PennQuaker

Just for comparison: In Germany people are required to take a basic first-responder course if they want to get a driver's license...

Thank you all for your replies. The impression I'm getting from the discussion here is about the one I had: Nor a clear-cut red flag, but clearly also not a place that takes pride in dotting all the Is and crossing all the Ts. Bertt, I'll definitely try out some other places, too, to get a comparison--it's fun, and the constraint is more driving. (A few years it would have been money--it seems you never have both at once...)

Hello from a Newbie with one tandem jump that was a lot of fun! After a spontaneous visit to a wind tunnel got me hooked on the idea, I tried out a tandem jump with the local drop zone. My first jump was a really enjoyable experience, but I did wonder about two things that I thought were violations of proper procedure, although I didn't feel endangered. First, it is my understanding that (for a reason I don't quite understand) USPA requires member drop zones to issue altimeters even to tandem students, which the drop zone didn't do. Second, the couple before us got ready to jump as the pilot had switched off the green light. My instructor yelled at them several times to stop, but they didn't hear him. After they were out a few seconds late, my instructor after a short (my memory of time might not be very reliable ) hesitation decided to go for it, too. We made it home fine, and I enjoyed the flight too much to really worry about this apart from the possibility of my khakis turning brown if we were to land on one of the fields around us. Nonetheless, my understanding from other sorts of aviation is that you don't ignore the PIC's commands, lights, etc. (In the days of old that'd get you keelhauled... ) Thus my question to the board would be whether I should take apparent complacency in obvious but little matters as a sign that people at that drop zone might be complacent about non-obvious but big matters, too. (Let's say it's really a little too gusty for student skydivers, but then again instructors and the plane need to earn their keep, or whatever examples one could think of.) It could, of course, also be that I'm a bit too much of a beancounter temperament. I really can't tell and have no comparison. I didn't ask at the zone because I felt if I were to learn skydiving there questioning the judgment of someone with a couple thousand jumps wouldn't be a good introduction.