How often are the BSR's violated ? Rarely? Often? Probably quite often, depending on where you are. What does that have to do with how USPA is run? Surely you aren't suggesting USPA have a paid staff member monitoring activities at every DZ in the country (and some overseas)? How's that for a start? - Dan G

IMHO it is far better to arrest your sink rate and do a rear PLF (remember those) than front riser yourself into the ground. Would you front riser until impact (I mean touchdown) with no wind? I hope not. If you wouldn't do it in no wind it doesn't make sense to do it in high winds. Read the thread in Incidents about the Skydive Orange landing injury recently. That was a near fatal double front riser landing on a Sabre2 170. Not exactly a rocketship either. The ground is a horizontal barrier. A little vertical velocity is much more dangerous than a lot of horizontal velocity. As someone else said earlier: slow down. - Dan G

I'm no history major, but last I checked Lexington, Concorde, et al. were pretty far from central Virginia. Methinks you are confusing Jumptown, located in Orange, Mass, with Skydive Orange located in Orange, Virginia. Oh, and it was nice to meet you, Gary. Stop by any time. - Dan G

Weather so far this fall has been great, but you know how the weather is. Skydive Orange is about 45min to 1 hour from Charlottesville. Whether or not we'll be jumping on a Friday depends on the weather and if we have any students. You can check the website skydiveorange.com for updates. Just so you are not suprised, we require AAD's. Oh, and I like to think we have a pretty good dropzone. Hope to see you. - Dan G

Opening the door affects the aerodynamics. People piling towards the door affects the CG. People jumping out and hitting the tail damages the plane. Getting out without the pilot's permission may improve your odds while at the same time screwing everyone else on the plane. - Dan G Opening

Looks real familiar. - Dan G

I have about the same amount of my right arm as you have of your left, but mine was lost due to injury. I jump with a prosthetic and besides only minor rigging changes use standard gear. Of course I also had 1400 jumps when I lost my hand, so it was a matter of relearning instead of learning from scratch. Do you use or have access to a prosthetic? If not I think the most difficult thing will be getting gear specially modified and then trying to find instructors who are capable of dealing with your differences. PM me if you want to talk about this further. I really don't think there is any reason an arm amputee cannot skydive, but there are a number of challenges that make it more difficult. Good luck and welcome to the sky. - Dan G

Never seen a student cypres fire due to a partial mal, but saw one fire this year due to spirals. The incident is listed in this month's Parachutist under non-fatal incidents. - Dan G

Holy cow, this far and no one has mentioned Raising Arizona? By far the funniest smart humor movie ever.

We had some very similar behavior from a quite well known organizer at our DZ. He railed against swooping during big ways, then proceeded to pull off very poorly executed hook turns on every jump. That and his obnoxious attitude were enough to make us decide not to invite him back. Whether or not the message got through, I don't know, but at least we'll never have to put up with his crap again. - Dan G

I made about 50 or so altimeter-less jumps a few years back while doing tandem videos. I figured I had the tandem master right there as a pretty good altimeter. All was well until a jump when I flipped onto my belly after filming the opening to realize I was about to enter a cloud. I now had no idea how high I was, and no way of finding out. I was pretty sure the cloud base was above 2 grand, but what to do? I waited until I exited the cloud and pitched. I was low, but not crazy low. I stopped jumping without an altimeter after that. And if you really only have 200 jumps you shouldn't be filming Cat A's with lurkers, altimeter or not. Just my two cents. - Dan G

Hi David, Brandon and Dave are right. People at Orange would be glad to jump with newer jumpers, we just have to know you exist. I offer free (really, truly free) coaching in RW on a casual basis for anyone, anytime. I prefer to do one-on-ones to get started. Once you get proficient and want to move on, there is more structured group organizing available as Dave mentioned, or you can just start having fun with people you meet as you hang out more. Pitching a tent is free and always welcome. Orange is legendary for after-hours fun. Hanging out after dark is a great way to meet people. This weekend should be great with a Mardi Gras theme and FF coaching from Amy C. And for God's sake, buy your beer. Do that and people will warm up to you right away. I'm on the ground right now because of equipment problems, but I should be up and running again in a couple weeks. I'm easy to find, look for the guy with the mean right hook, or just ask at manifest. See you soon, Dan G President, Skydive Orange, Inc.

Skydive Factory is owned by George & Sue Ireland. We (Skydive Orange, VA) lease one of their Twin Otters (202EH). I can't remember right now where the other one (204EH) is living, but I know it is also used for skydiving. - Dan G

If the AFFI is doing his/her job they should be spending time with the student, conducting ground training, debriefing, etc. I can see where an AFFI who meets each student on the way to the plane, gives some hand signals in freefall, and ensures a pull, never to be seen again, might deserve less than a TI, but an AFFI who is actually instructing, in my opinion, deserves to be paid for their skill and time. None of this is to say that TI's lack skill. They obviously do not, but they are also not expected to put nearly as much time into each student. - Dan G

Um, it's not supposed to be. Coaching is supposed to be done under the supervision of an Instructor. Where did you get the idea that it wasn't? The Coach rating is essentially a jumpmaster rating with more restrictions. I think it is good system. In answer to the original poster, I think AFF Instructors should be the paid the most, followed by Tandem Instructors, followed by Coaches, but actual dollar amounts will depend on the business and market. - Dan G

Okay, I'll buy the first two things: posting on a DZ forum and uploading pictures. As for the next three, most dropzones do not integrate their manifest and account balance software with their online presence and for good reason. It requires maintenance and overhead that doesn't add profit. Event registration, I'll give that to you. Reserve a tandem? Um, I thought you were trying to market this to skydivers. Why, as a member of the general public, would I want to register with a service that I will only use once? (And don't start on tandem retention, another website/web service is not the solution.) Message a friend? That's what AIM, MySpace, and yes, even DZ.com are for. Do we need a skydiver specific messaging system? Your last repack? Is getting out the packing data card more difficult than logging onto a website? Edit web content? Why would I sign onto your service to do that? Honestly, I'm not the type of person who would use this. Not because I am a luddite as some would suggest. I have three computers in a two person household and do most of my shopping on-line. From a DZ and a consumer perspective, I just don't see a need. I'm not slamming you. You are obviously very proud of your product, but if you don't want to hear the negative criticism with the praise, then don't ask. - Dan G

Do you really think this is going to make it easier for anyone? What exactly are you doing at a dropzone's website that requires you to log in? I have yet to encounter any reason to log in to a DZ website. I have logged in to USPA exactly once in 12 years to buy a copy of the IRM. I guess I just don't get the point. Oh, and as a quasi-DZO at a small dropzone where the only thing we could possibly sell online is tandem certificates, I fail to see how this would benefit any skydiving business except large gear stores. - Dan G

To me, that is different. Buying beer for a new DZ is not quite the same as buying beer for your A license. If you show up with beer in hand at a new DZ, you will be welcomed with open arms. If you show up with beer for your A license and say, "Well, I'll probebly get signed off today," that just smacks of cockiness. The skydiving spirits do not like cockiness. - Dan G

Oh it is SO bad luck. Maybe it is just my superstitious self, but celebrating something you have not done yet is just asking for trouble. Either way, pre-buying is great. Just post-buy too. Otherwise it angers the Beer Gods. - Dan G

Pre-buying beer is cheating, and bad luck. If you want to bring a case of beer to the DZ (and a case is 24 bottles, not 12) good for you. Don't think it will count towards any future achievements, though. - Dan G

Not to ruin anyone's anticipation, but... It was issued to John Eames, little brother of Jason Eames of swooping fame. I hear there'll be a write-up about him in next month's Parachutist. - Dan G

I'm going to have to disagree here. If you can't do a successful 2-way, you won't be able to do a succesful 4-way. I'm all for having fun with friends, and as long as you can maintain relative proximity, are aware of everyone's location on breakoff, and can track to a clear piece of sky in a timely fashion, go for the gusto. But I believe you will learn faster by getting feedback from a more experienced jumper on a two way than you will by flying all over the place trying to get a four-way together. As for the advice above about bringing your arms back to promote forward motion, I would caution against this. You need to be able to both hold still and move forward with your arms in a natural, "grip-taking" position. If you have to move your arms back to move forward, you will never be able to take grips. Again, work with a more experienced jumper to improve your body position. - Dan G

(By the way, unless there is video, it is ALWAYS the other guy who is backsliding) - Dan G

You may be in luck. Skydive Orange is hosting free coaching for recent (within the last 12 months) A license graduates this Saturday. It is intended to be for Skydive Orange alums, but I just gave myself permission to invite you. You will have to pay for your own slots, but that's all. Come on out and play. We are about 3.5 to 4 hours from Virginia Beach, so you might want to plan and spend the weekend. Hope to see you, Dan G President, Skydive Orange, Inc.

I'm a fairly new amputee (arm), although I've been jumping for a while. I see no reason your friend can't learn to skydive. He may need to talk to his prosthetist about an appropriate device, and some wind tunnel time would be a good idea, too. I did a couple of hours when I first started jumping again, and it was really helpful. Pieces of Eight is getting together next weekend at Perris Valley in California. I'm sure there'll be a full report on these forums when the meet is over. - Dan G