VectorBoy

All that having been said, I submit it's a valid debate that the USPA is negligent in not offering an "advanced coach" or similar rating for swooping/canopy control, The one facet that represents one third of all fatalities. And wingsuit fatalities represent what percentage? Is it even 3%?

So a guy has his private pilots liscense and has about 40 hours, which is alot more time than a liscensed skydiver, and also much more complex than simply jumping out a plane with a parachute on. Now would it be ok to take that same private pilot, and tell him, hey, i know you want to fly jumpers, so why dont you come out to the Huey with me, and ill give you an hour breifing and set u loose to take the next load up? This relationship is akin to the newer skydivers inability to comprehend all the forces involved, and profeciancy required in order to safely execute the plan... I know I wouldnt get on that huey~ Thats a ridiculous comparison. In the rotorcraft world you would not pilot a huey with 200 hours of stick time in a basic rotor bird. Unless maybe you are a warrant officer in a war and your side is loosing...... badly or you stole one for a bandit jump!

I thought he was a scrawny, nerdy IT systems manager that can sound ferocious on here when he isn't busy playing world of warcraft?

I don't understand how it could be stated that these instructors failed to teach a component of a proper first flight course. Failed to properly screen or willfully allow low experience skydivers to jump wingsuits I'll give you that. Altitude awareness issues and forgetting legstraps has happened before to very experienced jumpers. I'm talking jumpers with thousands of jumps and many wingsuit jumps. Sadly both will probably happen again. Not because of jump numbers but because we are human, we forget, we loose awareness. We are not inertial guidance systems with built in telemetry. We are freaky styley humans and on any given day we might not be a 100%. DZ operators work hard at screening people off canopys they shouldn't be on. Some work real hard at it. But all that effort doesn't keep someone from going someplace else to die or femur. Lets face it there are a lot of places we can go and nobody will be looking after you, just ourselves.

I know with a 100% certainty that Race Price and Dan Kulpa would not have died at jumps 118 and 110 had their instructors followed the currently established recommendations. Quote That is a HUGE assumption. What you mean to express is that they would not have died with the assistance of an instructor type to blame. But in each of these liscensed and qualified to self regulate skydiver's cases they were previously turned away by someone who explained why. They each knew they were traveling beyond what was recommended for their experience level. They were bound and determined. I'm not sure Price suffered from a situation 100% directly related to wingsuits, to me it sounds like altitude awareness. I loathe to speculate in these fatalities. Dan's issue with legstraps after a second acceptable flight? Altitude awareness and proper harness/container fitment were taught in AFF. Back before my first wingsuit flight myself and six or seven other guys already owned our own suit and the manuals or copys of. Do you want to venture a guess as to how many in our group got intructors for the first flights? You will never ever regulate an under experienced jumper getting their hands on too small of a canopy or a wingsuit. The concept is pure fantasy!

Self regulation doesn't work. It hasn't worked. It can't work. That said... I'll be surprised if the USPA board will pass a wingsuit rating program Sure it can. I hope you don't think that regulation would have kept people alive that didn't follow the currently established recommendations. Sure you can make a gesture of a measure to keep everyone who openly regards themselves as a wingsuit instructor actually rated in some form or another. But guess, what every stooge instructor on a website roster will probably be grandfathered guaranteed! People wanting to try out demo suits at a boogie could be properly screened as long as they are honest enough to present an undoctored log book, maybe. But how do you propose to keep an overconfident skydiver , regardless of jump experience, from just calling up a wingsuit vendor or a used wingsuit in a classified add. Reading the manual and just winging it on their own? That would be an impossibility.

Some of the larger demo canopys used by display teams, 200 +, are F-111 and designed for a little smokey R-dub followed by some CRW just above the crowd at airshows and demo events. Most lightings open real fast. I have a lightning 143 mesh slider in a bag and was asked at one of the world record camps to take a seven second delay..... I was worried.

Nothing new. As others posted its been done here and there for a few years...... mainly by those select individuals Crazy enough to try it and skilled enough to produce a project or component worth posting about it.

Do you mean the CFX?

Aesthetically, this suit does nothing for me at all, and Im a vain bastard, so that matters. You need the sock mod? There is a picture of it floating around.

Most of the newer lightnings have the world record trim. We even had our rotation team canopys relined with it.

That is one very cool set up and piece of engineering.

glen - it may be time for all of us to consider talking to you about your drinking problem.... Intervenshions is fo suckas! Glad you had a nice flight..... I'll drink to that.

If you guys are going to be cocky and braggy, and make an Xbird wingsuit for the reveal that actually has "V3 killer" embroided on it Awe the brands wars, tisk tisk. We all say we hate them, but we can't get enough.

Zach does have pretty mouth, and physique that can't fight back much.

The people in that big house didn't Rick too bad did they?

those that started around 60 jumps _with_ an instructor. Instructors is fo suckas. Its all in the damn manual, lessen yo dum ass cain't reed.

Tupac was also quoted as saying the search funkshun is fo suckas. No wingsuits for him!

There is a dropzone directory on the heading bar with info and links to the actual websites for the DZs near you. Since it sounds like you don't have the money yet, there is no rush. Plenty of time to do research by searching these forums, their links, reviews and info. Search and research is your friend. There are different methods to reach your A licence. But what is offered near you will be your options unless you travel for training. The costs vary slightly.

Dropzone jump prices range in the $22-27 per jump ( $15 for some select lucky bastards in central cal) depending on the DZ for experienced, already equipped jumpers. Contact a dropzone near you ( or several ) to get a better idea what it will take you to go from walking in the door through to your A Licence.

I will for sure still do scuba. I love the reefs more than anything. I should be able to do both some day with out half assing either one...:D The reefs are nothing more than a fish toilet. Seriously though you didn't fill out your profile with a location. Do you live near a large body of water that you can get to everyday after work, every weekend or several times a month? Or will you be one of those divers that just gets the rating to go to dive resorts a couple of times a year? Those make the worst divers. You got to be current! Same thing applies to being a skydiver, exact same thing.

Is the new floor done yet? Downstairs glue down ,yes. Start the upstairs nail down when the stuff comes in a couple of weeks ya Threadjacker.

I mean its ten's of thousands of dollars for all of the gear needed. How can one afford to jump 200 jumps in 18 months? I mean... that is a god awful amount of money. Its one billion dollars actually, I got me twelve jobs.

Its only CRw if you are grabing lines.[/:P]

Saskia, thank you soo much!