Deisel

That's quite an impressive document. It's obvious that quite a bit of work has gone into this. Thanks for passing it along. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Yep. Went all summer with nothing, then bam - bam - bam. Had about 6 in a two week period. All from multiple reasons from severe line twists (mine) to a cell exploding and the canopy coming apart (not mine). D The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Check out the Marine Corps Skydiving Club on Facebook. I post quite a bit more about club stuff there as well. That's the closest thing to a distro list we have at the moment. I'm currently working on developing a student program about an hour away from Quantico for Marines in the NCR. Actually, it will be for anyone that wants to learn. But due to multiple concerns, I'm not prepared to publicly announce anything just yet. Give me a couple of weeks and I'll be ready to get everyone up to speed. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

With great regret I have to announce that both the Wounded Warrior and club event scheduled for 14 September has been cancelled. On a more positive note - I will be recruiting new club members at Quantico and Henderson Hall on 24 and 26 September, respectively. I'll have a table set up at a few different locations (gym, PX, club) over those dates to distribute information and answer questions. If you're in the area, stop by and say hi! The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Thank you - that's exactly the type of product I was hoping to track down! The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Anyone out there have anything that resembles a guide for municipal airports with skydiving operations? I'm looking to explain to an airport manager and current airport residents how and why skydiving ops can be successfully and safely integrated into current operations. For the record - yes, I've already contacted USPA and other DZ that are currently doing this. I'm just looking to cast a wider net to capture any additional information that someone may be willing to pass along. D The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Now that's funny, I don't care who you are! Take it as a compliment. You helped someone years ago that has given back to the sport. Keep paying it forward. D The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Well stated. I now realize that I know absolutely nothing about this PR firm. Interesting. Re Grimmie - no angle or ax to grind. Just very interested in this issue as it relates to the future of the sport and USPA's role in it. I'm a big supporter of open discussions in public forums, that's all. BTW - I was stationed at Camp Pendleton for around 10 years in the 90s and was very happy to see you get your place running. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Why is it behind the scenes? Why don't we (the membership) know what's actually going on? Is there some secret being protected? And for the record - Randy O is a great guy and we all owe him a huge debt. I'm certainbly not saying that he's done anything wrong. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Please provide some details on this if possible. I'm very interested in knowing what USPA did. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

USPA has had an airport access defense fund for years. The issue that I've seen is that they rarely use it to support these types of fights. I don't know what the numbers are, but I wonder just how many of these conflicts that USPA decides to stay out of. More interesting would be WHY they decide to not get involved in some but do in others. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Well, it's good news that they were able to finally clear this hurdle. My only question here is where was the USPA in all of it? Were they on the sidelines or actively involved? I don't think that there's a more clear place for them to be active in promoting the sport. D The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

The canopy and its pilot by Brian Germain. After the SIM, of course. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Trust me, I've done plenty of searching. I'm not looking to answer the 'why do you jump' question. That one has been asked to death. I'm trying to focus on increasing the retention rate. And no, there isn't much data available on this that ive been able to find. And yes, I've checked the academic databases. What I want to know is what questions you would ask a first time tandem passenger. What are the right questions to ask? Finding the right answers has a lot to do with the questions. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

In trying to better understand the growth of our sport, or lack thereof, it has occurred to me that doing a little research may be in order. I'm trying to gain a better understanding of why our tandem student retention rate is so low (currently about 4% according to USPA data). Anecdotally, tandem skydiving is as popular as ever. But I don't see a significant increase in continuing students based on the most recent data publish by USPA. So how does one determine the links here? While trying to properly frame a research project I'm struggling to determine the best way to approach this. As an individual I don't have access to anyone's customer database to conduct an email survey, so that's out. Right now, I'm thinking that I could strategically place my two sons in the parking lot of the local tandem factory with clipboards in hand, and query the new jumpers as they depart. But what would be the best questions to ask? And I'm open to any additional data collection suggestions that anyone would care to recommend. Any input from anyone with actual scientific research experience would be greatly appreciated. D The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Two weeks is certainly reasonable. Hell, I've seen it done in one week. But of course there are many factors to consider. For some people, doing more than about 3 jumps in a day can actually be counterproductive. This has nothing to do with intelligence, but more to do with the learning experience, instructors, and the environment. There's no way to predict your ability to inhale a large amount of information in a compressed amount of time until you actually try it. You'll know once you've had enough and need to take a break. Your instructors may not. Of course the weather gets a vote in how much you can jump. And money, but you should already know this. With that said, the large DZs in SoCal and Fla have robust student training programs and good weather in the winter months. Call ahead and let them know what you're trying to do. Good luck, stay safe, and have fun! D The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Good idea. I'll talk to GW. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Yeah Chuck, This is Louis. I'm no longer in NC these days. The powers that be have decided that DC is my new hang out. But of course, Raeford will always be home no matter how far I may roam. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Chuck, The AVPT is on the road more than the GKs at the moment. They're running split ops with two teams in different cities at the moment. But I am looking for someone willing to dedicate a couple of days for some training. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Now that's some funny shit! My S&TA hasn't done anything but tandems for years now. Hell, he doesn't even own a sport rig anymore! Call me institutionalized from 20 plus years in the Marine Corps, but I just prefer standardized training. Something with a definitive start and end, clear objectives, and set standards to achieve by the end of the training. Professional instruction by people who actually know how to teach. I know it's crazy, but that's just me. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Any DZ managers or manifest peeps out there using Mac software for DZ ops? I'm starting from the ground up and considering going all Mac for everything from the start. Are there any known compatibility issues with any of the popular manifest or video editing programs? Anyone have any experience building a manifest and DZ ops tracker using the Mac business suite? The sales dude I talked to thinks its awesome. Figured I'd ask around some first. D The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Yeah! Um, no. Why on earth would you want to jump in to something you know nothing about? Do you not understand the responsibility that a TI takes on? Are you that comfortable with handling emergencies that you are willing to risk someone else's life? Would you take your mother up? There's a good reason you need no shit time in the sport before even thinking about doing tandems. Keep jumping bro. Just keep jumping. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Bro, you totally stole my retirement plan. WTF? The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Thanks for posting that. I work at a high volume tandem factory. Whenever I get a passenger having a special day/experience, I feel bad since I can't really spend any kind of quality time with them. I have about 15 minutes from exit to boarding for the next load. The customer gets very little attention from the TI and should be prepared for that. It's not that we are being rude. It's a business and we just don't have the time to hang out. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

Please consider the skydiving center where she will be jumping. Is it a high volume tandem operation or a more intimate affair? Expectation management matters here. The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.