tsalnukt

First of all....I have been in lots of different planes at uspa DZ's in the US including skyvans and CASAs and I have never seen TM's sitting opposite students. If I did I would take it upon myself to say something to the DZ management. Helmets aren't going to make that much of a difference in a plane crash and they certainly don't protect arms legs necks and backs from breaking. If you're arms are broken and the passenger is hooked up they are most likely not going to be able to get them selves free....If you don't believe me, try unhooking yourself from the front on the ground....It's hard to do when you know how everything works and there aren't people laying on top of you panicking....As for the hook knives...If you are doing Tandems without one then that's just dumb. You should have all the right tools for the job. If you are all hooked up and the plane crashes, you are going to make it more difficult for people to get out behind you. Give me a good reason to hook someone up at all 4 points on the ground. I think you have been given enough reasons why it's not a good idea. You should be the hero and try to make a change. this is a cut and dry argument.....You are doing more harm than good by having a passenger attached to you before you leave the ground...but like I said...try and change my mind

Anyone else using this machine for videos. I have one and it's awesome. Been using one for a while love it. Just seeing if anyone else uses one. I use it for photos as well but not that much. Anybody else use this machine? Anyone have any pro's or cons with it.

This is something that the BPA should really examine and maybe rethink. Just 'cause you are taught something from day one, doesn't make it right. If the plane is going to crash, it's going to be on take-off...usually shortly after take-off, and by the time you know it's going to crash, it's gonna be too late for you to really do anything. If something happens at an altitude safe enough for you to get out of the plane....You can get hooked UP a lot faster than you can un-hooked. If you don't believe me....try it. It never hurts to practice your emergency procedures....For TI's this includes airplane emergencies. Straddle benches are the way to go for tandems. It makes everything easier...getting hooked-up, exiting, the ride to altitude, talking to your passenger...everything. Sliding the bottom of a tandem rig down the floor with seatbelts/restraints hanging all over the place and sucks and has caused more than a few bad things to happens to tandems. It's all about safety. If you can eliminate or reduce somethings that you have to be "really careful" about in the plane then you are going to increase your chances for survival. I've done a lot of tandems from a lot of different planes with a lot of diffrent set-ups. If you can think of it I have seen it. Mostly from careless TI's but sometimes things happen. Straddle benches are the way to go. Sorry about the little tangent...I guess the bottom line is Don't hook up the tandem student until you are high enough to get out of the plane.

I had a TM that was doing this. I watched him do it, right after a staff meeting where this very same issue was brought up, and didn't say anything until after he landed, When I approached him he said OK. I saw him do it again and said something to him in the plane. Then other TM's tell me that he is STILL doing it. When I approached him a again he started arguing with me telling me I don't know what I'm talking (I'm the s&ta on the DZ as well aas a TI)about and this is the way he was taught to do it in his Tandem rating course. I told him he that this was UNSAFE and if I saw him do it again he's grounded. He then went to the DZO and when he told him that this was unsafe he started arguing with him, but in the end agreed to not hook up the student until after 1000 feet. He was later fired for leaving a student standing next to the plane with the props spinning. I found out later that after all that he was still hooking up one lower connector on the ground. Some people Shouldn't be instructors.

What about ONLY hooking up the lower connector on the wall side and running the seatbelt around the lower connector.....IOW, the student is attached to the TI with ONE lower and the seatbelt goes around it.

Why would you want to make money from your co-workers/friends. As a packer, I would totally chuck a free pack job to some one here and there for whatever reason...As a video guy, I totally give videos and photos to my co-workers/friends. What comes around goes around....remember that KARMA thing. We are all making money off of the general public so I don't see the need to take money from my friends/co-workers for something that really only costs me my time. Of course if they want to give me a beer or a sandwich or a couple of bucks for ink, or whatever, then I'm not gonna say no. But I don't expect it and I certainly wouldn't ask one of my friends/co-workers for money for a nice still or a cool video....especially if that person is in the photo/video. call it professional courtesy. ..........of course there are all the exceptions to all the rules, but I think you get the point. And just 'cause everyone else is charging people doesn't mean that you have to.

Any one that has spent days on end bangin' through the woods looking for gear would buy...book, pamphlet, whatever. sign me up.

skydive new england......super dog friendly...private airport acres and acres of woods and land to run on.

Maybe all the people not going to the big events would want to show up for a "smaller" event. Slutty freeestyle and slutty tiki-bar...should be rocking.

Check out a band called "Schtum"...i think I spelled it right. They have a song called "skydiver". All the metal people dig it.

When do you draw the line and say "it's just too damn cold and it's taking away from the fun?" It's 37 degrees on the ground, the landing are is flooded and where it's not flooded is deep slushy snow. There's Tandems that are coming the want to jump (crazy). There's no good place to land that the gear isn't gonna get soaked. What do other people think. Would you jump?

did it hurt??? can you pee standing up?? you can PM me with info. Both nipples tongue and frenum. PA is on the list.

they shouldn't bitch.....but they do. Some people just can't be pleased

What the customer wants isn't always good for the video....You gotta make then happy but you also want to make sure the video is good. If the pick some really crappy songs I try and help them pick stuf a bit more appropriate for the situation. It's their video but my name is also on the finished product and they're going to show it to a hundred people who are potential future customers. Some crappy music on a video can soetimes take a relly nice video and make it hard to watch. I've had a few people that absolutely had to have this crappy music and then they call you up a week later and want diffrent musiic. There's def a compromise you have to make.

One song for the beginning, One for freefall and then one for the end/landing...Just fade out the freefall song when you open and bring in the last song.

I can't tell you how many people have said the they didn't want to go....and went.... and everyone of them has thanked me for pushing it and taking them. Have you ridden the plane down a lot? If they are holding seat belts and clawing at the walls that's a diffrent story. Besides.....when the door is open and all the noise and everything, no, sounds just like go. "I don't wanna go" sounds like "Geronimo!!!"

Shouldn't you always make sure the risers are clear before dumping a reserve....sport rig or tandem? That's just common sense to me.

Yeah dude, I have to agree with Bill. I have a couple thousand jumps on sigmas and have jumped the "bad" looking one with little or no diffrence in pull force. I would be willing to bet that the closing pin got stuck under the top of the disk or like someone else said under the closing loop disk. Only advise I have is do a good preflight everytime... and don't ever rush it. Oh yeah...always carry a big hook knife. You never know when your're gonna need it

What are the dates??????????

3936 thanksgiving boogie this year while I was doing video for and all muff 8 way team. got my card form johnny

Looks like weather is gonna whack sebastian too. Hope everyone stay safe there and let us know how it goes.

There's an old song by a fella named roger miller, he wrote a song called "the dya I jumped from uncle harvey's plane". You can get it from limewire or one of those. best skydiving song ever....hands down

I would have a week long Totally FREE boogie....couple of planes. All you have to do is get there. Jump your ass off fro at least a week, for free! Free beer, free food, free everything.

This sport was "started" by some yahoo's that wanted to jump out of an airplane. Not by the rich and wealthy. They eventually moved in and help progress the sport. When the "pioneer" were jumping out of planes with wrist-watches fro altimeters and old gear that the army didn't want anymore, I don't think that they were asking themselves if their insurance would cover "this". I chose my "lifestyle" just as they did and I know that I have no insurance and I know that I have to live lie I have no insurance. I not going to work a shitty 9 to 5 doing something that i really don't like so I can have insurance. I'm going to do something that I love and trully enjoy and accept the consequences like an adult. Now that I know there is affordable insurance out there I can do what I want and be insured. Don't give us crap 'cause we're not among the insured. We're just a bit more dedicated to what we love to do.

Can you give us the company you used or a place to find companies, etc, etc. I would totally get it I just thought it was too expensive. Is it just injury insurance or does it cover regular doctor visits and stuff like that? Any help would be great.