jimjumper

There is no manufacturer requirement for tandems to be done at a DZ. I've seen a number of tandems done on demo's, including the Golden Knights. Mark Schlater used to run a tandem operation out of a bus that travelled to air shows taking paying passengers from the crowd.

1800 (1500 Strong and 300 Sigma) tandems. 5 cutaways. 2 tension knots on old Strong 425's. 2 on Strong SET 400's both with blown end cells. 1 tension knot on Sigma 360. I also landed a couple of blown center cells, 1 ea. Strong/Sigma. None packed by myself.

It also makes it a lot easier to reasonably change the harness size in the event you sell the container.

I just checked the USPA website for the "USPA Professional" but I didn't find it. Is it published publicly somewhere?

Many years ago, I had one wrap around the corner slider grommet and lines. Had fun with that for about 5 seconds! But that was back in the days of long pilot chute bridles. Also used to try and do it on purpose with my Cruiselite by holding it in a stall till the pilot chute fell over the nose. Nothing bad happened doing that but probably not a good idea with ZP performance canopies...

Nothing in that regulation about how tall the table has to be! :)

First you would have to change the S&TA system. Currently there are no requirements to be an S&TA other than be a buddy of the DZO. I know of at least 2 DZ's that appointed non-jumpers as S&TA's. There was a fatality at one that had to have the preliminary investigation performed by a local rigger due to the S&TA's lack of knowledge of equipment. This subject has come up before and most DZO's would prefer an organic rubber stamp over someone that may question their decisions.

Another thing to try. Ask your local videographer for a compilation video of 15-20? AFF dives, preferably release dives, and use them to practice your signals and bottom end until you can teach your student as fast as you think. AFF Evaluators love to make things worse the longer you hesitate.

Try to sort out and cover the easy stuff early as much as possible. When I thought I was close to taking the course, I hired an I/E for a day to do 4 jumps. They included everything a real student would do. I specifically requested him to be the total asshole student that I knew I would meet someday. He was excellent! You will find out how good your teaching and flying skills are when your student is a tired, crabby, thirsty, hungry, know it all jerk! He also deliberately flew like a toad and debriefs were a tirade of why it wasn't his fault. He taught me so much on those 4 jumps that I had to take a break after each one just to take notes! Everything from classroom instruction to the debrief was fair game. If I made even the slightest error I was going to see it or hear it. BUT, I passed the first time I took the course and half the class I was in didn't. Oh, did I mention the course was one primarily for the Navy Seal demo team to get rated? There were only 5 civilians in the course and only 2 of us passed. Make your I/E work and it will really help you.

Jim Wallace and Bundy Taylor off the top of my head.

Actually, I'm retired military and was in a rating that attempted to go 50% female due to our unique occupation. The reason it even ended up being discussed is because I pointed out that the U.S. Government has controlled military members behavior to reduce medical costs. It was attempted to argue that the purpose of that control was to ensure the ability of members to perform their duties. It's not. It's to reduce health care costs. If that type of control can be applied to military personnel it can also be applied to civilians when the cost of health care is borne by the government. It may not have happened specifically yet but I think I would prefer my health care to not be controlled by the government.

I'm saying that controlling obesity for health and subsequently cost reasons is the primary focus and not job performance. If that reasoning can be applied to military personnel how long do you think it would be before it would be implemented for civilians if/when general medical care is government provided? As far as military personnel there are different body fat percentage standards for men and women. So yes, the level of body fat to be considered obese is different. The physical fitness performance standards are also different. The job should dictate the required physical ability and not the gender.

If it's a physical requirement to do your job then why are there different standards for men and women?

You haven't looked at the military. A lot of off duty habits are totally controlled. Smoking, drinking, drugs, obesity, physical fitness are all controlled items. it would only be a matter of enforcing it by taxation (or tax credits as an incentive) in the civilian sector.

The best answers for these questions are going to come from the Instructors that have done a lot of them. Most of these are very specific questions and the answers are in a discussion with the instructor taking you. I've taken 2 Paraplegic's and they are a bit nerve-racking. One of my groomsmen was a quad and he had done 2 jumps. For specifics, I would contact Jay Stokes at USPA or Jim Wallace at Tsunami Skydiving. They've both taken a number of severely handicapped jumpers and they will know the best techniques for doing such a jump. The important thing is to be totally upfront and frank about both your abilities and disabilities. This is for your safety! There is nothing harder on the student or the Instructor when the student shows up and isn't able to go due to fudging details about his physical condition. I know when the school I worked for got phone calls like these we usually required an in-person interview before we would commit to taking them. Good luck in your endeavor!

I guess the size would then depend on how proud you are of it!

Can't take credit! I saw it on Dizzy.com once..

This subject was flogged into a dead horse smoothie a few years ago! Please don't get the 2 camps fighting again... If you want to read the debate posts type "Wingsuit Rating" and read through the 1200 posts for a little background.

I still have the 16 way we tried to do with Emily the Manifest girl on her tandem with Bill. Nothing like a 16 way tandem funnel in the dark! I am pretty sure I remember Carrie mentioning that he still had it but that was a while ago!

Hey, someody has got to remember some of the craziness of Cal City! Now if we could just get Carrie to transfer the Halloween Pumpkin First Jump Course and fatality video to digital format!

It costs $200 to keep the torch you ran. We had hers framed.

I resisted joining this conversation till now. Years ago, at Cal City, Dar Robinson did some filming for a Japanese commercial that included a free-falling dog. Not knowing how things would work out, they got a dog from the pound and rigged it up in a harness with a round reserve. They then dragged it out AFF style for some filming. The first time went great with the dog trying to swim and the canopy opened fine. The second time, they had to muzzle the dog because he wasn't having any of it! They exited the same way but on deployment the canopy line-overed. The dog managed to escape the harness on landing and ran away! Dar was killed 2 weeks later in a freak motorcycle accident while working on another stunt. The rumor was that it was the dogs revenge! Be careful with your karma out there...

My wife watches anything Olympics. Ran an Olympic Torch leg in '98.

Years ago, we had a student that asked if he could just step off the step, hang from the strut, and then let go to exit. He was doing 10 sec. delays so we gave the OK. He decided not to go but had slid down the strut too far to get back on the step. The JM kicked him off when he tried to grab the ripcord and have the main pull him off! Got the bowling speech...

So, couldn't "confession in open court" be a conditional part of assistance in returning home?