why should I renew uspa

[ffp1974 0]

I got my renewal for my membership in the mail this past week and am debating on what to do.

As some of you know that Gold Coast Skydiving is in a legal battle with the airport.

What help has USPA given. ZERO

Where is their help when a member dz needs it.

[NWFlyer 2]

If you want to jump at USPA member DZs, you will need to be a current member of USPA. Not renewing in protest will only affect *you* negatively. Sure, you can send in a letter of protest with your non-renewal form, but you're still limited in the dropzones you will be able to jump.

Why not take a more positive, proactive approach? Write a letter to the editor of Parachutist expressing your disappointment. Contact your USPA regional director and let him/her know of your concerns. Run for the board next election cycle. Call or email the person who deals with the airport access and defense issues at USPA.

Or just don't renew. But don't expect that to have any effect on anyone but you.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[NelKel 0]

Gold Coast Skydiving is in a legal battle with the airport.<<<<

What is the status on that? Still open?

_________________________________________

Someone dies, someone says how stupid, someone says it was avoidable, someone says how to avoid it, someone calls them an idiot, someone proposes rule chan

[skybytch 273]

Renew for the insurance if for no other reason.

And attend the General Membership meeting next month and voice your concerns.

[ColdDuck 0]

Because you will get another sticker

"Insurance should called In case shit happens, if shit don't happen shouldn't I get my money back?"

[jumpinfarmer 0]

Because together we have a voice, maybe not a big or perfect one but a voice.

Apart no one in Washington would listen to any concerns of skydivers.

[AggieDave 6]

At the end of the day, the only *real* reason why I would renew with the USPA is for the insurance. It protects you personally as a jumper for when something goes less then perfect and you break something that belongs to someone else. For instance, a while back we had a jumper land off, the field he chose had a couple of horses in it. One of the horses spooked and jumped the fence, also breaking the fence. A minor ordeal, really, we fixed the fence and went on with life. However, if the horse had been injured, it could have gotten very very expensive very quickly. BAM, insurance steps in.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[funks 1]

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Apart no one in Washington would listen to any concerns of skydivers

Curious. Who in Washington listens to skydivers?

[shall555 0]

Ok, here's a hypothetical situation:

You jump. You have a malfunction. You cut away and drop your reserve ripcord handle.

It lands and pierces the wing of a brand, new Gulfstream jet ( owned by Brad Pitt, let's say ) that's sitting on the ramp.

The owner presents you with a bill for $ 15,000 for repairs to the Gulfstream.

Having that USPA insurance is looking pretty good right now, isn't it ?

Most jumpers don't realize that even the cheapest, clapped-out Cessna they see at the airport is worth $ 20, 30, 50, 80, or 100 thousand dollars.

It seems inconceivable.

But if you screw up around a light plane and damage it, you should have really, really deep pockets.

USPA dues are *cheap*.

Regards,

shall

[NWFlyer 2]

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The owner presents you with a bill for $ 15,000 for repairs to the Gulfstream.

Yes, but I got to meet Brad Pitt!

Seriously, I always forget about the insurance aspect of the USPA dues. Definitely something worth pointing out. AggieDave's example of the spooked horse is a great one. There's all kinds of damages, major and minor, that our activities can cause. I wonder how easy (and affordable) it would be to get insurance on my own?

[mattjw916 2]

for the magazine silly...

NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

[AggieDave 6]

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I wonder how easy (and affordable) it would be to get insurance on my own?

HA! Its going to be a whole hell of a lot more then $50 a year!

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[NWFlyer 2]

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I wonder how easy (and affordable) it would be to get insurance on my own?

HA! Its going to be a whole hell of a lot more then $50 a year!

Exactly!

[nbblood 0]

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Yes, but I got to meet Brad Pitt!

No, you got to meet Brad Pitt's lawyers.

Blues,
Nathan

If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute.

[ffp1974 0]

Gold Coast Skydivers is moving up the road 20 miles north of Trent Lott Airport, at a little town called Lucedale. Great little grass strip with a huge landing area.

Call Mike and he will give you directions.

[BillyVance 34]

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Ok, here's a hypothetical situation:

You jump. You have a malfunction. You cut away and drop your reserve ripcord handle.

It lands and pierces the wing of a brand, new Gulfstream jet ( owned by Brad Pitt, let's say ) that's sitting on the ramp.

The owner presents you with a bill for $ 15,000 for repairs to the Gulfstream.

Having that USPA insurance is looking pretty good right now, isn't it ?

Most jumpers don't realize that even the cheapest, clapped-out Cessna they see at the airport is worth $ 20, 30, 50, 80, or 100 thousand dollars.

It seems inconceivable.

But if you screw up around a light plane and damage it, you should have really, really deep pockets.

USPA dues are *cheap*.

Regards,

shall

Another scenario. You have a cutaway. Your main falls onto power lines that cross by near the DZ. The power arces between two of the lines. POOF your canopy goes up in flames and the power goes out to half the county. You get stuck with the power repair bill. That's where USPA insurance comes in. It really happened once.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[davelepka 4]

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The owner presents you with a bill for $ 15,000 for repairs to the Gulfstream.

That must be from 'Ray's Discount Gulfstream Repair Emporium', and it's for the low buck bondo version of the repiar.

But, yeah, you are correct with regards to the insurance.

Intersting story, the only time I have ever heard of the insurance being used, was to repair a flap on Twin Bonanaza. A jumper gave a head butt on exit, and let a mighty ding. The DZ was NOT a USPA member, so the jumper was able to use the insurance to pay for the flap.

[Ron 10]

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Another scenario. You have a cutaway. Your main falls onto power lines that cross by near the DZ. The power arces between two of the lines. POOF your canopy goes up in flames and the power goes out to half the county.

WTS about 11 years ago? That was a cool crispy Sabre.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[PhreeZone 20]

I watched a dumbass jumper fly into a temp stringer electric line to a new house under construction 2 years ago. Ripped the cable right out of the electric box and shut the jobsite down until they could get the electric company out. Insurance payed the bill to the power company to reinstall the lines with out batting an eye. Cost of that alone was upwards of $1000 since it was an emergency afterhours weekend call.

Its cheap insurance and we get a cheap magazine as a bonus. Plus lobbying in DC all for $50 a year... not too bad at all.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[scdrnr 0]

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HA! Its going to be a whole hell of a lot more then $50 a year!

Maybe Tom Aiello could pipe in here, but I believe a while back in the BASE forum he talked about how he was able to obtain general liability insurance that covered "backcountry parachuting" for about 100 dollars. The limits were substantially higher than what USPA provides and they even covered illegal jumps so long as no felonies were involved and that it was for strictly non-commercial recreation.

I think the insurance value of a USPA membership is vastly overrated. I've never heard of anyone using it, its scope is very limited (only works at USPA GM DZ's, won't pay out to other USPA members, or aircraft involved in jump ops), the amount of coverage isn't really that much. Besides, more often then not it is redundant, since a lot of airplanes (especially Gulfstreams) are insured for non-movement damage.

I think forced membership is basically a scam. The various SCUBA organizations only make you pay once to get a license and then you're free to cancel your magazine subscription. Your license is still good at any dive outfit, they even have reciprocity (PADI license good at a NAUI shop).

Starving instructors and struggling DZO's are the backbone of the skydiving industry. Taking 70-100 dollars a year for licensing, and 400 (average) for group memberships seems excessive. We're fighting to keep our doors open and the USPA is building new corporate headquarters? Hmm, I don't get it.

Especially when the USPA does nothing to keep the FAA out of skydiving. The FAA will fuck with you when they feel like it, USPA or not. In fact, usually it is your friendly fellow USPA GM DZ that narcs you out for doing exactly what everyone else is doing.

Airport access? Please, I know of plenty GM DZ's that have been forced off airports and the USPA didn't lift a finger.

I think the USPA has a place in skydiving, but the current arrangement is awful. Maybe the USPA could do things like keep DZ's from narcing on each other, provide REAL insurance for DZ's (that provides an umbrella for the people jumping there), maybe even beef up advertising and sell Tandem certificates to GM DZ's ala Skyride.

I wish the USPA would focus on group member services like insurance, advertising, and PR and let DZ's buy in as they see the value, not because they feel they have to. Individuals should be free to subscribe to the magazine or not after initial (or upgrading) licensing fee's.

Oh, and the cardinal rule that they should be enforcing: Thou shall not speak ill about another DZ, GM or not. We have too many enemies and problems to be fighting amongst ourselves.

[OATSF14 0]

The only reason I do it is because SOME member DZs require it. Good point on the insurance. I do like the magazine. Hmmm...OK then 3 reasons.

[davelepka 4]

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We're fighting to keep our doors open and the USPA is building new corporate headquarters? Hmm, I don't get it.

I read in the editorial in Parachutist that part of the new HQ was a some osrt of membership service center, where members can come in and take care of thier business in a modern a fully equiped enviorment. It said youcould still call, and now they do it through the net as well.

When was the last tiem you ever considered going to the USPA HQ for anything? Furthermore, if you were in the neighborhood, and happened to need your membership renewed, why couldn't you stop in, and have the same conversation with an employee that you would have had over the phone?

Unrelated to the HQ, I renewed via the website, a day or so befor emy membership expired, and AFTER I filled out the form, and submitted my payment, they mentioned that it would take 2 to 3 WEEKS to process. First off, I thought e-mail was faster than that, and secondly, they took my money the very next day. It's a good thing it's the off season for me, becasue I know my membership lapsed. I did not recieve my Dec Parachutist, but Jan came on time, and I have yet to see my new membership card.

I think there are too many people there trying to justify their employment by 'projecting a professional image'. How about helping the jumping public first, and then worry about your image.

Anyway you slice it, skydiving will always be a recreational activity. It's not big business and doesn;t need to be treated like it is. Yes, there's a ton of money in skydiving, but all of it goes down the drain in overhead. It a dead end street for cash flow.

I could see if there were huge profits to reap, and we all stood to gain something besides a good time, but thats clearly not the case.

[PhreeZone 20]

>only works at USPA GM DZ's

Wrong. I have 900+ jumps at non-GM DZ's and have seen the insurance pay out a few times with out an issue.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[ffp1974 0]

I know I will renew, but I would like the uspa to be more than a money pit for dues.

They told Mike Igo at Gold Coast Skydiving to " get a lawyer" to help him with the airport authority.

I thought that is what the airport defense fund. I was told in a private email that the fund was used only if the airport was doing something illegal.

Well everyone has a right to a goverment airport. Why is mike being kicked off. They won't tell him why.

It would be nice to have a huge organization on the side of the dz wielding a big stick.

That is all I am saying.

[murps2000 86]

I thought that is what the airport defense fund. I was told in a private email that the fund was used only if the airport was doing something illegal.***

Interesting irony in the name of that fund. In 2003 a large portion of it went toward lobbying for new legislation in Virginia. It was a misguided and wasted effort and also one that we as individual members had no control over. Meanwhile I know of two GM DZ's that were struggling with access issues during that time. They, too, got zero help from USPA. It is the biggest problem I have with that organization. I don't know if it is that they are ignorant of how to deal with access issues or perhaps they don't figure it to be worth the effort unless it's one of the bigger DZ's.