Wings-n-Things

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Posts posted by Wings-n-Things

  1. Quote

    >But if someone is gonna call themselves a "coach" they'd better have
    >20,000 jumps under their belt and a room full of medals and trophies.

    ?? Why? I'd prefer to get 8 way coaching from Christy than from Darryld, but someone else just starting out might well get as much from Darryld as from Christy (and end up paying a whole lot less.) For them, Darryld might indeed be a better coach than Christy.

    The coach rating is not intended to certify that someone is a kickass 4 way god. It's just a basic instructional rating that ensures that coaches have a bare minimum of competence.

    >The current definitions of what USPA calls a coach is ridiculous at best.

    Do you think the same thing about AFF-JM's who do not have 40,000 jumps?



    NO. In my mind at least, a JM is a junior instructor who is still learning. A coach is a master.
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  2. Quote

    I think overall the coach program is a good thing; it starts people teaching sooner and gets them training in how to teach.



    That's what the JM rating was for. Calling ones self a "coach" implies a complete mastery of something far above one's peers and years and years of experience.
    You don't see folks with yellow belts teaching karate do you????

    Quote

    The downside is now there's more things that people can charge for - but I think on the balance that's better than the alternative.



    Which is what?
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  3. Quote

    >The idea of paying for the exchange of experience just sucks donkey balls.

    To me the line is drawn by what you expect.

    If you just want to jump, have fun and maybe learn a thing or two, great - there's room for that. If you want to get better fast and have someone dedicate some time to you, you may have to pay for that. There's room for that too.



    Sure. I guess. But if someone is gonna call themselves a "coach" they'd better have 20,000 jumps under their belt and a room full of medals and trophies.

    Think about it in terms football. Is a professional coach a guy who played one season of Pop Warner football or a guy who spent 10 or 20 years as an NFL player, maybe won a Superbowl ring or two THEN went to a team as coach.

    The current definitions of what USPA calls a coach is ridiculous at best. And it's a scar on the sport. [:/]
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  5. Quote

    >What a load of arrogant skygod bullshit!

    And then you say:

    >I may consider paying for your slot

    So you'll pay for someone who is a lot better than you if you feel the service he provides is valuable. Which is quite reasonable, and far from "arrogant skygod bullshit." And that's true whether the person in question has 200 jumps or 20,000.



    You're absolutely right. Either way it's insulting.

    Part of skydiving is going to the dropzone to jump with people you know and people you don't know. Some of them are better than you and you'll learn from them. Some you would need to teach a thing or two to. At the end of the day, you will have had a great time, met new friends shared beers around the bonfire and it's all good.
    The idea of paying for the exchange of experience just sucks donkey balls.
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  6. Here we go...

    The idea of having to pay someone to jump with me is beyond my comprehension. What a load of arrogant skygod bullshit!!! Pay for your own fucking jumps! >:(

    Sigh... I guess if you were an internationally known, corporate sponsored, world champion, taking time out from your busy training regimen, I may consider paying for your slot on the airplane in exchange for lengthy instruction and detailed debrief, etc. But if you've got a few hundred jumps and an attitude, you're more likely to get my boot up your ass. And I'll be damned if I give you a beer out of the case I just bought for my first whatever.

    Gawd, what has the skydiving world come to?

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  8. Quote

    Quote

    Anybody remember that guy in Florida about 20 years ago who was so distracted by his camera equipment, he forgot to put on his parachute?
    I wonder how many jumps he had???



    Flying a camera is no distraction at all. No problem.[:/]

    Sparky

    Sparky 'ol pal, my only point is that jump number matters little. Anybody could potentially get so distracted they forget their rig. And for what it's worth, a simple pin check would have saved the jumper I mentioned. NOBODY is too cool for a pin check. ;)
    Card carrying member of the
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  9. When I burned out after the dot-com bubble burst in 2000, I threw out my computer and didn't have one for almost 3 years. B| Didn't miss it at all. Once I got one again and tried to make money webmastering, I found out I was obsolete and unemployable. :( Now I'm going back to school to get into the medical industry and could give a shite about web development. I just wanna surf the web... and skydive. :)

    Card carrying member of the
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  10. Quote

    ... If there were camera instruction courses, it gives newbies like me a disciplined path to becoming a safe camera flyer....

    BUT...if there were a comprehensive video course that teaches safety, body positioning, camera basics, and other techniques, I'd be the first to sign up and pay for that instruction. I would learn much faster doing that than hitting up camera fliers for tips every other jump.



    Not to mention a comprehensive class on what kind of video equipment is out there, what kind of helmets, how to rig the cameras on the helmets, the various cutaway systems and the advantages/disadvantages of the various brands and such.

    Anybody remember that guy in Florida about 20 years ago who was so distracted by his camera equipment, he forgot to put on his parachute?
    I wonder how many jumps he had???

    The tiny cameras available today, combined with camera ready helmets make camera flying a much easier & safer prospect than it used to be. So much so that a lot of the bickering on this thread is pretty silly IMHO.

    Forget about an individuals jump numbers and focus on establishing a somewhat standardized training program and go from there. ;)
    Card carrying member of the
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  11. Quote

    Quote

    I don't know why anyone would be OPPOSED to something like the 'before and after' pic I attached. I actually prefer a C or smaller, but I'm not opposed to any type of augmentation if women so chose.


    As long as I'm not paying for them! Who cares!
    But if a girl can afford them....oh even better! Nothing like a good looking girl with an education and extra spending money!

    +1 B|
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  19. Quote

    Changes:
    + CHEAPER!! :P


    Not to hijack the thread but I can't for the life of me figure out why a new rig should cost 6K+!!! I realize there is more going into the cost than materials and labor. But c'mon, today's prices are absurd. Twenty years ago you could buy a new rig for less than 3K. It's ridiculous! :S
    Maybe the factories could reduce the size of their demo/comp teams and minimize their globe trotting!! >:( Or maybe go back to cutting canopies with hot knives instead of those fancy shmancy lazer cutters...

    I don't know. Whatever. New gear is way over-priced.
    Card carrying member of the
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  20. Quote

    prices are what you might expect for a private RV park with full amenities on a dropzone.

    The full service slots have their own meters, you get sewer and water, but you have your own electric hookup - $325/month and $225 if you did 20 jumps in the previous month

    Temp slots for part-timers are $15/night or $300/month for electric only. That gives you electric, no water, but we have hot showers laundry food, a fabulous new bar, and fill-time turbine aircraft all the time.

    30A and some 20A available, first come first serve. Tent camping is still free but we expect people to be jumping,

    see ya there



    Thanks! ;)
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  21. I was looking at Z Hills on Google maps and was wondering what the deal was with all the trailers I see parked on the edge of the dz??? I tried searching for info on 'em but came up empty.

    Are these RVs owned by jumpers and parked for a week or two or privately owned mobile homes with the owners renting the space by the month?
    I assume there are full hook-ups for RVs. If those are semi-permanent mobile homes, any idea what the rent is??? B|
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  23. Lots of good answers here but the key point everyone has missed is that more or less, round, non-steerable parachutes will all drift with the wind at the same speed, direction and decent rate. Yes there will be some differences because of weight but generally they're all wind dummies. If they had steerable canopies it would be a total goat fuck with lots of injuries.

    505 Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82d Airborne Division
    1986-1990     B|

    Card carrying member of the
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  25. Quote


    Just being honest and practical. If I was just going to jump for fun, I'd stick with wingsuiting and that would be that. But tandem jumping seems more like a business to me. And like I said, It would be a way to keep the cost of the sport down. I'm not thinking of it being a full time job.



    Oh believe me I understand where you're coming from, I use to do tandems for the same reason...but finally decided that the money I was making 'part-time' wasn't worth the commitment it required from me...and my circumstance didn't lend to doing it full-time...also that the guys doing it full-time were probably better than me, and didn't need some hack like me skimming what money was available. :ph34r:;)
    Oh yeah, I've thought about that too. I'm sure the guys who are working full time at it wouldn't appreciate a freelancer coming in and "taking their business".
    Ah well, I'm sure I'll have a better perspective once becoming a TI is more of a reality for me.
    Interesting thread though! ;)
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