Deisel

Not to dwell on the negative but I think it's worth the time to mention the other side of the coin here; those instructors that only give a shit about their paycheck. Far too many of us don't have time for those that aren't paying for our services. But I don't think that it's always intentional. Hopefully this story can serve as a reminder to MAKE the time for younger jumpers. Great job. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

We'll have to disagree on this one. Shit can go sideways in other situations as well (aircraft emergency, medical situation,etc.) and I personally believe that the instructor is there to take care of the student. Sure, we all have to save ourselves at some point. But up to that point the stu comes first. Please don't take for granted the fact that these people are quite literally (in their minds) trusting us with their lives. So are their loved ones. That's a big deal to me. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Every AFFI that gets on an airplane with a student has made an agreement; to do everything in their power to protect that student. If the fact that your other JM is your spouse interferes with that responsibility, then maybe the two of you shouldn't be jumping together with students in tow. Just my $0.02 but then again, I'm divorced The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Thanks for the help guys. John, I'll be out to see you either later this month or sometime next month. D The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

I may have answered my own question through some additional research of DZ.com and the USPA website. I also hit up my RD on this. For anyone interested; http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3236387;search_string=instructor%20seminar;#3236387 The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

So here are my questions; If an individual has a UPT TM rating issued by a non-USPA examiner (but fully qualified and current UPT examiner), what forseable issues would exist? What would it take to gain the USPA rating when already holding the UPT rating? A full course? Partial? Which parts? Any thoughts or experience with this? D The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Does anyone know what evidence the FAA has to support the allegation? As already stated - accused does not equal guilty. Even if there have been prior incidents. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_c2#/video/us/2012/11/16/tsr-moos-skydiving-cats-controversy.cnn As if we needed it, here's more proof that some people just don't get it. And are pretty damned gullible too! The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Unions used to be much stronger in our country and jobs paid better. Things have gone downhill the past 3 decades or so for the average working person.*** And there is the problem. Times have changed, as has the country, as well as the workforce. The unions have not. Once upon a time unions were very necessary in this country. As were many laws that were enacted at the time they were needed. Our problem is that we can never seem to let go and update the laws for the current circumstances. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Great ideas but this is the wrong way to go. Leave the DZOs to run their bussinesses how they see fit. Leave the instructors to work where ever they see fit. A good DZO will take care of his/her staff, which doesnt always mean more money. If they dont, the staff is free to depart for greener pastures. This is what happenned to Detroit. The labor now costs more than the cars they produce. I would vehemently oppose a labor union in any form. It would be the death of any DZ whose staff was short sighted and selfish enough to join a union. Other than lower insurance premiums, I see no reason for a union to exist and that can be done through other means. USPA has been wise to stay away from this issue. D The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Wow. No one has mentioned Arizona Airspeed or the Golden Knights. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Wow - what a load of BS! People live near an airport complaining about the noise? WTF! I met the DZO there and spent a week with him in an IERC. Great guy that is very sensitive about getting along with the locals. He's very in tune with just how hard they can make it for him and is bending over backwards to try and get along. I thought that all of his precautions were going overboard until reading this. Good luck Jimmy. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

One other thing - be careful to not try and challenge yourself here. I see plenty of instructors get bored and want to change things up for their own sake. Remember that no matter how many times you've done it the student has not. What may seem simple and routine may be quite complex and unusual for your student. This happenes to us all in some degree at some point. It's our job to recognize when it's happening and fix it. D The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Have fun and enjoy the ride! But to address some of your concerns, I can offer the following; - yes, it will be cold. Bundle up but not too much. Your hands going numb will most likely be the biggest issue. Wear whatever you would normally use for staying warm on a cold and windy day. - let your instructor know that you would prefer to not do any spins. Its a typical request. - don't go out for heavy drinking the night before. Do whatever you normally do and you should be fine. You will quickly learn that the gas that goes in the plane isn't the only kind we use! - I'd check to see that the other DZ was a USPA group member. And even if it is, use common sense. If it doesn't look and feel right it may not be. Drop by on a random day and see how they do business. - you will probably be ok with a good luck charm in your pocket. But once again, talk to your instructor. I typacally tell people not to jump with anything they aren't preparred to lose. But there are ways to do it safely. Have fun and blue skies! D The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

You are correct. Unless the information is made readily available it is less likely that folks will go and seek it out. The opposite is also true. By providing the information it is more likely to be read. If you want people to do something, make it easier to do and it may happen more often. Just like providing more garbage cans so that less trash ends up on the ground. Coaches aren't forbidden from teaching at my DZ. It's just that I's are usually assigned to do it. Coaches can assist all day - which meets the requirement for rating renewal. Well I haven't outlined a specific plan to raise the bar - I don't have one. But since you asked, I'd start by making the courses longer. The coach course should be around 10 days and the examiner course around a week. But since this isn't realistic I believe that there could be a place for online classes to fill the void without requiring more in person classroom time. I would love to be able to teach for free. I actually already do a good deal of no cost instruction around the DZ on a great many topics. I don't charge for packing classes, recurrency training, RW coaching, or any of the random stuff that comes up. All of which I've seen good money spent for. I enjoy doing it and look for opportunities to continue the education of newer jumpers. Unfortunately, it has cost so much to get my ratings that I have to recover the money somehow. And I don't believe for 1 second that USPA actually monitors who buys the IRM. I can pick one up at most full service gear stores. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Looks like this thread has been hijacked! My apologies to the OP, but I believe that your question has been answered. In reply to curmudgeon - I've never had a S/L student show up at the DZ. If one ever does that will be a great opportunity for someone that knows the system to show me how it works. Until then... - I would place the IRM online. Additionally, the IRM quotes several studies used to derive it's information. I'd love to see links to those studies in order to get a better understanding of the 'hows and whys'. And by the way, some of the IRM is factually incorrect regarding the science it quotes. - I believe that USPA is keeping an income source available by not offering the IRM electronically. - I never said that you shouldnt have a recent copy of the SIM and IRM. I update mine every 2 years. And read them side by side to find differences. - I still teach the FJC. At my DZ it's an I job, not coaches. - I still coach regularly and believe that every I should be required to do coach jumps from time to time. Far too many have forgotten what coaches actually are supposed to do, let alone properly supervise coaches. Or how to do it for that matter. And not to make this a personnal attack, but you sound like a typical 'old school' instructor. 'We do it this way because that how we've always done it!' is a weak argument at best. I'm saying that we should raise the bar. Technology can help do it. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

You're mis-quoting me quite a bit. I never said that I hadn't read the IRM. I first read it when I was preparing for the coach course and have gone through it several times since during the AFFIRC and TIRC. I do not use the SL & IAD sections - I don't have a reason to other than taking the test prior to the IERC. The USPA course was run by USPA rules. The CD's requirements were technical skydiving processes and had nothing to do with teaching. Just the specific materiel to be covered, which I had to get familiar with in order to teach it. Hand someone a rating? Really? I've argued for no such thing. I've busted my ass getting mine and plan to continue doing so. I'm simply talking about using technology. The fact that USPA won't even make the IRM an electronic document is quite telling. And yes, I believe that it would help. Hasn't the PDF version of the SIM (which is also a smart phone app) helped spread the gospel? The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Going into the IERC I was quite familiar with the SIM, but less so with the IRM. Specifically the portions that I don't use (SL/IAD/Tandem). I had a lesson plan for the initial presentation but going further would have done no good. My Course Director had very specific requirements he was looking for that were not outlined in either of the manuals. His course - his rules. Everyone should be able to agree that simply reading something will never be enough to fully understand it, especially complex subject matter. But the more you read the better you can prepare for maximising your time with an instructor. USPA has now made the entire First Jump Course available online. Does anyone take students that have completed this iteration of training and say "You did the online course? Well hell sarge, let's go get on the manifest!" Of course not. But having a student already familiar with the materiel helps. I see this quite a bit with students I coach who have studied the available videos. I simply have them brief me on the jump and fill in any gaps that may exist. I'm just saying that we could make better use of available technology, that's all. I'm in favor of anything that increases the dissemenation of information. This stuff isn't classified and the more of us that know it the better we are as a sport/community. Ski - I just finished Private Pilot ground school last month at a Part 141 facility. I'm quite familiar with the FAA's process and we could stand to take a few notes from them. They offer options to get the training done. We don't. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Thanks a lot, smart ass! Too funny. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

The IRM only covers a portion of what the actual course does. What I'm talking about is all of the advanced materiel that tends to get skimmed over due to a lack of time. 3 days is no where enough to become proficient at much of anything. Only the AFFIRC takes longer than that. Let's get real here - distance learning has been proven to be just as effective as in person classroom lecture. And actually better in some cases. These days a person can earn any level of education including a PhD, pilots license, and myriad other certifications online. Why is skydiving any different? Our problem is quality control - not method of information delivery. And once again - I'm not advocating replacement! Only supplementation to allow more indepth coverage of the materiel. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

The term fall rate is used to describe terminal velocity in freefall. What you are asking about has to do with wing loading. Each model canopy has a different descent rate that is determined by how it's made. The jumper affects this by how much weight is suspended under the canopy. More weight = faster canopy (if all other inputs are equal). The formula used is exit weight divided by canopy square footage. For example; 220lbs exit weight (jumper + all equipment) on a 190sq ft canopy equals a wing load of 1.15:1 ratio. And for a comparison, we typically start student jumpers with a very conservative 0.7:1 ratio in order to slow them down. A competition swooper could easily be in the 2.5:1 range, which is extremly aggressive. D The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

It just so happens that I just completed the IERC this evening. It was an overloaded 3 days of getting some great information, and this was an option we discussed. Not necessarily putting the course online, but supplementing. Read aheads and quizzes could be easily uploaded and actually make the course more difficult. Put the onus on the candidate to study, complete tests, and have a working knowedge of course materiel prior to arrival. It could be a way to make more of the actual classroom time and cut down on some of the firehose effect. Just an idea. D The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

The closest full service rigger that MIGHT be able to do it is YNot Rigging at Raeford. 910-875-6962 Good luck The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Many prayers to the Thacker family. The DZ will not be the same without him. Damn. It never gets easier, does it? The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

http://www.amazon.com/Parachuting-The-Freefall-Relative-Work/dp/0960781455 The Art of Relative Freefall Work. By Pat Works. I just got it and have not had the time to read it yet. From what I understand, it is a vintage piece that still has plenty of relevance - think Gypsy Moths. D The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.