Why haven't you gotten your B license?

[HydroGuy 0]

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YES, it does. It shows that you have studied the SIM's and passed a knowledge test. The more you know about skydiving and your gear, the better skydiver you are.

You are assuming that no one reads the SIMS or gets campfire talks that doesn't apply for a B or C...pretty steep assumption.

You then go on to say how so many 50-200 jump wonders give advice or don't know about gear. These 50-200 jump wonders could have both their B and C licenses though...which you feels equates to safer, more knowledgable skydivers...I'm finding contradictions in your post.

Lastly, the B and C exams don't have anything on them pertaining to gear function.

We won't talk about how many C and D license holders I see land on their ass or their hands and knees every 2-4 jumps.

Get in - Get off - Get away....repeat as neccessary

[ChrisL 2]

Because they NEVER have water training at any time I can attend :-)

Its as simple as that.

__

My mighty steed

[BDashe 0]

it's a bit of a money issue with me, rather than do the water training and any jumps w an instructor, id rather work on my backflying and sitflying. Put money towards more jumps and airtime experience, plus i just bought a rig which helped empty my account. There is definitely a laziness factor, i still havent sent in a photocopy of my A yellow card...finished that about 7 months ago...

So there I was...

Making friends and playing nice since 1983

[divnswoop 0]

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You are assuming that no one reads the SIMS or gets campfire talks that doesn't apply for a B or C...pretty steep assumption.

I'm going on my experience the past 13 years traveling the East coast. It's not a steep assumption, it is the way it is. What percentage of people that skydive actually own a Sim's from any year, or have viewed it online. Simple fact is, once you get an A, your not FORCED to work towards any other license unless you want to participate in Nationals or some other boogie. I'm not saying EVERY jumper is like that, but I do feel there is TOO many who neglect further education after an A license.

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You then go on to say how so many 50-200 jump wonders give advice or don't know about gear. These 50-200 jump wonders could have both their B and C licenses though...which you feels equates to safer, more knowledgeable skydivers...I'm finding contradictions in your post.

The rant was because of another thread I just read. People who show the ambition to achieve their licenses are normally the people who also strive to learn more about their gear and jumping in general. I did not say that having a B or C is good cause to offer blind advice over the internet.

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Lastly, the B and C exams don't have anything on them pertaining to gear function.

People studying for the test also re-read hard deck altitudes and procedures amongst other things.

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We won't talk about how many C and D license holders I see land on their ass or their hands and knees every 2-4 jumps.

I agree....There are also people with D-license who can't assemble their 3-ring release, Tandem masters with 1000's of jumps who don't flare the parachute, and the list goes on and on.....That's not what this thread was about though

[meltdown 0]

Because I am going to wait till I get 500 and go straight to D.
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Precisely.

[GTAVercetti 0]

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but you do need to fullfill the requirements for both in order to get a D. <<<<


Yep! I just looked it up and it states in the SIM's

Either meet the requirments, or hold that lower license to obtain a higher one.

Yeah, that is what I meant. In fact, I am already B qualified, just have not sent the paper in. Just gonna take C and D tests together.

Why yes, my license number is a palindrome. Thank you for noticing.

[jumperconway 0]

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It is really quite common<<<<

Duh? now I can say I know someone who has.

Now you know 2, I skipped C.

[wmw999 2,439]

There are a whole lot of people, especially from years ago, who skipped lotsa licenses. I only have C and D.

Used to be that the only reason to get a license was to travel to unknown dropzones (A or C) or get your jumpmaster or instructor rating (C). Then they started with having a D to go to Nationals, and get an AFF rating.

Having to study for the license tests is a good thing. Doing it for more than just the license tests is even better. Curiosity about your gear and about how things work is your friend in this sport.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[kelpdiver 2]

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Why haven't you gotten your B license?

I didn't get it. The reason?
Well the "A" back then was 20 jumps. The "B" was 50 and the "C" was 100. I needed the "A" to self jumpmaster and travel to other DZ's with little hassle. By the time I got 50 jumps I was doing 25-30 jumps a mth and saw no need since I would be able to get the "C" in a mth and a half.

I skipped the A on that reasoning, though winter and slow purchasing channels delayed the B far longer than I anticipated. Carrying around the stamped card got a bit unwieldy after a while.

I see a lot more value to night jumps and high altitude than many here. Jumping in the true dark of Byron was a hoot. Same for the relative light of Davis. And exiting into the thin air at 24k was also quite worthwhile. Of course you may not need the actual license, just qualification to be eligible. It also means I'm still current (barely), despite having chest congestion since the beginning of December (ugh).

Skydance really sets up the water training conveniently by scheduling it in the morning before the monthly packing class. I did both, as people typically do, before I even got off student status.

[peek 21]

Thanks everyone that has responded so far.

I find it interesting to hear from many of you that are making so many jumps in a short period of time that it is practical to skip a license.

(I also forgot about that water training requirement for "B" license when I quickly wrote that question. Some times that is a real challenge to get done.)

[karenmeal 0]

Do I win?

I skipped A, B, and C and went straight to D

When I first started jumping I was eager to learn as much as I could about the sport. Even before my first AFF jump I had downloaded the SIMs off the internet, printed it off my computer and had it bound! No instructor had to tell me to do this, I just started researching the sport. It seemed obvious to me that one would want to educate themselves as much as possible to make it more safe. I had that thing practically memorized within a few weeks. While I didn't go do the license tests I surely was able to pass them.

It is discouraging to see newer jumps who let studying their SIM get in the way of them receiving a higher license. When I was student I was happy to read every available bit of information.

And for the people planning on going straight to a D license.. don't forget you still have to qualify and take the tests for all the licenses you are skipping. But you only have to pay for the license you are getting!

-Karen

"Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

[grue 1]

I just haven't taken the test.

cavete terrae.

[sd-slider 0]

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Lazyness.

Ditto!

In fact I'm gonna grab my SIM and get crackin' right now!

Anvil Brother #69

Sidelined with a 5mm C5-C6 herniated disk...
Back2Back slammers and 40yr old fat guys don't mix!

[DJL 235]

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In fact I'm gonna grab my SIM and get crackin' right now

Man, that fucking thing reads like some kind of regulation manual. Sheesh.

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

[Phillbo 11]

because I broke my leg on the day I was going to test.. call me foolish but the Morphine clouded my judgement

[Ron 10]

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Do I really need to be trained on how to get out of my rig in case I'm in water over my head?

YES!!!!!!!!!

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I'm sure I'll figure it out real quick. After all, I take my rig off after every skydive. I know how it works.

While under water? Or in a current? Lots of people have died thinking that knew about it also.

Really, get the water training.

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

[mx757 4]

well.. at Cuba mO dropzone.. we had to put up with shit from the Centeral conferance director at the time Bill Hayes always saying bad mouthing our DZ out gutter gear was bad vs his new DZ new gear etc etc so we wouldn't get USpA license to piss him off... everyone else evently did as they moved on to other dropzones... i still have my D license paperwork... never mailed it in.. but it was signed off 7 or 8 years ago...kind of late now..

[metalslug 36]

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Yep! I just looked it up and it states in the SIM's

Either meet the requirments, or hold that lower license to obtain a higher one.

South Africa's equivalent of the SIMs is the MOPs and it states for us that jumpers need to hold the actual licence before advancing and not merely the requirements. No skipping for us here.
The same is true for many licence requirements; for example the PASA MOPs require an actual B licence or higher to do an intentional night jump and I may not apply for a C licence until I've done an intentional night jump.

So why dont I have a B licence yet? Right now it seems to be about dropzone economics.
I've been licking manifest's ass for a month now to arrange the required "Cat 3" FS jump for me, which will require 3 experienced bellyflyers (usualy DZ staff) to complete a particular 4-way sequence with me, but they appear more interested in applying such staff for tandem and AFF because both are more profitable than my jump.

[TrickyDicky 0]

Its the same in the UK, must hold a valid Licence before you can get the next.

Until you have your B (50 jumps + CH2 + JM1), you cannot jump a full face helmet or jump without an AAD.
C (200 Jumps + another qualification eg FS1, FF1) licence entitles you to jump with a camera and become a S/L instructor and tandem inst (with 800 jumps + 8hrs ff)
D(1000 jumps) you can be an AFF inst.

People in this country now are taking longer to get their B licence because CH2 is required, which involves briefs on flying with risers, along with practice at this and landing 10 times within a certain distance of a target.
JM1 includes stuff on packing, jumpmastering, flight line checking, spotting and an OPS manual test.
With busier instructors getting briefs for these things is getting harder. And as most spotting is done by the pilot nowadays practicing it (the requirement involves spotting from at least 10k) is getting less practical.

I think its all a good thing as it forces people to learn stuff that they might not. With it comes benefits (full face, camera, jumping without AAD ).

UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs.

[Dazzle 0]

One DZ in the UK charges A license holders more for jumps.

I asked them why and the answer was that they had problems with people not going for their B's and they couldn't get someone to Jumpmaster the load (different situation to the US, AFAIK. The plane must have a jumpmaster assigned and they must be a B license or above) They were having to put a staff member on the load to do that so added the charge to cover this / encourage people to get their qualifications.

[NelKel 0]

Until you have your B (50 jumps + CH2 + JM1), you cannot jump a full face helmet <<<<<


What is that about? Full face helmet, why not?

_________________________________________

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

[robr 0]

Disclaimer: I did a quick search on water training and water jumps and didn't see an answer about this. I don't mean to troll, but...

The SIM states that all you need is an A-license to perform water jumps. Why isn't water training mandatory before performing water jumps? The BSR only says water jumps must have the "advice" of an S&TA, IE or RD. Should the 'privilege' of doing water jumps be moved to B-license holders?

[klingeme 1]

I went from a to c to d and skipped b because I was doing a lot of jumps at the time.

Mark Klingelhoefer

[TrickyDicky 0]

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Until you have your B (50 jumps + CH2 + JM1), you cannot jump a full face helmet <<<<<


What is that about? Full face helmet, why not?

Its an old rule. I think it stems from older full faces that didnt have the visibility they do now. Just they cant be arsed to change it.

Also, you cant jump wearing a frap hat (you have to wear something on your head - UK rules) or jump a pull-out till you have your C.

UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs.

[dreamsville 0]

With some of us we just waited until we needed the rating, as for the Nationals. Some people at the DZ would actually joke about who had the most jumps with only an A license. I think the highest was 1500 or 1600 jumps. This person got his D license and shortly thereafter went on to medal in the Nationals.
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I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane.

Harry, FB #4143