Age limits

[jimmytavino 16]

Andyman,,,Yes I videoed one or two, and recognized that
everyone really enjoyed the experience, especially because the student jumper was a dropzone friend. However I neither endorsed nor discouraged the jump,,,,because it wasn't MY call to make.. I wasn't the B.O.D. or the Tandem Master, or the Pilot or the parent/legal quardian of the minor. A good skydive is a good skydive...and if I'm asked to join the dive I generally will ! ! ! . In fact I was considering having our daughter
enjoy her first jump the summer before she started college.(she was only 17) but at the 2001 safety day, the subject
of valid and non-valid waivers......potential exposure to litigation..etc. etc. was brought up and dicussed. The BOD, the Safety and Training Advisor and the tandem Instructors came to a mutual agreement to resist allowing youngsters to jump.....So we wait...waiting is Ok. We may not be happy about it, but when the Main players in the creation of Tandem, ask us to consider their point of view, then I feel we must... (ps andyman, I frequently
enjoy watching the video of the skydive which we, and 8 others shared over Western NY some time ago now, in celebration of your 100th jump! (Continued successes in our Sport) jt

[skreamer 1]

If you were referring to Eric Vliegenhart then I definitely agree with you there! Met him at the Dal when I was doing AFF. Very 'switched-on' dude and I respected the fact that he had paid for ALL his skydiving himself by packing (started packing when he was 13 if I remember correctly). His brother Marcel was a really chilled out dood as well!
Will
"Don't die until you're dead"

[skreamer 1]

For what its worth, I think you have done the right thing in making your daughter wait until she is 18. As for the general public, the following from Bill Booth's letter makes a lot of sense :

Quote

Face it-most people make only one jump in their lifetimes. whether they make it at 16 or 18 doesn't make you any more money. Besides, very few children can afford to keep jumping anyway. And one single lawsuit will cost you more that the profit gained from a lifetime of taking children on tandem jumps.

What is the big rush? Physically I also think people are better prepared for skydiving when they are 18, ie fully developed, bigger and stronger. Sometimes I wish I hadn't taken 7 years between jumps 11 and 12, but I don't really feel I lost too much looking at the bigger picture (ie other life experiences).
Will
"Don't die until you're dead"

[riggerrob 643]

Three points:
First, skreamer has the right idea about teaching the kid how to pack so he can pay for his own skydives. Maybe he will learn a thing or two working at the DZ for a couple of years.
Secondly, age 18 is a crude way to measure maturity. I have kicked 40 year olds out of the S/L course because they were not mature/brave/bright enough to handle a simple S/L jump. Those students usually get fobbed off on the tandem instructors. Waiting until 18 gives you one more reason to tell the ugly, repulsive, greedy, scum-sucking. bottom-feeding, low-life - did I say scum-sucking? - ambulance-chasing lawyers to fuck off!
Thirdly, I have done tandems with underage students. It happened in the mid 1980s, long before the rules were clearly defined in Germany. The first girl was big for her age (13) athletic and surrounded by relatives who also jumped. That same day, her mom, dad, older brother and aunt all did tandem jumps. Both student and instructor enjoyed the jump.
My second 13-year-old student was the opposite. She was petite, maybe 100 pounds. She had had clearly been pushed into jumping by her alcoholic, beer-gutted, obnoxious, ex-paratrooper father. She was scared stiff for the entire dive. At 5,000' she took a death grip on my left thumb. Remember, this was on an early Vector, before Cypri were invented. Neither of us enjoyed the jump and I vowed never to take another 13-year-old on a tandem!
Folks, learn from my mistakes. Don't take 13-year-olds on tandems.