carlson271

"The safest ride you can. These aren't "students." They've got gift certificates for a fun ride. Isn't it thrill enough to free fall, deploy and land, without adding what is universally understood to be a "risky" maneuver near the ground? " Okay I have read this whole forum for a couple of days and I have not really responded to all that was being said because I am only a "carnival ride participant" as some of you would like to state. But the past few entries have really moved me to participate. I have been flying all my life. My dad is a private pilot instructor, and has about every rating that one could have. And just like pilots each one of you should be taking certian precautions, and following certain rules and standards provided to you. Also some of your students are not dumb, when it comes to the sport. I knew exactly what equipment had failed in tandem jumps, how many, and what each of your "preflight" requirments as well as in air procdures before I jumped. I however was still scared out of my mind. Even though I didn't show the signs of someone that would come back to jump again, I was educated enough to know that if done according to the guidelines that were presented before you - it would be a safe trip. There are factors that are out of your control as with anything in life, but if you follow the rules then you are most likely not going to get hurt. I think that its unfortunate that you as a skydiver have become complacient enough to consider that anyone wants a carnival ride, because even if it starts out that way for some - it is far more than that afterwards. I was not given a gift certificate, I had to save $400 to take my first jump, for a single income family that is alot of money. My whole family was there to watch because this is not something that is just taken lightly. More often than not is something that people have always wanted to do, and your responsiblity to the sport is to nuture that love. I dreamed of that day my entire life thus far. Some people come with illness, or at ages that are unspeakable, just to do your sport. They come with a healthy respect for you, why shouldn't you have a healthy respect for them. I was there the day that this incident happened. I jumped after it, and by far was I thinking that this was a carnival ride. It was something to overcome, something to learn about. I asked a million questions, but if you ask my TI he would tell you I would never come back again. Little did he know that I was alreayd planning to come back again and possibly get my liscense if the money works out. The three people that came with me, even though they saw the worse possible thing happen are already coming back in the spring. Are already talking about doing static line instead of tandem. You don't know who is the next person to come into the sport. Do I think that you should as a student, like you said do the most important part of the whole jump, aside from parachutte deployment, no I don't. I sure hope that you are the odd man out. Because for most, a skydive is a life changing experience, which since you do it all the time, you would know that. If you have lost the sense of urgency of what a responsiblity you have, then you shouldn't be in the sport anymore. A healthy respect for flying through the sky is more than appropriate. I hope for your sake that you never again say it is a "glorified carnival ride," because its not, and it scares me to think that you are still jumping out of plane. My father has been flying for over fifty years, and he still takes the same amount of time as probally his first preflight to check and recheck his equipment. As for the TI and his mistake. He has to live with that the rest of his life. Like was said in a earlier entry - He made a mistake, and if you were there you would know that there is nothing to learn from it, but don't make a low turn ever! Respect the fact that your parachutte is a airplane wing, and when you turn you loose altitude and if you avoid low turns all together, maybe there would be less injuries in the sport or none at all. Thank you for listening and sorry to clog up your forum. I just needed to speak my mind. No hard feelings.