Deisel

My source is UPT and USPA. The FAA requires that the TI complete the manfacturer's course per FAR 105. So the bottom line here is that the medical cert is required. Although it does appear that it's a bit of a chicken or egg question. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Without a valid medical in your posession and available for any FAA examiner that may ask to see it, you cannot act as a Pilot in Command (Tandem Instructor). To do it anyway could potentially put everyone involved (DZO, pilot, TI Examiner) at risk. No cert = no course. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

I'll be attending an examiners course soon, so I'm looking for information on the tandem examiner course (UPT). Can anyone share anything about the nature of the course? Info about the performance requirements would be ideal (testing, jumps, standards, etc). Also, recommendations about how to prepare would be helpful as well. Thanks. And yes, I've already spoken to UPT. They are a bit sluggish responding to emails. D The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Update for anyone interested: I just heard back from Jim Crouch. The USPA requirement for tandem examiners is 10 evaluator jumps. The change is reflected in the new 2014-15 IRM. D The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Yep. Just talking about the USPA IRM requirements, not any manufacturer stuff. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Orange does regular training as they get enough folks that need it. Contact the DZ for details. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

I've found a discrepancy in the IRM. The CE/IE proficiency card states regarding evaluation jumps that "at least 50 method specific required for each Instructor Examiner." But on page 150 it states in Section E, Paragraph 1, sub-para d. "Conducted at least 10 tandem evaluator jumps under the direct supervision of a Tandem IE." Can anyone help clear this up for me? Thanks. D The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

To get back on topic... If there haven't been any incidents, and the likely hood of incidents are low, let's address a couple of questions; Whats the real concern here? Are all the precautions really necessary? Should manufacturers and USPA consider lowering the jump number requirements for using hand cams? The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Age ain't nuthin but a number... The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

I've worn the same A2 for around 7 years now. 2 things; 1: I replace the lens every year. 2: I don't open the lens. Ever. 7 years. Just saying... The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Quite interesting... http://money.msn.com/insurance/how-risky-hobbies-raise-your-insurance How risky hobbies raise your insurance Love skydiving or mountain climbing? Such thrill-seeking pastimes can cost you more than you think. You think mountain climbing or sky diving is risky? Try telling your insurance agent about it. Mitchell Fox, 30, of San Francisco, is an avid outdoorsman, a guy who rock climbs and scales mountains, but his thrill-seeking has come at a cost. Fox had life insurance, but after he left his position as a director of marketing at an online stock brokerage to become co-founder of the startup GoodApril.com, a free online tax planning service, he was no longer covered. He applied for life insurance from a company that had a listed rate of $20 a month for $350,000 of term life insurance. He was accepted—if he would pay $180 a month. Reluctantly, Fox declined to buy life insurance, and he's without it for now. "As someone who works in finance, I understand why an insurer would charge a higher rate to a higher-risk customer—that makes good business sense. And honestly, mountaineering is a dangerous hobby. My wife took a scary fall a couple of years ago on Mount Shasta and was lucky to be mostly unhurt," says Fox. That said, Fox feels the insurance industry as a whole isn't thinking through these rates in a fair way. "It frustrates me that the difference between paying nine times as much per month for insurance was the fact that I was honest on my application about a sport I only infrequently participate in—I've climbed three mountains in two years. Am I really nine times riskier a customer than less-active people, whose chances of heart disease are probably higher? Am I really nine times riskier than a bad driver? I don't recall the question, 'Are you a good driver?' on the application." Do you need life insurance? So if you have an active lifestyle or have been thinking your life needs more adrenaline, here are some things to consider. You will pay for that risky hobby. And you will possibly pay quite a bit more than you expect. Joel Winston, a former deputy attorney general for the state of New Jersey, is now a New York-based attorney who founded AnnualMedicalReport.com, an organization aimed at improving privacy protections for personal medical information. There are no hard-and-fast rules on what an avid or occasional mountaineer like Fox will pay, but Winston has compiled what he says is a rough estimate of additional prices an otherwise healthy person can expect to pay if he or she is seeking $500,000 in term life insurance and engages in the following activities: • Motorcycle riding: expect to pay an additional $1,000 per year • Scuba diving: additional $2,500 per year • Skydiving/BASE jumping: additional $2,500 per year (and there's a good chance you'll simply be denied life insurance) • Hang gliding: additional $2,000 per year • Rock climbing: additional $1,500 per year • Hunting: additional $500 per year • Recreational boating/fishing: additional $750 per year It isn't just life insurance, either. Winston says the individual health insurance market is "almost like the Wild West, depending what state you're in." In some states, companies selling individual—not group—policies have started increasing premiums based on dangerous hobbies. Again, these aren't hard-and-fast numbers, but assuming your insurer knows what you're doing in your spare time, a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter can expect to pay an additional $1,000 a year for health insurance, and a marathon runner, an extra $750. If you have an individual health plan and own a registered gun, whether it's something you hunt with or have tucked away in a drawer, you might easily spend an additional $2,000 a year, says Winston, although that practice will end when the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, begins. You can pretty much give up the idea of getting long-term disability insurance. There are probably exceptions, but if you engage in risky activities like skydiving, you won't likely get this insurance, or you'll have to pay so much that it won't be worth it. Vincent Sarullo, 45, is a co-founder of Tower Fund Services, a financial services company in Red Bank, N.J., and while he has a quiet day job, he enjoys deep sea diving. Sarullo is also a rescue diver for the fire department in Red Bank. He works in a respected industry and is trusted by his local fire department to dive. Doesn't matter. He can't get the insurance. Ironically, he says of an industry that is all about studying the details surrounding dangers, "I think the insurance companies just don't understand the risks, or lack thereof," says Sarullo, who won't give up diving to attain long-term disability insurance: "I love it too much." You can do something crazy every once in awhile. Wake up one day and suddenly feel the urge to learn to skydive? Watch the opening scene in the Billy Crystal comedy classic "City Slickers" and decide that you, too, should run with the bulls in Spain? If you risk death in some wild stunt and don't end up coming out okay, your life insurance will still pay out, says Laura Adams, a senior insurance analyst at InsuranceQuotes.com, an insurance comparison site. There is one caveat, and that's whether you bought your life insurance a few weeks or days before you ran with the bulls, which would suggest you bought it because you knew there was a good chance you might be a goner. Adams says that generally with an insurance policy, "there's what's called a contestability period, usually about two years, where the insurance company is more likely to investigate a death." Above all, be honest in your application. You might easily think it's not worth the trouble to tell an insurance company about your love for mountain climbing, and it's true that it's probably not smart to volunteer the information. But if you're asked and lie to an agent or on your application, you're taking just as much of a risk as the pastime you're engaged in. "If they ask about your lifestyle, you've got to be honest," says Adams. "If you're a pilot or scuba diver and you lie about that, and then you die in a skydiving accident or you go spelunking and they find you underwater in a cave, the insurance company may not pay out. They can argue that it was fraud and that your beneficiaries aren't entitled to anything." And odds are, they will find out. Insurance companies, says Winston, are well aware of "the groups you're involved in, the commentary you write on Facebook, the stuff you post on Instagram. If you have a low-value insurance policy, it won't come up, but if it's a serious policy that could bring in big numbers, they'll want more background on you." Winston adds that even if you're quiet about your activities, someone else might not be. "Somebody might post a picture of you diving underwater and tag it to you on Facebook, and so suddenly your insurance company knows what you've been up to, and it isn't even something that you disclosed," Winston says. "But that's just the way things are interconnected now." The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Dewolf is running a course from 17-24 January. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

No one knows you are and you can't keep track of where everyone else tracks. At break off everybody needs a clear lane to track through. You also need to pull at the pre determined altitude. Plan your dive and dive your plan. But if you go low be prepared to pull low. That's part of the risk you assume and why inexperience matters. D The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

This has turned out to be quite an informative discussion. So now let me try and refine the question that you all have been actually answering. Given the following facts, what would you all suggest would be the best use of my time? - the course starts on 17 January. - I have a full time job. - the nearest loft is about 2 hours away (at Skydive Orange). - I do not have a reserve to practice with. - I currently have all the relevant books from Dave D. Any recommendations would be welcomed. D The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

All of them operate on Friday, some just not regularly. I can only say for certain that Raeford will definitely be flying. The rest are hit or miss this time of year. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Where are you coming from? What route are you taking? These are pretty close to I-95; Skydive Orange, va. Virginia Skydiving Center in dinwiddie va Triangle Skydiving Center near Raleigh Durham Raeford Parachute Center in Raeford NC Skydive Costal Carolina near Wilmington NC All great places with great peeps! The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Thanks for the in depth posts from both Lee and Mel. Logical disagreement with well thought out and reasoned arguments only make us more intelligent on any particular topic. Thanks again for the discussion. There is quite a bit here outside of skydiving that I had not considered. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Lee, Thanks for the insight as I'd not heard this perspective before. If it really is a year long apprenticeship if done properly, I don't see many people doing it right. Does anyone out there have a recommended skill progression worked out? What is the proper order of skills and over what time period should they be worked on? What performance standard is expected? Etc, etc... I understand that these are questions for my local rigger but I really don't have one. And FYI, you just described me exactly - I'm taking Dewolf's course in January because I don't have access to an active local rigger. There are reasons I won't discuss in public, but largely because there's a need and I plan to fill the void until a better solution presents itself. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Hi Rob. Thanks for the info and yes I did read the sticky. I'm trying to expand and clarify the part about tools. The sticky says not to buy much up front. But my issue is that I don't have a rigger loft to consult and have very limited time on the DZ to talk to the (1) available rigger. So trying to figure it out as I go is a bit of a challenge. The next hurdle will be trying to figure out what these tools are that you guys have listed, as I've never heard of some of them before. But this is a great list to have in my pocket before the course starts. Thanks again. D The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

I'm looking to take the riggers course in a couple of months. So what equipment should a new rigger get? Just looking for the basics that would allow for run of the mill, beginner senior rigger level work. I know that the basic tool kit is required but is there anything else I should expect to need? Is there such a thing as an entry level sewing machine? The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

I agree completely. So at this stage in my jumping career - I consider myself to be intermediate - I kind of straddle the gap. I'm certainly not a newbie anymore and not quite an old fart just yet (but getting there much faster than I'd like to ). There's no putting the genie back in the lamp. Turbines and tandems are here to stay. Commercial skydiving appears to be at odds with the culture. So what do we do? What I believe is that that those of us who are not emotionally attached to the old days can have an impact here. The key will be to take the good stuff from the good old days and combine it with the good stuff that progress has brought about. There's a happy medium and I've got a few ideas on how to get us there. D The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Yes you are correct. But I would challenge you to point to a single industry in the world in which prices have not increased. If you find one I would bet that there will have been very little, if any, new technology in that industry. We have had many developments in skydiving that can account for the increased costs. A professional instructor corps, bigger and faster planes, law suits, etc. have all driven up costs. Bigger and better = $$ The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

The DZ group member pledge requires all staff to have USPA ratings. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Falcon insurance. Check the ad in Parachutist. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Fresh off the press... http://www.quanticosentryonline.com/news/article_273a06ca-2064-11e3-a321-0019bb30f31a.html Posted: Wednesday, September 18, 2013 9:13 am | Updated: 9:24 am, Wed Sep 18, 2013. Lance Cpl. Cuong Le, Combat Correspondent | 0 comments Still in its early stages, the Quantico Parachute Club promises to be a fun and exciting activity that anyone interested can participate in. Capt. Louis Delair, team captain, Quantico Parachute Club, will be holding recruiting opportunities throughout September for those willing to test themselves at new heights. “Although there are certainly enough Marines with the skills required to be competitive, there is no United States Marine Corps Team currently being fielded,” said Deliar. Delair who started the team, expects it to compete and, hopefully, win in next year’s military games, he said. Delair’s ultimate goal is to form a team that will become good enough to compete and beat the Army Golden Knights, the Navy’s Leap Frogs and the Air Force’s Wings of Blue. “It started over the summer. Anyone who is interested can join the team,” said Delair. “I have the experience to train those who are new to skydiving and lack the necessary skill to do it.” However, the time and money that the team members put in will be from their own schedules and pockets. Delair, who works at the Office of Legislative Affairs on Capitol Hill, knows the price of upholding the team, but will still hold recruitments while at Marine Corps Base Quantico. Delair is currently recruiting Marines from the National Capitol Region, both experienced and novices to join the club. An information booth will be set up at Quantico and Henderson Hall on Sept. 24 to 26 for those who are interested in joining the Quantico Parachute Club. Those interested in finding out more information can contact the captain at [email protected]. Combat Correspondent: [email protected] The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.